“Dawson’s Creek” premiered 25 years ago today! 1/20/1998
Along with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson's Creek became the flagship show for The WB and launched its main cast to international stardom. The show placed at No. 90 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list in 2007. It has also been credited with kicking off a boom of teen-centered shows in the late 1990s that continued into the 2000s.
Dawson's Creek generated a large amount of publicity before its debut, with several television critics and consumer watchdog groups expressing concerns about its anticipated "racy" plots and dialogue. The controversy drove Procter & Gamble Productions, initially a co-producer of the series, away from the project. Syndicated columnist John Leo said the show should be called "While Parents Cringe," and went on to write, "The first episode contains a good deal of chatter about breasts, genitalia, masturbation, and penis size. Then the title and credits come on and the story begins."
The Parents Television Council proclaimed the show as the single worst program of the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons by being "the crudest of the network shows aimed at kids", complaining about "an almost obsessive focus on pre-marital sexual activity", references to pornography and condoms, and the show's acceptance of homosexuality. Former UPN President Lucie Salhany criticized WB for airing Dawson's Creek which features "adolescent characters in adult situations" in an early time slot while the network is supposed to be 'the family network.'" However, on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum, the National Organization for Women offered an endorsement, deeming it one of the least sexually exploitative shows on the air.
Much of the criticism cited the show’s early decision to feature a storyline about a romantic relationship between a high school student and a teacher.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 36 | January 23, 2023 4:35 PM
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I much preferred "Dawson's Crack" by Michael Lucas.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | January 20, 2023 10:55 PM
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“The uploader has not made this video available in your country.”
I guess the uploader likes my country.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | January 20, 2023 10:56 PM
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I prefer Dawson's 50 Load Weekend
by Anonymous | reply 3 | January 20, 2023 11:03 PM
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They talked like college professors in scenes.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | January 20, 2023 11:05 PM
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Eldergaydom is ever-approaching.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | January 20, 2023 11:13 PM
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I never saw one second of it. Tell me what it was like.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | January 20, 2023 11:19 PM
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James Van der Beak or whatevs had a huge forehead.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | January 20, 2023 11:25 PM
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Dawson, it's like your caught in a downward spiral of perpetual melancholy.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | January 20, 2023 11:27 PM
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Why was it called Dawson's Creek when it was supposed to be set in Capeside, Massachusetts (sez Wikipedia)? By the way, there are very few creeks in Massachusetts. There are a lot of rivers and brooks, but not many creeks.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | January 20, 2023 11:35 PM
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What's the difference between a brook and a creek? I use them interchangeably.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | January 20, 2023 11:37 PM
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[quote]I much preferred "Dawson's Crack"
Me too
by Anonymous | reply 12 | January 20, 2023 11:38 PM
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I liked the show back then. I was in middle school when it started and we all watched it and talked about it.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | January 21, 2023 8:51 PM
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Damn I feel old, even though I was a slightly younger than it's target audience at the time. I did get into the OC for awhile, but don't want to know how long ago that aired.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | January 22, 2023 1:25 AM
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R11 "Brook" and "Creek" mean just about the same thing, "a small stream" "Creek" is chiefly used in American English, and Australia. "Brook" is more of British English. "River" refers to a stream that is fairly large in size. The confusion comes in "stream".
I'm going to go out on a limb and say preference for terminology probably depends on geography. Kind of like "soda" vs "pop". In my area I always hear people call them either creeks... Or "cricks" lol
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 15 | January 22, 2023 1:28 AM
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The sky was so blue that day...
by Anonymous | reply 16 | January 22, 2023 1:31 AM
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I can't believe I have to explain this, but the main character was named Dawson, and he and his friends spent a lot of time at a creek behind his house.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | January 22, 2023 1:33 AM
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I was 11 when season 1 came out. Me and my friends all watched it. It was so mature and grown to us at the time lmao. I used to watch WB almost every night of the week. Some nights FOX had shows I liked and some night or time slots UPN had shows I liked (Moesha mostly).
I miss it.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | January 22, 2023 1:35 AM
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R17 If I never saw the show, how would I know who Dawson was, and that there was a creek behind his house? Actually I always assumed it was the name of the town where the show took place. Stupid me.
