James at 15

"James At 15"....Do I remember this show.

For one,it was the replacement for the short-lived action/adventure-science fiction series "Man From Atlantis" starring Patrick Duffy on NBC's Thursday Night Schedule during the mid-to-late 1970's. Secondly,the show was placed at the 9:00 hour,where it was opposite two top-rated shows......CBS' long-running crime drama "Hawaii Five-O",and the situation police comedy show "Barney Miller",which was on ABC. "James at 15" was critically praised for it handling of realism and sensitivity when other networks wouldn't dare touch. Premiering on NBC-TV on October 27, 1977, the series lasted no more than a season and a half on the air producing 21 episodes.

For the two seasons that it was on the air,"James at 15" was one of TV's most honest attempts to portray the pains and joys of growing up during the 1970's. The main character,fifteen year-old James Hunter(Lance Kerwin)was a bright,sensitive lad who found his world completely disrupted when his father,a college professor,moved the family from Oregon to Boston,Mass.,in order to accept a new teaching position. At first James tried to run away,and then began to learn how to cope with life in a new city environment(which was totally different from Oregon).

Among his friends at Bunker Hill High School were a hip black male named "Sly" who was always giving James advice on anything,and whenever James needed it or to what Sly called his "slychology". Marlene was plain and intelligent who had a point of view on just about anything. Sandy(Kim Richards)was James' teen sister. Kathy(Deirdre Berthrong)was the older sister. One thing that this show had that really caught everyone's attention were the subject matters for each episode which were sometimes serious and controversial in some of them. Subjects like teen pregnancy,teenage alcoholism,venereal diseases,and relationships were the topics of the day. The acting were believable from Lance Kerwin and from some of the cast including Linden Chiles as James' loving and understanding father. David Hubbard gives a good performance as James' close friend. Susan Myers was very good in the role Marlene.

The controversial episode,and the one that became the nail in the coffin for this brilliant series is the one were James actually sleeps with an exchanged student and loses his virginity. NBC had high hopes for this series,and since the controversial episode was tastefully handled,it did not attract a large audience,and was gone after a single season. Even the title change "James at 16"(premiered February 9, 1978) didn't help things neither,since NBC placed the show opposite "Hawaii Five-O",and "Barney Miller" which clobbered it in the ratings. After two seasons,the series was canceled on May 6, 1978. Repeated episodes lasted until July 27, 1978(the last time this series was ever seen on network television). Repeated episodes of this series surfaced again during the early-to-mid 1980's when The Christian Broadcasting Network(CBN,which is nowadays ABC Family)brought this show back in re-runs. And since its airing,it hasn't been seen since.

I was reminded of this show, when I found a paperback book James at 15, that was published as a companion to the show. I remember watching it when it aired, it had quite the following among my friends. What this show had, which many other shows didn't, was have actors close in age to the characters they were playing. Story lines that revolved around driving, dating, first sexual experiences, alcohol abuse, handled in a matter that a kid in the 1970s could relate. James and his friends came off as a bit goody-goody for a inner city Boston school, but they were likable. I haven't found it online or available on dvd.

growing up in the seventies, it was wonderful to have James at fifteen.although our lives did not mirror each others lives, the character of James, beautifully portrayed by (lance Kerwin), was a true comfort. the relationship with his parents, and kid sister was awesome, believable. lance was truly overlooked, his acting was spot on in all of his roles, i think i have seen them all. the show, James at fifteen ended much too soon, was sorry when lance stopped acting but his life now is much more rewarding, and we have his work to revisit and remember fondly. would love to see James at fifteen come out on DVD! or, TV land. James was a first of it's kind and would still stand up to todays boring or violence, sex filled "teen dramas". James at fifteen was the first of it's kind and still the best of it's kind, rock on James, wherever you are!

The show had the feel of a clueless guidance counselor incorrectly believing he or she really understood young people. It always had a message, but the delivery seemed wrong. One example was a moment James seemed to be getting close to a girl & his friend gushed, "You have just replaced John Travolta as the hero of my life!" At the time Travolta was popular among girls, but not straight guys. The people doing "James..." seemed to be the only ones who didn't know that. Everyone I spoke to thought the show was silly. TV critics praised the show at the time, as if none of them remembered what it was really like to be young.

I was about the same age as "James" when this show started, so I enjoyed seeing someone else have issues like I was at that time.

I guess I always love the underdog, too. I watched a great deal of NBC's prime time shows during this time, as they were dead last in the ratings. I can't even count the number of programs that came and went in a short period of time. And when they tried something original, like "James" it got pulled down by the sinking shows around it. Now, granted, your average teen isn't in the desired demographic a network wants as they are all poor, but it might have gotten some of the older set to watch.

It's a shame that this one seems lost to the ages, and probably won't appear on some network like "TVLand"...but it would make a nice add to Netflix.