Degrassi: The Next Generation (season 1)
Encyclopedia
The first season of Degrassi: The Next Generation commenced airing in Canada
on 14 October 2001, concluded on 3 March 2002, and contains fifteen episodes. Degrassi: The Next Generation
is a Canadian serial
teen drama
television series
. It introduces a group of seventh
and eighth grade
school children, and follows their lives as they deal with the typical issues and challenges of teenage life, such as online predator
s, sibling relationships, peer pressure
, sex
, rumours, stress, self image
and drugs.
The first season was broadcast on the Canadian terrestrial
television network
CTV
, on Sundays at 7:00 p.m. It debuted with a one hour movie of the week special
, "Mother and Child Reunion", which form the first two episodes of season one. In the United States, it was broadcast on The N, a digital
cable network
aimed at teenagers and young adults. The season was released domestically on DVD as a three disc boxed set on 19 October 2004 by Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment
, although it was released to the US market almost a month earlier, on 28 September 2004. Registered users of the Canadian and US iTunes Store
s are also able purchase and download the season for playback on home computers and certain iPod
s.
The reception for Degrassi: The Next Generations first season was mixed. It had earned itself 365,000 Canadian viewers aged 18 to 49, while its accompanying website was attracting 28 million hits per month, but press reviews were not as complimentary. The season picked up nominations at the Directors Guild of Canada
Awards, the Gemini Award
s and the Young Artist Award
s.
, Stefan Brogren
was hired to play his old character Archie "Snake" Simpson
, now working at the school as the Media Immersion
teacher. Dan Woods reprised his role as Mr. Raditch, now promoted to school principal. Amanda Stepto
also reprised her Degrassi High character Christine "Spike" Nelson for a supporting role.
For the new generation of students, the producers chose eleven children from six hundred auditionees, hoping to provide a group of characters the target audience of teenagers could relate to, rather than actors in their twenties pretending to be teenagers, something other shows of the same period, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek
which were targeting the same audience, were doing. Sarah Barrable-Tishauer acted as high-achiever yet lonely Liberty Van Zandt. Daniel Clark
played bad-boy Sean Cameron
. Lauren Collins
acted as cool cheerleader Paige Michalchuk
. Ryan Cooley
acted as class clown James Tiberius "J.T." Yorke. Jake Goldsbie
portrayed Toby Isaacs, a computer geek. Aubrey Graham
portrayed rich and athletic Jimmy Brooks. Shane Kippel
played Gavin "Spinner" Mason, the school bully. Miriam McDonald
portrayed environmentalist Emma Nelson
. Melissa McIntyre played Ashley Kerwin
, the perfect girl who attracts the popular boys, and the other girls are jealous of. Cassie Steele
played Emma's sidekick, the sweet and innocent Manuela "Manny" Santos
. Christina Schmidt portrayed chubby and insecure Terri McGreggor.
In recurring roles, Andrea Lewis
played fellow cheerleader, Hazel Aden and Linlyn Lue
played Ms. Kwan.
Former Degrassi Junior High
and Degrassi High
actors Danah Jean Brown (Trish Skye), Darrin Brown
(Dwayne Myers), Michael Carry (Simon Dexter), Irene Courakos (Alexa Pappadopoulos), Chrissa Erodotou (Diana Economopoulos), Anais Granofsky
(Lucy Fernandez
), Rebecca Haines (Kathleen Mead
), Sara Holmes (Alison Hunter), Neil Hope (Derek "Wheels" Wheeler
), Kyra Levy (Maya Goldberg), Cathy Keenan (Liz O'Rourke), Pat Mastroianni
(Joey Jeremiah
), Stacie Mistysyn
(Caitlin Ryan
), and Siluck Saysanasy
(Yick Yu) reprised their roles to guest in the first episode.
and CTV. The executive producers are Epitome Pictures' CEO and Degrassi: The Next Generation co-creator Linda Schuyler
, and her husband, Epitome president Stephen Stohn
. Degrassi: The Next Generation co-creator Yan Moore
served as the creative consultant and David Lowe was the line producer. Aaron Martin was hired as the story editor and was promoted to senior story editor mid-season. James Hurst then became the story editor. The season's writers are Tassie Cameron, Myra Fried, James Hurst, Aaron Martin, Yan Moore, and Susin Nielsen. The directors throughout the season are James Allodi, Anthony Browne, Paul Fox, Laurie Lynd
, Bruce McDonald, Eleanor Lindo, and Stefan Scaini.
