Degrassi

Wow flashbacks to the 80s. I love it! Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi The Next Generation are very similar because they have the same actors playing their same characters, only all grown up. Both episodes we watched in lecture are very similar because they focus on the situations of the original cast. The episode we watched of Degrassi The Next Generation focused a lot on where all the characters had gone after Degrassi High, instead of focusing on the new generation of Degrassi.

The difference between the two shows would be the use of technology. Degrassi The Next Generation (or DNG) was produced in the 90s which was the decade for technology. The computer was invented in the 90s and therefore the new generation of Degrassi is introduced with the technology. Emma, the daughter of Spike who is from the old generation of Degrassi, is introduced to the show during a scene where her friend Manny and her are reading an e-mail from a boy that Emma likes but has never meet. Emma has a relationship with a boy over the computer which is DNG's way of catering to the new generation.

Apparently Degrassi Junior High (or DJH) was funded by an underlying educational mandate and DNG is on a private network. I don't believe this difference in funding makes a difference in content or style because both shows are about teenagers dealing with problems in high school. However I think that the first season of DNG and the 9th season of DNG are completely different and my argument would be different. If I was to compare DJH to DNG season 9 I would argue that the producers are trying to achieve a Hollywood look to their show in order to appeal to the next generation.

DNG season 1 and season 9 are completely different. In season 9 there is a girl at Degrassi that has a child and is a model who just got a job in Paris. This is an obvious example of how the show has now become Americanized. Season 1 would never address these topics because they were inappropriate to discuss or unreal. Season 1 was trying to relate to everyday kids, and season 9 is trying to be entertaining to the new generation. The entertainment that is easily accessible to the new generation is American therefore, in order for a Canadian television show to survive in the entertainment industry, they must conform to the American tone. The Canadian tone is about children or teenagers in real circumstances that all teenagers go through in high school, but the American tone that the new generation of DNG has overtaken is an entertainment factor. Season 9 is addressing situations that some teenagers have gone through but do not apply to most of the teenage population.

Personally I loved DNG when it was fairly new. The first couple of episodes I didn't like because it seemed to cater to the last generation that watched DJH or Degrassi High. DNG focused a lot on the characters of DJH and not on the new characters that I felt I could relate to because we were around the same age. The middle seasons were the best when the main characters of DNG were in high school like me going through the same things as my generation was going through, but now the show has gone down hill. After watching season 9 I feel that the show has become a talent show. One character is a model, another plays music etc. etc. The show no longer relates to normal high school students, and now focuses only on the entertainment factor. I guess this is necessary for the new generation to become interested but I feel the show has lost its realistic factor. I can no longer relate to the show but that could be just because I grew up and I am no longer in high school like the characters in the show.