Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series. In the United States, the series premiered on Noggin as part of its overnight programming block for teenagers, The N.
In August 2003, Nickelodeon promoted Noggin's teen block by airing some of its shows. This included several episodes of Degrassi, which aired from August 3 until August 24. Degrassi never aired on the main Nickelodeon channel after this promotion.
History[]
The series' first title card.
The series is a revival of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, two earlier Canadian series. The series was developed by Linda Schuyler (the original creator of the franchise) and Yan Moore. The show first entered production in May 2000. Soon after, the show's crew members attended a conference in New York to find an American partner for the show.
In her memoir, Linda Schuyler explained what happened at the conference:
- "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, the distributor of Degrassi was at the conference and responded, "Do I have the show for you! It's called Degrassi." Noggin quickly signed on as the show's distributor for the United States.
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).
Plot[]
The series features a large ensemble cast of the students and staff of Degrassi. The students face various challenges, such as poor self image, peer pressure, child abuse, sexual identity, gang violence, self-injury, teenage pregnancy, and drug abuse.
The first season starts with a group of five friends in seventh grade: Emma the outspoken activist; Manny the outgoing best friend; J.T. the class clown; Toby the computer expert; and Liberty the overachiever. Throughout the series, many new students were introduced, and older students graduated or left.
Each episode is written in a similar formula, with two or three storylines (Plot A, Plot B and Plot C). Commonly, one storyline will involve the younger-grade characters and the other will involve the older-grade characters, though this is not always the case.
The main storyline, 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. Plot C was usually used sporadically in a season-long arc and often involves comedic relief as well. The problems presented in the episode are not always resolved by the end of the episode, and are often carried over to later episodes.
External links[]
- Nickstory Jr. Archives: Degrassi: The Next Generation
- TeenNickstory Archives: Degrassi: The Next Generation