James at 15

"James At 15"....Do I remember this show.

For one,it was the replacement for the short-lived action/adventure-science fiction series "Man From Atlantis" starring Patrick Duffy on NBC's Thursday Night Schedule during the mid-to-late 1970's. Secondly,the show was placed at the 9:00 hour,where it was opposite two top-rated shows......CBS' long-running crime drama "Hawaii Five-O",and the situation police comedy show "Barney Miller",which was on ABC. "James at 15" was critically praised for it handling of realism and sensitivity when other networks wouldn't dare touch. Premiering on NBC-TV on October 27, 1977, the series lasted no more than a season and a half on the air producing 21 episodes.

For the two seasons that it was on the air,"James at 15" was one of TV's most honest attempts to portray the pains and joys of growing up during the 1970's. The main character,fifteen year-old James Hunter(Lance Kerwin)was a bright,sensitive lad who found his world completely disrupted when his father,a college professor,moved the family from Oregon to Boston,Mass.,in order to accept a new teaching position. At first James tried to run away,and then began to learn how to cope with life in a new city environment(which was totally different from Oregon).

Among his friends at Bunker Hill High School were a hip black male named "Sly" who was always giving James advice on anything,and whenever James needed it or to what Sly called his "slychology". Marlene was plain and intelligent who had a point of view on just about anything. Sandy(Kim Richards)was James' teen sister. Kathy(Deirdre Berthrong)was the older sister. One thing that this show had that really caught everyone's attention were the subject matters for each episode which were sometimes serious and controversial in some of them. Subjects like teen pregnancy,teenage alcoholism,venereal diseases,and relationships were the topics of the day. The acting were believable from Lance Kerwin and from some of the cast including Linden Chiles as James' loving and understanding father. David Hubbard gives a good performance as James' close friend. Susan Myers was very good in the role Marlene.

The controversial episode,and the one that became the nail in the coffin for this brilliant series is the one were James actually sleeps with an exchanged student and loses his virginity. NBC had high hopes for this series,and since the controversial episode was tastefully handled,it did not attract a large audience,and was gone after a single season. Even the title change "James at 16"(premiered February 9, 1978) didn't help things neither,since NBC placed the show opposite "Hawaii Five-O",and "Barney Miller" which clobbered it in the ratings. After two seasons,the series was canceled on May 6, 1978. Repeated episodes lasted until July 27, 1978(the last time this series was ever seen on network television). Repeated episodes of this series surfaced again during the early-to-mid 1980's when The Christian Broadcasting Network(CBN,which is nowadays ABC Family)brought this show back in re-runs. And since its airing,it hasn't been seen since.

I was 16 when this show came out. It made me distinctly uncomfortable, and worse as the show went on. I kept thinking, man, what is it with this twerpy kid? I loved how another commenter stated that this was great, like "My So Called Life", another show that depicted teens saying things like no teen on earth says them. If that is the kind of show you like, this show is for you.

The show was boring, strange, and off putting. I remember it was on a night where nothing else was on, and I carried through like four episodes, and that was enough. I remember the novelty of the show changing names when he went another year.

The reason why this show didn't continue is it really stank.

I loved this show and made the mistake of throwing out my VHS episodes. James at 15 was such a well produced, topical, and written show. James at 15 was comparable to "St. Elsewhere" Not good rating but an excellent show. James at 16 was so watered down . whereas James at 15 could be very controversial about real teen issues, James at 16 could have been run on Saturday mornings. When Freaks and Geeks came out critics praised it as the next James at 15. Unfortunately this show didn't last long. I think because this 2000 show was written like shows were written in the 70's. Does any know if at least the James at 15 (before the series with Melissa Gildert) is available? I sure do miss this show. I found a site that will make DVDs of old series (Courtship of Eddie's Father) if enough people vote for it. I'll will try to find this site and vote.

Actual things that go on in a 16 years olds life come to reality.

In the last 30 years there have been exactly three halfway realistic TV series about teenagers--"Freaks and Geeks", "My So-Called Life", and this one which is the oldest and by far the most obscure. They were all critically acclaimed, but all three of them put together didn't last even half as long as crap like "Beverly Hills 90210". It's ironic that as obsessed as Hollywood is with teenagers, they rarely show real teenagers, but instead these incredibly good-looking, articulate, acne-free versions usually played by actors in their mid-20's. I remember this show from when I was kid, and then again when it was on some cable network again briefly in the early 90's. It was about three normal middle-class 70's teenagers with normal, middle-class teenage problems. It was a little preachy, but lacked the ridiculous melodrama of "90210" and its ilk. I also vaguely remember this series and the TV movie it was based on being somewhat controversial for their sexual content (tame by today's standards and REALLY tame compared to the things that were actually going in the late 70's). Part of the problem might have been that the sex was portrayed as awkward and fumbling (and the actors were real teenagers) In other words, the teenage sex was too real and not sexy enough--ironic, isn't it? Anyway, I'd really like to see this again someday.