Dawson's Creek

I kind of like the concept of a teen series where the characters talk in an unrealistically sophisticated way. However, the story is too much like soap opera for me, and the characters kind of annoying, difficult to believe in. And speaking of that, the fact that the actors are supposed to play 15-year-olds when they look much older really takes away from the experience, particularly because the age is important for the plot. For example, we have one of them flirting with his teacher, which is quite creepy given the ages of the characters. However the actor looks like a college graduate, so it's difficult to feel like this is a 15 year old we are talking about.

Dawsons Creek was revolutionary as it was a show that really cared about its characters, the story lines and the audience. The characters in the show were very likable, honest people who the audience grew to love. The thing that puts this show above most of the other teenage shows is the strength of the acting, the character depth, the realism of the show and the way the show is written.

Dawsons Creek follows the trials and tribulations of a group of very close teenage friends who are growing up in the fictional seaside town of Capeside. James Van Der Beek plays the main character in the show, the honest, romantic and genuinely good-guy Dawson Leery. Katie Holmes soul mate Joey Potter and Joshua Jackson was the plays his life-long best friend and funny, naughty and charming other best friend Pacey Whitter. Kerr Smith and Michelle Williams does a good job as Jen Lindley and Jack McPhee who were the other main cast in the show and who were also friends with the other three characters.

The show is mainly about these teenagers growing up through their adolescent years and it shows all the problems that they encounter, and by having each other the characters so close to each other it means they all have people they can turn too when things go wrong. This show dealt with a massive amount of issues and themes whether it be: sexual encounters, affairs, deaths, gay characters, love triangles, fights, mental problems etc and at the heart of the show is the problems they all have with growing up into adults.

Many people complain about the way that these characters spoke in sophisticated vocabulary that was unrealistic to how teenagers would really speak and that may be true to a point that was one of the good things about the show. It did not stick by the conventional teenage drama mould that has been copied many times by other shows.

All the characters in the show are very complex and because they are all there from day one the viewer learns to love each character because we come to respect and understand them. The viewer can also learn to see things they like in each of the characters and because the show stays true to itself, the characters do not change they just evolve.

The writing in this show is generally of a very good standard, and particularly in the first three seasons the music score is also great. The best episode of the show is probably "The Longest Day" as this is just superbly directed and put together and will probably rank among the best for many fans of the show.

A big strength of this show is that it appeals to a large amount of people in the teenage age group and unlike most teenage shows, it appeals to both men and women. I think this is due to the fact that the characters are not just two-dimension Hollywood cutouts and they all have deep personalities. The audience can identify with the characters because they paint a realistic portrayal of teenage life.

I personally think the show went on for too long and it should have finished after the fourth season. This is due to the fact that in Season 5 most of the characters moved away to different parts of the country and the closeness of the characters we had become to love simply vanished. The new characters that were cast into the show did not really add much to the already established show.

Go and see this show 9/10

I never watched the show while it was on TV, and the only reason why I bought the first season was because it was on sale for $13.00. And then I found myself buying the second season... third season... and now, fourth season. I am currently waiting for seasons 5 & 6 to go on sale (lol, sadly I can't afford them at the price they're at now) Anyways, back to the show. A lot of reviews on here say the show is unrealistic. That teenage kids don't talk like that or act like that. I say, so what? If you want complete accuracy, watch a documentary, or better yet, go back to highschool and sit there and watch the kids there. Dawson's Creek was meant to entertain, to bring everyday stuff teens do go through and adding a hefty dose of angst to it. Yes, the language in the show is quite sophisticated. That's the reason why I love it so much. It's smart. It's for lack of a better and cheesy word "deep." I don't know about the last two seasons, but I sure as hell enjoyed the first four. I recommend it for those who hate the stuff that's on TV nowadays.

Why on earth did they cast James Van Der Beek as Dawson in this series? It was a total irritant to see his expressionless face and stilted dialogue all the way through six series. So much so that in series 5 and 6 when he wasn't prominent in the episode the quality was vastly improved. After five and half series of acting practice he just about managed to gain the power to make facial expressions, loose the wooden acting and deliver a line audibly. Despite all of the above, the rest of the cast to a greater and lesser extent managed to rescue the situation and elevate the series and portray an interesting and sometimes clever storyline, even if quite a few credits should have had as themselves tagged on the credit. That being recognised, then the casting team did a good job, with that one blunder as the exception. All in all a thoroughly good watch with story lines that keep you watching and one of the best examples in this genre.

From it's very first pilot episode, Dawson's Creek has been able to capture the hearts of every teenager. Ever since it's ending in 2003, I believe this TV series was one the best teen set drama. One thing that this show was able to maintain was it's cast. Dawson Leary played by James Van Der Beck, Pacey Witter played by Joshua Jackson, Jen Lindley played by Michelle Williams, and Joey Potter played by Katie Holmes have all been in every episode since season one- and hence everyone was able to follow the characters from beginning to end. Though some episodes were cliché, and were equipped with some cheesy lines, that did not stop it from one time being one of the most popular shows in th world. This show brought many stars to the lime light especially Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson.