User:ToQ100gou/History Of Degrassi

The history of Degrassi, a Canadian teen drama television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler, spans from the late 1970s to the present day. Receiving over 100 awards and 161 nominations, it is widely regarded as one of the most successful television franchises in Canadian history and in 2012 it overtook the The Beachcombers as the longest-running Canadian drama by episode count. Originating as the children's television series The Kids of Degrassi Street, it shifted its focus to teenagers with Degrassi Junior High in 1987, the first in the franchise to be set in a long-running timeline that would continue for decades, and the series that helped establish the franchise's success and popularity in its homeland. Degrassi Junior High was immediately followed by Degrassi High in 1989 to continued success. Following a continued cult following and resurgence in interest that culminated in a successful television reunion in 1999, it was revived in 2001 as Degrassi: The Next Generation which became particularly successful in the United States and ran for fourteen seasons. In 2016, it was rebranded to Degrassi: Next Class, which ran for four seasons before being cancelled in 2017. In total, the franchise spans five mainline series as well as several television films as well as novel adaptations. Most recently, another revival of the franchise was announced and later cancelled by HBO Max in 2022.

The Kids of Degrassi Street (1979-1986)

A sign for De Grassi Street, the franchise's namesake.

Ida Makes A Movie

Earl Grey Senior Public School teacher Linda Schuyler met editor Kit Hood in the mid-1970s when developing a short film about her class, Between Two Worlds. The two entered a creative partnership and subsequently founded Playing With Time, Inc. in 1976, producing largely educational films and documentaries. In 1979, Schuyler requested several books about filmmaking from school librarian Bruce Mackey. One of the books Mackey obtained was Ida Makes A Movie, by Kay Chorao. Realizing it was a children book about anthropomorphic cats making a movie, Mackey disregarded it. However, Schuyler held on to it and became inspired to adapt it into a short film. Seeking legal advice, Schuyler met with recently appointed entertainment lawyer Stephen Stohn, who explained to Schuyler that being an out-of-print children's book, buying the rights would be simple and did not require a lawyer. Stohn gave Schuyler a boilerplate form of permission to take with her to New York; she purchased the rights for $200. The feline characters were changed into human children, and the story was largely repurposed from the original source material. The film was broadcast by the CBC on December 8, 1979.

Vincent Massey Public School on 68 Daisy Avenue in Etobicoke. The building was used to depict Degrassi Junior High School.

Evolution into a series

Hood and Schuyler followed up Ida with a series of annual installments in 1980, 1981, and 1982. By 1982, the CBC ordered five more episodes, effectively making it into a television series.

Degrassi Junior High (1987-1989)

Development of a new Degrassi series began in late 1985, this time shifting the focus to junior high school students. Hood and Schuyler's decision to stay non-union proved controversial; in her memoir, Schuyler recalled receiving pushback for this decision.It premiered on January 18, 1987.

The show tu

Degrassi High (1989-1992)

End of the series

The end of Degrassi High was a result of multiple factors, including WGBH pulling their funding, Kit Hood's exhaustion, and their decision to not introduce a new class. In The Mother of All Degrassi, Schuyler explained that WGBH had found it increasingly difficult to keep funding the series from PBS's children's department as the show and cast continued to age, and that as a result, decided to pull out after the second season, leaving the show without funding. In a 1998 web interview with fan site owner Natalie Earl, Hood also explained:

I got tired of the Degrassi Series two years before it ended. To please the network and fans I held out for one more season, but it was a tedious task. I was getting tired of the television series treadmill: getting up at 6:30 a.m. for 14 day filming schedules. I did not have a life. Linda and I would eat, sleep, breath, and dream Degrassi. However we could not abandon the project because the fans had become addicted, they needed their weekly fix of Degrassi, as if it were a drug. I wanted to end Degrassi so I could do feature films. But also I wanted to keep the show honest. The kids were getting older and we had covered every conceivable topic. The most prominent characters were graduating and we didn't feel comfortable with introducing a new class. We could have used Joey, as it was established that he had flunked a grade, (we could have kept on flunking him, I guess,,) but what were we supposed to with the other actors? What was the point, other than to drag out the show? The show had run it's course. We wanted to get out while it was still hot. We didn't want to reach the point where the viewers could predict that show's formula and outcomes.

