“You know, when we started the show, we were coming on the heels of “Dawson’s Creek.” They were shooting their finale when we were shooting our pilot, so when people saw our first episode, they were sure that Haley and Lucas would be together, because Dawson and Joey had [a similar dynamic]. But we had always designed it as Nathan and Haley. In my mind, Nathan and Haley have always been a cornerstone of the show.”
TeenDramaWhore
There's always drama but without it, what fun would TV be?
TeenDramaWhore 
I watched the video interview when Mark said that. I get what he’s saying because Haley even mentioned Dawson and Joey in the first episode. Athlough, I have to say that because the actors never had any real romantic chemistry, in my opinion, I never foresaw a relationship in the way I did for D/J.
Where is the video? To my understanding, it was a private interview with Korbi from Zap2it, and she/her staff transcribed it. Is it on tape, too?
Love the DC line in the pilot. Agree they have no romantic chemistry! But for DC, their romantic relationship (at least on Joey’s end) was foreseeable because the possibility was there from day one in the pilot. You didn’t know if they would actually get together, but the friendship-turned-romance was the storyline. With Lucas and Haley, it was made clear through that line that it wasn’t like that (although I think you could also read it that Haley was lying/covering) and we didn’t know for sure if it would ever go that way. Glad it didn’t because, like you said, no chemistry.