How did Degrassi Survive for So Long?
When looking back at the 2000s, one sees that TV shows that were generally targeted to pre-teen and teen audiences were different from what they had generally been. The past had presented a plethora of after-school specials, or wannabe cool after-school specials, such as Saved by the Bell or Boy Meets World. They had morals at the end of the episodes. By the 2000s and 2010s, screw morals: we wanted to see Buffy take down vampires and some weird nonsense goes down in Supernatural. Teens of that period were rarely presented with a clean-cut moral take on a regular basis unless it was overdramatized or comedy.
That is if you don’t include Degrassi.
A Canadian-produced TV show, Degrassi has had a plethora of iterations in its over forty years of existence. From The Kids of Degrassi Street to Degrassi: Next Class, children around the world have been able to feel as if they were actual students in the fictional Toronto school. Need proof of its international appeal? My mother watched Joey Jeremiah and Spinner kicking butt in Degrassi Junior High and its sequel, Degrassi High, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, back in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
But how does a show from that era survive and continue to thrive in the relatively dark and edgy 2000s?
My honest opinion can be summarized by three simple concepts: relatability, honesty, and the occasional dipping into the dark and dreary.
The strength that Degrassi held as a brand started with an Executive Producer team, headed by Stephen Stohn, Lindsay Schyler, and Stephen Brogren, that made sure that the show was always relatable to its audience. The first way that they did that was by having teen actors playing teens. Stefan Brogren, in an interview, said “ It makes all the difference in the world. I think an audience member can tell when a 16-year-old is being played by a 16-year-old and not a 27-year-old. They can see themselves in the characters”. To that point, a lot of television shows employ young adults to play teens, but everyone knows that these people aren’t actual teens right? As you know, Andrew Garfield was playing teenager Peter Parker in the Amazing Spiderman at the age of 29. And if you didn’t know, now you do. You’re welcome.
Anyways, the second point in relatability arises in the storylines that are oftentimes tackled within the show. These are real things that are seen in real life. One of the most touching episodes of the last ten years comes in the form of the two-part special, “Cannonball” and “Honey”, dealing with the issue of texting and driving. The character of Adam Torres dies after crashing his tree. This episode serves as a learning moment, but also grounds the people watching to earth; the moment isn’t glorified and isn’t played for laughs. It’s relatable.
This leads me to the real interpretation of what’s done: it’s honest. Degrassi continues to be honest with the viewers. Within that very same two-parter, the characters talk candidly about the chances of death, but also of recovery. Just like every other person, there is still a semblance of hope. This, in turn, makes the crushing reality of his death ever so hard when we see it on his mother, Audra’s, face.
The honesty in the show isn’t just in its darker elements, but also in the lighter elements of the show. Degrassi strived to always present happy and comedic moments between students that can actually happen, even within the drama of the show. That’s not a bad thing: in fact, it helps to really portray what’s going on in High Schools, doesn’t matter the generation that is watching. High Schools are places where comedy reigns supreme, so tier interpretation of comedy can oftentimes be spot on. In the second episode of “Come As You Are” - yeah, they had two-part episodes for a while, don’t ask - the character of Maya Matlin uses a chicken cutlet to make herself more mature if you know what I mean. Said cutlet falls out and people start mocking her for it: she uses that same cutlet joke and turns it on the people teasing her, telling one of the guys that it is the closest thing that they’ll get to the action. That type of honest response and dialogue is part of teenagers’ lives and was well represented on screen.
Degrassi: The Next Generation was not afraid of talking about dark and dreary subjects; in fact, I believe that both the actors and writers reveled in those episodes. While other TV shows, such as 13 Reasons Why, talked openly about death and those elements and made it a central element of their shows, Degrassi wasn’t like that: the show integrated darker themes within broader storylines. It helped to make the overall feel of the show light. An example of this comes from Cam and Maya. While Cam sadly and unexpectedly committed suicide, this becomes a part of Maya’s overall story and character: learning how to cope, love, and forgive herself through it all. All of that is pretty good.
To continue on in the darker elements, the writers of the show have always been good at presenting these more mature elements in their stories. Even in the original shows, the producers and writers tackled elements such as teen pregnancy with Spike, or Dwayne contracting HIV. Yes, there’s the previously mentioned realistic aspect, but they don’t pile every single horrible thing that could ever happen to someone on one singular character. See, it's horrible to happen to everyone. Jimmy got shot. Manny was sexually assaulted. Bianca was part of a gang. Every character has their own flaws to deal with and their way to cope with them, which allows for the character to not be focused on the misery of one character but to truly be a cast-driven show.
So in truth, for an after-school special, Degrassi has grown from a little Canadian show to an international sensation because of these elements: relatability, honesty, and their ability to cope with the darkness. Especially with the 2000s and 2010s, it was imperative. Now that the show is done for the foreseeable future, I guess that the creative directors are going to take their time to create an even more honest interpretation of high school and the like if the show comes back. But, those are just my opinions that I’m throwing into the void of the Fanverse!