Degrassi: The Next Generation season 1

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Degrassi: The Next Generation Season 1
Season 1
File:DTNG s1.jpg
Degrassi: The Next Generation Season 1 DVD Digipak.
No. of episodes15
Release
Original networkCanada CTV
Original releaseOctober 14, 2001 –
March 3, 2002
Season chronology
Next →
2
List of episodes

The first season of the Canadian serial teen drama television series Degrassi: The Next Generation commenced airing in on October 14, 2001, concluded on March 3, 2002, and contains fifteen episodes.[1] 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 teen life.

The first season was broadcast on CTV on Sundays at 7:00 p.m.,[2] and debuted with a one hour movie of the week special, "Mother and Child Reunion", which form the first two episodes of season one.[3] The season was released domestically on DVD as a three disc boxed set on October 19, 2004 by Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment,[4] although it was released to the American market almost a month earlier, on September 28, 2004.[5] The season is also available to purchase and download through the U.S. and Canadian iTunes stores (based on registration) for playback on home computers and certain iPods.[6]

A critical and popular success, Degrassi: The Next Generation's first season had earned itself 365,000 viewers,[7] while its accompanying website was attracting 28 million hits per month.[8] The season also picked up nominations at the Directors Guild of Canada Awards, the Gemini Awards and the Young Artist Awards.

Cast

The opening season of the show featured thirteen actors in starring roles. Providing ties to the previous series in the Degrassi universe, Stefan Brogren was hired to play his old character Archie "Snake Simpson, now working at the school as the Media Immersion teacher.[2] 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.[9]

For the new generation of students, the producers chose eleven children from six hundred auditionees,[10] 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 targetting the same audience, were doing.[11] Sarah Barrable-Tishauer acted as high-achiever and lonely Liberty Van Zandt.[12] Daniel Clark played bad-boy Sean Cameron.[13] Lauren Collins acted as cool cheerleader Paige Michalchuk. Ryan Cooley acted as class clown James Tiberius "J.T." Yorke.[14] Jake Goldsbie portrayed Toby Isaacs, a computer geek.[14] Aubrey Graham portrayed rich and athletic Jimmy Brooks. Shane Kippel played Gavin "Spinner" Mason, the school bully. Miriam McDonald portrayed environmentalist Emma Nelson.[14] Melissa McIntyre played Ashley Kerwin, the perfect girl who attracts the popular boys, and the other girls are jealous of.[15] Cassie Steele played Emma's sidekick, the sweet and innocent Manuela "Manny" Santos.[14] Christina Schmidt portrayed chubby and insecure Terri McGreggor.[16][17]

In a recurring roles, Andrea Lewis played Hazel Aden and Linlyn Lue played Ms. Kwan.[18]

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), Sarah 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.

Crew

The season was produced by Epitome Pictures and CTV. The executive producers were Epitome Pictures' president, Stephen Stohn, and CEO Linda Schuyler, the co-creator of D:TNG and every other Degrassi series. D:TNG 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 were Tassie Cameron, Myra Fried, James Hurst, Aaron Martin, Yan Moore, and Susin Nielsen. The directors throughout the season were James Allodi, Anthony Browne, Paul Fox, Laurie Lynd, Bruce McDonald, Eleanor Lindo, and Stefan Scaini.[19]

Reception

Degrassi: The Next Generation received mixed reviews about its first season. Based on the pilot episode, Stephanie McGrath of Canoe.ca'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 criticised 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".[20] 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."[21]

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 America. "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".[22] 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 deja 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".[23] 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".[24]

Despite the mixed reviews and controversy over the storylines,[25] the first season was still watched by 365,000 18—49 year-olds, making it Canada's top-rated domestic drama at the time,[7] while its accompanying website was attracting 28 million hits per month.[26]

The pilot was nominated for two Directors Guild of Canada Awards, winning in the "Outstanding Achievement in a Television Series - Children's" category,[27] and picked up Gemini Award nominations in the categories for "Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series" and "Best Short Dramatic Program".[28] Actors Jake Goldsbie and Ryan Cooley were nominated for their portrayals of Toby Isaacs and J.T. Yorke respectively at the Young Artist Awards.[29] Five episodes were given six awards by The National Council on Family Relations at its 34th Annual Awards ceremony.[30]

Episodes

In America the series' broadcaster, The N, aired episode three, "Family Politics", as the season premiere;[31] "Mother and Child Reunion" was held back and aired as the season finale because of its internet predator storyline. This caused continuity problems for viewers as the episode depicted Toby Isaacs being introduced to Manny Santos and Emma Nelson for the first time, and was set before the school year began. The fifteenth and final episode of the season, "Jagged Little Pill", was also held back while The N decided whether its subject about ecstasy abuse was too controversial.[32] When an edited version was made available, The N aired it as part of season two.[25] In reruns however, the episodes have aired in the original order intended by the show's producers.

