Joel
For years, I never thought that any channel would bring this show back.The Next Generation is entertaining, but I've always wondered if they'd show this version at some point... I got the answer later last year.In comparison to the current Degrassi, this seems a bit tamer. All the same, it still has the drama that everyone enjoys. (By the way, "It Creeps" is my favorite episode.) I just have to say one other thing: watch this series, and then watch Next Generation and compare and contrast the original cast members... man they look different! This series is up to par with it's current counterpart. 8/10
willrogers
The Degrassi series are very realistic - none of that "happily ever after" nonsense typical of Hollywood and Disney. I've noticed that a lot of Canadian shows and stories are like that. The show deals with problems all kinds of teenagers face in the real world. My favourite episodes were those that focused on Wheels. He becomes orphaned at the age of fourteen and lives with his grandparents. Wheels becomes angry and rebellious, as well as very denying of his feelings. We see him picking fights with his grandmother, running away from home, doing poorly in school, stealing, lying, coming home past his curfew, and not taking responsibility for his actions. And all because Wheels is angry and misunderstood and isolated. It did bother me when his grandmother chucked him out of the house for sneaking out to go to a concert with Joey and Snake when he was grounded. I think she should have been more understanding of his anger. Later, when I saw "School's Out", I was saddened when Wheels was on the brink of moving away to Calgary and to his lover and starting a new life, and then was imprisoned for drinking and driving and being responsible for an injury and a death. But that's the way it goes with troubled teens in the real world. This isn't a Disney fairy tale.
TheHitchcockBlonde
Being born in 1982, Degrassi Junior High was my after-school show that I think shaped me in some way, or at least opened me up to a world that I wasn't exposed to yet. I haven't seen the show in years but bits still stick with me, like when Joey walks naked through the cafeteria with just his hat, how Stephanie used to change into 'sexy clothes' for school (oh, how I was in awe of her- she seemed to me to be the epitome of womanhood),'Zit Remedy' and how the two young guys rang up the radio station to ask about wet dreams. Later on there was suicide, pregnancy, caffeine pills, car crashes, fires...Best. Show. Ever.
bamptonj
First syndicated in Australia on the ABC's "Afternoon Show" with James Valentine from 1988/1989 onwards, this was a terrificly topical show for elderly children and younger adults. Episodes concerning teenage alcoholism, pregnancy, delinquency, child abuse, homosexuality, harassment, puberty and depression were delivered with an immediate frankness not previously produced for the little screen."Degrassi Junior High" was throughly entertaining; creating many lasting characters, particularly Joey Jeremiah and Derek "Wheels". The show lost its earnesty - though not its appeal - when it became "Degrassi High", the tele-movie extrapolation, "School's Out" was subpar whilst strangely compelling and the most recent series deplorably banal, but the original series was a classic."Degrassi Junior High" looks as if it was hastily filmed; with post-production added only sparingly - the show looks scant and cheap - but it was undeniably charming; the very theme song ("Wake up in the morning...feeling shy and lonely...") alerted me to the joy that would unfold over the next 22 minutes or so. The Junior High School looked anitiquated, dirty, cold and industrial - the Toronto skies were perpetually grey, the stories and familiy life not alway positive, but it was thoroughly commendable.I haven't seen an episode in years; I try desperately to remember more of the plotlines, more of the obscure characters. I can't - only the vibes remain. But what vibes! And what a show! It has deservedly won quite a cult following around the world, particularly Australia and the U.K, but the author is surprised to discover that it is virtually unknown in the U.S and to some extent in its homeland!Let's see it on DVD soon!
