Dawson's Creek

Parental Discretion Advised - S2-E22

Trivia: Paul Stupin mentions this true story while discussing the show during the narrative for this episode. Once when Joshua Jackson (who played Pacey) was out swimming at night, there was a girl who was caught in some currents. He jumped in the water, swam out and brought the girl to safety. Joshua made the local newspapers as a "hero", and was known around Wilmington as 'the guy who saved the drowning girl'. The show also had a big ceremony on the set, where they gave Joshua a life preserver in honor of his heroic deeds. (00:06:10)

Pilot (aka Emotions in Motion) - S1-E1

Trivia: There was an alternate scene filmed for the Pilot Presentation, where Tamara is first introduced in the Video Store with Pacey and Dawson. In this alternate scene; the location was an actual Video Store located in Southport, about 50 miles away from Wilmington, NC. They decided to reshoot the scene using a smaller Video Store in Wilmington that didn't look like a chain. Once the show was picked up for a Series, they needed a Video Store location that they could use easily every week. Also, in the alternate scene Tamara is wearing a more conservative outfit of black that covered her quite a bit. They put her in a much sexier dress for the aired version. Tamara's wardrobe and the location were changed to give a better tone to the show.

Pilot (aka Emotions in Motion) - S1-E1

Trivia: The entire pilot presentation was filmed in 6 days. The presentation was not a completed episode, but rather a series of scenes (approximately 30 minutes total) that were designed to sell the show as a series to a network.

Parental Discretion Advised - S2-E22

Trivia: During the narrative for this episode, Paul Stupin talks about the town of Wilmington, NC where Dawson's Creek was filmed. Wilmington is such an old town, that every building has one ghost or another, and every one has a ghost story. There is an inn there called the "Wilmingtonian" where they all would stay while filming. This is a very old inn, and the room behind the front desk was supposedly haunted. One of the writers stayed there, and would be woken up in the middle of the night with the hairs on her neck standing straight out and she would sense a presence. Another writer who stayed in that room supposedly saw a figure in the mirror. There is also a restaurant in Wilmington where a waitress claims that once when she was working on the upper floor, she turned around and saw an apparition standing out on the balcony. It was a fellow dressed as a soldier. (00:04:00)

Pilot (aka Emotions in Motion) - S1-E1

Trivia: The scene where Jen is in Dawson's bedroom for the first time and Gram's calls for her, the woman standing in the doorway was not Mary Beth Piel. She was a stand-in, as they hadn't cast that character when the scene was shot. This is also evident in the scene where Dawson and Jen are standing outside of Jen's house after their "date".

Pilot (aka Emotions in Motion) - S1-E1

Trivia: When Dawson and Joey are watching his mother on the News, it was filmed at an actual local TV station. The man playing the Co-Anchor was an actual Weatherman. Also, when he speaks at the very end of the scene, it isn't the actor's actual voice, it was dubbed. (00:14:50)

Decisions (aka Breaking Away) - S1-E13

Trivia: During the narrative for this episode, Kevin Williamson mentions that the show "Dawson's Creek" was originally written for North Carolina. Because they didn't want a Southern show, they came up with Cape Cod area outside of Boston. But during the Winter episodes, it's hard to get snow in the water in the real location of Wilmington, NC. (00:19:25)

Pilot (aka Emotions in Motion) - S1-E1

Trivia: When they first show the "Capeside High School", the scene was shot at New Hanover High School in Wilmington, for the pilot presentation. The real high school was never used again after that episode. Also, several of the classroom scenes in the pilot were shot in that real high school, including Ms. Jacob's English class with Pacey, and the science lab with Jen and Joey. (00:18:20)

Pilot (aka Emotions in Motion) - S1-E1

Trivia: When the kids all go to the Movies, they approach a small entrance to the Rialto Movie Theater. This was not an actual Movie Theater entrance, it was a phony set constructed for the scene. The phony marquee was actually supposedly a Real Estate Office down in Southport. The inside of the Movie Theater, however is much larger and is actually an auditorium called Thalian Hall, located in Wilmington, NC. This location doubled as the local "Movie Theater" in the show until they tore the Rialto down. Also, in the Season 2 Premiere episode, Dawson and Joey go on their first date to this same theater. (Run Time 26:16) The shot of the outside marquee is again a phony set. The title of the film "The Last Picture Show" was not real, but actually computer-generated special effects on the actual marquee. (Run Time 33:29). (00:32:00)

Parental Discretion Advised - S2-E22

Trivia: During this scene when Pacey is talking to his Father, the river behind them in the background is actually the Cape Fear River. The Cape Fear River is supposedly considered one of the most polluted rivers in the Country. (00:35:45)

...Must Come to an End (2) - S6-E24

Trivia: The video montage Pacey shows Jen is to the tunes of Alanis Morrisette's "One Hand In My Pocket". The producers for "Dawson's Creek" originally wanted this song to play in the opening credits for the show but Morrisette said no.

