| Degrassi: The Next Generation | |
 | |
| The series' official logo for season 10-14. | |
| Background Information | |
| Also known as |
Degrassi (from season 10-14) |
| Genre | Teen drama |
| Created by | Yan Moore Linda Schuyler |
| Opening theme | Whatever It Takes |
| Composer | Jim McGrath |
| Country of Origin | Canada |
| Language | English |
| No. of seasons | 14 |
| No. of episodes | 385 (as of August 2, 2015) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Linda Schuyler Stephen Stohn Brendan Yorke |
| Locations | Toronto, Ontario |
| Running time |
approx. 22 minutes |
| Prod. Company | Epitome Pictures |
| Distributors | Alliance Atlantis |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel |
CTV (CAN, 2001-2009) |
| Original run | October 14, 2001 – August 2, 2015 |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV, season 1-3) 1080i (HDTV, season 4-14) |
| Status | Ended |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Degrassi Junior High Degrassi High |
| Followed by | Degrassi: Next Class |
| Related Shows | The Kids of Degrassi Street |
- For the show's final season, see Degrassi (Season 14). For the cancelled reboot, see Degrassi (2023 series).
Degrassi: The Next Generation (later renamed Degrassi from the tenth season to fourteenth season) was a series set in the fictional Degrassi universe. It ran from 2001 to 2015.
Degrassi: The Next Generation is the fourth series in the Degrassi franchise, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. It succeeded The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and Degrassi High. Like its predecessors, Degrassi: The Next Generation followed a group of students at Degrassi Community School who face different challenges of teenage life, from personal issues, such as as poor self image and sexual identity, to social issues like peer pressure, bullying, and teen pregnancy.
The series was created by Linda Schuyler and Yan Moore, and was produced by Epitome Pictures in association with CTV. The executive producers were Schuyler, her husband Stephen Stohn, and Brendon Yorke. The series was filmed at Epitome's studios in Toronto, Ontario, rather than on the real De Grassi Street from which the franchise takes its name.
The series received critical praise and won many accolades, including 28 Gemini Awards. In its initial years, it was frequently the most-watched domestic drama series in Canada; it was also the highest-rated show on Noggin's teen block, The N, in the United States. One example was in 2004, in which one episode received just under a million viewers in Canada, and over half a million viewers in the US.
The series premiered on CTV on 14 October 2001. In 2010, during the ninth season, the series moved to CTV's youth-oriented sister channel, MuchMusic, and the 10th season marked a change in production style which saw the series become more like a soap opera. In 2013, the series moved again from MuchMusic to MTV Canada. The series ended its run on August 2, 2015.
This is the only Degrassi series to be split into two parts: Degrassi: The Next Generation (seasons 1-9) and Degrassi (seasons 10-14).
Production
Creation
In 1999, a talk show called Jonovision held reunion episodes featuring some of the original Degrassi High cast members. The reunion's popularity inspired franchise co-creator Linda Schuyler to start developing a revival of the franchise. She pitched the revival to CTV, which offered $10 million for a fifteen-episode season. The project was greenlit in May 2000. Soon after, crew members for the show attended a conference in New York to find an American partner for the show.
In her memoir, Linda Schuyler explained how the conference went:
- "On one panel was Meeri Park Cunniff, from the newly formed Noggin channel at Viacom. Noggin had a double mandate: preschool programming in the morning and adolescent programming in the afternoon. At the panel, an audience member asked Meeri what sort of programming she would be considering for the new adolescent schedule. Without missing a beat, Meeri said, 'A few years back, there was a great series on PBS called 'Degrassi'. That's exactly the kind of show we are looking for.'"
To Cunniff's surprise, Degrassi distributor Ken Faier was at the conference and responded, "Do I have the show for you! It's called Degrassi." Cunniff quickly set up a meeting with Noggin's vice president of programming, Sarah Tomassi Lindman, and Noggin signed on as the show's American distributor.
In October 2001, the first episode aired on CTV in Canada, and a Kidscreen article confirmed that the show was "set to air in Q1 2002 on Noggin in the U.S." In a press release called Noggin Tackles Tween Issues with Degrassi: The Next Generation, Noggin announced that the series would premiere on April 1, 2002, as part of its new teen block called The N (standing for Noggin).
Premise
The show itself started off with reintroducing the character Emma Nelson from Degrassi High, where she was born to Christine (Spike) Nelson. In this series, Emma and her friends had entered Junior High and High School. Now that the majority of the original cast/characters themselves have left the series, the series changes views on a number of diverse students that arrive to Degrassi.
The characters change to follow the real-life transitions in high school. Challenges and issues that the characters face sometimes reflect what the previous series had, but also have new issues that deal with the current times, such as current technologies and cyberspace, school shootings and even, current views on people of Muslim heritage.
Episode Format
Each individual episode of Degrassi is written usually following the same formula with two or three storylines featured (Plot A, Plot B and Plot C). The main storyline, Plot A, opens and closes the episode and is usually driven by a single character. Plot B is usually more comedic in tone and sometimes slightly intertwined with the other stories, often moving story arcs forward. Plot C was usually used sporadically in a season-long arc, but is now used in every episode as comedic relief.
The problems and issues presented in the episode are not always resolved by the end of the episode, and are sometimes carried over to the next, or create a mini-arc over several episodes. The three plot format was introduced after Season 4, with nearly every episode previously only featuring two.
The majority of episodes are named after songs from the 1980s and since the last seasons, episodes are named after songs from the 1990s and 2000s. For the first nine seasons, Degrassi: The Next Generation had been produced as a weekly half-hour teen drama series, with each season consisting of between 15 and 24 episodes.
Due to falling viewing figures between seasons 6-9, the series developed a daily soap opera format for the summer run of the tenth season, and increased the number of episodes to 48. The tenth season also dropped the tagline "The Next Generation", with only one original cast member remaining, and due to the young audience unfamiliar with the past generation, referring to the series as "Degrassi".
Opening Sequence
The original Degrassi logo used in season 1-5, 8-9.
The Degrassi logo used in seasons 10-12.
The Degrassi logo used from season 13-14.
The Degrassi: The Next Generation opening sequence follows a two- to three-minute cold open. During the first five seasons these credits showed the characters on the school premises and followed a mini storyline. Seasons six and seven featured titles with the actors breaking the fourth wall and facing the camera, over a montage of character clips from the previous seasons, saturated with blue color and gold outlines.
The montages behind the characters depicting a major event in that character's storyline. For the eighth season, the show abandoned the style of titles used for the previous two seasons and returned to the original form of showing the characters at school while participating in school-related activities.
The theme music, "Whatever It Takes", was written by Austin Russell, Jody Colero and Stephen Stohn. McGrath composed the music, and Colero and Stohn wrote the lyrics which include the lines, "Whatever it takes, I know I can make it through, Be the best, the best I can be," to convey a sense of joy and optimism. Lisa Dalbello performed the lyrics with a children's choir over an 1980s pop music style tune during the first three seasons. Dave Ogilvie and Anthony Valcic of Canadian industrial/pop group Jakalope reworked and performed the song with a heavier sound, reflecting the growing maturity of the characters in season four. For seasons six and seven, the theme—still performed by Jakalope—was remixed and lack of vocals. A fourth version of the theme song, with lyrics sung by Damhnait Doyle, was introduced for the eighth season. A fifth version of the theme, performed by the in-show band "Stüdz" was used for the ninth and tenth seasons. A sixth version of the theme is performed by Alexz Johnson and was used for the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth seasons. A seventh version of the theme performed by Shobha is currently being used since the fifteenth season.
For seasons 13 and 14, the beloved opening sequence was retired, much to dismay from fans. The current opening freezes the image just before the into begins then proceeds to quickly show other characters before the DEGRASSI title card shows.
Soundtrack
Jim McGrath creates the musical score for each episode using an instrumental version of the theme music. He also works with actors such as Jake Epstein, Melissa McIntyre and Jamie Johnston, when writing music for their characters Craig Manning, Ashley Kerwin and Peter Stone to perform in the bands Downtown Sasquatch, Paige Michalchuk and the Sex Kittens (PMS), Hell Hath No Fury, and Stüdz. In addition to being scored, Degrassi features a mix of original emo, alternative rock and pop music. Popular songs are used sparingly in the series, mainly because of budget constraints. Usually, music supervisor Jody Colero selects songs from independent Canadian artists.
Cast
Main Cast
For the new generation of students, producers auditioned over 600 school-aged children in an attempt to provide characters to which the teen-oriented audience could relate. The decision to cast age-similar actors was purposeful to contrast the series from other shows during the time period such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek, which had cast actors in their 20s as teenagers.
Eleven children were given star billing in the first season. Sarah Barrable-Tishauer portrayed the lonely high-achiever Liberty Van Zandt. Daniel Clark played bad boy Sean Cameron. Lauren Collins was cast as Paige Michalchuk, the school's head cheerleader and queen bee. Ryan Cooley portrayed as class clown J.T. Yorke, with Jake Goldsbie cast as J.T.'s best friend, Toby Isaacs, a computer geek. Aubrey Graham portrayed basketball player Jimmy Brooks, who is from a wealthy family. Shane Kippel played school bully Spinner Mason. Miriam McDonald was cast as Emma Nelson, a passionate environmentalist, with Cassie Steele filled in the role of Emma's best friend, Manny Santos. Melissa McIntyre portrayed Ashley Kerwin, the perfect girl who attracts the popular boys, and who the other girls are jealous of. Christina Schmidt portrayed the overweight and insecure Terri MacGregor.
The Main Cast of the show are considered to be the ones seen in the opening credits. Stefan Brogren is the only one of the original main cast members (out of thirteen) that is currently on the show now. Christina Schmidt was the first original cast member to leave the show, while Miriam McDonald, Cassie Steele, and Shane Kippel were the last. Jamie Johnston was the first cast member from the second generation to leave the show. The last class to depart was the Class of 2014.
Main Cast
- Raymond Ablack – Sav Bhandari (seasons 8–11; recurring 7)
- Dalmar Abuzeid – Danny Van Zandt (seasons 7–9; recurring 4–6)
- Amanda Arcuri – Lola Pacini (season 14)
- Charlotte Arnold – Holly J. Sinclair (seasons 7–11; guest 11)
- Craig Arnold – Luke Baker (seasons 12–14)
- Shanice Banton – Marisol Lewis (seasons 11–12; recurring 10)
- Sarah Barrable-Tishauer – Liberty Van Zandt (seasons 1–8; guest 9)
- Luke Bilyk – Drew Torres (seasons 10–14)
- Paula Brancati – Jane Vaughn (seasons 7–9)
- Stefan Brogren – Archie Simpson (seasons 1-14)
- Deanna Casaluce – Alex Nuñez (seasons 5–6; recurring 3–4; guest 7)
- Munro Chambers – Eli Goldsworthy (seasons 10–14)
- Annie Clark – Fiona Coyne (seasons 9–12)
- Daniel Clark – Sean Cameron (seasons 1–4, 6; guest 7)
- Lauren Collins – Paige Michalchuk (seasons 1–7; guest 8)
- Ryan Cooley – J.T. Yorke - (seasons 1–6)
- Melissa DiMarco – Daphne Hatzilakos (seasons 5–7; recurring 2–4, 9; guest 8)
- Nina Dobrev – Mia Jones (seasons 7–8; recurring 6; guest 9)
- Marc Donato – Derek Haig (seasons 7–8; recurring 5–6)
- Reiya Downs – Shay Powers (season 14)
- Sam Earle – K.C. Guthrie (seasons 8–12; guest 12)
- Mazin Elsadig – Damian Hayes (season 7; guest 6)
- Jake Epstein – Craig Manning (seasons 2–5; guest 6–8)
- Dylan Everett – Campbell Saunders (season 12; guest 12)
- Stacey Farber – Ellie Nash (seasons 3–7; recurring 2; guest 8)
- Sarah Fisher – Becky Baker (seasons 12–14)
- Jahmil French – Dave Turner (seasons 9–13)
- Jake Goldsbie – Toby Isaacs (seasons 1–5; recurring 6–7; guest 8)
- Ana Golja – Zoë Rivas (seasons 13–14)
- Nikki Gould – Grace Cardinal (seasons 13–14)
- Aubrey Graham – Jimmy Brooks (seasons 1–7; guest 8)
- Shenae Grimes – Darcy Edwards (seasons 6–7; recurring 4–5; guest 8)
- Ricardo Hoyos – Zig Novak (seasons 11–14)
- Jordan Hudyma – Blue Chessex (seasons 8–9)
- Judy Jiao – Leia Chang (seasons 8–10)
- Jamie Johnston – Peter Stone (seasons 5–10)
- Alicia Josipovic – Bianca DeSousa (seasons 10–13)
- Demetrius Joyette – Mike Dallas (seasons 12–14)
- Argiris Karras – Riley Stavros (seasons 8–11)
- Ehren Kassam – Jonah Haak (season 14)
- Daniel Kelly – Owen Milligan (seasons 10–12; recurring 10)
- Justin Kelly – Jake Martin (seasons 11–12)
- Andre Kim – Winston Chu (seasons 13-14)
- Shane Kippel – Spinner Mason (seasons 1–9; guest 14)
- Shannon Kook-Chun – Zane Park (seasons 10–11; recurring 10; guest 9)
- Andrea Lewis – Hazel Aden (seasons 3–5; recurring 1–2)
- Cory Lee – Winnie Oh (seasons 10–13)
- Lyle Lettau – Tristan Milligan (seasons 11–14; guest 11)
- Landon Liboiron – Declan Coyne (seasons 9–10)
- Mike Lobel – Jay Hogart (seasons 5–7; recurring 3–4, 8–9)
- Spencer MacPherson – Hunter Hollingsworth (season 14; recurring 13)
- Jajube Mandiela – Chantay Black (seasons 8–11; guest 4–7)
- Pat Mastroianni – Joey Jeremiah (seasons 2–5; guest 1)
- Miriam McDonald – Emma Nelson (seasons 1–9)
- Melissa McIntyre – Ashley Kerwin (seasons 1–4; recurring 6–7; guest 5)
- Stacie Mistysyn – Caitlin Ryan (seasons 3–5; guest 1–2, 7)
- Samantha Munro – Anya MacPherson (seasons 8–11; recurring 7)
- Jacob Neayem – Mo Mashkour (seasons 11–12; recurring 11)
- Eric Osborne – Miles Hollingsworth III (seasons 13–14)
- Scott Paterson – Johnny DiMarco (seasons 8–9; recurring 7; guest 6, 10)
- Aislinn Paul – Clare Edwards (seasons 8–14; guest 6–7)
- Cristine Prosperi – Imogen Moreno (seasons 11–14)
- Chloe Rose – Katie Matlin (seasons 11–13)
- Adamo Ruggiero – Marco Del Rossi (seasons 3–7; recurring 2; guest 8–9)
- AJ Saudin – Connor DeLaurier (seasons 8–14)