's AllPop acknowledged Miriam McDonald's portrayal of Emma Nelson as "stellar acting abilities in a super creepy storyline ... high on tension, low on cheese [and] top-notch". She criticized the reunion sub-plot, though, saying it was marred by "wooden, stilted and over-rehearsed acting; the young actors actually showed up their classic Degrassi counter-parts in the pilot episode. Their acting was solid, believable and age-appropriate [in a story-line which] demonstrates that the creative forces behind The Next Generation haven't lost touch with teens yet ... One installment of Degrassi: The Next Generation is worth 20 episodes of Dawson's Creek". Towards the end of the season, the Canadian issue of TV Guide
summed up the run as "Not just Canadian TV - It's great Canadian TV! Degrassi offers a gritty look into the lives of real teens complete with acne and bad dye jobs. It has something for everyone because we've all been there."
Other critics were less enthusiastic about the season, though. The Seattle Times
' Melanie McFarland was unsure whether the series' success in Canada would follow when it began airing in the US. "As popular as ' Degrassi' was, it was still a mere cult hit in the United States; the crowd that had access to it initially on PBS might not be able to tune into [The N]. Soft-pedaling through the issues might work for today's family of viewers, but what's gentle enough for Mom and Dad's peace of mind might not be enough to hook Junior or the original Degrassi's older fans". She was, however, "happy [The N] chose Degrassi students to navigate teen perils instead of digging up Screech and the gang
for another nauseating go-round". Tony Atherton of the Ottawa Citizen
had mixed feelings of the new incarnation, saying it "has a cleaner, more polished look, has lost its edge [and offers] nothing new to viewers familiar with the groundbreaking preceding series
, nor to anyone else who has watched the deluge of teen dramas since", adding that because there is "little ground left to break in teen drama there is a sense of déjà vu with regards to the plots and characters". He did, however, praise the show for having "the same simple narrative told from a kid's viewpoint, and the same regard for unvarnished reality [as Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, making it] light years from far-fetched high-school melodramas like Boston Public
and Dawson's Creek [and for that] is every bit as good as its beloved predecessor. In fact, in some respects it is even better". After watching nearly seventy hours of twenty-one Canadian-produced programs, the Simon Fraser University
cited Degrassi: The Next Generation in their report as one of the Canadian television programmes that is "too Caucasian
".
Despite the mixed reviews and controversy over the storylines,•
• the first season was still watched by 365,000 18 to 49 year-old Canadians, making it Canada's top-rated domestic drama at the time, while its accompanying website was attracting 28 million hits per month.
The pilot was nominated for two Directors Guild of Canada Awards, winning in the "Outstanding Achievement in a Television Series - Children's" category, and picked up Gemini Award nominations in the categories for "Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series" and "Best Short Dramatic Program". Actors Jake Goldsbie and Ryan Cooley were nominated for their portrayals of Toby Isaacs and J.T. Yorke respectively at the Young Artist Awards. Five episodes were given a total of six awards by The National Council on Family Relations at its 34th Annual Awards ceremony.
abuse was too controversial. When an edited version was made available, The N aired it as part of season two. In reruns however, the episodes have aired in the original order intended by the show's producers.
This list is by order of production, as they appear on the DVD.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on 14 October 2001, concluded on 3 March 2002, and contains fifteen episodes. Degrassi: The Next Generation
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...
is a Canadian serial
Serial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
teen drama
Teen drama
A teen drama is a dramatic television series with a major focus on teenage characters. The genre was relatively non-existent for the first 45 years of television; it came into prominence in the early 1990s...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
. It introduces a group of seventh
Seventh grade
Seventh grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The seventh grade is the seventh school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 12–13 years old. Traditionally, seventh grade was the next-to-last year of elementary school...
and eighth grade
Eighth grade
Eighth grade is a year of education in the United States, Canada, Australia and other nations. Students are usually 13 - 14 years old. The eighth grade is typically the final grade before high school, and the ninth grade of public and private education, following kindergarten and subsequent grades...
school children, and follows their lives as they deal with the typical issues and challenges of teenage life, such as online predator
Online predator
An online predator is an adult Internet user who exploits vulnerable children or teens, usually for sexual or other abusive purposes.Online victimization of minors can include child grooming, requests to engage in sexual activities or discussions by an adult, unwanted exposure to sexual material ,...
s, sibling relationships, peer pressure
Peer pressure
Peer pressure refers to the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to group norms. Social groups affected include membership groups, when the individual is "formally" a member , or a social clique...
, sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
, rumours, stress, self image
Self image
A person's self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to objective investigation by others A person's self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change,...
and drugs.
The first season was broadcast on the Canadian terrestrial
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
, on Sundays at 7:00 p.m. It debuted with a one hour movie of the week special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
, "Mother and Child Reunion", which form the first two episodes of season one. In the United States, it was broadcast on The N, a digital
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
cable network
Cable network
A cable channel is a television channel available via cable television. Such channels are usually also available via satellite television, including direct broadcast satellite providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and BSkyB...
aimed at teenagers and young adults. The season was released domestically on DVD as a three disc boxed set on 19 October 2004 by Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment
Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. was a Toronto-based media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Shannon and Sydney.Alliance Atlantis was acquired by Canwest...
, although it was released to the US market almost a month earlier, on 28 September 2004. Registered users of the Canadian and US iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
s are also able purchase and download the season for playback on home computers and certain iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
s.
The reception for Degrassi: The Next Generations first season was mixed. It had earned itself 365,000 Canadian viewers aged 18 to 49, while its accompanying website was attracting 28 million hits per month, but press reviews were not as complimentary. The season picked up nominations at the Directors Guild of Canada
Directors Guild of Canada
The Directors Guild of Canada is a Canadian labour union, founded in 1962, which represents more than 3,700 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. The DGC represents directors, assistant directors, location managers, production assistants and...
Awards, the Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
s and the Young Artist Award
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...
s.
Cast
The opening season of the show features thirteen actors in starring roles. Providing ties to the previous series in the Degrassi universeFictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
, Stefan Brogren
Stefan Brogren
Stefan Brogren is a Canadian actor and director. He is best known as Archibald "Archie"/"Snake” Simpson in the Degrassi franchise of television shows.-Career:...
was hired to play his old character Archie "Snake" Simpson
Archie Simpson
Archibald Rupert "Snake” Simpson is a fictional character on the Degrassi series portrayed by Stefan Brogren. His first appearance in the series was as an eighth grade student on Degrassi Junior High ...
, now working at the school as the Media Immersion
Media studies
Media studies is an academic discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history and effects of various media; in particular, the 'mass media'. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly from its core disciplines of mass...
teacher. Dan Woods reprised his role as Mr. Raditch, now promoted to school principal. Amanda Stepto
Amanda Stepto
Amanda Stepto is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Christine "Spike" Nelson in the Degrassi series.-Personal life:...
also reprised her Degrassi High character Christine "Spike" Nelson for a supporting role.
For the new generation of students, the producers chose eleven children from six hundred auditionees, hoping to provide a group of characters the target audience of teenagers could relate to, rather than actors in their twenties pretending to be teenagers, something other shows of the same period, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
which were targeting the same audience, were doing. Sarah Barrable-Tishauer acted as high-achiever yet lonely Liberty Van Zandt. Daniel Clark
Daniel Clark (actor)
Daniel Allen Clark is a American-Canadian actor and singer. Clark is best known for his role as Sean Cameron on Degrassi: The Next Generation and as Steve Rendazo on the movie Juno.-Personal life:...
played bad-boy Sean Cameron
Sean Cameron
Sean Cameron is a fictional high schooler on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation. He is portrayed by Daniel Clark. He left the show in season four, but returned for season six..-Personality:Sean is the token bad boy at the school...
. Lauren Collins
Lauren Collins
Lauren Felice Collins is a Canadian actress that is perhaps best known for portraying Paige Michalchuk on Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Life and career:...
acted as cool cheerleader Paige Michalchuk
Paige Michalchuk
Paige Michalchuk is a fictional character in the TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation, portrayed by Lauren Collins.Paige was initially presented as the stereotypical "Queen bee": rich, snobby, and popular...
