The Degrassi Franchise started airing in 1979 with The Kids of Degrassi Street and has seen enormous success over the entirety of its franchise. It has been a little under five years since the last generation of students occupied the halls of Degrassi High, but it is poised to make its return in 2023 with a new era airing on HBO Max.
Multiple series have aired since 1979, Degrassi has had a long lifespan and has seen its up and downs. But, none has made an impact like Degrassi: The Next Generation made. No matter how long it has been, no Degrassi series can match what The Next Generation was able to do. It might not have been the first, but it left a lasting impression.
There is no denying that The Next Generation would not exist without its predecessor. Especially Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, those two series influenced the topics used on the show and the characters themselves. There would be no Emma Nelson (Miriam McDonald) without those two shows; Emma exists because of those two shows. She even, in a way, appeared in Degrassi High when her mother, Christine “Spike” Nelson (Amanda Stepto), gave birth to her. Emma might have been the most prominent form of legacy in the show, but she was not the only one. The only character to have been credited in every single franchise series after the original iteration is Archie “Snake” Nelson (Stefan Brogren), who might have lost importance in later generations, but is at the core of Degrassi's legacy.The Next Generation might have been the one that put the show on the map, but there is a legacy there that can’t be forgotten.
But what makes this series different?
The answer is pretty simple. The Next Generation took risks like no others. Arriving in 2001, more than a decade since the ending of Degrassi High, Degrassi: The Next Generation is what many considered to be what made it become the series it is today. Running for fourteen seasons, with seasons ten to fourteen being simply named Degrassi, is still the longest-running iteration of the show. It is also what made Degrassi the international success that it is today. The Next Generation also starred actors and actresses who, while unknown at the start of the series, became stars, most notably Drake, who starred in the series as Jimmy Brooks.
While the last series of the franchise had tried their hand at subjects considered taboo for television, most notably teen pregnancy, The Next Generation pioneered the way for every single high school show that would follow it. Nothing was off-limit for this series, from bullying to a school shooting and passing by suicide and sexual assault. Everything needed to be approached because teenagers dealt with those situations and deserved to see them on television. Did it sometimes mishandle those subjects? Yes. But for the most part, it was clear that while the show's producers had to create entertainment, they also understood the show's impact on the lives of the kids that watched weekly.
The best example of such a thing is the storyline that leads to Degrassi’s most infamous episode, the school shooting. The school shooting didn’t come out of nowhere and didn’t glorify it. It was a story that had been thought through and was handled with care. To this day, Degrassi is the show that has dealt with the subject the best. During the fourth season of the series, Degrassi started getting darker. As their audience got older, the show began to deal with more serious subjects. It was controversial but would lead to what Degrassi would become over the years. The show found its voice and what it wanted to do with its time on television. The school shooting arc is exactly that proof of a show finding of the impact that it could have. Rick Murray (Ephraim Ellis) had been introduced in the prior season. Bullied by other students, Rick had become violent and would put his girlfriend, Terri (Christina Schmidt), in a coma later in the third season. It would lead to his expulsion from the school, but he would later return the following season, only to be bullied even more.
It wasn’t a story that came out of nothing. It had been built for so long and showed every facet of the problem. It all culminated in two of the most iconic episodes in Degrassi's history. “Time Stand Still” Part One and Two set the stage for what would become some of the most important stories of the series, changing the lives of those who inhabited the world they had built up to that moment. Even if they were never involved in the story before, the repercussion of the shooting touched everyone. No matter what had happened before, and many bad things had happened, nothing compared, and the show made a point of that.
It was the first instance of Degrassi using everything they had done to their advantage. It wasn’t as if the show hadn’t had complex subjects before. They had already dealt with child abuse with Craig (Jake Epstein), sexual assault with Paige (Lauren Collins), homosexuality with Marco (Adamo Ruggiero) and even teenage pregnancy with Manny (Cassie Steele), and that is just to name a few. Degrassi had never been afraid to deal with those subjects, but the school shooting was the first time the show had done such a big story that affected many characters.
Ask any Degrassi fans about their favourite episodes, and for many, the shooting episodes will be amongst them. And it is true of many episodes of The Next Generation, and most fans will put the episodes of that series ahead of anything that has come before and after. But even with great episodes and stories, a show wouldn’t be anything without characters. And that is what made Degrassi so good. Those characters were all so different and intriguing. Many fans will have different favourites, and some will have multiples even. There is something for everyone in there, and whether it’s from the original cast or the generations that followed them, every class has something for everyone. It is not mean that The Next Generation is perfect; it doesn’t hold the same impact after the original cast leaves. But, once Degrassi figured out the formula, it was hard for them not to follow it through, even when it just didn’t work anymore. The tail end of The Next Generation run doesn’t hold a candle to the earlier season, but there were still gems in there. The show always knew how to bring important stories to the forefront.
Degrassi: The Next Generation was the pinnacle of the franchise. The moment where two previous series of ideas cumulated into an incredible run and forged the path not only for other Degrassi series but also for any other teen drama in high school. It walked so others could run. Will there ever be something that takes its place? Who knows. But for now, The Next Generation remains superior and at the top of the Degrassi echelon.