Degrassi Junior High

Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler produced a decade of critically acclaimed "coming of age" programs based on the characters of DeGrassi Street. Spanning from The Kids of Degrassi Street (1982) to Degrassi Junior High (1986) to Degrassi High (1989) to School's Out: The Degrassi Feature (1991) to Degrassi Talks (1992).

DeGrassi Street is a real street in Toronto Canada but on the series, it is located in an "unnamed North American town" as to represent any kids in any town. However, one who pays close attention to the show will see and hear references to "The Beaches" which is the section of Toronto that the show was filmed around. The Degrassi characters were ethnically and culturally diverse kids from a working class neighborhood. The series captured the every day rituals, pressures, indignities and rites of passages of growing up. Exposing turbulent real world issues such as abortion, AIDS, homosexuality, drug addiction, molestation, and suicide. Yet they also captured humorous and precious moments that make life sweet, such as a slumber parties, squirt gun fights and toilet paper raids. The Degrassi series was consistently intelligent, moralistic, and uplifting.

The Degrassi characters literally grow up on the show. The Playing With Time repertory consisted of a mass group of real kids recruited from local schools. Although many of the characters became famous, there were no "stars" on the show. A rare quality is that the actors are mentioned solely on the end credits as the show was to emphasize the controversial issues as opposed to characters. Costumes consisted of clothing from the actor's own wardrobes and they took turns washing the lunch dishes. Fans affectionately refer to the show as being low budget and full of technical bloopers. The actors describe it as being similar to "a bunch of kids filming a home movie". Then why was it such an international success?

Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High portrayed teenagers AS THEY REALLY ARE. Their problems were consistent, with no one easy answers or one episode resolutions. We all found a character that matched our own personalities and a story plot that (painfully) resembled our own lives. We cried when Heather had an abortion. We laughed when the Zit Remedy filmed a rock video from a garbage dumpster. We shivered when Caitlin had her epileptic seizure. We sighed when Arthur finally got his first kiss. It was the ultimate coming of age series. So universally understood that Director Kevin Smith made references to Degrassi in Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy. We all wished that we could be a "broomhead" or "narbo" on Degrassi Street.

OK, lets get this out of the way. I'm 30 years old at the time of this review. I was in grade 6 when Degrassi junior high started. I remembered Degrassi Street from Sunday morning, and hated it--I was not about to like this show. Little by little throughout the year, I was hooked. By the time I graduated high school I had spent 6 years with this kids. Second item. The acting was terrible! Even as a kid, I knew it, but that was part of the success of the show. These were regular thirteen year old drama student acting as thirteen year old kids dealing with issues. Some of the actors went on to act in other shows, movies etc..., some did not. Others posts have mentioned that this may be the best show ever to come out of Canada, and that may be true...sadly. This is not M*A*S*H though. This is not high drama. This was a show that captured the moment precisely. It caught the correct vibe of the time. I don't know if it has aged well since it first aired and I don't care. This show, even if you couldn't directly relate to a single character, was bang on, on what was going on at school at the time. I may not have had Wheels, Snakes or Joeys problems, but they were my classmates. I watched them year after year, for years. No class trips to Australia, no Rolls Royces, no mansions, no rich daddies. Just real issues, year after year. Thank you, for those years. Long live Zit Remedy.

I always wished that Degrassi Junior High admitted that they were set in Canada. They always seem to omit the city location. I remember spending my weekends watching Degrassi Junior High on our PBS stations with my friends. We were about the same age as the cast. Let's not forget those awful clothes that the cast of characters wore. The show never ignored away from serious subjects such as teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, poverty, drugs, abortion, alcoholism, etc. It was the kind of show that teens should be shown to show that they are not alone in the world nor are they alone in getting trouble. I have to say that the first season with Arthur and Stephanie was worth watching. I remember the identical twin girls, Spike's pregnancy, Snake's brother who comes out of the closet and gets disowned, etc. The teens were never treated like superstars. They dealt with big topics in ways that I wished adults would deal with. The show was a big hit.

Ah, Degrassi!

It's so neat to read the reviews from the United States, because I thought that it never went beyond the 49th parallel!

Part of Degrassi's strength was that it was so low budget. The non-slickness of it was very refreshing. They played the same Gowan song at every party... I believe the song was called "High Fashion Model". Anyway, It was nice to see realistic characters living in realistic homes with realistic parents.

Two fave episodes: The condom dispenser episode, and the episode in which Snake, Wheels and Joey attempt to gain entry to a strip joint.

Degrassi really was very valuable for talking about Issues Facing Teens.

Long live Degrassi in our hearts and in reruns on CBC!

I enjoyed watching this show in high school and college. The main theme of the show was problems faced by kids while growing up (including teen pregnancy, drugs, peer pressure, death of a loved one, relationships, etc.), and I had heard of teachers using it to invoke class discussions during school. All in all, I recommend this to anyone who has ever been a teenager.