He didn't even elaborate. And who cares what he says? Dawson's Creek is still freaking awesome.

The fact that the show ended years ago makes his comment irrelavent to me...

He just said what he needed/wanted to say about his experience.

I voted funny, but think it was mean. You have to think they were younger and certainly not as emotionally mature as they are today. It was unnecessary for him to make the comment, and further more, why would he bother with such old news?

They probably were monsters back then. They were young actors making good cash.
Katie looks completely lost here.

There is a whole history there that needs to be explained.
Tom Kapinos took over as showrunner of a TV show he basically hated--first and foremost. He had no investment in the story created by Kevin Willamson and no desire to even try to follow it or do the characters any justice. He thought it was sappy melodramtic fare and it was about 180 degrees away from what he was interested in writing.

So rather than be grateful at the time he even had a job in a very competitive creative industry instead he pretty much spent his time there either bitter or bored.
If anyone watched the show from the beginning and wondered what happened to trhe characters in the last season you have Tom Kapinos to thank. And he couldn't believe the actors would have the gall to come to the writers room to question him--even though they'd been playing the characters for years longer than he'd been writing for them. THAT'S where his animosity comes from. Bas9ically his own ego got in the way and he didn't care that he ruined the integrity of the storylines.

There was one incident where Michelle Williams and Katie Holmes almost had to put a halt to production because of the way Kapinos showed such little regard for the show or characters.

He finally has his dream job writing on a show far removed from Dawson's Creek. I can't believe he'd actually try to go there now--when anyone who watched Dawson's Creek is probably aware of how the writing quality suffered due to him. Not a nice guy obviously.

I also cannot believe he basically admits to destroying a TV show by running it into the ground....yet STILL tries to lay blame the actors--as if it were a crime that they cared about the quality.

Josh Jackson has a great quote from Paley about how he'd rather be on a show that shoots to be the best and comes in second than a show that strives for mediocrity and achieves it. I think that is the PERFECT synopsis of the Dawson's Creek experience under Tom Kapinos. He didn't care about this "dumb show" that employed him and couldn't believe anyone else would.

He is very much like the character in Californication in fact.

Whatever happened to James Van Der Bighead?

Eat Katie!

Why aren't these people (entertainment people) ever expected to uphold the same level of professionalism as you and I? If I were to talk publicly about coworkers like this, it would be a career-ender for sure. Way to be tactful.

I don't think that young, unknown actors really would care about the quality of a show they're on.

Katie looks awful. What's going on with her?

Yes EXACTLY...because THAT's what every single young actors DREAM of--a chance to do really really bad TV so they can have their start in the business and their professional name first associated with something unwatchable and laughable.

Katie is naturally pretty and kudos to her for always being so gracious and calm amidst the dangers and war zone like environment she goes throught with the photogs and crowd.

I never watch Dawson's Creek but hey its one show that made theWB so big and look at CW now. They're not as glorious as the former network. I miss the Frog.

Ok, this is kind of unfair to the writer. Whoever wrote this for Pop has a bias or is a terrible writer.

I read about this story on Yahoo! and you left out an important (but it's why I assume you put funny as a choice)...the writer said this and the audience proceeded to laugh and he elaborated.

And writer usually follow producers orders so I don't think he means that HE wanted to run it into the ground just that producers, as time went on, didn't know what to do and would pass the responsibilities of the show around to different writers.

He got stuck with the awkward college years. You could accuse him of ego but I read about DC being a terrible show to work on before as well from other sources.

Arguably, television is a producer or writer's territory...sometimes a writer is responsible for a show's successes or failures, sometimes the producers, sometimes both. And in this case I think the writers were always in flux and the producers just wanted to make money.

Remember DC wasn't respected TV it was for the teens and the WB's cash cow. People wanted to make money of the show and they did but critics never liked it. Only kids from that generation liked it.

I can acuse him of ego because I worked with him. Trust me--he doesn't deserve anyone trying to justify his comments.

Dawson's Creek wasn't a terrible show with Kevin or Greg Berlanti because they actually cared about what they were doing and have a work ethic. Tom Kapinos--by his own admission--did not.

Kapinos is just letting his bitterness show through. He imagined he would go on to huge successes once he got out of Dawson's Creek and he thought the actors would go nowhere.

Hmmm I think it was definitely mean. I wasn't a huge fan of the show but still this guy is a jerk.

