Dawson's Creek

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Dawson's Creek
Dawsons creek.png
Genre
  • Teen drama
  • Soap opera
  • Drama
  • Romance
  • Adolescence
  • Serial
Created byKevin Williamson
Starring
  • James Van Der Beek
  • Michelle Williams
  • Joshua Jackson
  • Katie Holmes
  • Mary-Margaret Humes
  • John Wesley Shipp
  • Mary Beth Peil
  • Nina Repeta
  • Kerr Smith
  • Meredith Monroe
  • Busy Philipps
Opening theme
  • "I Don't Want to Wait" by Paula Cole (U.S., streaming 2021—)
  • "Run Like Mad" by Jann Arden (DVD, streaming services and Puerto Rico releases)
Composers
  • Danny Lux (season 2)
  • Stephen Graziano (season 2)
  • Mark Mothersbaugh (season 3)
  • Adam Fields (vast majority)
  • Dennis McCarthy (season 2, and closing theme that season)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes128 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Tom Kapinos
  • Greg Prange
  • Paul Stupin
  • Greg Berlanti
  • Kevin Williamson (1998–99)
Production locationsWilmington, North Carolina
Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time45 minutes
Production companies
  • Columbia TriStar Television
    (1998–2001)
    (seasons 1–5)
  • Columbia TriStar Domestic Television
    (2001–2002)
    (seasons 5–6)
  • Outerbanks Entertainment
    (1998–2003)
    (seasons 2–6)
  • Sony Pictures Television
    (2002–2003)
    (season 6)
DistributorSony Pictures Television
Release
Original networkThe WB
Original releaseJanuary 20, 1998 (1998-01-20) –
May 14, 2003 (2003-05-14)
Chronology
Related showsYoung Americans
One Tree Hill
Kavak Yelleri
External links
Website

Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. The series starred James Van Der Beek as Dawson Leery, Katie Holmes as his best friend and love interest, Joey Potter, Joshua Jackson as their fellow best friend Pacey Witter, and Michelle Williams as Jen Lindley, a New York City transplant to the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, where the series was set. The show was created by Kevin Williamson and debuted on The WB on January 20, 1998. It was produced by Columbia TriStar Television (renamed Sony Pictures Television before the sixth and final season) and was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The show placed at No. 90 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list in 2007.[1] The series ended on May 14, 2003.[2] During the course of the series, 128 episodes of Dawson's Creek aired over six seasons.

Cast and characters[]