Degrassi High aired its final episode on February 18, 1991, with Vancouver-produced Northwood occupying its time slot from early March.

School's Out

Despite CBC's continued demand for Degrassi, Schuyler informed programming director Ivan Fecan that they were no longer able to produce more of the show, instead suggesting a feature-length finale, to which Fecan happily obliged. Schuyler claimed to the media that the show ended because

Degrassi Talks

During School's Out's development, six actors from the show—Amanda Stepto (Spike), Pat Mastroianni (Joey), Siluck Saysanasy (Yick), Rebecca Haines (Kathleen), and Stacie Mistysyn (Caitlin)—were picked to carry out interviews with youth across the country for Degrassi Talks, a six-part documentary series that combined candid and man-on-the-street interviews with statistics and information. Each episode was hosted by an actor whose character dealt with a particular issue. Promotion for Degrassi Talks began in November 1990 with an extensive flyer and transit advertising campaign promoting a toll-free number that over 500 Canadian teenagers called. From there, 40 were selected to be interviewed on camera. In preparation, the six cast members were put through workshops on how to handle video equipment and conduct interviews.

Critical reactions were mostly positive. However, audience reactions were mixed; the Waterloo Region Record reported that the show was largely unpopular with the teens they interviewed.

Continued success in syndication (1992-2000)

Online community

As the 1990s progressed, Degrassi continued to endure in re-runs and syndication.

It was reported in 1999 that Epitome Pictures, Schuyler's company which was at that point the copyright owner of Degrassi, had threatened Mark Aaron Polger, owner of fansite degrassi.ca, with legal action for his use of the Degrassi name. Polger vehemently criticized Schuyler and Epitome in a press release.

Jonovision reunion

In late December 1999, a Degrassi reunion took place on the CBC talk show Jonovision, hosted by Jonathan Torrens.

Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001-2015)

Degrassi: Next Class (2016-2017)

Cancellation

The Epitome Pictures studio pictured in August 2004, with the building used for Degrassi Community School in the background. In the foreground is the car driven by Jay Hogart (Mike Lobel).

Legacy and cancelled revival (2017-present)

Cancelled revival (2022)

On January 13, 2022, it was announced that HBO Max gave a series order to Degrassi, another revival of the franchise of the same name consisting of 10 hour-long episodes. The announcement coincided with the platform's acquisition of all 14 seasons of Degrassi: The Next Generation, the fourth iteration of the franchise. Lara Azzopardi and Julia Cohen, who had previously written an episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation, were attached as the showrunners. Officially advertised as "a reprise of the original teen drama", it was to be focused on a group of students and school faculty "living in the shadow of events that both bind them together and tear them apart".

As 2022 progressed, no new information or details about Degrassi were released, aside from a casting call and filming schedule.

There were . In April 2022, three months after the reboot was announced, WarnerMedia merged with Discovery, Inc., forming Warner Bros. Discovery. Following the merger, several original scripted HBO Max projects were scrapped, including Batgirl, which was in post-production. By August 2022, rumours of the reboot's cancellation had begun to emerge in the wake of the news. On November 4, 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported that Degrassi was scrapped. According to The Hollywood Reporter, production had begun as planned but stopped shortly thereafter. The news triggered outcry from fans, and prompted criticism of HBO Max.

Stephen Stohn later stated on Twitter:

“ Linda and I are as eager as all Degrassi fans to see and enjoy and engage in a new Degrassi series, on whatever service that may be! We are not involved with the current discussions. We remain hopeful that production of a new series will proceed soon. “Whatever it takes!” ” — Stephen Stohn

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That same day, WildBrain released a statement that the company was still "committed to the future of Degrassi" and that "discussions concerning the contract with WarnerMedia are ongoing", indicating their intentions to find a new distributor.

Works cited

• Schuyler, Linda (2022). The mother of all Degrassi : a memoir. Toronto. ISBN 978-1-77041-683-3. OCLC 1309065167.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)