- Christina Schmidt – Terri MacGregor (seasons 1–3)
- Olivia Scriven – Maya Matlin (seasons 11–14)
- Melinda Shankar – Alli Bhandari (seasons 8–14)
- Alex Steele – Tori Santamaria (seasons 11–12)
- Cassie Steele – Manny Santos (seasons 1–9)
- Amanda Stepto – Christine Nelson (seasons 3–7; recurring 1–2; guest 8–9)
- Jordan Todosey – Adam Torres (seasons 10–13)
- Jessica Tyler – Jenna Middleton (seasons 9–14)
- Spencer Van Wyck – Wesley Betenkamp (seasons 10–11, guest 9)
- Sara Waisglass – Frankie Hollingsworth (season 13–14)
- Richard Walters – Tiny Bell (seasons 14; recurring 13)
- Evan Williams – Kelly Ashoona (season 8; guest 9)
- Niamh Wilson – Jack Jones (seasons 13–14; guest 13)
- Dan Woods – Daniel Raditch (seasons 1–4)
- Natty Zavitz – Bruce the Moose (seasons 8–9; recurring 7)
Recurring Cast
Recurring cast members are actors whose characters have been seen in more than one episode, with the exception of two part episodes. Michael Kinney has been a recurring cast member for the entire series.
Current Recurring Cast
- Liam Green - Damon (season 12-14)
- Brendan Jeffers - Vince Bell (season 11-14)
- Devyn Nekoda – Arlene Takahashi (season 14)
Staff
- Paula Boudreau - Ms. Dawes (seasons 8-11)
- Jonas Chernick - Mike Betenkamp (seasons 10-11)
- Randal Edwards - Mr. Townsend (season 12)
- Janick Hébert - Madame Jean-Aux (seasons 12-13)
- Christopher Jacot - Matt Oleander (seasons 4-5)
- Kevin Jubinville - The Shep (seasons 8-9)
- Michael Kinney - Darryl Armstrong (season 1-14)
- Linlyn Lue - Laura Kwan (seasons 1-9)
- Tom Melissis - Dom Perino (seasons 2-14)
- Doug Morency - Mr. Bince (seasons 7-9)
- Jennifer Podemski - Chantel Sauvé (seasons 2-10)
- Damon Runyan - Coach Carson (season 9)
- Jane Sowerby - Mrs. Cohen (season 11)
Family Members
- Graham Abbey - Glen Martin (season 11-12)
- Anne Anglin - Mrs. Cooney (Yorke family) (seasons 5-6)
- Katherine Ashby - Pam MacPherson (seasons 10-11)
- Angela Asher - Evelyn Valieri (seasons 7-8)
- Ted Atherton - Randall Edwards (seasons 7, 10-11)
- Brendan Beiser - Mr. Matlin (season 11)
- Sean Bell - Kevin Guthrie (season 12)
- Katie Bergin - Dawn (Sinclair family) (season 11)
- Geoff Bowes - Todd MacGregor (seasons 1, 3)
- John Bregar - Dylan Michalchuk (seasons 3-6)
- Brona Brown - Louisa Del Rossi (seasons 3-6)
- Robin Brule - Lisa Guthrie (seasons 10-12)
- Valerie Buhagiar - Mrs. Stavros (seasons 10-11)
- Maggie Butterfield - Grandma Torres (season 10)
- Ursula Campbell - Missy Stone (season 7)
- Gina Clayton - Anna Jones (seasons 7-9)
- Conrad Coates- Jermaine Brooks (seasons 4-7)
- Christina Collins - Anne Marie Isaacs (season 1)
- Robin Craig - Mrs. Mason (seasons 3, 7, 9)
- Marie V. Cruz - Julietta Santos (seasons 3, 5-7)
- Leah Cudmore - Sally (Kerwin family) (season 4)
- Steve Cumyn - Harold MacPherson (season 10)
- Susan Cuthbert - Rose Michalchuk (seasons 4, 6)
- Tim Daugulis - Kyle Middleton (seasons 9-11)
- Hugh Dillon - Albert Manning (season 2)
- Arlene Duncan - Mrs. Van Zandt (seasons 5, 7)
- Jayne Eastwood - Nona Cameron (season 4)
- Paul Essiembre - Carlos Valieri (season 8)
- Von Flores - Joseph Santos (seasons 5-7)
- Nicco Lorenzo Garcia - Jupert (Santos family) (season 7)
- Jess Mal Gibbons - Officer Turner (seasons 9-12)
- Andrew Gillies - Robert Kerwin (seasons 1, 4)
- Daniel Giverin - Louis Moreno (seasons 11-12)
- Susan Hamann - Mary-Kate Sinclair (seasons 8-11)
- Nigel Hamer - Jeff Isaacs (seasons 1-2)
- Marvin L. Ishmael - Mr. Bhandari (seasons 8-13)
- Justice James/Jeremiah Slater - Rock Dallas (seasons 12-14)
