“This is one of those rare milestone events that separates the first half of your life from everything that follows.”

- Pacey Witter, Dawson’s Creek, “Baby” (1×06)

There are two shows that consistently come up in discussions of when I truly realized my love for television. On my own personal TV timeline, things either fall before or after Buffy/Dawson’s Creek. So I suppose it shouldn’t be too surprising that the reason Spads was able to turn me into a squealing and gushing fangirl with a simple email is Dawson’s Creek related, eh?

Before you can properly appreciate the story, though, I need go back and once again fill you in on something that happened on my trip to LA back in November. See what happens when you get lazy and put off posting about these things? There’s no easy “go read about it” link. You’d think I’d learn.

The Wednesday after I arrived in LA, Kelley and I went to walk the picket lines at Warner Brothers for a couple of hours. Our location selection was based somewhat on our pre-determined evening plans and the desire to deliver more supplies from Supernatural fans. Though I have unique memories from each of our other picket locations, this time at Warner is easily my favorite. This is because we spent a large portion of our time there chatting with a group of extremely gracious and indulgent writers. They are truly awesome people and not just because they didn’t give us the brush off. You know how you meet some people and it’s an honor and you really enjoy talking with them but that’s pretty much the extent of it? Then you meet some people and all you can think is, “I want to be your friend!” Not that you ever necessarily would be friends, even if you actually interacted on a daily basis. You just instinctively recognize these are your kind of people. Yeah. That’s what these writers were… My kind of people.

At some point, one of them mentioned his wife is also a writer and that the strike has been difficult as they are both of out of work. Then later he also told us a great tidbit about how he and his wife watched the finale of last season’s Project Runway. Since I won’t be able to do it justice and it’s not really the point of this story, I won’t bother to re-tell it but I had to mention it because it was later, after having gone back to my hotel and recalling how much fun these two sound, that I regretted not having asked his wife’s name. Or, at the very least, the name of her show. Not so much because I’m nosy and needed to know who she is (ok, so I am a little nosy) but because it had made me an instant fan and now I wanted to see her work.

Fast-forward to two months later and I get an email from Spads about her day at “Spooky Wednesday” and how she got to talk to this writer again and found out his wife’s name. A moment later, I’ve somehow transported myself back ten years and am once again that crazy Creek fangirl of television past. I may have actually screamed. Ok, it more was more like a moderately pitched exclamation but it felt like a scream.

I bet you know where this is going, eh? Yep, it turns out his wife is someone I feel in love with (a platonic, “I want this person’s job” kind of love) during Dawson’s Creek, Anna Fricke.

Though Anna did eventually write for the show, I actually “met” her when she was an assistant and would answer the “Ask Anna and Jason” questions from fans on the Dawson’s Creek website. She and Jason were also a big part of the DC e-newsletter that went out each week. Man, I loved reading those things! Now that I think back on it, I realize that’s where I learned a lot of my miscellaneous knowledge of TV production.

In addition to writing the newsletter and answering questions from fans, Anna also wrote a lot of the other fun stuff I spent hours exploring on the DC site. Not that I was never quite as addicted to it as this girl:

Kate: Ok I read the WHOLE ENTIRE section of these question and answer articles and I haven’t found my question EVER! It also took a couple of hours to read so PLEASE give me an answer! What did everyone give Pacey for his birthday??????? (The Te of Pacey) It was hinted on his desktop that he received the same gift from every one of his friends but I’ve never been able to figure out what it was. If you guys don’t know either PLEASE tell me so my soul can rest easy. Also can we please drop all P/J & D/J conversation everyone there’s enough of that in every other section of DC and no one here can do anything about it. Thanks guys.

ANNA: Kate, I want your soul to rest easy. You know, the thing about Desktop (because Jason and I do that, too, but not the diaries…) is that while we fill in the gaps, which is nice, we often fill in the gaps with things that never happened on the show. I realize that’s slightly evil. My point is, whatever we were hinting at with what they gave Pacey for his birthday was most likely vague because we didn’t want to go against what happened on the actual show. And you know what Pacey’s friends seemed to give him? Squat! Dawson made out with his sister and Joey subjected him to a night with his family! Okay, his sister Kerry gave him an ashtray and his Dad gave him fireworks. When I viewed that scene, I also made out what looked like three rolls of duct tape on the table. It was very sad.

Wait. I just re-read that and I have to admit I was more like Kate that I initially wanted to admit realized. For example, during the summer between seasons three and four of DC, Dawson’s Desktop featured summer diaries for the main characters and I ATE UP Joey’s and Pacey’s. (Did I forget to mention I’m a P/Jer?) Well, on the third page of Joey’s entry for Week 7 she mentions a shell ring that Pacey makes her. I told a friend about it and we were sure that the ring would make an appearance in the first episode back. I mean, they went to the trouble of making one so they’d have a picture of it, right?! Ok, ok, in retrospect (and in looking at those diaries again), I realize they totally photoshopped a shell and ring together to make it. Still, as I watched “Coming Home,” I scrutinized every Pacey and Joey scene hoping for a glimpse of that damn ring. Man. I really do get obsessed, eh? And all of this is a bit off topic so let’s get back to Anna.

As I told Spads, it’s almost ridiculous how excited and happy I was for Anna when she wrote her very first DC episode*, “Appetite for Destruction” (5×10), and got hired on as a staff writer. I was simultaneously overwhelmed with joy for her and heartbroken that it meant she would no longer be answering fan questions. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed Jason and, later, Joe but I forever missed Anna. I still remember her goodbye letter, especially this part:

“You guys don’t even know what a big part your questions play in our daily lives. I know that Jason will carry on beautifully without me, but I don’t know how well I’ll carry on without him.”

Turns out she carried on quite well. She went on to write some of my very favorite episodes in season six (yes, I was one of the few who loved the show during it’s entire run) and to work on both Everwood and Men in Trees. Two shows I love. And, even though you’ll laugh, I must admit that to this day I literally clap happily when I see “Written by Anna Fricke” on the credits of any of my shows. Sigh. It’s sad, isn’t it? How the success of someone I’ve never and am unlikely to ever meet can make me so incredibly happy? What can I say… what she did had a strong impact on my life and so I like knowing it was just the beginning of her success in TV as well.

As for my insane obsession with the online presence Dawson’s Creek had and how I think the WB was so incredibly short-sighted by not realizing they were so far ahead of the times not to mention how stupid I was for not realizing it was something I could do and should do (and would later do, as a fan, for Veronica Mars), well that’s a discussion for another time. You know, when I’m not in the mood to get depressed about the years I could have spent getting my foot in the door of the television industry doing the very thing I’ve come to realize I love. In the meantime, revel in the wonder that is discovering two people who you think are awesome finding each other and them being out there, being totally awesome together. That is, after all, the way the world should work.

* Technically the episode before this,”Four Scary Stories” (5×09), is Anna’s first episode since she had to create wrap arounds to help convert the script from its original Halloween theme to a thriller that could air later in the season.