''James at 15'' (later ''James at 16'') is an American

drama series In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...

that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

during the 1977–1978 season. The series was preceded by the 1977

made-for-TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

''James at 15'', which aired on Monday September 5, 1977, and was intended as a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

for the series. Both were written by

Dan Wakefield Dan Wakefield (born May 21, 1932) is an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter. His best-selling novels, ''Going All the Way'' (1970) and ''Starting Over'' (1973), were made into feature films. He wrote the screenplay for ''Going All th ...

, a journalist and fiction writer whose novel ''Going All the Way'', a tale of

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

in the 1950s, had led to his being contacted by David Sontag of

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

. Sontag, the senior vice-president of creative affairs at Fox, had had a lunch meeting in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with Paul Klein, the head of programming at NBC. Klein said he needed a series for Sunday night. On the spot, Sontag created the idea for a coming-of-age series seen through the eyes of a teenage boy, including his dreams, fantasies, and hopes. Klein loved the idea and asked Sontag who would write it, with Sontag consequently suggesting Dan Wakefield. Despite an unsourced account of the creation of the series, the on-screen credit reads "Created by Dan Wakefield."

Synopsis

Protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

James Hunter (

Lance Kerwin Lance Kerwin (born November 6, 1960) is an American actor, known primarily for roles in television and film during his childhood and teen years in the 1970s. He played lead roles in the TV series ''James at 15'', and the made-for-TV films ''Th ...

) is the son of a college professor (

Linden Chiles Truman Linden Chiles (March 22, 1933 – May 15, 2013) was an American character actor. Early years Chiles was born in St. Louis, Missouri but grew up in Barrington, Illinois. He graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor of arts ...

) who has moved his family across the country to take a teaching job, transplanting James from

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

.Buck, Jerry. Associated Press. "'James at 15' relives youth," ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'', September 2, 1974, page 4. James, who had

Walter Mitty Walter Jackson Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's first short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", first published in ''The New Yorker'' on March 18, 1939, and in book form in '' My World—and Welcome to It'' in 1942. Thurber ...

-like dreams and dabbles in

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

, has a hard time fitting into his new surroundings. During the series run, when James turned 16, the title was updated accordingly. Wakefield, who was born and raised in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

but eventually moved to Boston, said he chose Boston both because he wanted to write about a city he knew well and also because he was tired of television's tendency to give programs

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

or New York City settings. To update his own memories of growing up, the writer spoke with adolescents from Boston.

Cast

as James Hunter *

as Paul Hunter, James' father *

Lynn Carlin Mary Lynn Carlin (née Reynolds) is an American former actress. She is best known for her debut role in the film ''Faces'' (1968), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. Life and career She was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of so ...

as Joan Hunter, James' mother *

Kim Richards Kim Erica Richards (born September 19, 1964) is an American actress, socialite, and television personality. She began her career as a child actress, and rose to prominence from her roles in '' Nanny and the Professor'', '' Escape to Witch Mount ...

as Sandy Hunter, James' sister * Deirdre Berthrong as Kathy Hunter, James' sister * David Raynr as Ludwig "Sly" Hazeltine, James' friend (billed as David Hubbard) * Susan Myers as Marlene Mahoney, James' friend * Kevin Van Wieringen as a deaf student in James' class

TV movie

The movie premiered to high ratings, topping the ratings for the week of September 5–11, 1977,O'Connor, John. New York Times News Service. "New shows put kids in spotlight," ''The Dallas Morning News'', October 25, 1977, page 7.Pederson, Rena. "'Washington' no 'Roots'" (TV column), ''The Dallas Morning News'', September 14, 1977, page 15: "... NBC landed ''James at 15'' and ''Laugh-In'' in first and second place." with a 42% share of the viewing audience,Pederson, Rena. "8 to air game — on tape" (TV column), ''The Dallas Morning News'', October 5, 1977, page 14: "And ''James at 15'', which scored a whopping 42 share of the audience with its pilot earlier in September, will move into the ''

Man from Atlantis ''Man from Atlantis'' is a short-lived American science fiction/fantasy television series that ran for 13 episodes on the NBC network during the 1977–78 season, following four television films that had aired earlier in 1977. Ratings success by ...

'' spot on Oct. 27." quickly prompting NBC to approve a series. Associated Press writer Jerry Buck said of the pilot movie that it "captures the essence of growing up in America," adding, "It makes up for all the drivel we've had to put up with, such as '' Sons and Daughters'' and '' Hollywood High''."

Critical reception and controversy

The show was highly praised for its realism and sensitivity, with a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reviewer applauding the program's avoidance of

stereotyping In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

characters: "Sly, a jiving black student ... has solidly middle-class parents deeply involved in classical music" and a

lower-middle-class In developed nations around the world, the lower middle class is a subdivision of the greater middle class. Universally, the term refers to the group of middle class households or individuals who have not attained the status of the upper middle ...

classmate discovers that her father makes more money as a

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

than James' professor father.

Tom Shales Thomas William Shales (born November 3, 1944) is an American writer and retired critic of television programming and operations. He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which Shales received the Pulitzer Pr ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' opined:

Not perfect, not revolutionary, not always deliriously urgent, ''James at 15'' is still the most respectable new entertainment series of the season. Consistently, it communicates something about the state of being young, rather than just communicating that it wishes to lure young viewers. And if it romanticizes adolescence through the weekly trials and triumphs of its teen-age hero, at least it does so in more ambitious, inquisitive and authentic ways than the average TV teeny-bop.

Critics also approved of its handling of James' first sexual experience, with a Swedish exchange student (Kirsten Baker) in the episode which aired February 9, 1978— at which point the show assumed the name ''James at 16''. However, head writer Wakefield quit in a dispute with NBC over the use of the euphemism ''responsible'' for 'birth control' in the episode, as well as the network's insistence that James should feel remorse over his decision. Behind the scenes, the show's original executive producers, Martin Manulis and Joe Hardy, were replaced by Ron Rubin in December 1977. Despite the critical acclaim, the show lasted only one season. Kerwin was actually 16 when the series began, and had turned 17 when it was cancelled.

Awards and nominations

Novelization

Two novels were written by author April Smith, ''James at 15'' and ''Friends''.

Legacy

Kevin Williamson, the creator of ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...

'', cited this show as a major influence on him and named it as an inspiration for his show. Williamson said, "''Dawson's Creek'' came out of my desire to do ''James at 15'' for the '90s. It was very provocative and way ahead of its time." The

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

refer to the show in their song "

Hey Ladies "Hey Ladies" is a song by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, featured on their album ''Paul's Boutique''. It was the album's only charting single, hitting #36 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It is also the first single in history to chart ...

" ("I'm not James at 15 or Chachi in charge..."), from the album ''

Paul's Boutique ''Paul's Boutique'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989, by Capitol Records. Produced by the Dust Brothers, the album is composed almost entirely from samples, and was recorded over two ...

''.

Notes

External links

* (pilot TV-movie) * {{IMDb title, id=0075519 (series) 1970s American drama television series 1970s American high school television series 1977 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series about teenagers Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in Boston Coming-of-age television shows