- Edward Jaunz - Omar Torres (seasons 10, 12-13)
- Daniel Kash - Mr. Stavros (season 11)
- Tufford Kennedy - Bullfrog Goldsworthy (season 10-12)
- Kirsten Kieferle - Caroline Nash (seasons 3-4)
- Katie Lai - Kendra Mason (seasons 2-3)
- Shawn Lawrence - Mr. Cameron (season 4)
- Daniel Lévesque - Colonel Nash (seasons 3, 8)
- Roy Lewis - Harold Van Zandt (seasons 4-5, 7)
- Sharon M. Lewis - Mrs. Brooks (season 7)
- Shauna MacDonald - Mrs. Novak (season 12-14)
- Ruth Marshall - Helen Martin (seasons 7-8, 10-14)
- Debra McCabe - Emily Nuñez (seasons 5-6)
- Ramona Milano - Audra Torres (seasons 10-14)
- Paul Miller - Troy Stone (seasons 6-8)
- Marc Minardi - Lucas Valieri (seasons 7-8)
- Colin Mochrie - Larry (Hogart family) (season 9)
- Duane Murray - Reverend Baker (season 12-13)
- Landon Norris - Aron DiMarco (season 8)
- David Orth - Christopher (Kerwin family) (season 4)
- Shileen Paton - Victoria (Coyne family) (season 9)
- Brian Paul - Jeff Michalchuk (season 6)
- Barbara Radecki - Mrs. Saunders (season 12)
- Kris Holden-Ried - Tracker Cameron (seasons 1-3)
- Maria Ricossa - Kate Kerwin (seasons 1-4)
- Jennifer Robertson - Cece Goldsworthy (seasons 10-11)
- Tony Sciara - Mr. Del Rossi (seasons 3-6)
- Tracy Shreve - Mrs. Turner (season 9)
- Tara Spencer-Nairn - Mrs. Baker (season 12-14)
- Alex Steele - Angela Jeremiah (seasons 1-5)
- Susanne Sutchy - Juliana Santoro (DeSousa family) (season 11)
- Spirit Synott/Kate Hewlett - Margaret Matlin (season 11-14)
- Joy Tanner - Laura Coyne (season 9-12)
- Janine Theriault - Natalie Granger (Moreno family) (season 12)
- Mishu Vellani - Mrs. Bhandari (season 8-13)
- Terra Vnesa - Trina Brooks (seasons 7-8)
- Larissa Vouloukos - Isabella Jones (seasons 6-9)
- Rod Wilson - Robert Coyne (season 10)
- Peter Xynnis - Louie Del Rossi (season 6)
- Unnamed child - Angel Stone (season 8)
- Unnamed child - Breann (Sinclair family) (season 11)
- Unnamed child - Josh (Sinclair family) (season 11)
- Unnamed twins - Tyson Powell (Guthrie family) (seasons 10-11)
- Unseen actress - Heather Sinclair (seasons 1-11)
- Various children - Jack Simpson (seasons 3-7, 9)
Former Recurring Cast
(Note: This list is incomplete)
- Kevin Alves - Fab Juarez (season 12)
- Kyra Azzopardi - Trish (season 9)
- Scott Beaudin - Ethan McBride (season 9)
- Steve Belford - Jesse Stefanovic (seasons 6-7)
- Alexandria Benoit - Sadie Rowland (seasons 10-11)
- Corina Bizim - Talia (season 12)
- James Edward Campbell - Mark Fitzgerald (seasons 9-10)
- Bailey Corneal - Amy Peters-Hoffman (seasons 3-4)
- Tamara Duarte - Charlie Lima (season 11)
- Romina D'ugo - Nina (seasons 6, 8)
- Ephraim Ellis - Rick Murray (seasons 3-4)
- Samii Folliott - Hannah Belmont (seasons 10-11)
- Taysha Fuller - Jess Martello (seasons 10-11)
- Riley Gilchrist - Liam Christopoulos (seasons 10-11)
- Stephan James - Julian Williams (seasons 10-11)
- Ben Lewis - Bobby Beckonridge (season 10)
- Elyse Mason - Tinsley Wharton (season 10)
- Vanessa Morgan - Vanessa (season 12)
- Daniel Morrison - Chris Sharpe (seasons 3-4)
- Tony Munch - Chad Kent (seasons 5-6)
- Dwain Murphy - Eric (seasons 6-7)
- Shawn Roberts - Dean Walton (seasons 2, 4)
- Tyler Stentiford - Liam Berish (season 11)
- Nathaniel Stephenson - Griffin Pierce-Taylor (season 7)
- Bill Turnbull - Max (season 12)
- Mony Yassir - Nadia Yamir (seasons 2-3)
DJH and DH Guest Cast
Many former cast members from Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High guest starred throughout the first few seasons of the show in various situations.