Actor Character Season
1 2 3 4 5 6
Main characters
James Van Der Beek Dawson Leery Main
Michelle Williams Jen Lindley Main
Joshua Jackson Pacey Witter Main
Katie Holmes Joey Potter Main
Mary-Margaret Humes Gail Leery Main Recurring
John Wesley Shipp Mitch Leery Main Guest
Mary Beth Peil Evelyn "Grams" Ryan Main
Nina Repeta Bessie Potter Main Recurring
Kerr Smith Jack McPhee Recurring Main
Meredith Monroe Andie McPhee Recurring Main Guest
Busy Philipps Audrey Liddell Recurring Main
Recurring characters
Ed Grady Gramps Ryan Recurring Does not appear
Leann Hunley Tamara Jacobs Recurring Does not appear
Monica Keena Abby Morgan Recurring Does not appear
Scott Foley Cliff Elliot Recurring Does not appear
Obi Ndefo Bodie Wells Recurring Does not appear Recurring Does not appear Recurring
Dylan Neal Doug Witter Recurring Does not appear Recurring
Gareth Williams Mike Potter Recurring Does not appear Recurring
Edmund J. Kearney Mr. Peterson Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Jason Behr Chris Wolfe Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
John Finn John Witter Does not appear Recurring Does not appear Recurring Does not appear Recurring
Rachael Leigh Cook Devon Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Eddie Mills Tyson 'Ty' Hicks Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
David Dukes Will/Joseph McPhee Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Michael Pitt Henry Parker Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Obba Babatundé Principal Howard Green Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Brittany Daniel Eve Whitman Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Aubrey Dollar Marcy Bender Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Mel Harris Helen Lindley Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Robin Dunne A.J. Moller Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Adam Kaufman Ethan Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Bianca Lawson Nikki Green Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Jonathan Lipnicki Buzz Thompson Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Sasha Alexander Gretchen Witter Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Carolyn Hennesy Mrs. Valentine Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Mark Matkevich Drue Valentine Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Harve Presnell Arthur "A.I." Brooks Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Harry Shearer Principal Peskin Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
David Monahan Tobey Barret Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Jane Lynch Mrs. Witter Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Ken Marino Professor David Wilder Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Nicole Bilderback Heather Tracy Does not appear Recurring
Chad Michael Murray Charlie Todd Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Hal Ozsan Todd Carr Does not appear Recurring
Lourdes Benedicto Karen Torres Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Ian Kahn Danny Brecher Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Ryan Bittle Eric Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Jordan Bridges Oliver Chirckirk Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Sherilyn Fenn Alexandra 'Alex' Pearl Does not appear Recurring Does not appear
Megan Gray Emma Jones Does not appear Recurring
Roger Howarth Professor Greg Hetson Does not appear Recurring
Oliver Hudson Eddie Doling Does not appear Recurring
Sebastian Spence Professor Matt Freeman Does not appear Recurring
Jensen Ackles C.J. Does not appear Recurring
Dana Ashbrook Rich Rinaldi Does not appear Recurring
Bianca Kajlich Natasha Kelly Does not appear Recurring
Mika Boorem Harley Hetson Does not appear Recurring
Greg Rikaart David Does not appear Recurring
Sarah Shahi Sadia Shaw Does not appear Recurring
Seth Rogen Bob Does not appear Recurring
Mimi Rogers Helen Lindley Does not appear Recurring

Production[]

Conception[]

Following the selling of his spec script for Wes Craven-directed Scream (1996), film assistant Kevin Williamson was taking several meetings with film and television producers before the slasher film began production.[3] In what would be his first television meeting, Williamson met executive Paul Stupin and, when asked if he had ideas for a television production, Williamson came up with the idea of a teen series based on his youth growing up near a North Carolina creek as an aspiring filmmaker who admired director Steven Spielberg.[3] Stupin liked his idea and asked him to come back the next day and pitch it to Columbia TriStar Television studios, prompting Williamson to write a 20-page outline for Dawson's Creek that night.[3] Williamson pitched the show "as Some Kind of Wonderful, meets Pump Up the Volume, meets James at 15, meets My So-Called Life, meets Little House on the Prairie",[4] also taking inspiration from teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210 as he "wanted it to speak to the teenage audience of the day".[3]

When Columbia requested him to relocate the show to Boston, Massachusetts, he settled with fictional Capeside, and pitched it to Fox.[3] However, commissioned amid the struggling of Party of Five, Fox wondered if they needed another teen drama, and while they were supportive of Williamson's scripts, they eventually passed on it.[3] Left unused, Columbia TriStar sent his scripts to newly founded The WB network who was looking for fresh ideas for their programme after launching supernatural drama series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.[3] Williamson went for a meeting with then-chief programmer Garth Ancier and entertainment president Susanne Daniels who loved his script and picked it up for the network's new Tuesday night lineup.[3] Procter & Gamble Productions joined in as an original co-producer of the series, however, sold its interest in the show three months before the premiere when printed stories surfaced about the racy dialogue and risqué plot lines.[5]

Casting[]

Dawson's Creek would become responsible for launching the acting careers of its young lead stars James Van Der Beek, Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, and Joshua Jackson, who had varying acting experience prior to being cast in the show.[3] Known for his appearance in The Mighty Ducks series, playing a young and aspiring hockey player, Jackson was initially considered for the main role of Dawson Leery.[3] However, while Williamson "fell in love" with Jackson, citing his ability to read any role during the auditions, he felt that Jackson's good looks would not fit the underdog, nerd, and video geek character he envisioned for the show's titular character.[3] After The WB expressed their wish to look for a different actor, Williamson decided on casting him in the role of Dawson's best friend Pacey Witter instead.[3] After watching a video of James Van Der Beek that his casting director had sent in, the casting crew invited him to audition in Los Angeles.[3] A regular off-Broadway performer, van der Beek impressed Williamson with his "cerebral and internal" quality, citing "that nervousness that made it seem like he was pre-thinking and over-thinking and over-compensating constantly like he was insecure. And we said, "There's Dawson"."[3] Actors Charlie Hunnam, Adrian Grenier, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Scott Speedman also auditioned for the role of Dawson, while Adam Brody read for Pacey.[6]

