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Degrassi is a Canadian teen drama television Media franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler, that follows the lives of youths attending the eponymous secondary school in Toronto. Each entry since 1987 has taken place in the same continuity. Outside of television, the franchise comprises a variety of other media, such as companion novels, graphic novels, documentaries, soundtracks, and non-fiction works.
In 1979, Schuyler and Hood adapted the Kay Chorao book Ida Makes a Movie into a live-action short film, and expanded upon its universe with a series of subsequent installments until 1982, when it evolved into the critically acclaimed children's series The Kids of Degrassi Street, which aired for 26 episodes until 1986. That year, the duo developed Degrassi Junior High, which focused on the teenage demographic they felt was underserved by contemporary media. Running for three seasons (1987–1989), it became one of Canada's most popular television series and was highly regarded for its realistic portrayal of adolescence and serious social issues; this was followed by Degrassi High (1989–1991), which chronicled the cast's high school years and met similar critical and commercial success. The initial run of the franchise ended with the controversial television film School's Out (1992), which received mixed reviews but drew double the average viewership of the series, followed by the docuseries Degrassi Talks (1992), in which actors spoke to teens nationwide about various issues.
In the 1990s, the series increasingly developed a cult following through re-runs, and a successful televised cast reunion in 1999 helped spark the franchise's revival with (2001–2015), which originally aired on CTV in Canada and The N in the United States. It focused on a new generation of students, augmented by select original characters in supporting roles. It was similarly critically and commercially successful, especially in the United States, and launched the careers of musician Drake and actress Nina Dobrev. After nine seasons, The Next Generation was rebranded to Degrassi and changed to a telenovela-style format. After five more seasons, it was cancelled in 2015. It was superseded by (2016–2017), a short-lived Netflix co-production geared toward Generation Z, whose cancellation was revealed in 2019. In January 2022, a new series was announced for HBO Max in which Schuyler would not be involved; it was cancelled in November following a lack of updates, though WildBrain later indicated that they still intend to produce the series.
Degrassi is regarded as one of Canada's greatest television achievements and is one of the most successful media franchises in Canadian history. It has been widely acclaimed over its four-decade history for its approach to adolescence and serious issues faced by adolescents. It has courted controversy on several occasions for episodes depicting teenage pregnancy, abortion, and LGBT issues, with various episodes facing some form of editing or censorship outside of Canada since the late 1980s. Among the awards and accolades it has received include numerous Gemini Awards, two International Emmys in 1985 and 1987, and a Peabody Award in 2010. The franchise was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in December 2023.
Stohn recalled in his 2018 memoir Whatever It Takes that he advised Schuyler that being out of print, buying the rights to the book on her own would be "relatively straightforward", and that involving lawyers would make the process "unnecessarily complicated." Stohn instead gave Schuyler a boilerplate form for permission to take with her to New York. Schuyler purchased the rights for $200. The feline characters were changed into human children, and the story was also largely repurposed. The film featured production techniques that Schuyler and Kit Hood felt were missing from children's programming: it was shot in a cinéma vérité style, with handheld camera work and entirely on-location shooting. Mackey offered his home, 98 De Grassi Street, as a filming location.
Ida Makes a Movie premiered on CBC Television on December 8, 1979. Over the next couple of years, the network ordered two more short films. By 1982, they ordered five more episodes, developing the series of short films into a television series named The Kids of Degrassi Street. In 1985, the episode Griff Gets A Hand (which starred future "Wheels" actor Neil Hope as Griff) received an International Emmy for Best Program for Children and Young People.
The cast would have significant input into the writing of their characters, with Schuyler seeking opinions during every read-through, and cast members often talking about their experiences to writer Yan Moore, who would eventually adapt said experiences to their characters. The resulting series, Degrassi Junior High, premiered on CBC on January 18, 1987. The series marked the beginning of the franchise's canon, as characters from this series would appear as adults in later installments. The show also aired on PBS in the United States starting from September 1987. The show would feature one of the franchise's most well-known and influential storylines, in which 14 year old Christine "Spike" Nelson, portrayed by Amanda Stepto, becomes pregnant. The episode in which she discovers her pregnancy, "It's Late" , the eleventh episode of the show's first season, would win an International Emmy, for which , Spike's daughter and central character of the later series, was named. The popularity of the show led to international publicity tours by members of the cast throughout North America and parts of Europe.
Upon its debut, it immediately garnered critical acclaim in Canada, where it was considered to be an alternative to the American sitcoms of the era that were perceived as unrealistic and heavy-handed in their portrayal of societal issues. Although not as well known in the United States, it drew similar praise from the American media. Initially aired on Sundays at 5:00pm, Canadian critics believed the show deserved a better timeslot; Ivan Fecan, then the programming chief for CBC, was also a champion of the series, and had the series moved to primetime on Mondays at 8:30pm, in between Kate & Allie and Newhart. When Fecan called Schuyler to inform her of the move, she reportedly disagreed, feeling that the series wasn't ready for prime time. She eventually agreed to the decision, under the condition that if the move was unsuccessful, the series wouldn't be cancelled and instead be moved back to its original timeslot. After its move to prime time, the viewership increased by 40%, and by August 1988, it had become the highest-rated Canadian-made drama in Canada. The series also premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC1 in 1988, where it drew in a reported six million viewers, making it the highest-rated children's television series in the country and the show's largest audience. However, in spite of a publicity tour by actress Amanda Stepto, controversial episodes from its first season, including those centred on Stepto's character's pregnancy, were aired in a later timeslot on BBC2, and the network did not air its second and third seasons. The series established the franchise's popularity and longevity. By the time its follow-up began, it amassed over a million viewers weekly in Canada. In November 1988, after the premiere of the third and final season of Degrassi Junior High, Linda Schuyler alluded to the potential of a high-school followup when discussing the direction of the franchise with the Montreal Gazette, although she was unsure if it would go forward. It was decided to continue into high school as the actors were becoming older, which would also make way for more controversial topics, including abortion, which was addressed in the series premiere. According to Schuyler: "As the kids get older, the only way we can remain true to this age group is by growing with them. Therefore, the issues get more complex."
In the series finale of Degrassi Junior High, the titular school is destroyed in a fire. To keep the entire cast together, a creative decision was made to move the younger students displaced by the fire to the new school to join those that had already graduated. Conversely, the grade 7 students introduced in the third season of Degrassi Junior High were accelerated to grade 9 for an unspecified reason. To give the series a "harder-edged feel", several older characters were introduced. Reflecting the growing independence of the aging characters, Degrassi High began to give more focus to the characters' lives outside of school, with scenes taking place at nighttime, on the street, or at the characters' jobs. In contrast to Degrassi Junior High, in which the extras were still made known to the viewers, the newer series would include a team of "extra extras", who would simply appear for no other purpose than to fill the background. Degrassi High notably tackled HIV/AIDS, with the character Dwayne Myers (Darrin Brown), and suicide with the character Claude Tanner (David Armin-Parcells).
Despite continued success and demand from CBC, WGBH was finding it increasingly difficult to fund the show from the children's department of PBS, and were forced to back out. Combined with creative exhaustion, it was decided to end Degrassi High after its second season, and filming wrapped in October 1990. In November 1990, Schuyler explained to the Canadian Press that they wanted to end the series "while we were still feeling good about what we were doing." In addition, she noted that most of the cast were occupied with post-secondary education, and that she felt the show had already tackled what they had aimed to. Schuyler informed Ivan Fecan, then the programming chief of CBC and long-time supporter of Degrassi, of their decision to end the series and suggested a feature-length finale as a compromise, which Fecan enthusiastically accepted and offered funding for.
Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood dissolved their partnership in the early 1990s but continued to own Playing With Time. In July 1998, Hood revealed the company was "virtually dormant." He continued to rent the company's former offices as a battered women's shelter, before retiring to Nova Scotia for the remainder of his life. In 1992, Schuyler and Stephen Stohn founded Epitome Pictures, the company which would produce all future Degrassi series. In 1994, Epitome Pictures produced the television movie X-Rated, which centred on a group of young adults living in an apartment complex; the movie starred Stacie Mistysyn. X-Rated was the pilot for the series Liberty Street, which starred Pat Mastroianni and aired on the CBC for two seasons in 1995. In 1997, Epitome Pictures produced the soap opera Riverdale; its set, located on 220 Bartley Drive in Toronto, was re-used as the set for Degrassi: The Next Generation.
Although the original Degrassi series were widely popular in Canada, The Next Generation was particularly successful in the United States. During the show's ninth season, the producers were informed in a meeting with CTV executives that the network did not plan to renew the show. At the same time, Stephen Stohn was in talks with TeenNick to produce 48 episodes of a telenovela-style teen show, which he later pitched as the tenth season of Degrassi: The Next Generation. To promote the series on the new network, TeenNick commissioned a promotional music video, set to "Shark in the Water" by V V Brown and themed around a carnival and circus, which contained clues foreshadowing later events of the season. The promo was extremely successful. According to Stephen Stohn, MuchMusic, the network that the series moved to from CTV in Canada, cited the promo as having improved the network's ratings significantly. Season 10 premiered on July 19, 2010, and marked a change in production style to a telenovela/soap opera format, and for the first time, episodes airing in Canada and the United States on the same day. "The Next Generation" was also dropped from the title, which became simply Degrassi.
Degrassi was cancelled after fourteen seasons, and a spin off series called aired on Netflix for four seasons from 2016 to 2017. Season one was released on Netflix January 15, 2016, and started airing January 4, 2016, on Family's new teen programming block, F2N. Fourteen cast members from season 14 of Degrassi also reprised their roles. On March 7, 2019, Stefan Brogren alluded to the show's cancellation in a tweet. Sara Waisglass, who played Frankie Hollingsworth, recalled to the Toronto Star in 2022 that she was disappointed at the cancellation and recalled: "They never told us anything. We had our contracts and the way it worked was they had to tell you by a certain date if we were picked up or not. We just never heard from them again."
On January 20, 2020, Degrassi co-creator Kit Hood died of a brain aneurysm at his home in Nova Scotia, aged 76.
In November 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that the new Degrassi series would not be moving forward amid the Warner Bros. merger. However, multiple statements from Schuyler and WildBrain have indicated that there are still plans to produce the series; on the day of the cancellation's announcement, WildBrain stated they were "committed to the future of Degrassi" and that "discussions concerning the contract with WarnerMedia are ongoing." In April 2023, Schuyler told the Toronto Star that WildBrain considered the failed HBO deal a "false start." Schuyler maintained her optimism in an August 2023 podcast interview, but revealed that the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike had been impacting plans to go forward.
On December 6, 2023, WildBrain announced a three-part documentary series about the franchise, produced in co-operation with Peacock Alley. The series is set to examine the franchise's 40-year history in depth and features new cast interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. A release date has not yet been announced.
Between 1988 and 1992, James Lorimer & Co. published a series of eleven paperback books based on the characters of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High to accompany the two series . Each book focused on a different character, such as Spike, Joey, Caitlin, Wheels, and Snake, often expanding on their storylines or following new ones entirely. Another novel, Exit Stage Left, was an original story focused on multiple characters. One book, focused on the characters of Arthur Kobalewscuy and Yick Yu, was written, but not released.
To coincide with the debut of Degrassi Talks in February 1992, Boardwalk Books published companion books based on the six episodes. The books, which contain more content than the television series, feature an image the host of the episode, usually while holding camera equipment on the front cover, and a preface written by Degrassi writer Catherine Dunphy, profiling the actor who hosted the episode. The books also feature expanded versions of several interviews seen in the series, as well as other interviews that were not shown in the series due to time constraints. From 2006 to 2007, four graphic novels based on Degrassi: The Next Generation were released as part of the Extra Credit series, with the books centering on the characters Ellie Nash, Emma Nelson, Spinner Mason, and Marco Del Rossi respectively.
