"No, I think they think we're strange,"
Young Americans is a short-lived series by The WB. It is a Spin-Off of Dawson's Creek made in 2000 by the WB. It only lasted a season of eight episodes. There was a large fan effort to get the WB to re-commission a second season, which failed.
The series is centered around the prestigious Rawley Academy which is situated in the poorer small town Rawley. The main characters are Will Krudski (Rodney Scott), who entered the academy through a forged entrance paper and is of questionable background, and maybe half-siblings Scout Calhoun (Mark Famiglietti), a Rawley student, and Bella Banks (Kate Bosworth), a townie. Will narrates the start and finish of every episode. However, sub-plot characters Jake Pratt (Katherine Moennig), Hamilton Fleming (Ian Somerhalder), and Finn (Ed Quinn) become more prominent as the series continues, Hamilton being the son of the dean and the art teacher, Jake being a Sweet Polly Oliver in a Boys school to see if her mother would notice, and Finn being a coach of the rowing team.
Tropes Include:
- Central Theme: Youthful idealism; in the pilot Finn tells the rowing team that this might be the last time in their lives when their hopes outmeasure their disappointments, and to make the most of it.
- Expy: The show takes obvious cues from its parent series; Will is Dawson, Scout is Pacey, Bella is Joey.
- Most Writers Are Writers: Will is an aspiring author.
- Poorly Disguised Pilot: Dawson's Creek introduces a new character, Will Krudski, into the gang for three episodes in Season 3. Will is the protagonist for Young Americans.
- Product Placement: To the point where the show was actually credited on-screen as Coca-Cola Presents Young Americans.
- Sweet on Polly Oliver: Hamilton is quite smitten with Jake and rather relieved once he finds out that Jake is actually a girl pretending to be a boy.
- Wrench Wench: Bella Banks. She is a high school student who works as a mechanic at her dad's auto repair shop.