With the role of Dawson's best female friend Joey Potter, casting directors were looking for a tomboy character. Williamson and his team were initially close to casting actress Selma Blair in the role who had auditioned "very tough, [but] with a lot of heart,"[3] when an audition tape of Katie Holmes came in, in which she had filmed herself in her basement, with her mother reading Dawson's lines.[7] Williamson thought she had exactly the right look for Joey, citing that "she had those eyes, those eyes just stained with loneliness."[8] He asked her to come to California, but a conflict with her school play schedule prevented her from doing so.[9] Upon her arrival in Los Angeles two weeks later, she was able to secure the role.[10][11] Williams, a regular in low-budget films and commercials, impressed Williamson when she auditioned with a heartfelt scene in which her character Jen Lindely goes in and sees her grandfather lying in the bed, transforming herself "into this broken child who just needed to be fixed".[3] Katherine Heigl also was one of the actresses who auditioned for the role of Jen after Steve Miner, who directed the show's pilot and Heigl's 1994 film My Father the Hero, brought in the young star.[12]

Production team[]

The entire first season, thirteen episodes, was filmed before the first episode even aired.[13] After the end of the second season, Williamson left to focus on Wasteland, a new show for ABC,[14] but returned to write the two-hour series finale.[15]

Filming locations[]

During its first four seasons, Dawson's Creek was primarily filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, at EUE/Screen Gems studios and on location around Wilmington, with Southport and Wrightsville Beach also standing in for the fictional town of Capeside, a port city located in mid-Cape Cod.[16] The Wilmington area benefited greatly from the show. While a number of films, commercials and music videos had been shot at the studios, Dawson's Creek was the first to occupy numerous soundstages for many years. Other shows as One Tree Hill later occupied some of those same soundstages for several years and used some of the same locations in Wilmington.[17] In addition to business brought into the community by the project, it attracted attention to the city as a filming location and boosted tourism.[18] The visitors' bureau distributed a special guide to filming locations used in the show.[17]

For the Leery, Lindley, and Potter homes private residences located along the shores of Hewletts Creek, a stream in New Hanover County, were used.[19] Some of the scenes shown during the opening credits and miscellaneous scenery shots throughout the early episodes were filmed in Martha's Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts, as well as Masonboro.[17] Interiors for the Potter family's The Icehouse restaurant were filmed at The Icehouse bar in downtown Wilmington, while exteriors were filmed at the Dockside Restaurant in Wrightsville Beach. Nearby constructions at the real Icehouse later forced producers to eliminate the bar from the storyline by burning it down.[17] Other prominent exterior shots include Alderman Hall on the University of North Carolina Wilmington campus, serving for Capeside High School.[16]

Due to the architectural uniformity of the campus, it was difficult for the university to double as another campus in the show when the characters reached college in the fifth and sixth season. Therefore, scenes at the fictional Worthington University in Boston were filmed at Duke University and around Franklin Street at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[16] Other filming locations in later seasons include Durham and Raleigh.[20] The Hell's Kitchen bar featured in the show was a natural food store at 118 Princess Street in Wilmington which was purchased by producers, dressed as a seedy college bar and used for production during the show's last season. When production completed, the building was purchased by a local restaurateur, along with much of the set and decorations and was then converted it into a real restaurant and bar. It retains the name as well.[17]

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

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 one of the original production companies away from the project.[5][21]

