Article on the original Degrassi Junior High

[Visionoyahweh]

I hated how the Terri/Rick storyline was handled and I hated how the later school shooting storyline played out.

Rick should have shot Jimmy dead. Sorry, but it would've made subsequent seasons go a lot easier. :lol:

ETA: Caitlin's homoerotic dreams about her teacher were pretty good times, too. :clap:

[browngrl]

The story of what happened to Wheels IRL is pretty sad. Here is another link: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/ar ... last-month

BTW just drove past the high school on Degrassi this am on an early morning run to Home Depot to pick up building supples. I love that I live in the neighbourhood that was the setting of a favourite show of mine.

[lilwriter85]

What happend to Neil Hope was really sad, especially since his family didn't know he died for four or five years. Neil's story reminded me of a couple of other cases in which people's deaths weren't known for years.

[2xx1xy1JD]

You've all forgotten the best aspects of the DJH and DH, the frumpers! Man ,those girls were super frumpy dressers. Even for the 80's, the production designers had to know how horrible the fashions were.

DTNG did have an 'obese' girl. She was big, but pretty, and left the show to be a model in real life, so I guess she didn't really count. Also, one of the twin girls got pregnant and had an abortion. She didn't tell her parents, but did tell her sister. Her sister disagreed with her decision, but still helped her go to the clinic. I think it handled abortion in a fairly realistic, non-preachy light.

ETA: Darcy's rape was handled pretty well, too.

ETA 2: Even a guy got molested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGQIBQcTWtk

What frumpers? That's how we all dressed back then! Given the budget, I wouldn't be surprised if they were wearing their own clothes.

[Visionoyahweh]

What frumpers? That's how we all dressed back then! Given the budget, I wouldn't be surprised if they were wearing their own clothes.

There's a guide site on the net I read one, it basically examined all the fashion disasters from every episode. The clothes were ugly to teens back then, and are hilariously dated now.

[Dhani_C]

Remember when Emma caught gonerea (I know its spelled wrong no I dont have spell check) because that Jay dude was spreading it around?

And when they killed TJ I was PISSED!

And Liberty having a baby... and giving it up for adoption.

I cried when JT died. That was horrific.

[Dhani_C]

All the way with Stephanie Kay!

:lol:

[Dhani_C]

They also featured an inter-racial couple on Degrassi High, I believe. I remember that the black guy's name was BLT and even now I find that name ridiculous. Could they not give him a real name?!

[StarrieEyedKat]

It warms my heart that I've found so many fellow adult Degrassi fans.

Vision, to answer your question, the newest episodes are pretty eye roll inducing and the story lines just keep going on and on and on and on, even though they're supposed to be "fixed" in two episodes.

[shesinsane]

Kevin Smith (aka Silent Bob) was a huge fan of the original, says Caitlin's name in Clerks was in honor of Caitlin Ryan on Degrassi. Degrassi's Caitlin had epilepsy, so teens with chronic medical conditions was another issue the show addressed.

I too was a Wheels fan, but time is a bitch. Seeing him all grown up (when Zit Remedy got back together in 2003) kinda ruined it. From the wikipedia entry:

Though he died in 2007 in a Hamilton rooming house, his family did not learn of his death until 2012.

That might be the most depressing thing I've read this year.

[StarrieEyedKat]

Kevin Smith (aka Silent Bob) was a huge fan of the original, says Caitlin's name in Clerks was in honor of Caitlin Ryan on Degrassi. Degrassi's Caitlin had epilepsy, so teens with chronic medical conditions was another issue the show addressed.

Lol, did you see the episodes that Kevin Smith guest starred on The Next Generation? He and Caitlin ended up having a little flirtation thing going. :)

[Visionoyahweh]

http://degrassimeme.tumblr.com/

:lol:

[2xx1xy1JD]

There's a guide site on the net I read one, it basically examined all the fashion disasters from every episode. The clothes were ugly to teens back then, and are hilariously dated now.

I used to wear leg warmers and shoulder pads and big glasses and huge shirts and mid-calf skirts and acid-wash jeans. I had a mullet for a few years, followed by a bad perm.

According to another site I found, the wardrobe budget was tiny, and yes, the cast would sometimes be wearing their own clothes.

[reds]

Am now watching episodes on youtube. Oh the memories. And yes.. we dressed like the twins. lol

[persuas1ve]

I had a huge crush on Craig and loved the Ashley/Craig story line. I watched up until the last of the original DTNG cast were gone.

I couldn't believe they killed off JT!

[MissSeptember]

I like that the characters now wear school uniforms, and shirts color coded by grade. I think that is the only thing today's kids can identify with in this new Degrassi era.

I didn't cry when they killed JT, but I did cry during his memorial service (which was held, of course, at school).

[JenniferJuniper]

What frumpers? That's how we all dressed back then! Given the budget, I wouldn't be surprised if they were wearing their own clothes.

Not only were the original Degrassi kids wearing their own clothes, they did their own make up. And that was really how the actress who played Spike wore her hair. I think it just added to the charm and naturalness of the kids. Nothing cutesy or Hollywoodish about them.

