What in the name of Pacey’s frosted tips is happening in pop culture right now?
There’s something almost magically nostalgic in the air this fall as not one, but two former late ’90s/early 2000s teen heartthrobs are back with new series. Joshua Jackson, i.e. Pacey Witter from Dawson’s Creek, a.k.a. every elder millennial’s first TV boyfriend, stars in the new network drama Doctor Odyssey.
At the same time, Adam Brody — ie. Dave Rygalski in Season 3 of Gilmore Girls, a.k.a. The O.C.‘s Seth Cohen, alternate title: the hot geek who gifted us “Christmukkah” — plays a rabbi in the new Netflix series Nobody Wants This.
Pacey and Seth gracing our screens? At the same time? And on top of that, Oasis is back, Sarah McLachlan is touring, the J. Crew catalogue is relaunching, and — hold our psychedelic notebooks — there’s a Lisa Frank docuseries coming to Prime Video.
If you were looking for a sign that millennial nostalgia is huge, this is it. We’re one more throwback away from clicking the heels of our Converse three times and opening our eyes in Stars Hollow. (If only.)
People of a certain age, of course, are loving it, with headlines declaring Brody, 44, has “never been hotter,” and that we’re in the midst of a “hot rabbi fall.” Social media users have noted that Jackson, 46, is “aging like a fine wine,” and that having both him and Brody back on screen is “something so special for us late 90s/early 2000s teen drama enthusiasts.”
Millennial nostalgia is certainly having its moment, said Zorianna Zurba, a pop culture expert and assistant professor in the Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. And this allows millennials, who are generally approaching middle age and no longer the main focus of pop culture, to relive a time in our lives that we long for and feel sentimental about, Zurba told CBC News.
“Now we’re getting media that’s for us once again. It’s centred on people our age, who are like us,” she said.
This image released by Netflix shows Kristen Bell, left, and Adam Brody in a scene from Nobody Wants This. (Hopper Stone/Netflix/The Associated Press)
And people are, seemingly, into it.
“One day, you’re a kid crushing on Joshua Jackson and Adam Brody’s fictional characters and the next thing you know, you’re an adult crushing on Joshua Jackson and Adam Brody’s fictional characters,” parenting news site Scary Mommy wrote in an Instagram post this week.
“If Joshua Jackson ever realizes how much power he has over elder millennial women there is truly no stopping him,” wrote X user Katey Rich in September.
“Pacey Witter and Seth Cohen cresting at the same time … which millennial woman is holding the monkey’s paw,” wrote another X user, Marlow Stern, last week.
‘The moment has arrived’
But do people like the shows? Well, the trailer for ABC’s Doctor Odyssey, a medical drama, recently set a record for being the most-watched trailer for a new broadcast TV show ever (the prior record, according to Deadline, was held by the trailer for This is Us).
The series follows Max Bankman, played by Jackson, a doctor who takes a job onboard a luxury cruise ship called The Odyssey. It premiered Sept. 26, and, according to TvInsider.com, raked in 4.2 million viewers. That makes it ABC’s most-watched drama debut in five years.
And much of this is due to the “Joshua Jackson element of it,” Vulture TV critic Kathryn VanArendonk recently told CBC’s Commotion.
LISTEN | TV critic Kathryn VanArendonk on Doctor Odyssey (16 minute mark):
Jackson, who was born in Vancouver, is best known for playing Pacey Witter on the 1998-2003 teen drama Dawson’s Creek. But fans also know him for his breakout role in the 1992 movie The Mighty Ducks, 1999’s Cruel Intentions, the 2008 Canadiana nostalgia film One Week and his role in the TV series Fringe.
“It has been a while since he has been a lead on a show, a big network show like this,” VanArendonk said.
“It’s like you needed that space for him to age into Daddy, and now that he’s there it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it makes sense again. We’re here. We’re ready. The moment has arrived.'”
The cast of television’s Dawson’s Creek poses for a photo in 1997. From left to right are Katie Holmes, James Van Der Beek, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson. (Warner Bros./Getty Images)
‘Things aren’t done at middle age’
Nobody Wants This, which also premiered Sept. 26, is the second-most popular show on Netflix globally with more than 10.3 million views, according to the company’s ratings.
The rom-com stars Brody as Noah, whose life goal is to be named head rabbi at his synagogue, and his love interest Joanne, a sex-and-dating podcaster played by Kristen Bell.
Fans have gushed online about both the show, and the rabbi. “Yep, I still have a crush on Adam Brody,” wrote a user on X Sept. 26.
From left: Rachel Bilson, Adam Brody, Mischa Barton, and Benjamin McKenzie arrive at The 2003 Teen Choice Awards held at Universal Amphitheater on Aug. 2, 2003 in Universal City, Calif. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Fans of Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) will remember Brody as Lane’s adorable boyfriend Dave Rygalski from Season 3. But Brody is best known for his role as Seth Cohen on teen drama The O.C., which ran from 2003 to 2007, which made him a teen icon.
“One of the biggest breakout characters in teen TV history, Brody’s character was the sensitive, Jewish dork who stole the hearts of teenage girls (mine included),” wrote contributor Christobel Hastings in the U.K. magazine Red.
There’s more of a shift in pop culture recently to represent people in their 40s, Zurba explained. And not only is that proving to be very popular, but more than that, when you add in the nostalgia element, it’s hopeful.
“It’s not just about a nostalgia for the past, but also about reviving the kind of hope that we had in our teens and in our 20s,” Zurba said.
“It’s about that feeling that there is another possibility for us, even as we’re going through a different life stage, that things aren’t done at middle age.”
You know. Like there finally was for Lorelai Gilmore and Luke Danes.
WATCH | Pacey’s frosted tips appreciation post: