It's been a strange ride for the cast of '90s teen drama Dawson's Creek. Katie Holmes, the iconic girl next door, grew up and married Tom Cruise. Michelle Williams has become something of an indie darling. Joshua Jackson has successfully put all memories of "Pacey" behind him on Fox's outstanding Fringe. But what of the show's leading man, the guy whose dubious creek ownership gave the show its name? James Van Der Beek – aka Dawson Leery – has put in tons of small appearances in films and TV shows, including playing a balding relic from Robin's days as teen pop queen "Robin Sparkles" on How I Met Your Mother. Now Van Der Beek is returning to series television on the upcoming ABC sitcom Don't Trust the Bitch in Apt. 23. Who will he be playing? Why, James Van Der Beek, of course!
Yes, the once and future Dawson will be playing a fictionalized version of himself, a friend of Krysten Ritter's character, Chloe. That sort of stunt casting has been done before, but you have to give Van Der Beek credit for being a good sport about poking fun at his own career. Case in point? This new promo for the show, where James Van Der Beek plays "James Van Der Beek" while pitching his latest product line: Beek Jeans. Or BJ's for short. You can probably guess where this is going…
Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 premieres Wednesday, April 11th at 9:30/8:30c on ABC. For Van Der Beek's sake, hopefully it will fare better than the similarly profanely titled Shit My Dad Says.