. Ryan Cooley
Ryan Cooley
Ryan Cooley is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as James Tiberius "J.T." Yorke on Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Career:...
acted as class clown James Tiberius "J.T." Yorke. Jake Goldsbie
Jake Goldsbie
Jacob "Jake" Benjamin Goldsbie is a Canadian actor.Goldsbie plays Toby Isaacs in Degrassi: The Next Generation, although he originally auditioned for the role of J.T...
portrayed Toby Isaacs, a computer geek. Aubrey Graham
Drake (entertainer)
Aubrey Drake Graham , who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation....
portrayed rich and athletic Jimmy Brooks. Shane Kippel
Shane Kippel
Shane Warren Kippel is a Canadian television actor. From 2001-2010, he appeared as a regular cast member in the part of Gavin "Spinner" Mason on Degrassi: The Next Generation, which is broadcast on CTV in Canada...
played Gavin "Spinner" Mason, the school bully. Miriam McDonald
Miriam McDonald
Miriam Katherine McDonald is a Canadian actress and occasional dancer. She is best known for playing Emma Nelson on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Career:...
portrayed environmentalist Emma Nelson
Emma Nelson
Emma Nelson is a fictional student on the Degrassi: The Next Generation television series, having originated in the series' precursor, Degrassi Junior High. She is portrayed as an adolescent and adult by Miriam McDonald....
. Melissa McIntyre played Ashley Kerwin
Ashley Kerwin
Ashley Kerwin is a fictional character at high school in the TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation and is portrayed by Melissa McIntyre.-Season 1:...
, the perfect girl who attracts the popular boys, and the other girls are jealous of. Cassie Steele
Cassie Steele
Cassandra Rae "Cassie" Steele is a Canadian actress and singer-songwriter best known for portraying Manny Santos on Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Life and career:...
played Emma's sidekick, the sweet and innocent Manuela "Manny" Santos
Manny Santos
Manuella "Manny" Santos is a fictional character portrayed by Cassie Steele on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Season 1:...
. Christina Schmidt portrayed chubby and insecure Terri McGreggor.
In recurring roles, Andrea Lewis
Andrea Lewis
Andrea Desiree Lewis is a Canadian-born actress and singer best known for her portrayal of Hazel Aden on the teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Television and Film:...
played fellow cheerleader, Hazel Aden and Linlyn Lue
Linlyn Lue
Linlyn Lue is a Canadian actress.She was born in Jamaica and came to Canada with her family as a child. She played the strict English teacher Ms. Kwan on the Canadian television show Degrassi: The Next Generation. She also appeared in the film Black Robe, and the television series Strong Medicine...
played Ms. Kwan.
Former Degrassi Junior High
Degrassi Junior High
Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian CBC Television teen drama series that was produced from 1987-1989 as part of the Degrassi series. The show followed the lives of a group of students attending the titular fictional school...
and Degrassi High
Degrassi High
Degrassi High is the third television show in the Degrassi series of teen dramas about the lives of a group of kids living on or near De Grassi Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It first aired from 1989 to 1991 and followed the kids from Kids of Degrassi Street and Degrassi Junior High through...
actors Danah Jean Brown (Trish Skye), Darrin Brown
Darrin Brown
Darrin Brown is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Dwayne Myers on the Degrassi television series.Brown was born in Toronto, Ontario. In 1992, Brown received a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute...
(Dwayne Myers), Michael Carry (Simon Dexter), Irene Courakos (Alexa Pappadopoulos), Chrissa Erodotou (Diana Economopoulos), Anais Granofsky
Anais Granofsky
Anais Granofsky is a Canadian actress, screenwriter, producer and director. She is best known for portraying Lucy Fernandez in the Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High series.-Early life and career:...
(Lucy Fernandez
Lucy Fernandez
Lucy Fernandez is a fictional character in "Degrassi Junior High;" "Degrassi High;" the Degrassi High follow-up movie, "School's Out;" and "Degrassi: The Next Generation." She is portrayed by the actress, Anais Granofsky in all of the Degrassi series....
), Rebecca Haines (Kathleen Mead
Kathleen Mead
Kathleen Mead is a fictional character from the original Playing With Time television series, Degrassi Junior High. She was introduced as a secondary character who disapproved of school president Stephanie Kaye and her provocative wardrobe but eventually went on to have a much greater role in...
