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JAMES AT 15 (FIFTEEN) {A.K.A. JAMES AT 16}: AN HOUR BEFORE MIDNIGHT (TV)

Summary

One in this drama series about an imaginative teenager's personal experiences and fantasies as he copes with his family's move from Oregon to Boston.

James works with his classmate Karen Waller for the school newspaper; Karen is known as an excellent reporter but lately the quality of her work has been slipping, and she admits to James that she is having academic problems as well. Despite this, the two of them secure an interview with a professional basketball player who is an alumnus of their high school. James develops feelings for her and asks her out to a party the following night; she agrees but abruptly runs off. Sly convinces James to follow her out of curiosity, and James admits that he has a crush on her. They do not find her; unbeknownst to them, Karen is attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The next night, James attends the party and Karen eventually arrives, but is immediately uncomfortable at all the beer the guests are drinking. She struggles with the temptation to take a drink and has an outburst when she sees James holding one, running off to call her AA mentor. James follows her, concerned, and she admits that she has been an alcoholic since the age of eleven. She also explains that her parents doubt the seriousness of her problem, and James apologizes to her and tries to offer his support, but she prefers to be left alone for the time being.

Karen’s interview with the basketball player is well-received and she is given another assignment interviewing Margaret Swenson, an award-winning journalist and her personal idol. She is extremely excited and vows to prepare extensively for the interview, but on the day in question she shows up half an hour late, leaving James to do most of the work. When she arrives she is clearly drunk and cannot conduct the interview, leaving Swenson to chastise her for her behavior before leaving. James is upset at her as well, and does not understand when she claims she had no choice but to drink. The next day, as James is writing up the interview, Karen tries to explain herself to him, claiming that drinking is the only thing that frees her of the stress in her life stemming from her personal insecurities and her academic difficulties. James intends to help Karen write up the interview so that she can get credit for it. Marlene and Sly warn James against getting further involved with Karen, as they feel as though she doesn’t truly want to get better and is manipulating James’s sympathies. Marlene in particular feels strongly that Karen can’t be helped, revealing that her older brother is an alcoholic as well. She claims that people like them “want to die,” but James believes that showing Karen support and friendship might aid her recovery from alcoholism.

Later, James and Karen work together in the library when Karen, feeling depressed, sneaks off to have a quick drink, which seems to have a calming effect on her. James invites her over to dinner at his house that night and she accepts. However, when James goes to pick her up he finds that she has gotten drunk again, and that her parents are nowhere to be seen. He leaves her and has dinner with his family, but Karen shows up later of her own accord, even more inebriated. James’s parents take her home, feeling sympathetic towards her situation, wondering why her parents aren’t more involved in helping her. They advise James not to get further involved with her, as she requires “expert” help. Karen goes out and gets a bottle of vodka, drinking herself into a stupor. James grows concerned and goes out to look for her with Sly and Marlene, eventually finding her huddled around some garbage cans on the street. They take her home and try to sober her up, but she screams at them and tries to escape. They try to get her to see the deleterious effects her alcoholism is having on her life, but she claims she doesn’t care and considers drinking to be even more important to her than James. James nearly leaves in disgust until she breaks down emotionally and finally seems willing to accept their help. She goes on to seek further assistance from the AA, and James holds out hope for her that she can eventually make a full recovery. Commercials deleted.

Details

  • NETWORK: NBC
  • DATE: March 9, 1978 9:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:50:19
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: B:78964
  • GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science fiction; Teenagers
  • SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1977-1978
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Martin Manulis … Executive Producer
  • Joseph Hardy … Executive Producer
  • Ernest Losso … Producer
  • Huw Davies … Associate Producer
  • Peter Levin … Director
  • Dan Wakefield … Created by
  • Nancy Sackett … Writer
  • Ronald Rubin … Writer
  • Miles Goodman … Music by
  • England Dan … Theme Music by
  • John Ford Coley … Theme Music by
  • Lance Kerwin … Cast, James Hunter
  • Linden Chiles … Cast, Paul Hunter
  • Lynn Carlin … Cast, Joan Hunter
  • Kim Richards … Cast, Sandy Hunter
  • Susan Myers … Cast, Marlene Mahoney
  • David Hubbard (See also: David Raynr) … Cast, Ludwig "Sly" Hazeltine
  • Rosanna Arquette … Cast, Karen Waller
  • Happy Hairston … Cast, Moose
  • Nancy Malone … Cast, Marg Swenson
  • Marvin Katzoff … Cast, Dean Llewellyn
  • Pam Kenneally … Cast, Louise
  • Melanie Henderson … Cast, Lucy
  • Jim Greenleaf … Cast, Harry
  • Julie Andelman … Cast, Marcia