Miles-10 Review of James at 16

James at 16 (1977–1978)

Somewhat of a spoiler contained here, though after all this time...

[30 March 2005]

I watched this series fairly regularly back when it was first shown. At the time, I thought it didn't go far enough, but the Puritans said it went too far, and it was canceled. Lance Kerwin is a teen coming to terms with growing up. It is about awkwardness. He is white and his best friend is black (who I always would have sworn was played by Kevin Hooks, but the credits say that he was played by David Hubbard using one of his alternate stage names). Their relationship starts on the wrong foot because of their backgrounds, but they eventually become friends. I remember vividly the episode about James's crush on a Swedish exchange student. Friends persuade him to ask her, "Is it true what they say about Swedish girls?" To which she replies, "No, but apparently it's true what they say about American boys." The nail in the coffin was when an episode was written in which James finally sleeps with a girlfriend. The writer wanted to have them hint at the use of birth control, which he thought would be socially responsible, right? The network made him rewrite it so they don't discuss birth control and end up worrying about whether she is pregnant. Fast forward a quarter century, and the Nets are still run by moral midgets. Gross titillation, fine, but something challengingly humane (i.e., "Wonder Falls") and they reject it.