James at 15 (later James at 16) is an American drama series that aired on NBC during the 1977–1978 season. The series was preceded by the 1977 made-for-TV movie James at 15, which aired on Monday September 5, 1977, and was intended as a pilot for the series. Both were written by Dan Wakefield, a journalist and fiction writer whose novel Going All the Way, a tale of coming of age in the 1950s, had led to his being contacted by David Sontag of Twentieth Century Fox. Sontag, the senior vice-president of creative affairs at Fox, had had a lunch meeting in New York City with Paul Klein, the head of programming at NBC. Klein said he needed a series for Sunday night. On the spot, Sontag created the idea for a coming-of-age series seen through the eyes of a teenage boy, including his dreams, fantasies, and hopes. Klein loved the idea and asked Sontag who would write it, with Sontag consequently suggesting Dan Wakefield. Despite an unsourced account of the creation of the series, the on-screen credit reads "Created by Dan Wakefield." Synopsis Protagonist James Hunter (Lance Kerwin) is the son of a college professor (Linden Chiles) who has moved his family across the country to take a teaching job, transplanting James from Oregon to Boston, Massachusetts. James, who had Walter Mitty-like dreams and dabbles in photography, has a hard time fitting into his new surroundings. During the series run, when James turned 16, the title was updated accordingly. Wakefield, who was born and raised in Indianapolis but eventually moved to Boston, said he chose Boston both because he wanted to write about a city he knew well and also because he was tired of television's tendency to give programs Los Angeles or New York City settings. To update his own memories of growing up, the writer spoke with adolescents from Boston. Cast Lance Kerwin as James Hunter Linden Chiles as Paul Hunter, James' father Lynn Carlin as Joan Hunter, James' mother Kim Richards as Sandy Hunter, James' sister Deirdre Berthrong as Kathy Hunter, James' sister David Raynr as Ludwig "Sly" Hazeltine, James' friend (billed as David Hubbard) Susan Myers as Marlene Mahoney, James' friend Kevin Van Wieringen as a deaf student in James' class TV movie The movie premiered to high ratings, topping the ratings for the week of September 5–11, 1977, with a 42% share of the