If you grew up in the ’90s, you probably remember the popular television series Dawson’s Creek, which premiered on January 20, 1998 on the now defunct WB network. Dawson’s Creek helped pave the way for young adult dramas. Had the series not been successful, we may not have had the pleasure of watching series like One Tree Hill, The Vampire Diaries, or The O.C. The drama, which starred James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, and Michelle Williams, aired for six seasons, totaling 128 episodes. Though the series has been off the air for almost 12 years, the cast continues to be in high demand. James Van Der Beek is currently starring on the new hit series CSI: Cyber, while Joshua Jackson will be back forSseason 2 of The Affair later this year. Katie Holmes is slated to appear in the third season of Ray Donovan this summer, and Michelle Williams is currently filming two movies. Here are ten things you may not know about Dawson’s Creek.
1. The series caused controversy from the very beginning
Dawson’s Creek seems pretty tame compared to what is shown on television today. However, that did not stop a major company from pulling a sponsorship during the first season of the series. Proctor & Gamble decided to not be a part of the series because they felt, “the majority of the content within the episodes walks a fine line and bumps up against what we think is appropriate.” One storyline that was a huge issue was that of Pacey sleeping with his teacher, which is a much more common plot on current series like Pretty Little Liars.
2. The show made history in 2000
It is hard to believe that it has only been 15 years since the first kiss between two men took place on primetime television in the United States. On May 24, 2000, Dawson’s Creek would air its third season finale and feature main character Jack kissing his crush Ethan. In 2010, Kerr Smith announced, “We knew that it was important and that a lot of people were going to be looking up to the show.”
3. Some of the actors were much older than the characters they played
Television producers have been know to cast older actors in the roles of high school characters. Dawson’s Creek was not any different. During the beginning of filming of the first season in 1997, James Van Der Beek was 20 years old, both Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson were 19. Kerr Smith and Meredith Monroe were added to the cast during the second season and were 26 and 28, respectively, when production began. Michelle Williams was the only main character to actually be of high school age during the series.
4. An injury of an actor caused a few episodes to be rewritten
Busy Phillips was added to the cast of Dawson’s Creek during the final two seasons when the gang ventured off to college. During her time on the show, the actress has admitted that she liked to party. She ended up dislocating her shoulder after a night of drinking, which resulted in the writers changing around a few scripts to have Audrey lying down to cover up the injury.
5. Two different mascots
If you watch the pilot episode of Dawson’s Creek very closely, you may notice that Capeside High School has two different mascots and different school colors. In some scenes, you can see signs that say “Go Wildcats” with orange and black colors in the hallways. This was because the school used in these scenes actually had Wildcats as their mascot. Other scenes will show the mascot as the Minutemen with yellow and blue for the school colors. The blue and yellow would remain for the rest of the series.
6. A popular college served as the setting for Worthington University
The fifth season of Dawson’s Creek saw Joey Potter venture off to Boston, Massachusetts to attend the fictional Worthington University. Producers had never envisioned the show going past the characters’ high school careers, so they had a problem trying to locate a university to use for exterior shots. They finally decided to go with Duke University, which is located in Durham, North Carolina and was two hours away from where the series was filmed in Wilmington.
7. There was a Dawson’s Creek spin-off
Due to the huge popularity of Dawson’s Creek, The WB decided to create a spin-off of sorts. That series was called Young Americans and premiered in 2000. One of the main characters was featured on three episodes of Dawson’s Creek as an old classmate of Dawson, Joey, and Pacey’s that moved away and came back for a visit. The character was added to these episodes only to promote Young Americans, which would last for just eight episodes before being cancelled.
8. American Eagle Outfitters provided clothes to the cast
During the third season of Dawson’s Creek, American Eagle Outfitters struck a deal with the series to be the official clothing sponsor for the teenage cast members. The deal also included cross-promotional advertising with the cast appearing in several advertisements in shots taken from episodes of the show for the young adult clothing store. The store would also be billed in the closing credits of each episode.
9. Should it have been called Joey’s Creek?
Dawson’s Creek lasted for six drama-filled seasons, and only one cast member appeared in all 128 episodes. You would think that person was James Van Der Beek; however, Katie Holmes is the star who claims the title. James is missing from six episodes, Michelle Williams does not appear in 10, and Joshua Jackson is absent from four. Additionally, both Jackson and Kerr Smith have directed episodes of the series.
10. A hit soundtrack
During Dawson’s Creek‘s second season, a soundtrack album was released. It featured such artists as Six Pence None the Richer, Jessica Simpson, and Paul Cole. The album would peak at #7 on the Billboard 200 charts. A second album would be released at the beginning of Season 4, but it topped off at #59 on the charts.
Do you know any other fun facts about Dawson’s Creek? Let us know in the comments section below.
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for LOGO
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