In talking about the genesis of Californication, Tom explained: "The idea came out of my own misery of working on Dawson's Creek. I came out here to write screenplays, and I ended up on Dawson's Creek, which was very lucrative and fun, but it was not what I wanted to do."
"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."
Wow, now I completely understand the bitterness about Californication. Dang, sounds like it was the wrong show for him. I don't know why I feel the need to defend Katie Holmes, James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams, but it doesn't only happen to young stars become famous so fast because I have heard other show runners say the same thing.