John Kiesewetter, television columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer, wrote, "As much as I want to love the show—the cool kids, charming New England setting, and stunning cinematography—I can't get past the consuming preoccupation with sex, sex, sex."[21] In his defense, Williamson denied this was his intention, stating that "I never set out to make something provocative and racy".[21]

Syndicated columnist John Leo said the show should be called "When 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." Tom Shales, of The Washington Post, commented that creator Kevin Williamson was "the most overrated wunderkind in Hollywood" and "what he's brilliant at is pandering."[22]

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.[23] The council also cited it as the fourth worst show in 2000–2001.[24] Former UPN President Lucie Salhany criticized WB for airing Dawson's Creek which features "adolescent characters in adult situations" in an early timeslot while the network is supposed to be "the family network".[25] 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.

Despite the controversy surrounding the sexual-oriented topics, the show was a major critical success. Before its premiere, San Francisco Chronicle explained the buzz around the show was due to its creator Kevin Williamson who wrote the screenplays for Scream and Scream 2 and that the show might be "one of the year's tangier hits". He also found Dawson's Creek scenically "downright luxuriant" and liked that it "doesn't have the rushed feel of so many teen shows. The edginess is in the situations, not the pacing."[26] Variety wrote that it was "an addictive drama with considerable heart...the teenage equivalent of a Woody Allen movie—a kind of 'Deconstructing Puberty'".[27] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called it "a teen's dream". The Dayton Daily News listed Capeside as a television town they'd most like to live in. The Seattle Times declared it the best show of the 1997–1998 season and said it "belongs to the small-pantheon My So-Called Life, James at 15 and to a lesser extent, Party of Five and Doogie Howser, M.D.[28]

Awards and accolades[]

Dawson's Creek was nominated for fourteen awards, including ALMA Awards, Casting Society of America Awards, Golden Satellite Awards, TV Guide Awards, and YoungStar Awards. In 2000, the show was awarded a SHINE Award for consistently addressing sexual health issues on TV.[29] By the end of its run, the show, its crew, and its young cast had been nominated for numerous awards, winning six of them. Joshua Jackson won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Actor three times, and the show won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Drama twice. The series also won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Drama Series.[30]

Year Result Award Category Recipients
2001 Nominated ALMA Awards Outstanding Director of a Drama Series Gregory Prange
1998 Nominated Artios Award Best Casting for TV, Dramatic Pilot Marcia Shulman
2000 Nominated GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding TV Drama Series
2001 Nominated
2004 Nominated Satellite Awards Best DVD Release of TV Shows Dawson's Creek – The Complete Second Season
2000 Nominated TV Guide Awards Favorite Teen Show
1999 Won Teen Choice Awards TV – Choice Drama
Won TV – Choice Actor Joshua Jackson
Nominated TV – Choice Actor James Van Der Beek
Nominated TV – Choice Actress Katie Holmes
Nominated TV – Breakout Performance Rachael Leigh Cook
Nominated Meredith Monroe
2000 Won TV – Choice Drama
Won TV – Choice Actor Joshua Jackson
Nominated TV – Choice Actress Katie Holmes
2001 Nominated TV – Choice Drama
Won TV – Choice Actor Joshua Jackson
Nominated TV – Choice Actress Katie Holmes
2002 Nominated TV – Choice Drama/Action Adventure
Nominated TV – Choice Actor, Drama Joshua Jackson
Nominated TV – Choice Actress, Drama Katie Holmes
Nominated TV – Choice Sidekick Busy Philipps
2003 Nominated TV – Choice Drama/Action Adventure
Nominated TV – Choice Actor – Drama/Action Adventure Joshua Jackson
Nominated TV – Choice Actress – Drama/Action Adventure Katie Holmes
Nominated TV – Choice Sidekick Mika Boorem
2018 Nominated Choice Throwback TV Show
1998 Nominated YoungStar Awards Outstanding TV Drama SeriesBest Performance by a Young Actress in a Drama TV Series Michelle Williams
1999 Nominated

U.S. television ratings[]