), Sara Holmes (Alison Hunter), Neil Hope (Derek "Wheels" Wheeler
Derek Wheeler
Derek Wheeler, aka Wheels, is a fictional character on the Degrassi series, portrayed by Neil Hope. His first appearance in the series is as a grade 8 student at Degrassi Junior High School where he is best friends with Joey Jeremiah and Archie "Snake" Simpson...
), Kyra Levy (Maya Goldberg), Cathy Keenan (Liz O'Rourke), Pat Mastroianni
Pat Mastroianni
Pasquale "Pat" Mastroianni is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Joey Jeremiah on the Degrassi series of television shows.- Biography :...
(Joey Jeremiah
Joey Jeremiah
Joseph "Joey" Jeremiah is a fictional character from the Degrassi series portrayed by Pat Mastroianni. His first appearance in the series was as a grade 8 student on Degrassi Junior High. Since his first appearance up to Degrassi High, he has been the main focus character and arguably the most...
), Stacie Mistysyn
Stacie Mistysyn
Stacie Mo'ana Mistysyn is an American-born Canadian actress best known for her work as Caitlin Ryan on Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High, which ran from 1987 to 1991, and for reprising her role as Caitlin on Degrassi: The Next Generation, which has been on the air since 2001 and which she joined...
(Caitlin Ryan
Caitlin Ryan
Caitlin Ryan is a fictional character from the Degrassi series portrayed by Stacie Mistysyn. Caitlin is a main character on both Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, which chronicle her maturation from a seventh grader to a high school graduate...
), and Siluck Saysanasy
Siluck Saysanasy
Siluck Saysanasy is a Laotian-Canadian television actor.Saysanasy is best known for playing "Yick Yu", a character from the Degrassi series...
(Yick Yu) reprised their roles to guest in the first episode.
Crew
The season was produced by Epitome PicturesEpitome Pictures
Epitome Pictures Inc. is a television production company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Epitome currently produces two television drama series aimed primarily at the youth and young-adult market...
and CTV. The executive producers are Epitome Pictures' CEO and Degrassi: The Next Generation co-creator Linda Schuyler
Linda Schuyler
Linda Schuyler, CM is a Canadian television producer involved in the creation of the Degrassi series and Instant Star series of teen programs...
, and her husband, Epitome president Stephen Stohn
Stephen Stohn
John Stephen Stohn is a Canadian-based, American-born entertainment lawyer and television producer. He is the president of Epitome Pictures Inc., and is executive producer of the teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation and Instant Star , and most recently the television movie Degrassi Goes...
. Degrassi: The Next Generation co-creator Yan Moore
Yan Moore
Yan Moore is best known as a writer for Degrassi Junior High, Degrassi High and Degrassi:The Next Generation. He was also the creator and producer of Riverdale. He was nominated for a Gemini award in 1995 for Best Writer in a Dramatic Series in recognition of Road to Avonlea.-External links:...
served as the creative consultant and David Lowe was the line producer. Aaron Martin was hired as the story editor and was promoted to senior story editor mid-season. James Hurst then became the story editor. The season's writers are Tassie Cameron, Myra Fried, James Hurst, Aaron Martin, Yan Moore, and Susin Nielsen. The directors throughout the season are James Allodi, Anthony Browne, Paul Fox, Laurie Lynd
Laurie Lynd
Laurie Lynd is a Canadian film and television director, best known as the director of the feature film Breakfast with Scot.He also directed the feature film House, the short film The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore, and the television films Sibs, Open Heart and Virtual Mom, as well as...
, Bruce McDonald, Eleanor Lindo, and Stefan Scaini.
Reception
Degrassi: The Next Generation received mixed reviews about its first season. Based on the pilot episode, Stephanie McGrath of Canoe.caCanadian Online Explorer
Canadian Online Explorer is a bilingual online news and information site from Canada.A subsidiary of Quebecor Media, Canoe.ca is a leading local and national interactive media provider of news, entertainment and services, helping to inform and connect Canadians...
's AllPop acknowledged Miriam McDonald's portrayal of Emma Nelson as "stellar acting abilities in a super creepy storyline ... high on tension, low on cheese [and] top-notch". She criticized the reunion sub-plot, though, saying it was marred by "wooden, stilted and over-rehearsed acting; the young actors actually showed up their classic Degrassi counter-parts in the pilot episode. Their acting was solid, believable and age-appropriate [in a story-line which] demonstrates that the creative forces behind The Next Generation haven't lost touch with teens yet ... One installment of Degrassi: The Next Generation is worth 20 episodes of Dawson's Creek". Towards the end of the season, the Canadian issue of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
summed up the run as "Not just Canadian TV - It's great Canadian TV! Degrassi offers a gritty look into the lives of real teens complete with acne and bad dye jobs. It has something for everyone because we've all been there."