That's why someone quoted Josh Jackson talking about mediocrity. The producers and the WB only cared about making money and all the actor wanted to move on..that show was always crap from the very beginning. Face it.

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/article/urn:newsml:eonlinekristen.com:20090603:...

"The experience was miserable," he continued about Dawson's. "But it was a four-year boot camp. It was like going to TV grad school and learning how to run a television show. Anybody on that show who could make a decision was allowed to run it at some point. I inherited the very awkward college years, and I almost ran the show into the ground. But I learned everything that I needed to know about how to run a show."

When the panel moderator asked, "What was it specifically that made it such a challenge?" Tom dropped this bomb: "It was the four monstrous actors at the core of it."

The audience erupted in laughter as Tom continued, saying: "They were very young, and they got very famous, and they made life miserable for any writer or producer on the show."

Most shows that have been on that long have issues. Actors become to overwhelmed w/ popularity, the writers are stuck w/ storylines that the network mandates, and creativity becomes stifled. I'm sure Tom's words were taken out of context, but I'm also sure that if you asked anyone in the crew they would agree w/ anything he's said.

"I'm also sure that if you asked anyone in the crew they would agree w/ anything he's said"

Completely untrue. Not even close.

The cast was very close to Kevin and very close to Greg. And the crew was like a big extended family.

And I realize you're speaking in wide sweeping generalities PeechyKeen but I'm speaking in first-hand experience. Some of what you say may hold true for a lot of shows. But Dawson's Creek was filmed in a small studio far away from LA with almost the same 100+ crew for it's entire run. Of course there were egos and difficult situations involved.

That doesn't excuse anyone from not doing their job. Kapinos wanted out of there from basically the day he started and it's reflected in what happened to the show when he took over.

The show sucked from the get go.

So Katie and Michelle and Josh (sorry James!) have gone on to work with on projects of JJ Abrams; Ang Lee; Wim Wenders; Charlie Kaufman; Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese where they appear alongside Oscar winning actors and actresses.

To date there has been nothing out there except how easy each of them are to work with. All I've heard about is how Josh arrives on set to shake every guy's hand or Katie treats everyone to lunch or Michelle is so sweet and gracious.

And this writer has done nothing except Dawson's Creek and that self-indulgent cliche-riddled piece of crap Californication.

But it's THEM who made the show suck so hard (and not him the guy writing that garbage) because they were "monstrous"?

Okay then.

Good point. If they were such monsters why hasn't that reputation ever followed them anywhere to any other film set ever?

Must be slow news and many news and blogs are using Katie as a headliner. The guy must be enjoying his quickie fame.

Katie does look depressed. She's always wearing black or gray or both. I wonder if she regrets getting married to a crazy man.

I believe the writer and am glad he has voiced his views. It is true that young actors starting out in the business have a STINKING ATTITUDE, and that's what those four had in that show. Why dispute what he says? Michelle Williams for one has shown she has a STINKING ATTITUDE in general, even threatened to sue her 10 year old fansite which resulted in them shutting it down. IIn Dawson's Creek she was even dating one of the writers Morgan J Freeman for like a year and that obviously went to her head and she acted like she was THE BOSS of the place. Katie also thought she was great, really believing the ridiculous 'teenage' hype about herself. Diddo the guys in the show. The FACT is that the girls in that show are more famous now because of WHO THEY SLEPT WITH/GOT CONVENIENETLY PREGNANT BY.

wow annonymous 31, did you work on the set.....and obviously know them personally, i think its hilarious how bitter and slightly jealous he sounds, what's the point of saying this now? if they were all so terrible they would all have disapeared in to oblivion by now, and as i can recall, michelle has lots of films under her belt, as does katie as well as being on broadway which is a sign she is competent..... he seems a bit of a prat to me.

Michelle Williams never threatened to sue her fansite. That rumor was cleared up long ago by the former site's owner who explained that it was her own personal decision to close the site. She expressed a lot of regret that a story like that even got started.

I also agree the only reason for this guy to have even mentioned the cast is probably because of the levels of fame reached.

Katie looks awful. What's going on with her?

Dragenfly75, two words: Tom Cruise. That's what is going on with her.

well, of course 4 teenage/early 20's actors on a very popular and successful TV show would be annoying to work with!!! that should be a given. the way he said it definitely sounded bitter. until i read that eonline story, i didn't know he was responsible for the crappy college years. so now, i'd say yes, he is DEFINITELY bitter about something.

