Degrassi High

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Degrassi High
Degrassi High
Genre	Teen drama, Soap Opera
Creator(s)	Linda Schuyler, Kit Hood
Starring	Dayo Ade Sara Ballingall Kirsten Bourne Stefan Brogren Darrin Brown Andy Chambers Amanda Cook Angela Deiseach Maureen Deiseach Craig Driscoll Chrissa Erodotou Michelle Goodeve Anais Granofsky Rebecca Haines Neil Hope John Ioannou Cathy Keenan Niki Kemeny Kyra Levy Arlene Lott Pat Mastroianni Maureen McKay Stacie Mistysyn Bill Parrott Siluck Saysanasy Amanda Stepto Nicole Stoffman Duncan Waugh Dan Woods
Country of origin	Canada
No. of episodes	28
Production
Running time	Half hour (including commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	CBC (Canada) PBS (USA)
Original run	November 6, 1989 – January 28, 1991

Degrassi High was the third television show in the Degrassi series of teen dramas about the lives of a group of kids living on or near Degrassi Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It first aired in 1989 and 1990 and followed the kids from Kids of Degrassi Street and Degrassi Junior High through high school.

Degrassi High was rebranded to Degrassi, Old School when it began to broadcast on The N in the United States. It dealt with issues ranging from AIDS, abuse, alcoholism, cheating, sex, death and suicide, dating, depression, bullying, abortion, gay rights, racism, the environment, drugs, sexism, and eating disorders. Many hail the series as a classic for being a realistic and often raw portrayal of teen life.

[edit] United States censorship

The first two episodes sparked controversy in the United States over the issue of abortion. One of the characters had scheduled to get an abortion and Canadian viewers saw the full non-edited episode where the girl battles her way through pro-life protesters, one of which is holding up a plastic fetus, saying "Please don't do it, it's your last chance". The American version, which originally aired on PBS, was edited to not show the protesters and no final decision on whether to get the abortion was ever made.^{[citation needed]}

As of October 2005, the American broadcaster, The N, made the decision not to air episodes 101/102 "A New Start" due to the subject of abortion.^[1][2]. The N made the decision not to air episode 103 "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" due to the references of the abortion made in the previous episode."^[3]

In Australia, all episodes originally aired unedited in its original run throughout the 1990s, but were however censored when repeated on Nickelodeon Australia. The episode "A New Start" was edited in such a way that it appeared Erica was never pregnant by the end of the episode, abruptly ending after a joke between Wheels, Joey and Snake, although the scene of Erica reading her pregnancy test was kept as a still over the credits. The entire second episode was removed altogether, a similar situation that occurred with "Showtime Parts One and Two."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Trivia

• The shows were filmed in Downtown Toronto
• The show was filmed at Centennial College
• Many of the actors had had no previous acting experience and were cast because of their realistic appearance
• The school colors were blue and purple
• Everybody's favorite bands during the 5 year run of Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High were the fictional rock bands The Savages and Gourmet Scum, and real-life English rockers The Pogues.
• Neil Hope who played Derek 'Wheels' Wheeler had to play a teenager who loses his parents in a car accident. In real life, Hope lost his father a couple of months prior to shooting the funeral scene and struggled to keep from crying throughout.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.tv.com/degrassi-high/a-new-start-1/episode/280227/summary.html
2. ^ http://www.tv.com/degrassi-high/a-new-start-2/episode/280228/summary.html
3. ^ http://www.tv.com/degrassi-high/breaking-up-is-hard-to-do/episode/280229/summary.html

[edit] External links

• Episode Guide for Degrassi High
• Pat Mastroianni's Official Website
• Unofficial Degrassi Fan Site
• Official Degrassi: New Generation Web Site