You’d think Joshua Jackson would be used to hearing Paula Cole‘s “I Don’t Want to Wait” by now, after the 1997 song opened his teen drama series Dawson’s Creek for six seasons on WB in the late ’90s and early 2000s. But he was still caught off-guard Sunday night (Sept. 15) when he took the 2024 Emmys stage and the familiar strains of the No. 11-peaking Billboard Hot 100 hit played above him.
Jackson was joined by Matt Bomer to present the next award, and the minute the song played, the two actors broke out into laughter. “Ah yes, this song,” Jackson laughed when he reached the microphone.
It was an appropriate song for the moment because Jackson and Bomer were presenting Greg Berlanti with the Emmys’ Governors Award for his work in bringing LGBTQ+ representation to network television, including the first romantic gay male kiss on Dawson’s Creek in 2000. Berlanti’s first TV writing job was on Dawson’s Creek and he graduated to executive producer in season 3, overseeing the storylines of Jackson’s Pacey Witter and the rest of the Capeside, Massachusetts, gang.
Emmys watchers immediately took to social media to celebrate the nostalgic TV moment and its Paula Cole soundtrack, with one X user writing: “Joshua Jackson immediately laughing at the Dawson’s Creek theme song lmaoooo.” Another viewer wrote: “Pacey laughing and shaking his head while walking out to ‘I don’t wanna wait’ and commenting ‘that song’ before giving the award to Greg Berlanti is iconic #Emmys.”
Watch the moment below and find a roundup of fan reaction.
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