I watched Degrassi from way back when it was Degrassi St. and the show has always fascinated me...from the fact that we have guys like Joey Jeremiah representing Canadian youth while the States have guys like Dylan and girls like Brenda and Kelly of 90210 fame.
The States always represents itself, through it's television culture, as vastly superior and beautiful to anywhere else on the planet. Being inundated by this in Canada we get an idealized version of America, yet they remain completely ingnorant about us to a large degree...their 52nd state...Do we have running water, yes! Do we live in igloos, no!
Our teen shows (which also include NORTHWOOD) are much more realistic, and deal with things in the "normal" Canadian environment. I think that's why there is such a draw for Canadian youth towards these homegrown shows. There are still many of us who watched Degrassi growing up who revel in it now as it airs on SHOWCASE weekdays from Noon-1pm EST. Degrassi is much less a soap opera when compared to America's 90210. It deals with issues that Canadian youth face daily (and on fixed incomes nevertheless!) The teens who starred in Degrassi weren't all beautiful and plastic, it reminded oneself that it was ok to be a lil heavy, have a few zits...it wasn't going to be the end of the world.
Degrassi has always been one of my favourite tv shows. I remember when I was in Grade 8 that Joey and 2 other characters came to Thunder Bay to St. Ignatius High School, of course being a grade too young I couldn't get in...I think I'm still pouting about that *laughs* In highschool I remember we had to make brochures in our computer graphics class...what did I come up with? Out of nowhere a brochure for "DEGRASSI HOME FOR THE AGED" (which I should post up here someday.) Degrassi will always be a favourite of mine. I was a little younger than the characters when the show originally ran, so they exemplified the life I wanted to live when I hit highschool. Though that really never happened, I always wanted to have best friends, exciting times, boyfriends, the Zit Remedy *laughs*. Degrassi gave me my first taste of what Junior High and Highschool could be like so I wasn't afraid when I actually hit those times to move to a new school.
Maybe I'm reading too much into my Degrassi experience some of you will say, but at the very least Degrassi was a show breaking new ground in Canadian culture...I mean really before that there was really just the "Beachcombers" and "The Littlest Hobo" *L*, which I always hated because I always thought something bad was going to happen to the dog (little did I know back then that the TV gods wouldn't let anything happen to him!)