R11 In MA, they're just not called creeks very often. Growing up, I mainly heard the word creek on TV - in westerns, mostly. Doing some research I see there was a Battle Of Chelsea Creek in the 1770s in the Boston area. But truthfully the usage is just is very uncommon.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | January 22, 2023 2:46 AM
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R19 are you 15? Or were you living under a rock? Even if you didn’t watch it you heard of it back then
by Anonymous | reply 20 | January 22, 2023 3:09 AM
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I used to be baffled why Joshua Jackson was considered attractive back then, but he's aged better than just about any man I can think of. He's much more handsome now he's an adult.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | January 22, 2023 3:11 AM
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I remember watching the premiere in NYC and then calling my best friend who lived in LA and telling him, I just watched the worst fucking show, but you have to watch it because it's just that terrible. He watched it, called me the next day and we made fun of it for almost an hour.
The next week, I taped it and waited for it to come on in LA and we watched it over the phone together, totally ragging on it.
By week three, we were hooked and I think I finally gave it up in Season 4, when it just became too ridiculous. And then I watched the series finale, when I heard they were flashing forward several years.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | January 22, 2023 3:14 AM
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R22 I stopped with season 4 also. So funny. I enjoyed the first 3 seasons but 4 became ridiculous and I dropped it. I also tuned into the finale.
A few years ago I rewatched it in its entirety for the first time. I didn’t know Busy Phillips and Chad Michael Murray were on it until then.
Season 2 was its best season.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | January 22, 2023 3:17 AM
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I was in high school when it began, and everyone would talk about it the day after an episode aired. The first season was pretty edgy for the time. The subsequent seasons were much more tame since Kevin Williamson left and the shock value had worn off. The show also got more ridiculous once the characters graduated high school.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | January 22, 2023 3:17 AM
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Season 2 was its strongest and most shocking season. After than it tamed a lot.
It was tame starting with season 3 and I think Williamson was still there.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | January 22, 2023 3:20 AM
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Season 2 had a lot of shocking moments. Jen was a goodie in season 1 as she is reformed and sent to Massachusetts to live with her grandma because she was acting out in NYC. And in season 2 she falls back to her old ways, rebelling and acting out.
I remember the episode where Abby falls into the water drunk and drowns. I was 12 at the time and it scared me lol.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 26 | January 22, 2023 3:28 AM
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I don’t think networks would approve the student teacher affair storyline today.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | January 23, 2023 6:36 AM
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Joshua Jackson wasn’t attractive with the terrible haircuts he had but he had notable sexiness/charisma.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | January 23, 2023 7:14 AM
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One of those shows that really suffers from the music changes in syndication. I have almost the entire series downloaded from Spanish tv which luckily preserves the original music on the English audio track.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | January 23, 2023 7:15 AM
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Joshua Jackson was very young. Why are we breaking down the looks of someone who was 18/19 when he filmed the first season? Of course most of you aren’t gonna find him “sexy”. He was a kid.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | January 23, 2023 3:37 PM
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Season 1 was filmed in March/April of 1997. It premiered January 1998.
James Van Der Beek turned 20 as he filmed the first season. Katie Holmes was 18 going on 19 that December, Joshua Jackson was 17 going on 18 that June, and Michelle Williams was 16 going on 17 that September.
So Joshua was only 17 when you watch season 1, although he was already 18 when it debuted.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | January 23, 2023 3:44 PM
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I gotta a boner thinking about Pacey fucking his teacher.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | January 23, 2023 3:53 PM
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R20 I don't know why you're being a asshole. This isn't for you, but for other people: if you only knew there was a TV show named Dawson's Creek, wouldn't you assume it was about a town named Dawson's Creek? You know, like Battle Creek, Michigan? Or...Schitt's Creek?
I knew very little about the show. I wasn't a teen or young adult, in 1998 when it premiered. I was 40. And my dad died around then and I wasn't really into having to know what was on TV. Okay?
by Anonymous | reply 33 | January 23, 2023 3:54 PM
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[quote] I used to be baffled why Joshua Jackson was considered attractive back then, but he's aged better than just about any man I can think of. He's much more handsome now he's an adult.
I remember watching the show when it originally aired and thought the same thing. I think he grew up into looks and is aging well.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | January 23, 2023 4:09 PM
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R31, Joshua Jackson is older than Katie Holmes.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | January 23, 2023 4:20 PM
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Sorry, they were both 17 when they filmed season 1
by Anonymous | reply 36 | January 23, 2023 4:35 PM
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