January 20, 1998: “Dawson’s Creek” Premieres

Left to right: Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson,

James Van Der Beek and Katie Holmes

January 20, 1998: Dawson’s Creek premieres on The WB Network. It was created by Kevin Williamson, coming off his 1st Scream film, and filmed in his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina -- also the hometown of TV journalist David Brinkley and basketball icon Michael Jordan -- which stood in for the Cape Cod community of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

More than any teenage drama yet seen on TV, this show pushed the boundaries of what could be discussed, especially in terms of sex, including the addition of gay characters, as Williamson himself was openly gay.

The show is centered on 4 kids, 15 years old when the action begins. James Van Der Beek plays Dawson Leery, an aspiring filmmaker. He is the stand-in for Williamson, with the difference being that Dawson is straight. The show was progressive, but not that progressive.

Katie Holmes plays Joey Potter, a tomboy who often spends the night at Dawson's house because she comes from a broken home. This becomes a problem as they become more aware of their feelings for each other. Joshua Jackson plays Dawson's other best friend, Pacey Witter, also from a broken home, and, like Hawkeye on M*A*S*H and Chandler on Friends, he uses humor as a defense mechanism.

In the pilot, Jen Lindley, played by Michelle Williams, moves into Capeside. Her rich New York parents kicked her out to live with her fundamentalist grandmother, as punishment for her already wild life. At points in the show's run, each of the boys dates each of the girls.

Paula Cole sang the theme song. It runs for 6 seasons. The show, not the song. The song, in full, lasts over 5 minutes. The show seemed to last a lot longer than 6 seasons, and not just because it had a time-jump from 2003 to 2008 for its final episode.

That finale shows that, as with The Wonder Years, the initial couple does not end up together: Dawson, now a successful TV producer, and Joey, an editor in New York, maintain a close bond, but not as lovers. Pacey runs a restaurant in Boston, while Jen, now the mother of a 1-year-old daughter, dies of a heart condition.

(Tragically, life imitated art: Williams had a daughter with actor Heath Ledger, but he died in 2008.)

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January 20, 1998 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl, which the Denver Broncos would win over the Green Bay Packers.

There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 103-93 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum (now the Hank McCamish Pavilion) in Atlanta.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 86-84 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 107-98 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors, 87-69 at The Arena in Oakland (as the Coliseum complex's arena was then known).

* And the Vancouver Grizzlies beat the Denver Nuggets, 88-77 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

And there were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-0 at the CoreStates Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 0-0 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 6-2 at the Edmonton Coliseum (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known).

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.