Trivia: It was mentioned during the narrative for Season 1 by Paul Stupin and Kevin Williamson that one reason the show used so much female pop/rock, was because a female voice blends much better with dialogue scenes than a male voice, which interferes with dialogue.

Pilot (aka Emotions in Motion) - S1-E1

Trivia: During the scene when Dawson rides up on his bike to talk to Joey walking along the road, they filmed the Dawson side of the scene in downtown Southport, and the Joey side of the scene in a Marina about a mile away. Southport, and the location of this scene was where they filmed "I Know What You Did Last Summer", a film that Kevin Williamson wrote the screenplay for. (00:26:45)

Pilot (aka Emotions in Motion) - S1-E1

Trivia: There was an alternate ending filmed for the original Pilot Presentation. In that ending, Dawson looks over from his bedroom window and sees his Mother kissing the Anchorman, and realizes she is having an affair. It was decided to not use that ending; because they wanted to use the storyline of Dawson finding out later in the show, for more episodes.

Pilot (aka Emotions in Motion) - S1-E1

Trivia: The scene where Dawson walks in on his Parents in the living room, was shot with a different Actor playing Dawson's Dad for the Pilot Presentation. They recast the role once the show was picked up by the Network. Also, this alternate scene was actually filmed in the real location of Dawson's house. The two alternate scenes with the fake "Dad" were the only scenes filmed in the real house they used for Dawson.

Trivia: It's mentioned more than once during the Commentaries for the various episodes, that there was a saying in the Editing Room: "Cut To Katie". This referred to the process of editing; whenever there was a difficult or complicated scene they would cut to a close-up of Katie Holme's face because it was so pleasing and lit up the screen.

100 Light Years From Home - S5-E19

Plot hole: At the end of the episode, Dawson is seated in the kitchen talking to Pacey in a normally loud voice. At the same time, Joey and Charlie are awake and talking in the pup tent in the living room, very close to the kitchen. Later in the Season we learn that Joey had no idea Dawson had driven down to Florida to see her, as apparently he left without seeing or talking to her. But being in such close proximity that morning; there is no way Joey would not have been able to hear Dawson's voice as he talked with Pacey. The living room was close enough to the kitchen, so it doesn't make sense that Joey wouldn't have known Dawson was there and if she did-she would have gone to talk to him.

More mistakes in Dawson's Creek

Jen: Cute.
Jack: Gay.
Jen: Aren't they all?

More quotes from Dawson's Creek

Show generally

Question: Jack and Andie are brother and sister in the same grade...but does the show ever explain how that came to be? Are they twins or was Andie moved up because she is so smart?

Answer: It's only explained once in the series. Jack says to Andie "I tried to start kindergarten without you", meaning Andie was smart enough to start school early.

Answer: They are not twins (Jack is older than Andie). It is possible due to when birthdays fall in the school calender for non-twin siblings to end up in the same grade. Say that you have to be 5 on Sept 1 to start Kindergarten, you are born on Sept 2, 2000 and your little sister on Aug 30, 2001. Sept 1, 2005, you are 4 years and 364 days and can't start. So Sept 1, 2006, you are 5 years and 364 days and your sister is 5 years and 1 day, and, voila!, you're both in the same grade.

Answer: The writers have said they are not twins and Jack is older. Although they were both born in 1983. In some states, like Massachusetts, it's a district decision when a child under 6-8 can start kindergarten, so there's no age deadline. In January 1988, Jack and Andie would both be 4, turning 5, and the district then allowed Andie to start kindergarten with her brother. It has nothing to do with Andie being smarter or moved up a grade, a point she alludes to in response to Jack saying he tried to start kindergarten without her (s04e04). As a side note, there was talk among the writers about whether to make Jack older or younger and they ultimately decided to make him older. The writers put in an inside joke about that when Andie says she is "definitely the older sibling in this relationship" (s04e04). It's also an inside joke to the fact that Meredith Monroe (Andie) was almost 2.5 years older than Kerr Smith (Jack). Monroe was 18, turning 19, in 1988.

Bishop73

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