Season Timeslot Network Number of episodes Season premiere Season finale TV seasons Rank Viewers
(in millions)
1 Tuesday 9/8c The WB 13 January 20, 1998 May 19, 1998 1997–1998 #121[31] 6.6[31]
2 Wednesday 8/7c 22 October 7, 1998 May 26, 1999 1998–1999 #119[32] 5.4[32]
3 23 September 29, 1999 May 24, 2000 1999–2000 #122 4.0
4 23 October 4, 2000 May 23, 2001 2000–2001 #120 4.1
5 23 October 10, 2001 May 15, 2002 2001–2002 #134[33] 3.9[33]
6 24 October 2, 2002 May 14, 2003 2002–2003 #134 4.0

While never a huge ratings success among the general television population, Dawson's Creek did very well with the younger demographic it targeted and became a defining show for the WB Network. The pilot episode was watched by 6.8 million viewers and had a 4.8 rating which was the network's highest rating at the time.[34] The first season's highest ranked episode was the finale, which was fifty-ninth, while the second highest rated was the second episode (probably scoring so well partially because the other major networks carried President Clinton's State of the Union address in the midst of the Lewinsky scandal rather than their regular programming).[35] The finale itself was watched by 7.8 million U.S. viewers, which was its largest audience ever.[citation needed]

Spin-off[]

The show had, in the words of television experts Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, a "semi-spinoff" – Young Americans. The protagonist of Young Americans, Will Krudski (Rodney Scott), was introduced in three episodes at the end of the show's third season, as a former classmate of Dawson, Joey, and Pacey, who had moved away some years before and had returned for a visit. He was never referred to before or seen again. Young Americans was made by the same company as Dawson's Creek, Columbia TriStar Television, and appeared in Dawson's Creek's timeslot when it went on hiatus during the summer of 2000. The show had 8 episodes. The reason the show is considered a semi-spinoff instead of a true spinoff is that Will was not originally created for Dawson's Creek. He was added to Dawson's solely to set up and promote the series Young Americans.[36]

Simon & Schuster published a series of fifteen mass-market paperback novelizations of the series.[17][37]

The Amanda Show featured a skit entitled "Moody's Point" to parody the show, but was discontinued when the show was cancelled.

The show also served as inspiration for the production of the Argentine soap Verano del '98, which received criticism for being a thinly veiled copy of Dawson's Creek.

Broadcast[]

International[]

The show was especially popular in Australia, where it rated #1 in its timeslot on Network Ten for several episodes and highly at other times from seasons one to four.[citation needed] The show originally aired in the UK on Channel 4 but later moved to Channel 5 for the last two seasons. In 2007, Channel 5's sister channel 5Star began airing reruns on weekdays at 7pm. In early 2008 with its evening showings having reached the final season it restarted the show in an early morning slot. From April 2011, it aired on Sony Channel on the Sky digital platform. As of November 2017, the full series returns to Channel 4 on its streaming service All 4.

The show also aired in numerous international markets, listed here with the premiere dates:

