Young Americans

Creator Steve Antin said the series was inspired by a stop at a New England gas station where he saw four teenage girls working as pump attendants, one of whom told him the station belonged to her father, which he found endearing.

The show was originally planned as a fall 1999 debut but was delayed due to unresolved business matters between Columbia TriStar and The WB, eventually airing as a summer replacement for Dawson's Creek in 2000.

In the original pilot, filmed in Atlanta in 1999, the role of Finn was played by Jeremy Sisto, but he was replaced after being cast as Jesus in a CBS miniseries; when production relocated, all secondary roles were recast except for the five principal actors.

After the pilot, the series relocated filming to Havre de Grace, Maryland, where a new town square, gas station, and Friendly's restaurant set were built specifically for the show at the intersection of Congress Avenue and North Washington Street.

The Friendly's restaurant set used in several scenes was actually converted from an old pizzeria for the production.

The pilot's original soundtrack featured songs by Fatboy Slim, New Radicals, and The Flys, but these were replaced in the series with tracks like Nick Drake's 'Pink Moon' and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's 'Over the Rainbow,' which were becoming popular in Volkswagen Cabrio and eToys.com commercials at the time.

The theme song 'Six Pacs' by The Getaway People was altered at the producers' request to remove a lyric referencing cigarettes.

The Coca-Cola Company paid $6 million to be the show's primary sponsor, resulting in the series being billed as 'Coca-Cola Presents Young Americans,' with Coke products appearing or being mentioned in nearly every episode except the unaired pilot.

The heavy Coca-Cola product placement drew mockery, including a segment by Steve Carell on The Daily Show's 'Ad Nauseam,' where he repeatedly referred to the premiere episode 'The Beginning' as an 'hour-long commercial.'

A slow-motion scene from the pilot showing students running to the school lake while stripping off their clothes, heavily promoted before the premiere, was later parodied on another WB show, Grosse Pointe.

A subplot in the original pilot involving an affair between teacher Finn and the dean's wife was cut from the premiere but later reinserted into the third episode of the series.

Despite being a spin-off of the popular Dawson's Creek, Young Americans received low ratings during its summer run and was cancelled in August 2000.