Kevin Williamson (the Scream movie series, I Know What You Did Last Summer) created this engaging drama, which chronicles a group of young friends' passage from adolescence to young adulthood in the small coastal town of Capeside, Massachusetts. Based on Williamson's own experiences growing up, "Dawson's Creek" focuses on fifteen-year-olds Dawson (James Van Der Beek) and Joey (Katie Holmes), who have been friends since they were five and are trying to cope with the way their friendship is changing now that their hormones are raging. Add to the mix their friend Pacey (Joshua Jackson) and the new girl in town, Jen (Michelle Williams), and you can count on extra twists to the drama in their already turbulent lives.

Filmed on location in Wilmington, Durham, and Raleigh, North Carolina, this first season marks the beginning of an unforgettable journey that explores the agony and the ecstasy of teenage life. Can the kids of "Dawson’s Creek" really grow up without growing apart? Watch and find out! Starring James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson, and Oliver Hudson.

Even viewers who consider themselves beyond their teen-angst years might find Dawson's Creek compelling watching. For years Dawson (James Van Der Beek) and Joey (Katie Holmes) have watched movies and slept in the same bed, but they find that as they enter high school their relationship will inevitably change. That becomes especially clear when Dawson is immediately attracted to Capeside, Massachusetts's sexy new arrival, Jen (Michelle Williams). Meanwhile, their friend Pacey (Joshua Jackson) pursues an unachievable love object.

Creator Kevin Williamson based Dawson's Creek on his own youth, and sure, the characters may not really look or sound 15, but the Dawson-Joey-Jen interplay--especially embodied by the sad-eyed and cynical (but still adorable) Joey and the smart but emotionally inept Dawson--gives the show its heart. And just like Williamson's fresh take on the teen-horror genre, Scream, Dawson's Creek has a winking self-awareness, for example when Dawson says they're having a "90210 moment" or explains that they use big words because they watch too many movies. Highlights of the first season include Dawson's discovery that his perfect home life may not be so perfect, an unwelcome reminder of Jen's past, the Breakfast Club takeoff "Detention," the Scream takeoff "The Scare," a beauty contest in which two unlikely competitors square off, and the heart-rending finale.

On the DVDs, Williamson and producer Paul Stubin have a commentary track for both the pilot episode and the last episode, in which they offer parallels between the two "bookends," notes on the locations, vast praise for their cast and affection for the show, and a few spoilers regarding subsequent seasons. Williamson and Stubin also do all the talking in an 8-minute featurette "From Day One," while Van Der Beek, Holmes, Jackson, and (briefly) Williams discuss their characters in the 7-minute "Season One Time Capsule," recorded back when the series premiered. On the downside, picture quality is sometimes quite grainy, perhaps because all 13 episodes plus bonuses are squeezed onto three discs. --David Horiuchi