Do You Remember: Young Americans

Back in the summer of 2000, a new series – a spin-off from the uber-popular Dawson’s Creek – debuted on The WB (now obviously known as The CW).

That show was called Young Americans.

The series was set in the town of New Rawley at the prestigious boarding school Rawley Academy, focusing on Will Krudski (Rodney Scott), who was introduced late in season three of Dawson’s Creek as a childhood friend of the group who has kept in contact with Pacey Witter.

Will was a working-class New Englander who earned a scholarship to his hometown’s boarding school, starting with the summer session, as a means of escaping his abusive father. But in a moment of carelessness, he confessed to his roommate Scout (Mark Farmiglietti from Terminator 3: The Rise of Machines and Aquarius) that he cheated on his entrance exam. Their professor, Finn (Ed Quinn from Eureka, Revenge and The Oval) overheard that admission, making Will write an essay on himself.

Throughout the series Will continued to face moral dilemmas as he struggled to find his place at school while not alienating his friends in town. There was also the forbidden love of Scout and Bella (Kate Bosworth from Superman Returns, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton and Straw Dogs), who may have the same father.

Jacqueline (Katherine Moenning from The L-Word and Ray Donovan), in an attempt to get her mother to notice her, enrolled at Rawley Academy and presented herself as Jake. Things get complicated when she develops feelings for Hamilton (Ian Somerhalder from The Vampire Diaries and V Wars, which debuted on Netflix this past Friday) , the dean’s son. Hamilton began to wonder if he was gay as he realized he had feelings for Jake. These story lines didn’t converge until the final two episodes as Bella sought the truth about her biological father.

Some of the guest stars of this short-lived series included:

Matt Czuchry, who went on to star in Gilmore Girls and is now the lead in the FOX medical drama The Resident.

Charlie Hunnam, who went on to star in Sons of Anarchy, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and the Netflix movie Triple Frontier.

Michelle Monaghan, who went on to star in Gone Baby Gone, Mission Impossible Fallout, The Path and the upcoming Netflix series Messiah.

The original pilot of the show, which never aired, featured Jeremy Sisto (Clueless, Suburgatory and FBI) as Professor Finn, but he landed the title role in the CBS mini-series Jesus so his part was recast. The original pilot was also filmed in Atlanta, but before the show aired, it moved to Maryland.

The series only aired 8 episodes over the course of the summer of 2000 before being canceled in August of that year.

Here is the original opening credits for Young Americans:

Do you remember Young Americans?