History Franchise / Degrassi

* CanadaDoesNotExist: As historically ''Degrassi'' has had a degree of American involvement, this trope is present in almost every iteration, although [[CanadaEh hindsight shows it didn't really work]]. For example, ''Junior High'' was said to be set in an "unnamed North American city". The post-''Next Generation'' seasons in the early 2010s start moving into EaglelandOsmosis territory with the frequent mentioning of American universities and the like.
* CanadaEh: As stated above, the previous trope has not stopped anybody from commenting on the show's Canadian-ness, whether it'd be with the accents (e.g. Wheels) or the obvious fact it is set in Toronto regardless of what any press release tells you.

* OnceOriginalNowOverdone: ''Degrassi Junior High'' was praised as a breath of fresh air with the way it dealt with adolescence, and now it is regarded as the TropeMaker, or at least the UrExample, of TeenDrama. In the wake of all the teen shows of the ensuing decades, including later ''Degrassi'' series, it might be hard to see why its concept was so novel.

* MostWritersAreAdults: Intentionally averted. The producers were aware of and annoyed at this trope and wanted to avoid it; in ''Degrassi Junior High'' and ''Degrassi High'', the writers let the cast critique the scripts and suggest changes.

Sure enough, in November 2022, an article by the ''Wall Street Journal'' confirmed the cancellation. However, this is not apparently the end of the new show: in a press release immediately following the cancellation announcement, [=WildBrain=] said that they were "still committed" to the future of ''Degrassi'', and Linda Schuyler has referred to the failed HBO deal as a "[[https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2023/04/09/degrassi-creator-linda-schuyler-on-her-memoir-the-mother-of-all-degrassi-the-hardest-part-to-write-was-the-title.html false start]]". In August 2022, Schuyler said in a podcast that there was a writer working on a new pitch, but mentioned the then-ongoing Hollywood strikes as a significant barrier, meaning that while the new ''Degrassi'' is not actually cancelled, it is in DevelopmentHell.

''Degrassi'' is a [[LongRunner long running]] Canadian television franchise, created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood, that focuses on the lives of teenagers attending the eponymous secondary school. Named after (and originally set in) the real De Grassi Street in UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}}, Ontario, it is one of the most iconic TV franchises in Canadian history. Most if not all the installments have been run in a DramaticHalfHour format.

''Degrassi'' is a [[LongRunner long running]] Canadian television franchise, created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood, that focuses on the lives of teenagers attending the eponymous secondary school. Named after (and originally set in) the real De Grassi Street in UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}}, Ontario, it is one of the most iconic TV franchises in Canadian history.

!!Franchise history

Linda Schuyler was a Toronto schoolteacher in the mid 1970s who incorporated media into her curriculum and got into filmmaking to create material to show her class. She met experienced editor Kit Hood in a local filmmaker collective and found that they suited each other's creative needs, forming a partnership and the company Playing with Time to produce documentaries.

By this point, Linda and Kit wanted to tackle more complex and mature issues. Fed up with the {{Anvilicious}} nature of most American programming directed at teenagers and noticing the largely untapped nature of the teen media market, they developed a new series with the ''Degrassi'' name throughout 1986, with many of the ''Degrassi Street'' kids retained playing new characters. The aim was to create a series that would simply portray the lives of teenagers and the things they went through, as accurately as they could and without moralising.

The result, ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'', began in 1987 and soon became the show that cemented the ''Degrassi'' name as a Canadian institution, introducing important characters such as Joey Jeremiah, Caitlin Ryan, Christine "Spike" Nelson, and Archie "Snake" Simpson. Tackling teenage pregnancy, abuse, eating disorders and many other complex topics, it was DarkerAndEdgier, took on many SoapOpera tropes and featured a large ensemble cast, the result being what many consider to be the true TropeMaker for the TeenDrama genre. After having gained serious critical attention, became the country's number-one drama, and won numerous awards, ''Degrassi Junior High'' evolved into ''Series/DegrassiHigh'' and tackled even more serious topics like HIV/AIDS and suicide, before ending with the controversial feature-length finale ''Film/DegrassiSchoolsOut'', which is said to have featured the first F-bomb in Canadian television history.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hiatus and ''Degrassi: The Next Generation''/''Next Class'' (2001–2017)]]
Despite ending in 1992, ''Degrassi'' found a strong and loyal fanbase on the nascent internet throughout TheNineties, and this continued interest culminated in Creator/JonathanTorrens reuniting the ''Junior High/High'' cast on his show ''Jonovision'' in December 1999. Around that time, Linda Schuyler and original head writer Yan Moore conceived a revival on the basis that the daughter of Spike would be old enough to be a junior high student. In 2001, ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'', helmed by Schuyler and new partner Stephen Stohn, made its premiere on CTV and did pretty fine at home, but [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff it was American audiences that proved to be the largest and most loyal]]; while ''Degrassi'' previously had a small stateside following, it was the revival that really cemented its notoriety south of the border, so severely that a large amount of people to this day are unaware that it was a revival of an iconic Canadian cultural touchstone. This iteration was the one that boasted pre-fame Music/{{Drake}}, whose character was famously paralyzed by a school shooter, and Creator/NinaDobrev before her breakout role in Series/TheVampireDiaries.

Despite its continued US success through the late 2000s, ''The Next Generation'' was actually declining in popularity back home after peaking at a million or more viewers halfway through, and CTV cancelled it in 2009, but before too long Stephen Stohn was able to rescue the series after striking a deal with Creator/TeenNick. This brought a wave of changes to the series, such as it being renamed to simply "Degrassi" and adopting a telenovela approach. The rebrand fared pretty well, but after [[ChannelHop changing networks multiple times]], it was finally cancelled in 2015, but the show was again saved when what would have been season 15 of ''The Next Generation'' was instead retooled into the Netflix produced ''Series/DegrassiNextClass'', which managed four seasons before cancelled.

