Ex-Dawson's Showrunner Gives Shout-Out to Its 'Four Monstrous Actors'

Hey, you know where was probably an awkward place to be Tuesday night? The LAT's Envelope Emmy screening series of Californication, where an audience member screamed at David Duchovny, "We want to talk about your sex addiction!" and then, later, showrunner Tom Kapinos talked about inheriting Dawson's Creek from the departing Kevin Williamson. Kapinos was, uh...let's say "candid" about working with Katie Holmes, James Van Der Beek, Fringey, and the one everybody likes now:

"The experience was miserable," he continued about Dawson's. "But it was a four-year boot camp. It was like going to TV grad school and learning how to run a television show. Anybody on that show who could make a decision was allowed to run it at some point. I inherited the very awkward college years, and I almost ran the show into the ground. But I learned everything that I needed to know about how to run a show."

When the panel moderator asked, "What was it specifically that made it such a challenge?" Tom dropped this bomb: "It was the four monstrous actors at the core of it."

The audience erupted in laughter as Tom continued, saying: "They were very young, and they got very famous, and they made life miserable for any writer or producer on the show."

You just dodged a bullet, Kerr Smith!

· Did Ex-Dawson's Creek Show Runner Just Trash Katie Holmes? [E!]