Country Premiere Channel
 Albania 2005 Vizion +
 Argentina 1998 Sony Entertainment Television (Latin America)
 Australia 1999 Network Ten (Original broadcast – 1999–2003)
TV1 (Syndication – 2001–2000s)
9Go! (2017–2019)
7plus (2014-2015, 2020–current)
 Austria ORF 1, Reruns on Puls 4
 Belgium 1999 VT4, Reruns on 2BE (2008), vtm (as of August 30, 2010), VijfTV (as of August 30, 2011)
La Deux, Club RTL (in French)
 Brazil March 3, 1998 Sony, Rede Globo, Record, Liv, MTV
 Bulgaria 2000 Nova Television
 Canada January 20, 1998/ September 20, 1999 Global, Canal Famille
 Chile 2000 MEGA
 Croatia September 2001 Nova TV
 Cuba 2005, January Cubavision
 Czech Republic September 9, 2000 TV Nova
 Denmark September 1, 1998 TV3. Syndication: DR1, TV 2 and currently TV 2 Zulu
 Ecuador 1998, September
 France January 10, 1999 TF1 and Télé Monte Carlo
 Germany January 3, 1999 Sat.1 (Seasons 1–3) and ProSieben (Seasons 4–6); Reruns aired on both channels, ZDFneo, ARD One and on the premium channel TNT Serie
 Greece January 10, 1999 Mega
 Hungary September 11, 1999 TV2 (Seasons 1–3), RTL Klub (Seasons 4–5), Cool TV (Season 6)
 India April 2008 Zee Cafe
 Indonesia 1999, rerun 2007 TPI, rerun by Global TV
 Ireland May 1998 RTÉ TWO reruns on 3e
 Israel September 1, 1998 Channel 3
Channel 10
 Italy January 3, 1999/ January 13, 2000 (pay TV)/ Italia Uno (free to air)
 Lithuania TV3 later moved to TV6
 Malaysia 2000 Radio Televisyen Malaysia Channel 2 (TV2)
 Malta July 2008 Net Television
 Mexico Canal 5
 Netherlands NET 5
 New Zealand June 25, 1999 TV2 (New Zealand)
 Norway September 1, 1998 TV3
 Panama 1998
 Paraguay 1998
 Peru Sony Entertainment Television (Latin America)
 Philippines 1998 Studio 23 (now ABS-CBN Sports+Action)
 Poland September 6, 1998 Polsat
 Portugal April 8, 2001 TVI
 Puerto Rico 1999 Tele Once
 Romania February 28, 1999 Pro TV
 Russia June, 1998 ORT
 Saudi Arabia December 2007 MBC 4
 Serbia September 2002 B92
 South Korea SBS
 South Africa 1999 SABC 3
 Spain 2000 La 2 de RTVE
 Sri Lanka 2000 ARTv
  Switzerland December 27, 1998 TSR 2
 Thailand May 15, 1999 True Series
 Turkey 1999 CNBC-e, 2002 DiziMax, 2009
 Ukraine 2008 1+1
 United Kingdom May 2, 1998 Channel 4, Sky One, Trouble, Sony TV
 Venezuela 1998 Televen
 Vietnam 1999

Merchandise[]

DVD releases[]

Music[]

Curating popular music and breaking artists from the independent and alternative rock genres, Dawson's Creek became impactful on shaping the television music culture of teen and other drama series in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[38] Instrumentation of the episodes was generally overseen by executive Paul Stupin, music supervisor John McCullough, and co-producer Drew Matich who helped artists rise to fame and made pivotal creative decisions.[38] The trio approached music in "a way to convey the emotion, to convey the story," looking for songs to underplay whole sequences where viewers could also enjoy the music under dialogue.[38] Thus, Stupin would often end up spending hours in the editing room with the editor going over, trying candidate after candidate of songs that McCullough send over. In some cases, they would look at, against picture, ten or 15 songs against each scene.[38] Next to McCullough, recommendations for inclusion came "from everywhere", with writers, editors, co-producers and Sony Music executives playing pivotal roles.[38]

Paula Cole's "I Don't Want to Wait" served as the show's theme song.

Originally, Canadian recording artist Alanis Morissette's song "Hand in My Pocket" from her third studio album Jagged Little Pill (1995) served as the theme song in the unaired pilot episode of the television show. However, Morissette decided not to have it used as the theme after Dawson's Creek was picked up, prompting Stupin and McCullough to approach different artists for original material to use.[38] In the meantime, The WB had licensed American singer-songwriter Paula Cole's song "I Don't Want to Wait" from her second album This Fire (1996) and suggested them to use it instead.[38] An eleventh hour decision, it was incorporated late into the promotion of the series but became a hit on the US Billboard charts upon the show's debut in January 1998.[39] The first season's score was provided by Adam Fields, including the "End Credits Theme," which was used on all six seasons.[40]