There were also several other non-fiction books based on the franchise, including The Official 411: Degrassi Generations, a behind-the-scenes history book written by Degrassi writer and publicist Kathryn Ellis released to celebrate the franchise's 25th anniversary in September 2005, and Growing Up Degrassi: Television, Identity and Youth Cultures, an anthology of scholarly essays on the franchise, edited by Michelle Byers. A memoir by Schuyler, titled The Mother Of All Degrassi, was released on November 15, 2022.
In 2022, Smith revealed to Screen Rant that the movie would have heavily centred on Drake's character Jimmy Brooks "getting up and walking." Smith claims that they incorporated elements from the script into a future episode of the television series.
While met with some skepticism, including from The Ottawa Citizen
Filmmaker and Degrassi fan Kevin Smith wrote in TV Guide of watching Degrassi Junior High: "These were ordinary-looking ... kids like I had been in high school ... dealing with real problems—not that 90210 kinda TV problem-crap ... I could identify with these kids ... These non-glamorous, unpolished, awkward, age-appropriate-for-the-roles actors made me believe that I was a kindred spirit to the characters they played." Degrassi: The Next Generation, while being the most successful of the series and generally considered by many to share the same qualities, is frequently criticized for its higher production value and gradual shift towards soap opera-style sensationalism like that of other teen drama series.
Degrassi is also noted for its casting of real teenagers, as opposed to Dawson casting: something often cited when discussing the franchise's authenticity. During development of Degrassi Junior High, Schuyler observed that "so much of the American stuff set in high schools is played by late teens and early 20s – and then some." She further elaborated to IndieWire in 2016: "I like to talk about the fact that you can take a 25-year-old who looks 15 and have them play a role, but that actor is bringing 10 more years of life experience to that role. By having our cast be age-appropriate, they bring the freshness and the authenticity of that age."
The two-part premiere of Degrassi High, "A New Start", which centered around a character becoming pregnant and ultimately choosing to get an abortion, aired uncensored in Canada in November 1989, but was edited by PBS for its January 1990 American premiere to remove the episode's final scene depicting said character fighting through anti-abortion picketers outside of a clinic. This decision was met with backlash from the show's producers, with co-creator and director Kit Hood lambasting the network for giving the episode "an American ending, happy, safe but incomplete..." and requested his name be removed from the credits.
In 2004, Noggin's The N block decided to postpone an episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation revolving around abortion, titled "." The two-part episode focused on a character who becomes pregnant and decides to have an abortion. The N's decision prompted backlash from fans. A subsequent petition from fans condemned the decision as "unjust and asinine", and argued that the episode did not espouse any forceful opinions about the subject, and that the fans had the right to watch the series in an uncensored, unaltered form. Conversely, CTV in Canada showed the episode twice.
The tenth season of Degrassi: The Next Generation introduced the female-to-male transgender character Adam Torres, played by Jordan Todosey, who by 2011 was the "only transgender regular or recurring character on scripted television" according to GLAAD. A central episode involving Adam's struggles with dysphoria, "My Body Is a Cage", won a Peabody Awards that year.
Degrassi: The Next Generation became notable for featuring several actors who went on to achieve wider recognition and stardom since their time on the series, most notably actor-turned-rapper Drake, who played , a basketball star who became physically disabled after by a classmate. When asked about his early acting career, Drake replied, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was from Canadian TV." Nina Dobrev, who portrayed in later seasons, went on to star as the lead character of the popular supernatural teen drama television series The Vampire Diaries. The music video to Drake's song "I'm Upset" (2018) features a reunion of the Degrassi: The Next Generation cast.
In 2012, the Degrassi franchise surpassed The Beachcombers as the longest-running Canadian drama by episode count.
In December 2023, the franchise was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
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