Series
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References

General
  • Ellis, Kathryn (2005). Degrassi: Generations - The Official 411. New York, NY: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-1-4165-1680-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Specific
  1. ^ "Season 1". DegrassiTNGHO.com. Retrieved 2007-09-20.
  2. ^ a b Brown, Dan (2001-06-07). "The Sopranos, Degrassi highlights of CTV lineup Jason Alexander's new show also gets a look-in" (Reprint). National Post. CanWest Global Communications. Retrieved 2007-12-11. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
    Palmer, Karen (2001-10-11). "Kids of Degrassi Street grow up: Next Generation, debuting Sunday, slicker than beloved original" (Reprint). Canadian Press. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  3. ^ "CTV Press Release" (Reprint) (Press release). CTV. 2001-08-04. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  4. ^ "Degrassi: The Next Generation - Season 1 (Canadian) DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. 2004. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  5. ^ "Degrassi: The Next Generation - Season 1 DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. 2004. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  6. ^ Epitome Pictures. "Degrassi: The Next Generation" (note:requires iTunes software to access). The N. iTunes Store. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  7. ^ a b Williamson, Kevin (2001-12-07). "Degrassi keeps on growing" (Reprint). Calgary Sun. Sun Media. Retrieved 2007-12-11. Cite error: The named reference "calgary" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Snap Media's Syndication Engine tunes viewers in to the web" (Reprint) (Press release). Canada NewsWire. 2001-12-06. Retrieved 2007-12-10. In a single month www.degrassi.tv has secured more than 26,000 fullregistrations and attracted over 28,000,000 hits. Driven by over 2,000,000 unique page impressions a month, users have logged a total of over 145,000 unique sessions per month each lasting an average of more than 18 minutes.
  9. ^ Ellis, pp. 46–51.
  10. ^ Atherton, Tony (2001-06-07). "Degrassi High Cast Set To Return This Fall" (Reprint). Ottawa Citizen. CanWest Global Communications. Retrieved 2007-12-11. Some of the original teen cast, now in their late 20s, were on hand yesterday to offer advice to the 11 youngsters chosen from among 600 who auditioned for the series of half-hour shows. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ McGrath, Stephanie (2001-09-21). "'Degrassi's' got a whole new student body". AllPop. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2007-12-12. Yan Moore: "When teens tune in, they're more likely to see actors who resemble their lab partner than the Holmes, Jacksons, and Van Der Beeks that people Dawson's Creek. They're going to see much more real kids. Remember the first season of Dawson's Creek? Where they were all saying, 'I may be 15', but in fact they were 18, 19, 20? But our kids are within a couple years of the characters they're playing." Degrassi is more of a reflection of what it's like to be a teen than Dawson's Creek, which have their place and everything, but you know, the kids on Dawson's Creek speak like they're PhD students compared to what normal kids speak."
  12. ^ McGrath, Stephanie (2001-09-21). "'Degrassi's' got a whole new student body". AllPop. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  13. ^ Baldwin, Carol (2001-10-14). "Local actor's role links new and old Degrassi" (Reprint). Beaver Entertainment. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  14. ^ a b c d Honey, Kim (2001-06-07). "CTV's high-school reunion" (Reprint). The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2007-12-12. Yesterday morning was devoted to Degrassi, with appearances by … Miriam Mcdonald, who plays Spike's daughter, Emma, as well as Ryan Cooley, Jake Goldsbie and Cassie Steele, all of whom were just signed last week.
  15. ^ Scapillato, Joan (2001-10-14). "Port teen wins lead role in Degrassi's next generation" (Reprint). Welland Tribune. Osprey Media. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  16. ^ "Degrassi sequel is big break for K-W's Chrissy Schmidt" (Reprint). Kitchener-Waterloo Record. Torstar. 2001-10-14. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  17. ^ Ellis, pp. 52–9, 66–71, 74–7, 80-2
  18. ^ Ellis, pp. 72–73, 90
  19. ^ Ellis, p. 96.
    • Linda Schuyler (co-creator, executive producer); Yan Moore (co-creator); Stephen Stohn (executive producer). Degrassi: The Next Generation - Season 1 DVD Boxset (DVD). Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |date2= ignored (help)
  20. ^ McGrath, Stephanie (2001-09-21). "'Degrassi's' got a whole new student body". AllPop. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  21. ^ "Degrassi: The Next Generation". TV Guide (Canadian Issue). 2002-02-02.
  22. ^ McFarland, Melanie (2002-03-30). "'Degrassi' back in a new generation" (Reprint). The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  23. ^ Atherton, Tony (2001-10-14). "Degrassi returns with new, old faces: Unfortunately, the stories are stuck in the old ruts" (Reprint). The Ottawa Citizen. CanWest Global Communications. p. A12. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
  24. ^ "Caucasian TV drama". Canadian Press. Simon Fraser University. 2002-09-05. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
    •"Visible Minorities missing from Cdn TV: Study". Canadian Press. CTVglobemedia. 2002-08-25. Retrieved 2002-02-01.
  25. ^ a b "Degrassi: The Next Generation" (Reprint) (Press release). ABC. 2002-11-01. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
    • Gayle, MacDonald (2002-10-31). "For a few bucks, we'll launder your movie for you" (fee required). The Globe and Mail. CTVglobemedia. p. R1. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
    • Neihart, Ben (2005-03-20). "DGrassi Is tha Best Teen TV N da WRLD!". note: login required. New York Times. pp. page 5. Retrieved 2007-12-12. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  26. ^ "Snap Media's Syndication Engine tunes viewers in to the web" (Reprint) (Press release). Canada NewsWire. 2001-12-06. Retrieved 2007-12-10. In a single month www.degrassi.tv has secured more than 26,000 full registrations and attracted over 28,000,000 hits. Driven by over 2,000,000 unique page impressions a month, users have logged a total of over 145,000 unique sessions per month each lasting an average of more than 18 minutes.
  27. ^ "2002 Directors Guild of Canada Awards" (Flash). Directors Guild of Canada. 2002. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  28. ^ "Canadian Awards Database History Search" (Search for "Degrassi"). Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  29. ^ "23rd Annual Young Artist Awards". Youngartistawards.org. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
  30. ^ "Degrassi Wins Big at the 34th Annual Media Awards". Epitome Virtual Reality. CTV. 2002-09-18. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
  31. ^ "Noggin's New Programming Block 'The N' Takes on Tween Issues With 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'" (Press release). Epitome Virtual Reality. 2002-03-25. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
  32. ^ "Season 2". DegrassiTNGHO.com. Retrieved 2007-12-13.

External links

{{D:TNGSeasons}}

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