[[folder:Second hiatus and planned reboot (2017–present)]]
The cancellation of ''Next Class'' wasn't even publicly announced until Stefan Brogren casually alluded to it in a tweet in March 2019. The ''Degrassi'' fandom still chugged along, however, aided by [[RereleasedForFree official YouTube uploads]] of ''Junior High'', ''High'', and ''Next Generation'', and Creator/PatMastroianni (Joey Jeremiah) continued to commemorate the original series with public events, including 2019's ''Degrassi Palooza'', which reunited many of the major original players, including original co-creator Kit Hood in his final public appearance before his death from a brain aneurysm on January 20, 2020.

By TheNewTwenties, a new wave of interest in ''Degrassi'' started to rise online, mainly due to nostalgia for ''Next Generation'': the decade saw an increase in content about it uploaded to [=YouTube=] and elsewhere; even the [[SequelDisplacement frequently overlooked]] ''Junior High'' and ''High'' started getting some genuine recognition and appreciation from the contemporary faction of the fandom beyond just being "the old show". Then, in an unexpected twist of fate, it was announced in January 2022 that there would be a new ''Degrassi'' series.[[note]]While it is referred to as "''the reboot'''" by many, this is actually the second real reboot, as ''Degrassi: The Next Generation'' was one in itself.[[/note]] This would have been produced by a different creative team and for HBO. The news of the reboot was met with a mixed reaction; while many were happy that ''Degrassi'' was back, there was also fears that it would be a ''Euphoria'' clone because of the HBO association and the aesthetic of the teaser poster. However, all of the speculation would prove unfounded overtime, because as 2022 progressed, there were basically no updates. Then, in April 2022, the controversial merger of [=WarnerMedia=], the owner of HBO, and Discovery, was completed, which stoked fears that the new series was cancelled.
\\\
Sure enough, in November 2022, an article by the ''Wall Street Journal'' confirmed the cancellation. However, this is not apparently the end of the new show: in a press release immediately following the cancellation announcement, [=WildBrain=] said that they were "still committed" to the future of ''Degrassi'', and Linda Schuyler has referred to the failed HBO deal as a "[[https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2023/04/09/degrassi-creator-linda-schuyler-on-her-memoir-the-mother-of-all-degrassi-the-hardest-part-to-write-was-the-title.html false start]]". In August 2022, Schuyler said in a podcast that there was a writer working on a new pitch, but mentioned the then-ongoing Hollywood strikes as a significant barrier, meaning that while the new ''Degrassi'' is not actually cancelled, it is in DevelopmentHell.

Linda Schuyler was a Toronto schoolteacher in the mid 1970s who incorporated media into her curriculum and got into filmmaking to create material to show her class. She met experienced editor Kit Hood in a local filmmaker collective and found that they suited each other's creative needs, forming a partnership and the company Playing with Time to produce documentaries. What would become ''Degrassi'' had its roots in a 1979 after-school special ''Ida Makes A Movie'', which they adapted from a children's book of the same name. They subsequently created three more films over the next three years, with the same continuity and characters. By late 1982, the CBC turned it into a weekly series, which is now known as ''Series/TheKidsOfDegrassiStreet''. The show gained some serious critical attention in Canada for its down-to-earth portrayal of children, and by 1985 had won an International Emmy and other prestigious awards.

By TheNewTwenties, a new wave of interest in ''Degrassi'' started to rise online, mainly due to nostalgia for ''Next Generation'': the decade saw an increase in content about it uploaded to [=YouTube=] and elsewhere; even the [[SequelDisplacement frequently overlooked]] ''Junior High'' and ''High'' started getting some genuine recognition and appreciation from the contemporary faction of the fandom beyond just being "the old show". Then, in an unexpected twist of fate, it was announced in January 2022 that there would be a new ''Degrassi'' series.[[note]]While it is referred to as "''the reboot'''" by many, this is actually the second real reboot, as ''Degrassi: The Next Generation'' was one in itself.[[/note]] This would have been produced by a different creative team and for HBO. The news of the reboot was met with a mixed reaction; while many were happy that ''Degrassi'' was back, there was also fears that it would be a ''Euphoria'' clone because of the HBO association and the aesthetic of the teaser poster. However, all of the speculation would prove unfounded overtime, because as 2022 progressed, there were basically no updates. Then, in April 2022, the controversial merger of [=WarnerMedia=], the owner of HBO, and Discovery, was completed, which stoked fears that the new series was cancelled. Sure enough, in November 2022, an article by the ''Wall Street Journal'' confirmed the cancellation. However, this is not apparently the end of the new show: in a press release immediately following the cancellation announcement, [=WildBrain=] said that they were "still committed" to the future of ''Degrassi'', and Linda Schuyler has referred to the failed HBO deal as a "[[https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2023/04/09/degrassi-creator-linda-schuyler-on-her-memoir-the-mother-of-all-degrassi-the-hardest-part-to-write-was-the-title.html false start]]". In August 2022, Schuyler said in a podcast that there was a writer working on a new pitch, but mentioned the then-ongoing Hollywood strikes as a significant barrier, meaning that while the new ''Degrassi'' is not actually cancelled, it is in DevelopmentHell.

[[folder:The Kids Of Degrassi Street (1979–1986)]]

[[folder:Degrassi Junior High (1987–1989) and Degrassi High (1989–1991)]]