I always wondered why it was always so warm and sunny in Toronto. Never snowy or cold, no winter clothes. I found out later that the kids all attended public schools full time and therefore nearly all of the filming took place only during the summer break.

[Visionoyahweh]

I just remembered the storyline where Claire ends up with Spike's stolen vibrator.

Good times!

[canela]

I was also a big fan of DJH and DH. I have to admit, I thought Snake and Wheels were pretty cute back in the day. I hadn't thought about this show in years until I saw this thread. Neil Hope's death is really sad.

Am I remembering correctly? Didn't a character commit suicide by gun on DH? I think he died at school and one of the other kids (Joey? Snake?) found him. I don't remember the character's name, but he kind of looked like a a cross between a Bolshevik and a romantic poet. This guy left an impression on me because at that time, none of the boys I knew wore goatees.

I'm sort of ashamed to admit that I aspired to dress as "coolly" as Caitlin and Spike did. Ack! I can't believe I actually typed that.

[Dhani_C]

I was also a big fan of DJH and DH. I have to admit, I thought Snake and Wheels were pretty cute back in the day. I hadn't thought about this show in years until I saw this thread. Neil Hope's death is really sad.

Am I remembering correctly? Didn't a character commit suicide by gun on DH? I think he died at school and one of the other kids (Joey? Snake?) found him. I don't remember the character's name, but he kind of looked like a a cross between a Bolshevik and a romantic poet. This guy left an impression on me because at that time, none of the boys I knew wore goatees.

I'm sort of ashamed to admit that I aspired to dress as "coolly" as Caitlin and Spike did. Ack! I can't believe I actually typed that.

Wasn't it Claude?

[FloraDoraDolly]

I was also a big fan of DJH and DH. I have to admit, I thought Snake and Wheels were pretty cute back in the day. I hadn't thought about this show in years until I saw this thread. Neil Hope's death is really sad.

Am I remembering correctly? Didn't a character commit suicide by gun on DH? I think he died at school and one of the other kids (Joey? Snake?) found him. I don't remember the character's name, but he kind of looked like a a cross between a Bolshevik and a romantic poet. This guy left an impression on me because at that time, none of the boys I knew wore goatees.

I'm sort of ashamed to admit that I aspired to dress as "coolly" as Caitlin and Spike did. Ack! I can't believe I actually typed that.

The kid who committed suicide was Claude, pronounced to rhyme with either load or lude, depending on who was talking about him.

Loved the original Degrassi. I was an adult when TNG came along, but I tuned in to see Snake, Spike, and Joey grown up and then got hooked. For me, the show jumped the shark when they killed off JT. Then they brought in all those Lakehurst kids. (BTW, did anyone else think Anya kinda looked like Jill Duggar?) I haven't seen much of the show since the season where Emma and Manny went off to college. When I go to my sister's house, the nieces usually have the TV tuned to Nickelodeon, so I have seen the latest Degrassi previews. It looks as if everything takes place at night now and there's always some girl screaming, followed by hype about how Degrassi will never be the same again.

[Visionoyahweh]

(BTW, did anyone else think Anya kinda looked like Jill Duggar?

YES. Either Jill or Joy.

[FloraDoraDolly]

YES. Either Jill or Joy.

The last time I saw Anya, Joy was still a kid. But yeah, I see a resemblance there, too.

[Kitty]

I'm way too young to have caught the original Degrassi the first time around, but I did see some episodes when it aired on The-N. Soooo weird. The hair...!

I liked DTNG in the first few seasons, but everything after Rick shot Jimmy was just too much. I started to notice that some plotlines either got too zany or recycled. The actors all look impeccably perfect. It's not really Degrassi anymore, it's just another Hollywood teen drama pretending to be "edgy."

IIRC the actors on DTNG occasionally also wear their own clothes in scenes. I think the only exception was the girl who played Ellie, since Ellie was goth and her actress was... quite far from it. Is Ellie still on the show? I liked her.

[StarrieEyedKat]

I'm way too young to have caught the original Degrassi the first time around, but I did see some episodes when it aired on The-N. Soooo weird. The hair...!

I liked DTNG in the first few seasons, but everything after Rick shot Jimmy was just too much. I started to notice that some plotlines either got too zany or recycled. The actors all look impeccably perfect. It's not really Degrassi anymore, it's just another Hollywood teen drama pretending to be "edgy."

IIRC the actors on DTNG occasionally also wear their own clothes in scenes. I think the only exception was the girl who played Ellie, since Ellie was goth and her actress was... quite far from it. Is Ellie still on the show? I liked her.

No, aside from Snake, none of the originals or the kids from TNG are on the show. Spinner and Emma were the last to leave, and they married each other, bleh. Paige showed up in a few commercial type shorts, but the regular show is all new (annoying) kids.

I know there've been a lot of recycled plotlines, but that doesn't really bother me since that's pretty much high school life. Same problems, different people.