N.Y Daily News

'Young Americans:' Gas, Food, Longing

By Richard Huff

New York Daily News

Sunday, July 9th, 2000  [retrieved November 2010]

A chance visit to a New England gas station gave writer-producer Steve Antin the spark he needed to write a show about young people.

The actor-turned-writer (he's appeared in "NYPD Blue") had been mulling a series built around teen life, but it was his stop for fuel that got him going.

"I was driving through New England and I drove up to this gas station, and there were four 15-year-old girls there," Antin says.

He was taken by the sight of four teen females working as pump jockeys, a spot usually filled by males.

"One of them said, 'My dad owns the station,'" Antin recalls. "I just thought this was the sweetest thing I ever saw."

In Antin's new WB series, "Young Americans" (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), the concept of daddy owning a gas station remains, although the facts have changed dramatically.

The series is set in a New England boarding school and revolves around the disparate backgrounds of each of the students. It centers on two boys, Will Krudski (Rodney Scott), a scholarship student whose blue-collar roots stick out like a sore thumb. He rooms with Scout Calhoun (Mark Famiglietti), who possesses the good looks and confidence that creates opportunities.

Both young men are smitten with Bella Banks (Kate Bosworth), a local girl who works at a gas station owned by her father.

"I wanted to write a show about young people and [I wanted them] to be at that time of your life when the possibilities are endless," Antin says. "I wanted to write a show about the moments of life when you look back on your youth, and the stakes are not so high. But as a teenager you're inherently melodramatic."

The show will draw obvious comparisons to the WB's "Dawson's Creek," another drama probing the depths of teen life. But both Antin and star Scott downplay such comparisons.

"Our show is so much different from 'Dawson's Creek,'" Scott says. " 'Dawson's' created the whole teen thing, so to speak. They set the bar, and our show, it basically pushed it further than 'Dawson's' has or any other show in the past. This show is very deep. It's more mature in a sense. The characters that you're going to be watching, they're just very real."

It hasn't hurt, mind you, that the WB has scheduled "Young Americans" to premiere behind "Dawson's Creek" and that Scott's character has popped up on a few episodes of "Dawson's" as a way to introduce the concept to viewers.

Antin says "Young Americans" is staying true to classic storytelling and compares the relationship between Scout and Bella to Romeo and Juliet.

"I always wanted to tell that story," Antin says. "But how do I reinvent this for 2000?"

Among the contemporary twists is a storyline featuring Katherine Moenning as a woman passing as a man. Her motivations will come to light as the series progresses. The show also stars Ed Quinn and Ian Somerhalder.

The WB is giving "Young Americans" a shot in the summer and if it fares well in the Nielsen department it could return as a midseason series down the road.

Antin isn't too concerned about the summer run.

"I think what used to be somewhat of a handicap has turned into this great opportunity," Antin says. "We're really excited about it. If there's quality programming, or provocative programming, people will tune in during the summer."

"Young Americans" premieres Wednesday at 9 p.m. on Ch. 11