Smile katie!

i think that it's mean spirited . after all these years - really what do you have to gain from saying things like that. really? they were all young, and who knows if there's even any truth to it all. they all seem like they were really nice and down to earth at the time.

Dawson's Creek was the partly autobiographical story of Kevin Williamson. Williamson hand-picked the cast and worked with them very closely to develop the characters close to his own heart. There was an excellent working relationship there. It was difficult for everyone when he left. They still speak highly of him even now.

Tom Kapinos came into the show runner position four years later. He didn't care about Williamson's vision for the show and didn't bother to familiarize himself with the characters because he simply didn't care. He was just there until something better came along. When the cast dared to point out that their characters would never say/do certain things (seeing as they had been playing these characters for five season already) Tom Kapinos labeled them as bratty young stars.

He also used to make fun of the shows fans when they complained about the bad turn it took after he was show runner.

No one is accusing Dawson's Creek of being Masterpiece Theatre but this guy has a lot of nerve to turn around all these years later and try to bad-mouth these actors to make himself look good.

I also wanted to add that this cable show is the first gig Tom Kapinos has even had since Dawson's Creek got canceled. He gets one little taste of success after nothing for years and instead of being thankful his first order of business is to bad-mouth former co-workers?

Tells a lot about him right there.

Katie always looks miserable.

Tom Kapinos always thought he was too good for Dawson's. Ironic that he is responsible the worst part of the show's history.

whatever loser....side note: Katie couldn't look worse in the above pic, shyt girl get some sleep

Dawson's Creek has to be some of the worst television I've ever seen. If I were in it, I'd probably be a monster too. A conflicted monster, given how much they were probably paid.

Wow, so many people hate Dawson's Creek here! Oh right, the anonymous comments...

Anyway, he seems an idiot.

The young woman on the show surely didn't have that non-talented diva-air about them and I haven't heard any bashing about the boys either.

Maybe there is some truth to it, at least in this person's own perception, but either way it is a no-no to go there now.

Maybe he's just one of those persons who blurt things out and regret them later,especially if they are fueled with bitterness.

And btw, I like Dawson's Creek.

Kapinos can say whatever he wants to. Californication is one of the best shows in the history of television.

If this guy were telling the truth, I wouldn't have any problem with it. I think people have a right to be honest about their experiences, and I wish more in the entertainment industry would be. However, I do think the insider commenting here is credible and Kapinos is not being truthful, so that changes my opinion. To be honest, I can't imagine three of these actors being monstrous .

Katie Holmes, though, has never struck me as a nice person, and her post-marrying Tom behaviour has kinda confirmed that inkling for me. Look back at the ep of Punk'd she was on. After straight-out lying (perhaps understandable, since the setup put her in a difficult position), she looks the person in the eye with a wide-eyed, innocent, wounded look and says she never lies. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest. I never thought her sweetie-pie image rang true and at that moment you see she uses it to manipulate.

My point is that even if this guy is a first class a-hole and totally wrong about the cast at the time, I see little reason to believe Katie is incapable of being an a-hole too. Citing her PR-planted tales of kindness (which you'll note are part of a pretty intense PR campaign to brand her as a superwoman...one story has her super-generously buying cupcakes for cast and crew, another tries to wow us with tales of her gift for 'designing' stationery, the next has her ascribing an impossible talent to Suri), or her body of work (which is slight and for the most part poorly received) as reasons she couldn't be a brat doesn't make sense to me.

I'm sure there's a bit of truth in what he said.

#27 and 28, I think you are both gullible. There are plenty of actors who are horrible to work with, yet they are famous and continue to work. Hollywood breeds those types.

Lovely lady and a sweetheart. Californication wont even last long like DC.

Why should Katie smile? she's constantly followed everywhere and paps are breaking privacy shooting her in hotel windows and even at their home backyard.

I'm from the area where Dawson's Creek was filmed, and I have to say, all four stars made it pretty clear they felt they were entitled to major movie roles as soon as the show succeeded--in all their press interviews they seemed to endlessly complain of "missed opportunities" because the show filmed so far from LA. Clearly though, none of them have worked all that much since the show ended. Of the four, Williams seems the most successful as an actor, but only in low-profile indie roles, with the exception of Brokeback Mountain. I agree with whomever said Katie Holmes & Michelle Williams are more famous for their spouses than their films; Van Der Beek and Jackson, meanwhile, are totally off the radar. So much for "missed opportunities"!