- Danah-Jean Brown - Trish Skye (season 1)
- Darrin Brown - Dwayne Myers (season 1)
- Michael Carry - Simon Dexter (season 1)
- Irene Courakos - Alexa Pappadopolos-Dexter (season 1)
- Angela Deiseach - Erica Farrell (season 3)
- Maureen Deiseach - Heather Farrell (season 3)
- Anais Granofsky - Lucy Fernandez (seasons 1-2)
- Rebecca Haines - Kathleen Mead (season 1)
- Sara Holmes - Allison Hunter (season 1)
- Neil Hope - Derek Wheeler (seasons 1, 3)
- Kyra Levy - Maya Goldberg (season 1)
- Cathy Keenan - Liz O'Rourke (seasons 1, 3, 5)
- Siluck Saysanasy - Yick Yu (seasons 1-2)
- Jonathan Torrens* - Shane McKay (season 3; Bill Parrot did not wish to to portray Shane in the reboot so Jonathan Torrens took over.)
Broadcast and Distribution
First run broadcast
While Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High aired in Canada on CBC, Degrassi: The Next Generation is broadcast on CTV Globemedia-owned stations. For the first nine-and-a-half seasons, it aired on CTV, but due to a decline in viewing figures since season seven, it moved to CTV's teen-oriented sister channel MuchMusic in 2010. The French language channel VRAK.TV dubbed the series into French and aired it under the title Degrassi, la nouvelle génération.
In the United States, Degrassi: The Next Generation aired on Noggin's programming block for teenagers, The N. It was first announced that Noggin had picked up the show in 2001, when the channel was mainly aimed at tweens. In 2002, Noggin changed its schedule into two blocks: one for younger kids during the day, and one for teens at night (called The N). Degrassi: The Next Generation debuted as part of the teen block's premiere day on April 1, 2002. Seasons six and seven premiered on The N before they aired on CTV. During season nine, the show was carried over to TeenNick, a channel that merged the programming of two Viacom-owned teen blocks (Noggin's The N and Nickelodeon's TEENick).
Post broadcast distribution
In Canada, repeats of Degrassi: The Next Generation have aired on the television system A, which is owned by CTV Globemedia. Episodes from season 4-7 aired during the afternoon at 12:30pm ET and evenings at 7:30pm ET. However, since July 2010, these episodes ceased to air during the evening and now only air during the day on TV system A, succeeded by All My Children at 1:00pm ET.
In the United States, independent distributor Program Partners and Sony Pictures Television, announced on 24 September 2006 that they acquired the syndication rights to the first 119 episodes of the show in the United States, and any subsequent new episodes. Degrassi: The Next Generation was cleared in 60% of the country including all five of the top five media markets. By March 2007, Program Partners had cleared it in over 70% of the country after stations purchased the syndication rights.
YTV in Canada presently airs repeats of Degrassi: The Next Generation at 11:00pm ET and 11:30pm ET.
DVD and other media releases
The first nine seasons of Degrassi: The Next Generation have been released on DVD. The boxsets are released in Canada by Alliance Atlantis. In the United States, FUNimation Entertainment released the first six seasons and Echo Bridge Entertainment released seasons seven through nine. Each season boxset includes extra features such as pictures, karaoke sessions, audition tapes, bloopers, deleted scenes and more.
Seasons 10-12 of Degrassi have also been released on DVD, with each season being broken up in two parts.
The three-episode story arc from the fourth season in which Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes guest star has also been released as a single disc Region 1 DVD. FUNimation Entertainment released the disc on 8 November 2005, in two versions: the first subtitled as "Uncut, Uncensored and Unrated", and the second, "Rated." Each release has the same DVD extras, including an interview with Kevin Smith, bloopers and a Jay and Silent Bob Photo Album, except the Unrated release also features episode commentaries by Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Stacie Mistysyn, the associate producer Jim Jackman and writer Aaron Martin.
Degrassi: The Next Generation was also made available in various new media formats. Episodes were streamed on official network websites (including CTV and MuchMusic) shortly after premiering. Registered users of the Canadian and American iTunes Store can purchase episodes for playback on home computers and certain iPods. In Canada, Puretracks also offers episodes for download. They are issued as a Windows Media 10 file, and the purchaser owns them forever, although the episodes can only be burned onto a disc three times and copied to a device three times. In the US, Zune and the Xbox Live Marketplace sell every episode of the series.
Storyline
Season 1
The original core cast of season 1
- Main article: Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 1)
Season 1 introduces the main characters and revolves around their relationships with each other. Toby harbors a crush on Emma, who has a crush on Sean. Ashley and Jimmy experience the pressures of first love. Terri deals with her self-image issues. Jimmy does everything he can to get an edge in basketball, while Emma deals with her first period. And a night of fun ends up ruining Ashley's reputation.
