Degrassi: The Next Generation (renamed Degrassi from the tenth season) is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Linda Schuyler and Yan Moore and produced by Epitome Pictures in association with CTV which is set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979.
Degrassi: The Next Generation is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, after The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and Degrassi High.
Like its predecessors, Degrassi: The Next Generation follows an ensemble cast of students at Degrassi Community School who face various challenges like poor self image, peer pressure, child abuse, sexual identity, gang violence, self-injury, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and death.
The series premiered in Canada on CTV on 14 October, 2001. It moved to MuchMusic from 2010 onwards.
Degrassi: The Next Generation premiered in South Africa on TopTV's Top One channel on Tuesday 25 October 2011, at 15h30. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 2 premiered on Top One on Tuesday 15 November 2011, at 15h30. New episodes broadcast on weekdays at the same time. There are 22 episodes in the second season.
Synopsis
The next generation of the students at Degrassi are here.
Degrassi: The Next Generation takes place 14 years after the cult hit show Degrassi Junior High, as students continue to deal with the obstacles of being a teenager.
From issues like relationship problems, homosexuality and bullying to more darker issues like rape, school shooting and death, Degrassi: The Next Generation plunges into the world of what this generation is really going through.
Issues dealt with in the show include homosexuality, bullying, school violence, religion, relationship violence, pregnancy, abortion, mental disorders, cutting and more, in true-to-life situations that don't always have happy endings.
History
The Degrassi universe was created in 1979 by Playing With Time, a production company owned by former school teacher Linda Schuyler and her partner Kit Hood. The franchise began with The Kids of Degrassi Street, which was spawned out of three half-hour short films.
Degrassi Junior High followed in 1987, Degrassi High premiered in 1989, and the television movie School's Out aired in 1992. Schuyler and original Degrassi series head writer Yan Moore began developing a new television drama in 1999.
As the months progressed, they began to think about what had happened to the characters of Degrassi High to develop a school-reunion theme; however, they decided that a series would not work effectively if based around adults instead of children.
Moore realised that the character Emma Nelson, born at the end of Degrassi Junior High's second season, would soon be entering junior high school, and development for the series took a new direction by focusing on Emma and her school experiences.
Schuyler's husband Stephen Stohn suggested Degrassi: The Next Generation as the name for the new sequel series, borrowing the concept from Star Trek: The Next Generation, of which he was a fan.
The project was pitched to CTV in May 2000, with the originally planned reunion episode serving as the pilot to the new series.
Seasons
Series exclusive to Top One
Season 1 (15 episodes)
Premiere: 25 October 2011 | Finale: 14 November 2011 | Weekdays, 15h30
Season 2 (22 episodes)
Premiere: 15 November 2011 | Finale: 14 December 2011 | Weekdays, 15h30