Right on the heels of their surprise hit “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the WB network has delivered an all-new sacrificial lamb to the teen angst annals of television history, Kevin Williamson’s coming of age drama, “Dawson’s Creek.”Set in the harbor town of Capeside, Mass., “Dawson’s Creek” tells the story of 15-year-old Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek), an aspiring filmmaker on the verge of a puberty-induced sexual awakening. At first glance, Dawson seems to have all the advantages; his would-be girlfriend, Joey Potter (Katie Holmes), sleeps over every Saturday night while his wildly inexperienced best pal, Pacey (Joshua Jackson), longs for his first time in the sack. But when New York expatriate Jennifer Lindley (Michelle Williams) hits town to take care of an ailing grandfather, all hell breaks loose. Hormones rage, feelings get hurt all around, and nobody scores.What a mess.As it turns out, “Dawson’s Creek” is only half as bad as you’d think. Williamson, of “Scream” fame, somehow manages to breathe fresh air into a wide array of tired cliches. Beneath the eternal summertime feel of picturesque Capeside reside the ominous bogeymen of suburbia: Dawson fears his mother is having an extramarital affair with a television co-anchor; Pacey skirts the line between sexual fantasy and reality when pursuing a flirty schoolteacher; Jennifer wants nothing more than to escape her mysterious big-city past. Everyone has a skeleton in their closet, and friendships are strained as a result.While darkness may be Williamson’s specialty, the unique tone of “Dawson’s Creek” is not without a few distinct stumbling blocks. The novelty of “controversial” dialogue wears thin when allusions to masturbation take on all the subtlety of a train wreck. Similarly, “The Graduate”-like subplot concerning Pacey’s hopeful seduction by an older woman defies logic in its most pathetic moments. Nobody in real life is as presumptuous as Pacey, and it is Jackson’s implausibly cavalier performance that threatens to capsize an otherwise balanced show.Credit relative newcomers Van Der Beek and Holmes for saving the day. “Dawson’s Creek” is about growing up, and the burden of the show lies in the credibility of Dawson and Joey’s long-lasting friendship. Holmes conveys heartache and jealousy with a convincing amount of abrasive adolescent melodrama, and Van Der Beek’s combination glamour boy/AV squad geek allows for a genuinely likable small screen presence.Admittedly, there may be just too much going on in the pilot episode to predict which course “Dawson’s Creek” will take in the future. It’s likely some viewers will feel alienated by the unconventional darkness of Williamson’s writing, but “Dawson’s Creek” may prove to be a welcome alternative to other overly self-conscious dramas like Fox’s slumming “Party of Five.” Neither ground-breaking nor essentially thought-provoking, the strength of “Dawson’s Creek” ultimately lies not in its assumed subversity, but in its ability to put a new spin on old formulas and keep us all wondering.