Season 2
- Main article: Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 2)
Characters from the original Degrassi Junior High, Degrassi High, Christine "Spike" Nelson and Archie Simpson begin dating, much to Emma's dismay.Ashley is desperate to get her friends back, and Marco is desperate to keep his sexuality a secret. Paige deals with being a victim of rape. Hazel struggles to accept her heritage. Meanwhile, we meet Craig Manning, who deals with an abusive home life.
Season 3
- Main article: Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 3)
The lead cast of season 3.
Main storyline of this season include Marco Del Rossi coming out to his friends and Ellie Nash's self-destructive actions. This is also the first season where a main character leaves the show. Terri MacGregor is put into a coma by her boyfriend Rick Murray and leaves the school. Another main story line involves Manny Santos, who after changing her personality and beginning an affair with Craig Manning who was dating Ashley Kerwin, sleeps with Craig and gets pregnant, ultimately getting an abortion.
Season 4
The lead cast of season 4
- Main article: Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 4)
A main story arc for season 4 is the return of Rick Murray and the resistance put on by the student body against him coming back to Degrassi. The conflict escalates to a point where, because of yellow paint and white feathers being poured on him while on live television, Rick brings a gun to school. He shoots Jimmy Brooks (causing him to be paralyzed from the waist down and be put in a wheelchair), and then tries to shoot Emma Nelson, but Sean defends Emma, resulting in the gun firing at Rick, and causing the end of Rick's life.
Season 5
- Main article: Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 5)
Main character Ashley Kerwin departs for London, but returns in the season finale. Spinner returns to Degrassi but is now an outcast to his friends. J.T. and Liberty have to deal with their impending parenthood and the Christian-based Friendship Club begins to cause issues with the rest of the student body. Craig leaves Degrassi to pursue his music career. After a moment of infidelity, Spike kicks Snake out of the house. New boy Peter Stone comes to Degrassi and starts to drive a wedge between Emma and Manny. With all the added stress on Emma, she develops anorexia. Paige finds herself enjoying Alex's company, and after some confusion about her sexuality, the two start dating.
Season 6
The lead cast of season 6
- Main article: Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 6)
Many of the older main characters graduate and have to deal with college life, except for Jimmy Brooks and Spinner Mason, who have to return for an extra year. Degrassi's long-time feud with rival school Lakehurst reaches new heights. Paige begins to have problems at Banting and with Alex, while Sean and Craig return, causing relationships to be questioned. Clare Edwards is introduced as Darcy's nerdy and un-confident sister, and Degrassi loses one of its own, J.T. Yorke.
Season 7
The lead cast of season 7
- Main article: Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 7)
In the wake of J.T. Yorke's death, Lakehurst High School has burned down and the students are forced to integrate into Degrassi Community High School. This causes huge problems within the school and many of the stories revolve around these conflicts and how to rectify them. At the same time in this second-semester, the college kids deal with more unexpected issues.
Season 8
- Main article: Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 8)
The lead cast of season 8.
Several ongoing conflicts in this season revolve around Mia Jones becoming a model, Holly J. Sinclair attempting to get into a relationship with Blue Chessex, and the tensions that the new principal, The Shep, is causing with the students. In a separate storyline Emma Nelson, Liberty Van Zandt, and Manny Santos have begun their freshmen year at Smithdale University.
Season 9
The additional cast-members to Season 9.
- Main article: Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 9)
A new group of students enter Degrassi in the second semester of the year, most notably Declan Coyne and Jenna Middleton, who cause relationships to be questioned and friendships tested. Declan's sister, Fiona, starts dating Riley Stavros, even though she thinks she knows his secret and Johnny has a secret of his own, which could ruin Alli's life. At the same time, Emma may find true love, but is it Kelly?
Season 10
- Main article: Degrassi (Season 10)
The lead cast of season 10
Changes are awaiting the students at Degrassi. With a new principal, a rebuilt Dot, and new students stepping foot on the campus, the school is pushed to the edge. An on-and-off rivalry between new student Eli against Fitz, a harboring secret from Adam, a scandalous love triangle between Bianca, Drew and Alli, and a pregnancy that could flush Jenna's dream down the toilet, among others. But after a school dance spirals out of control, it brings new rules being enforced. How far will the students go before they crack?
Season 11
- Main article: Degrassi (Season 11)
Several members of the current main cast
The students return after spring break, focused on relationships. The seniors close their drama before they graduate, Clare is glad when Jake, an old friend, enrolls at Degrassi, Drew has a new love interest, Eli makes new friends, Bianca faces serious danger, and Alli meets the perfect boyfriend. A new school year begins in the 2nd half of the season with new freshman and more story lines.
Season 12
- Main article: Degrassi (Season 12)
The lead main cast of Season 12
As the students return to Degrassi from winter break, the Toronto Ice Hounds are introduced to stir up trouble. Clare faces sexual harassment, Adam finds new love, and Drew and Bianca make huge decisions regarding both their futures and their relationship. A love square is formed plus depression and anxiety, leads to a suicide of new student, Campbell Saunders. This event affects all students of Degrassi in a different way. Whether they knew Cam or not, they were all traumatized, for a short amount of time, or even the rest of their lives. At Degrassi, anything could happen.
