But gay kids took notice when his tv movie James at 15 (1977) began with an extended shot of the teenager getting up in the morning, wearing only white briefs (or maybe they were pajamas).
For the intro to the tv series (1977-79), he wore a t-shirt. Still, James was a swimming champ, so there were ample swimsuit and locker room scenes to ameliorate the teen-angst plotlines. Though James becomes the first television teen to openly have sex -- he beds a Swedish exchange student on his sixteenth birthday, whereupon the title of the series changes to James at 16 -- most of the plotlines involve buddy-bonding with his jive-talking best friend Sly.
Critics loved the "realistic depiction of modern high school life," a "welcome change from sitcom hijinks," but teenagers tuned in for the shirtless scenes and then switched the channel to Welcome Back, Kotter.
After James, Lance starred in a few more teen-angst movies, as well as several movies featuring same-sex romance, including Salem's Lot (1979) and The Mysterious Stranger (1982), with Chris Makepeace.
Lance was my big crush as a teen and a big sign to me that I was gay. If he was in it, I tried to watch it. "P.J and the President's Son", an ABC Afterschool Special, was my favorite because he played look-alikes so there were two of him! It's very sad what has happened to him as he continues to have big screw-ups periodically. Still, those things don't make me dismiss my fond memories.
ReplyDeleteHuge crush on Lance! When he was shirtless I always looked hard to see if I could see his armpit hair.
ReplyDeleteYeah, as a kid growing up in the 70s, I'd find myself enthralled with whatever show I saw him in. Should've known I was gay...duh!
ReplyDeleteAre you sure he was depicted as sleeping in just his underpants in the film?
ReplyDeleteI recently watched the pilot movie and he was wearing pajamas. I've seen the actual tv series in recent years and he also slept in pajamas but in some episodes just wore the bottoms and slept without a shirt.
Not sure, haven't seen it in 30 years. In my memory it's underwear.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. Lance Kerwin was my HUGE crush as a teen. He's a year younger than me. So, when he was 15 on TV I was 16 in real life and he was my first imaginary BF.
ReplyDeleteIt's seriously sad what happened to him later in life. He became a fundie Christian, delving deeply into Bronze Age myths and shunning the real world altogether.
My absolute favorite movie with him in it tho was with Chris Makepeace in 'The Mysterious Stranger'. Lance plays '44' and Chris plays 'August'. There's a scene in the movie where they go to bed together. Sadly, with all their clothing on.
There's a scene, something of a jump cut as I remember, where Chris pointedly says "I shall sleep with my clothes on". It makes me wonder if it was added to dispel, in the minds of the viewers, any thoughts of intimacy between them.
DeleteI had seen Lance on TV quite a lot before he was on James at 15, and he never really appealed to to me. When I saw him on James at 15 I fell in love. He was more than a year older than me but the episode where James turned 16 and had sex with a girl actually aired on my 16th birthday. I wasn't fooled- James clearly was gay, and made a great fantasy boyfriend. When NBC canceled James at 16 it broke my heart.
ReplyDeleteFundie minister commits food stamp fraud, proving once again that there's nothing 21st century USA "conservatives" will bitch about that they have no personal experiences with.
ReplyDeleteI have only seen Lance in the Movie salems Lot.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any favorite Lance Kerwin movies?
ReplyDeleteI've only seen "James at 15"
DeleteA Killer in the Family featured Lance with James Spader and Eric Stoltz all sweaty and shirtless at one point or another. Good movie, with Ronert Mitchum as the father. It's on YouTube
ReplyDeleteI did have a crush on Lance Kerwin who was my same age- sadly he has just passed away - but he will be "James at 15" forever
ReplyDeleteI was 7 or 8 when James at 15 was on the air, so maybe a little young for a crush. I do remember he was "everywhere"...probably all those afterschool specials. What I will say is that starting in my 20's and periodically after that until his name got drilled into my head, I would ask myself about the actor in James. And at some point I found this page. So maybe I did have a crush? Everybody knows that Hollywood is littered with juvenile actors who never become adult actors, but you'd think there were plenty of roles in the early 80's for older teens and younger 20-somethings: the Brat Pack films, Animal House rip-offs, etc. I'm curious when/how his career officially went off track. Boomer, did his name come up at all during your time in West Hollywood...even if it was "Lance Kerwin is in the back room doing crack"?
ReplyDeleteI don't remember hearing the name Lance Kerwin at all in West Hollywood, not even in a "I had a crush on him" conversation. This was only about 10 years after "James at 15" and 5 or so years after "Salem's Lot," so you'd think there would be a lot of guys who recalled crushing on him, but if it came up, I've forgotten about it.
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