Because Sony Music failed to secure the rights for home video and online streaming services when the show was produced and did not wish to pay for them later, most of the songs that aired in the original broadcasts were replaced in the DVD editions and upon the video-on-demand debut of the show.[40] Starting with the third season, "I Don't Want to Wait" was also dropped from the opening sequence of the DVD releases due to budget reasons, to be replaced by "Run Like Mad" from Canadian folk artist Jann Arden, a regular music contributor to the series.[40] The 32-second recording was one of the original intros that Stupin commissioned after he had failed to acquire rights to Morissette's song and which international broadcasts had previously used as the theme song for the first season before switching to Cole's song for the remainder of the run.[40] In 2021, Cole recorded a new version of "I Don't Want to Wait" to avoid licensing issues with the orignal master, which Netflix restored as the theme song.[41]

During its original run, Dawson's Creek spawned two volumes of soundtrack albums. The album Songs from Dawson's Creek was released after the broadcasting of the series' first season in April 1999, and became a major success worldwide.[42] It reached the top of the Australian Albums Chart and also peaked within the top in Austria, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. During it first sixth months of release, the album sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide and was certified triple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[43] In Australia, it became the fifth highest selling album of 1999.[44] Songs from Dawson's Creek – Volume 2 was released in October 2000 to coincide with the debut of the series' fourth season. Less successful, it reached the top twenty of Austrian and Swiss Albums Charts, while peaking at number 50 on the US Billboard 200.[43]

International rebroadcast[]

Reruns of the show are often seen in Australia on 9Go!, as of 2019 it airs at 10am, Mon-Fri with one episode a day. In Canada on TVtropolis, in Norway on TV3, in Denmark on TV2 Zulu, in the UK and Ireland on Channel Four, in France on TMC, in Greece on Macedonia TV, in Romania on Digi Film, in India on Zee Café, in Indonesia on TPI and Global TV, in Italy on Italia 1, in Spain on LaOtra, in Lithuania on TV3, in Latin America on Netflix, and in the Middle East on MBC4 and on the Orbit – Showtime Network (OSN).

Bibliography[]

Darren Crosdale's Dawson's Creek: The Official Companion (Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel, 1999) (ISBN 0-7407-0725-6), thoroughly chronicles the show, but only covers events through to the end of the second season. Scott Andrews' Troubled Waters: An Unauthorised and Unofficial Guide To Dawson's Creek (Virgin Publishing 2001 (ISBN 0-7535-0625-4)) also covers the series thoroughly up to the end of Season Four. A less thorough book from about the same time, aimed at teens, is Meet the Stars of Dawson's Creek by . Andy Mangels's From Scream to Dawson's Creek: An Unauthorized Take on the Phenomenal Career of Kevin Williamson (Los Angeles: Renaissance Books, 2000) (ISBN 1-58063-122-3) covers the show well but omits later seasons.

Other references include:

