Ed Ranks the Main Characters of Dawson's Creek

At least he did give us this meme.

11. Dawson Leery - (James Van Der Beek) Dawson is easily the worst thing about Dawson's Creek. The show should honestly have been at least called Pacey's Creek. Dawson is a whiny little bitch whose likes, dislikes, personality, and stiff dialogue seem to be more like what a man in his mid-30s who grew up in the late 70's and early 80's might say and think. Oh wait, maybe that's because the creator of the show is exactly those things. The show lazily tries to convince us that this teenager just has an "old soul," rather than go to any effort to try to research what actual teenagers in the late 1990s like, dislike, or sound like. The show finally ends with Dawson creating a TV show about his experiences growing up, just in case the self-important creator of the show thought that maybe the fact that the show was all about him was too subtle.

10. Bessie Potter - (Nina Repeta) I had absolutely forgotten that Nina Repeta was billed as a main cast member for the first four seasons, and can remember nothing about this character at all.

9. Gail Leery - (Mary-Margaret Humes) Dawson's entire family is awful too, but at least they're not Dawson.

8. Mitch Leery - (John Wesley Shipp) Whenever this guy had screen time, I just imagined him dressed up as "The Flash."

7. Evelyn "Grams" Ryan - (Mary Beth Peil) Grams-centric episodes were just the worst. Oooh look! She's deeply religious but Jen is an Atheist. CONFLICT! What? People don't like this character? How about half way through the series we just radically change her personality so viewers are more sympathetic to her. Let's even give her a love story too! No thanks.

6. Audrey Liddell - (Busy Phillips) Was anyone still watching this show by the time Busy Phillips had a recurring role in Season 5 and joined the main cast in Season 6? Did anyone actually fall for the fake-out that Pacey would end up with Audrey instead? No, to both questions. Everyone knew this was Pacey's Creek and that Pacey would get Joey.

5. Andie McPhee - (Meredith Monroe) Just another fake-out love interest for Pacey. Pacey was such a pimp, he got all the girls. Andie was so irrelevant that they wrote her out after season 4 and cut her scene for the series finally.

4. Jack McPhee - (Kerr Smith) What's this? A depiction of a gay person on network TV that makes him out to be a layered, complex character instead of an overly flamboyant foppish dandy who goes around shouting that he's gay? And instead of his role on the show just being "the gay guy," he's actually treated as a normal character like every other character who drives the plotline in a number of ways that have nothing to do with his sexuality and which do not just reinforce stereotypes? Yes, I'm throwing shade at you, Will & Grace.

3. Joey Potter -  (Katie Holmes) Joey is, in some ways, simply the MacGuffin of Dawson's Creek - the plot device in the form of a desired object that the protagonists (Dawson and Pacey) pursue. She is Sam Spade's Maltese Falcon, Jerry Thompson's Rosebud, and Indiana Jones' Ark of the Covenant. But to be fair, she was absolutely the main character of the show, much more so than Dawson. She was the girl next door that everybody loved. But forget that "Dawson's soulmate" nonsense, everybody knew that Pacey would get you in the end. So why rank you #3? Well, because #2 moved into town...

Michelle Williams (left)

2. Jen Lindley - (Michelle Williams) When Jen moved in from New York, Dawson stopped paying attention to his childhood crush/best friend Joey and started paying attention to Jen. Who wouldn't? Because, I mean, look at Michelle Williams. Katie Holmes is cute and all, but Michelle Williams is Michelle Williams. Did I mention Michelle Williams? Because Michelle Williams. Too bad your plotlines got steadily worse every year. But I'll never forgive them for killing you off in the series finale. Michelle Williams.

1. Pacey Witter - (Joshua Jackson) Some weird clerical error at the WB inadvertently renamed the show Pacey's Creek after some irrelevant whiny supporting character named "Dawson." Pacey's Creek was a show about a teenage playboy and Mighty Duck named Pacey who (1) bangs his English teacher, Ms. Jacobs, (2) starts macking on Dawson's wannabe girlfriend Joey, (3) dated a girl named Andie so hard that she had a nervous breakdown, (4) totally does that "friends with benefits" thing with Jen who is Michelle Williams because Michelle Williams, (5) continues messing with that loser Dawson by finally stealing Joey away for real and taking her out on a boat (subtly named "True Love") for the entire summer, (6) ditches Joey at senior prom just to make the biggest splash possible and show that pimps ain't got no time fo' a steady ho, (7) starts dating Joey's college roommate, Audrey, because he don't even give a fuck, (8) eventually winds up with Joey in a flash forward to the future... although we all know that won't last because Pacey is the ultimate playa who can't settle for just one lady, and (9) opens up the Fringe Division at the FBI.

Although he and NSYNC jointly share responsibility for
the late 90's/early 00's war crime that was frosted tips.