Degrassi: The Next Generation

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Degrassi: The Next Generation
File:DTNG Cast.jpg
The cast beginning season 4
Created byLinda Schuyler
Starring5th Season
Stacey Farber
Miriam McDonald
Deanna Casaluce
Mike Lobel
Andrea Lewis
Cassie Steele
Lauren Collins
Aubrey Graham
Jake Epstein
Shane Kippel
Ryan Cooley
Jake Goldsbie
Sarah Barrable-Tishauer
Stefan Brogren
Amanda Stepto
Pat Mastroianni
Stacie Mistysyn
Jamie Johnston
Melissa DiMarco
Adamo Ruggiero
Country of originCanada
No. of episodes100 (as of season 5)
Production
Running timeHalf hour (including commercials)
Original release
NetworkCTV (Canada)
The-N (USA)
ABC (Australia)
ReleaseOctober 14, 2001 –
continuing

Degrassi: The Next Generation (sometimes abbreviated DTNG or D:TNG) is a Canadian television series, which follows the lives of a group of high school students. In the United States, it is commonly known as simply "Degrassi."

Degrassi: The Next Generation continues the popular Degrassi franchise, and is preceded by Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, as well as Kids of Degrassi Street. Rather than do a show focusing just on the (now adult) characters, the creators decided to stay true to the original series and retain its focus on the issues and challenges of real teen life, bringing in a slew of new teen actors to star in the show. Several characters from the earlier series reprise their roles on DTNG as parents or teachers of the new students and have plot lines of their own which tend to intermix with the stories of the younger generation.

Degrassi: The Next Generation details the lives of many different characters as they go through their high school years, and since the first season the characters have grown in many different ways. The show has dealt with many issues familiar to teenagers, such as body image, drug dealing, drug use and abuse, drinking, grades, college, stress, suicide, menstruation, rape, child abuse, pedophilia, dating, teen pregnancy and childbirth, prematurity, abortion, adoption, sexuality, hate crimes, puberty, cutting, death, rumors, domestic violence, infidelity, cancer, eating disorders (bulimia), school shootings, theft, mental illness, gambling, penis size, masturbation, STDs, terrorism, race relations, nocturnal emissions, pornography, plastic surgery, visible erections, sex, oral sex, and religion.

While the earlier Degrassi series all aired in Canada on the CBC, Degrassi: The Next Generation airs on CTV. In the States, Degrassi: The Next Generation airs on cable network The-N/Noggin; in Latin America, DTNG is broadcast on MTV Latinoamérica and in Poland on VIVA music channel.

In the first three seasons, the show's theme song is sung by a child chorus and a woman. In seasons 4-5, the theme song is performed by Canadian industrial group Jakalope.

Current cast (in credits order)

For character descriptions, see Degrassi: The Next Generation characters.

Former cast

Recurring cast

Teenage soap opera

File:Degrassi1.jpg
Degrassi Season 4 Cast

The ever-changing dynamic between friends, significant others, and enemies on Degrassi: The Next Generation likens it to a teenage soap opera. Much as in a real life, the adolescence of the characters is a mix of happiness and tragedy as they find themselves in very real situations where the stakes are higher than anyone ever seems to remember after exiting high school. The show has been compared to My So-Called Life for its ability to portray the real drama of life as a teenager without resorting to complete melodrama or pandering to its audience. The show has also been praised for having real teens playing the characters instead of actors in their early to mid 20's (something shows like Beverly Hills 90210, The OC, and Dawsons Creek have been criticized for). In many ways, the show can be considered the opposite of more fluff high school shows such as Saved by the Bell.

In Canada, it is one of the few Canadian television shows to reach a million viewers on CTV[1]. In the United States, Degrassi: The Next Generation airs on cable channel The-N (which runs as Noggin for pre-schoolers during the daytime hours). Noggin is owned by Viacom (the same company that owns Nickelodeon). In Australia it is aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) as part of its "ABC Kids" lineup. Before each episode is shown in Australia, a warning is broadcast that the program may not be suitable for younger children. Repeat episodes have also screened on Nickelodeon Australia.

Several factors, including Degrassi:TNG's award winning writing and heavy exposure on The-N have made it surprisingly popular in the United States. A March 2005 article on this growing "south of the border" popularity in the Ottawa Sun notes that it is by far the most popular show on The-N and has outperformed U.S. youth-oriented non-cable prime-time shows like Joan of Arcadia and 8 Simple Rules (both shows have since been canceled) which is about 4-5 million viewers, even though only a relatively small portion of the U.S. has access to The-N cable channel (which in many areas is only available via satellite dish or premium cable). This is even more remarkable considering how few TV shows from other English-speaking countries--besides those geared towards young children such as Thomas the Tank Engine, Teletubbies, or The Wiggles have succeeded with a U.S. audience. While the show has shown popularity, it has also been criticized for being demoralizing, immature, and offensive (as were its predecessors). For this reason, some teens refuse to watch it, often stating it is of poor quality and stereotypical. Other successful English-language shows from outside the U.S. have generally been from the United Kingdom rebroadcast on PBS or BBC America; despite the close proximity, Canadian television is almost never rebroadcast to the U.S., making Degrassi:TNG one of the most successful Canadian TV shows ever in America. As a result, many American fans are only aware of the new Degrassi series, having never been exposed to the original (PBS briefly showed the original Degrassi series in the late 1980's and early 1990's, but today's Degrassi:TNG fans for the most part were too young to have watched it then, in fact, many were not even born yet). This success has caused The N to begin broadcasting episodes of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High in October, 2005. These episodes were rebranded as Degrassi, Old School.

American actor and film director Kevin Smith made a 3-episode story arc guest appearance at the very end of season 4 and re-appeared in a 2-episode arc in season 5. A fan of both the original and current shows (as a teen he was one of the few viewers of the old PBS broadcasts), Kevin Smith named a character in Clerks Caitlin for the character of the same name in Degrassi.

United States censorship

The American broadcaster of Degrassi, The-N, has repeatedly self-censored episodes, editing them in small ways to make them, in their opinion, more suitable for American viewers. This has included blurring posters that advocate condom use, cutting down sexual scenes such as the group sex scene, changing use of the word "fag" to "gay," softening intense violence, and cutting a scene showing Spinner with an erection. Sometimes these edits are inconsistent, and are not used in every broadcast. Additional scenes are Craig playing "chicken" with a train (a scene also not shown on CTV, but on the DVD), Dean spitting out a condom wrapper and Ellie making cut marks into her skin.

The-N has refused to air the season 3 two-part episode 314-315 "Accidents Will Happen" in which Manny discovers she is pregnant and, in the end, has an abortion. This angered many American viewers, as well as Linda Schuyler, creator of the show. Both episodes are available on file sharing networks such as SoulSeek and LimeWire. It's also available for viewing on YouTube, by searching for 314 and 315. The-N has shown clips of the episode on the "Behind the Scenes" special. It shows Manny doing some backflips, as seen in the episode. The subploit of 'Accidents Will Happen' was broadcasted on The-N website as 'webexclusives'"[citation needed] to tell why Jimmy and Toby recieved Saturday detention in episode 316 'Take On Me' where five students from different social groups come face to face with their conflicts with each other while serving a Saturday detention. This episode was inspired by the film The Breakfast Club.

DVD releases of the show in U.S. are not handled by The-N and are edit free.

In contrast to the treatment of earlier episodes, The-N did not exclude Season 4 episodes that featured intense themes like group sex and school shootings. Editing has also been kept to a minimum (if at all) For example a scene showing Craig and Ashley renting a hotel room to have sex in "Voices" was kept with a scene showing them putting their clothes back on afterwards. Another example was in the episode "Secret" which was presented in its entirety on the N (as seen on CTV) with the reference to "Accidents Will Happen" kept in, along with Jay's use of a certain term for oral sex.

Recently The-N has re-broadcast three episodes unedited as a special called 'Degrassi: The Director's Cut'. The episodes that have been aired unedited during this special are now seen unedited in rebroadcasts. Here is a list of the episodes with their changes:

Episode Number Title What Was Restored?
102 Mother & Child Reunion Pt. 2
  • Caitlin saying “He’s not always such an ass.” during bathroom scene where she is cleaning up Joey is restored.
  • A poster with the text “The Pill is not enough!” in the bathroom where Caitlin and Joey are talking is shown.
  • ‘Jordan’ turns the camera on and says to Emma “Your mother is at her reunion, we have hours.” is restored.
  • ‘Jordan’ touching and kissing Emma is restored.
205 Weird Science Spinner’s erection is restored.
303 U Got The Look The shot of Manny’s thong is extended to its original length.

Long time viewers of the show mentions that there is not much difference in Ep. 303 'U Got The Look' and should not have been shown during the special. Some message boards like on Myspace had speculations that Ep. 314/315 'Accidents Will Happen' would have been shown in the United States.

DVD releases

The first three seasons of the show are available on DVD. Season 1 was released on September 28, 2004 in the United States and on October 19 in Canada. Season 2 was released on June 21, 2005 in the US. Season 3 was released on March 28, 2006.

Soundtrack

Degrassi: The Next Generation released a soundtrack in 2005, featuring the following songs:

See also

Predecesors

External links

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