  • "The best (and worst) 1999 had to offer". Dayton Daily News. January 2, 2000. 5C.
  • Tim Brooks and . The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. 8th ed. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003. (General information on the show and Young Americans)
  • "Cheers and Jeers". TV Guide. Issue 2619. v. 51, n. 23. June 7, 2003. 14.
  • Tamara Conniff. "Music plays an important—and profitable—role in 'Dawson's Creek'". The Hollywood Reporter. April 17, 2002. (The show's sound)
  • Robert Crane. "Twenty Questions: Kevin Williamson". Playboy. v. 45, n. 9. September 1998. 138. (Interview with the show's creator)
  • "Dawson's Creek's low aim". (Editorial). The Cincinnati Post. September 22, 1997. 8A. (Editorial denouncing Procter and Gamble's role in the show, P&G being a Cincinnati company)
  • Maureen Dowd. "Puppy Love Politics". The New York Times. June 9, 1999. A31. (Humorous mention of politicians)
  • Jeffrey Epstein. "Unbound". The Advocate. August 31, 1999. 34. (Kevin Williamson profiled)
  • Amanda Fazzone. "Boob Tube: NOW's Strange Taste in TV". The New Republic. Issue 4515. v. 225, n. 5. June 8, 2001. 26–35. (NOW's endorsement of the show)
  • Matthew Gilbert. "'Dawson's Creek': A flood of hormones". The Boston Globe. January 20, 1998. C1. (Review of premiere)
  • Matthew Gilbert. "Dawson, pals talk out into the sunset". The Boston Globe. May 14, 2003. D1. (Review of finale)
  • Lynn Hirschberg. "Desperate to Seem 16". The New York Times Magazine. September 5, 1999. 42.
  • John Kieswetter. "P&G execs reviewing family TV". The Cincinnati Enquirer. August 6, 2000. A1. (P&G considering its role in producing the show)
  • John Kieswetter. "Readers divided on 'Dawson's'". The Cincinnati Enquirer. February 24, 1998. (Cincinnati viewers' reaction to the premiere)
  • Caryn James. "Young, Handsome, and Clueless in Peyton Place". The New York Times. January 20, 1998. E5. (Review of the premiere)
  • Ted Johnson. "Dawson's Peak". TV Guide. Issue 2345. v. 46, n. 10. March 7, 1998. 18–24. (Cover story on show's early success)
  • Ted Johnson. "His So-Called Life". TV Guide. Issue 2345. v. 46, n. 10. March 7, 1998. 25–29. (Profile of creator Kevin Williamson)
  • "Kevin Williamson: he's a scream". TV Guide. Issue 2337. v. 26, n. 2. January 10, 1998. 30. (Profile of creator Kevin Williamson)
  • Phil Kloer. "'Dawson's Creek': Teens get wet". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. January 20, 1998. B1. (Review of premiere)
  • John Leo. "TV sleaze worse than ever". Las Vegas Review-Journal. January 25, 1998. 4E. (Column criticizing sex on television)
  • Gareth McGrath. "Creek's Hot Properties". Wilmington Star-News. June 14, 2003. (Sale of props used on the show)
  • Shawna Malcolm. "Casting Off". TV Guide. Issue 2615. v. 51, n. 19. May 10, 2003. 40.
  • Jay Mathews. "'Dawson's Creek' site mecca for teens". The Cincinnati Enquirer. July 18, 1999. ravel section, p. 6.
  • "The Merchants of Cool". Frontline. PBS. February 27, 2001.
  • Joe Queenan. "Dumb and Dumber". TV Guide. v. 46, n. 15. April 11, 1998. 18.
  • Lynette Rice. "Interest in 'Creek' Rising". Broadcasting and Cable. June 16, 1997. 25.
  • Ray Richmond. "Youth ache 100 episodes". The Hollywood Reporter. April 17, 2002. (Part of special section commemorating 100th episode.)
  • Matt Roush. Review of Dawson's Creek. TV Guide. v. 46, n. 6. February 7, 1998. 16.
  • Pamela Redmond Satran. "15 Signs You're Too Old to Watch Dawson's Creek". TV Guide. Issue 2442. v. 28, n. January 3, 15, 2000. 17.
  • Tom Shales. "Stuck in the Muck". The Washington Post. January 20, 1998. D1.
  • Maxine Shin. "If Dawson and Buffy Are Gone, Can I Still Be Young?" New York Post. May 20, 2003.
  • Alessandra Stanley. "A President-to-Be And His Rosebud". The New York Times. September 10, 2004. B1.
  • Kevin D. Thompson. "'Dawson's Creek' runs its course tonight". The Palm Beach Post. May 14, 2003.
  • Ken Tucker. "The Big Kiss-off". Entertainment Weekly. Issue 544. June 9, 2000. 58–59.
  • Josh Walk. "Pop Goes the Teen Boom?" Entertainment Weekly. Issue 599. June 8, 2001. 26–35.
  • Andrew Wallentsein. "'Creek' to make splash on TBS". Daily Variety. March 19, 2003. 3.
  • Ron Weiskind, Barbara Vancheri, and Rob Owens. "If We Were in TV Land". Dayton Daily News. October 28, 1999. 8C.
  • Jeffrey Zaslow. "Straight talk". USA Weekend. July 10, 1998. 22.

See also[]

References[]

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