Season 13
- Main article: Degrassi (Season 13)
The cast of Season 13.
As summer comes around, many of the students go on a trip to Paris, France. Back at Degrassi, Drew and Dallas run a day camp and Clare deals with cancer, eventually recovering. Everyone deals with the death of Adam Torres who drove into a tree while texting. When school starts back up, Maya deals with a heated rivalry with small-screen actress Zoë Rivas who gets raped later in the school year. Tristan has a sexual relationship with a new teacher who gets fired, Becky testifies against her older brother in court for raping Zoë, and Drew and Becky form a scandalous relationship.
Season 14
- Main article: Degrassi (Season 14)
After the terrible storm ravaged the Toronto area, Clare finally reveals to everyone she is pregnant and Drew
The Cast of Season 14
decides to take responsibility. Mile's begins to spiral out of control due to his father. Becky launches the Power Cheer team to forget turning against her brother, to which Zoë eventually takes over and leads the squad into a major scandal that leads to a dramatic ending for everyone. After Spring Break, the school sees a major change when new strict rules are enforced following the Oomfchat scandal and subsequent fire started by Miles. With Mr. Simpson out and Ms. Pill in as Principal, the student's are not too happy for the last few weeks of the school year. With extracurricular activities highly monitored and cell phones banned, students' are angry with Zoë. Zig and Maya must also deal with their refound love and Vince's return into Zig's life. Clare loses her pregnancy and begins to question her future. The remaining seniors also begin to finalize their futures and prepare to say their final goodbyes to Degrassi.
Pop Culture References
Parodies
- Youtube
- Shane Dawson, a major youtuber, made a video with The Fine Bros. and other fellow youtubers created two spoofs Degrassi: The Next Generation
- Part 1 features new boy, Shane, going to Degrassi and meeting the characters such as: Marco, Ellie, Paige, Spinner, Manny, Emma, Peter, and Connor. It parodies storylines from seasons 3-9 like Connor's Asperger's Disease, Emma contracting Gonorrhea, Marco's sexuality, Ellie's self harm and Peter taking meth. The parody also pokes fun at facts including Shane Kippel having been on Degrassi for 10 years or so, the actresses who portrayed Mia and Darcy-who both dated Peter-left to do CW shows. You can check this parody out on YouTube.
- Part 2 features Shane running for student body president against Paige. Part 2 spoofs storylines from seasons 3-9, storylines spoofed Terri's coma, Holly J. and Declan becoming a couple, J.T. death, Liberty's grief after J.T.'s Death, and Alli's sexting. The parody also spoof's Drake Best I Ever Had as well as characters that left the show with no explanations such as Kendra. Characters featured: Terri, Alli, Johnny, Paige, Isabella, Marco, Jimmy, Bruce the Moose, Holly J., Clare, Liberty, and Declan. Lauren Collins guest-starred as the real Paige.
- Bart Baker
- Bart Baker mentions Drake's start on Degrassi in his Started From The Bottom parody.
- Shane Dawson, a major youtuber, made a video with The Fine Bros. and other fellow youtubers created two spoofs Degrassi: The Next Generation
- TV
- Kroll Show parodies Degrassi with "Wheels of Ontario a fictional series that revolves around a school in which all the students are in wheelchairs, except the star, Mikey. The sketch was actually inspired by Drake's "Degrassi: The Next Generation" character, Jimmy Brook who, as any "Degrassi" fan knows, was in a wheelchair.
Music
- Drake mentions Degrassi in his song "Ransom" and "Started From The Bottom".
- In Drake's I'm Upset music video features Drake going to Degrassi for a reunion featuring various cast members from season 1-8 such as Shane Kippel, Lauren Collins, Stacey Farber, Cassie Steele, Sarah Barrable-Tishauer, Jake Epstein, Jake Goldsbie, Adamo Ruggiero, Andrea Lewis, Christina Schmidt, Stefan Brogren, Nina Dobrev, Dalmar Abuzeid, Marc Donato, Paula Brancati, AJ Saudin as well as Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes as their characters Jay and Silent Bob.
- Lemon Demon has done a parody song "Degrassi" which focus on events that happened during seasons 1-4.
- Saint Pepsi named one of his songs "Fiona Coyne" after the character.
TV
- Big Time Rush, Camile mentions she has a Degrassi audition.
- The Venture Brothers, Manny, Jay and their relationship is mentioned.
- The Sarah Silverman Program, Sarah mentions Degrassi and several characters.
- In How I Met Your Mother, Robin tells that she is going for a drink with an ex-boyfriend from Canada and Barney says: Somebody you went to Degrassi with?
Film
- In Shane Dawson's movie Not Cool, makes references to Emma getting gonorrhea in season 4, Spinner having cancer in season 7, and Eli and Clare's break up in season 10.