Other critics were less enthusiastic about the season, though. The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell is an American television sitcom that aired between 1989 and 1993. The series is a retooled version of the 1988 series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was itself later folded into the history of Saved by the Bell...
for another nauseating go-round". Tony Atherton of the Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
had mixed feelings of the new incarnation, saying it "has a cleaner, more polished look, has lost its edge [and offers] nothing new to viewers familiar with the groundbreaking preceding series
Degrassi High
Degrassi High is the third television show in the Degrassi series of teen dramas about the lives of a group of kids living on or near De Grassi Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It first aired from 1989 to 1991 and followed the kids from Kids of Degrassi Street and Degrassi Junior High through...
, nor to anyone else who has watched the deluge of teen dramas since", adding that because there is "little ground left to break in teen drama there is a sense of déjà vu with regards to the plots and characters". He did, however, praise the show for having "the same simple narrative told from a kid's viewpoint, and the same regard for unvarnished reality [as Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, making it] light years from far-fetched high-school melodramas like Boston Public
Boston Public
Boston Public is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox. It centered on Winslow High School, a fictional public high school located in Boston, Massachusetts. The show was named for the real public school district in which it takes place...
and Dawson's Creek [and for that] is every bit as good as its beloved predecessor. In fact, in some respects it is even better". After watching nearly seventy hours of twenty-one Canadian-produced programs, the Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
cited Degrassi: The Next Generation in their report as one of the Canadian television programmes that is "too Caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
".
Despite the mixed reviews and controversy over the storylines,•
• the first season was still watched by 365,000 18 to 49 year-old Canadians, making it Canada's top-rated domestic drama at the time, while its accompanying website was attracting 28 million hits per month.
The pilot was nominated for two Directors Guild of Canada Awards, winning in the "Outstanding Achievement in a Television Series - Children's" category, and picked up Gemini Award nominations in the categories for "Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series" and "Best Short Dramatic Program". Actors Jake Goldsbie and Ryan Cooley were nominated for their portrayals of Toby Isaacs and J.T. Yorke respectively at the Young Artist Awards. Five episodes were given a total of six awards by The National Council on Family Relations at its 34th Annual Awards ceremony.
Episodes
In the US the series' broadcaster, The N, aired episode three, "Family Politics", as the series premiere; "Mother and Child Reunion" was held back and aired as the season finale. This caused continuity problems for viewers as the episode depicted Toby being introduced to Manny and Emma for the first time, and was set before the school year began. The final episode of the season, "Jagged Little Pill", was also held back while The N decided whether its subject about ecstasyMethylenedioxymethamphetamine
MDMA is an entactogenic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of drugs. In popular culture, MDMA has become widely known as "ecstasy" , usually referring to its street pill form, although this term may also include the presence of possible adulterants...
abuse was too controversial. When an edited version was made available, The N aired it as part of season two. In reruns however, the episodes have aired in the original order intended by the show's producers.
This list is by order of production, as they appear on the DVD.
| |Title | FUNimation Entertainment FUNimation Entertainment Funimation is an American entertainment company. Originally founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga, the company became a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005... in the U.S. on 28 September 2004, and by Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment in Canada on 19 October 2004 after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including deleted scene Deleted scene In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film... s, blooper Blooper A blooper, also known as an outtake or boner is a short sequence of a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms of misspoken words... s and behind-the-scenes featurettes. The DVD was first released in Australia on May 3, 2007 by Roadshow Entertainment Roadshow Home Video Roadshow Entertainment is a division of the Australian media company Village Roadshow . Notable releases include First Blood, Mad Max, Gallipoli, and The Terminator. Their first release was Scanners... , without any bonus features. On September 8, 2010, the DVD was re-released along with season two by Shock Entertainment Shock Records Shock Records is Australia's largest independent record label. It helps distribute records from overseas records labels such as Epitaph Records, and also for small record labels designed specifically for that band such as Cement Records... with all of the bonus features intact.
External links
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