Dawson's Creek

Ahhhh Dawson's Creek. Not an 80s show but this blog is about more than the 80s. It's about teenage, like, stuff. And some of us never grew out of teen TV shows.

Dawson's Creek came along just when we needed it most. 90210 (the original) was over or at least dying its last breath and we needed some comfort. Some wholesome comfort. 

It succeeded on so many levels. Firstly, the setting. I just loved that small town American setting (see also Gilmore Girls and Friday Night Lights). It had loads of geeky (and not so geeky) film references - after all Dawson was a huge Spielberg fan until Joey and Pacey broke this heart and then he got dark. Well, as dark as this show gets. It had a great cast. If we can all ignore James Van Der Forehead and skip on past to the wondrous Joshua Jackson, the sublime Michelle Williams and the woman who played Grams. Katie Holmes was intensely annoying in this and I could never work out if it was her character or her. Since she then married Tom Cruise, I am going with her.

Dawson's really was the last teen show to be a huge success before everybody was online. It had an innocence to it. Everyone I know seemed to watch it and really, we were all old enough to know better but the drama pulled us back in every week. 

For my money, the third season is the best one. When Joey and Pacey fall in luuuurve. Great TV character crushes of our time: Pacey Witter. He may have been a little pudgy of face but he was so sexy. And when he whispered to Joey at the anti-prom that he remembered everything. Well, we swooned. I feel a little overcome just thinking about it.

Here it is, in case you feel the need to hear it again:

I could have done without Dawson's unbelievably smug and annoying parents. I cheered when the father died. And I don't like that they made Audrey great when she first came in and then a neurotic nightmare. And how on earth could they kill Jen off?

But the first four seasons of Dawson's rocked. I miss it. In an earnest, self-reverential kind of way.