i grew up in a house with very strict tv rules, so my crew were the good old kids of degrassi st. the kids were wholesome, yet realistic, and they all reportedly styled themselves before every show, just to add extra authenticity. they tackled issues that real kids were experiencing, and every once in a while, they threw in a real hot button societal issue just to stir things up.
im embarassed to admit that my room mate got me watching TNG and ive been fuming because they ruined my show!!!!!! instead of picking real characters, you have glossy looking actors who look like they spent hours in a stylists chair and are wearing clothes and hair extensions that cost more than my car. joey had to walk through the cafeteria naked to get his crappy car, yet these kids just all have brand-new cars?? and they go to bars??in our old teen angst shows, the only time characters went to a club was when the episode revolved around the fake id’s and the eventual inevitable catching by parents. now they dont even take the time to explain how highschool kids got into a frikking CLUB!!!! oh, my bad, i guess we’re supposed to deduce for ourselves that they were just so beautiful and charming, it was no problem. and it’s like they want to cover every controversial issue in each episode. like jumping from AIDS one episode to stem cell research the next?! WTF?! what happened to multiple-episode arcs?? and now they see how much buzz the Hills has so they’re putting all the chicks in an American university and one character is a fashion intern after having no related experience? characters getting engaged before graduation with a $5,000 ring?! i liked this show back in the day because it was relatable and i could definitely identify with the things that happened to the characters, but now i watch it and it’s like 90210, a far-fetched soap opera with a bunch of 20-somethings playing highschool kids with VERY stiff dialogue. i hope your new-found american audience treats you well, because you probably will lose your Canadian one.
This article appears in May 15-21, 2008.
I think a big difference in the 2 shows is that the original was CBC and now it is CTV…..CBC shows tend to be a little more honest. CTV a little more like the US sensationalized entertainment model. The CTV model is more profitable, the old CBC model more interesting.
CTV shows are generally like that. Some of the better CBC shows right now still have the multi episode stories, real characters, and normal looking people (like DaVinci’s Inquest, Intelligence, the Border, etc).If you want to see a show that’s changed, look at Coronation St. It’s funny to see the old ones then watch a new one.
i was thinking this exact same thing the other day when i surfed over the show by accident. i was kind of in their target demographic when the new show started, and it was ok then in the sense that it tried to be what the old one was, and made subtle yet funny references to the old show. but i kinda grew out of it a long time ago, so i was really surprised about what it has become. i can see both sides of this, that the show has to go with the times, but at least be a little more authentic. i get that with HDTV and the likes, you cant let the kids do their own hair and makeup anymore, but try to make it look like makeup they would do at home, as opposed to makeup done for a photoshoot. and im sorry, but in highschool i had to save my change in a jar just to get a $40 haircut on a regular basis, but im supposed to believe that every highschool girl, as a right of passage gets a $900 set of hair extensions? and what the fuck happened to acne?!?!?!? even the ‘geeks’ look like models now
Funny you should make the comparison between Degrassi TNG and 90210…..Shenae Grimes who plays Darcey on TNG is set to star in the new 90210 series. You hit the nail on the head with that comment!
Yeah, they should have let the origional show rest in peace. I haven’t watched the newer version, only because i don’t think i could take it seriously enough to actually enjoy it. I’m sure it would only cheapen the old episodes, which i love.
I am guessing the OP hasnt been in a high school in THE TORONTO AREA lately. The story is based in Toronto. My little brother just graduated. They rented a 20 person limo bus for grad, stayed in 5 rooms in a hotel that i could only dream of staying at.One need only walk into a school around here. Its a freaking fashion show. As a grown assed man, i dont have as many nice clothes as these kids do. I dont have the newest iPods or cellphones either. Some how these little fucks have it, and know what the next new thing is. THe old degrassi looks ridiculous now, but it fit the style of when it came out. The other thing that is subtle but makes a clear differance in the presentation is the cinematography. The old one was filmed with the cameras and lighting that is unique to Canadian shows back in them days. Remember Beachcombers? That shit looks like it was filmed with a cellphone cam if you look back at the footage. You could always tell a canadian show from an american show, but the lighting and the quality of the picture. Now, Canadians have caught up and got alot better now that we work with the Americans on far more productions.
*by the lighting…id also like to add, when degrassi was cool, shit like twisted sister, bon jovi, tiffany, debbie gibson, madonna and groups like that were popular. They were the WORST fashion blunders of all time. Degrassi dresses just like them. It would be stupid to have current issues, and current charecters that dressed like old Degrassi
Old Degrassi was lame, I even thought that when i was 11, TNG is way more entertaining, actually has you wondering whats going to happen the next show.
A new 90210 series?? What the Hell?? are you serious??HAHA! I’m still waiting for season 8 of BH 90210 to come back on TV Tropolis! Its bringing me back to when I used to swooon over Dylan and Brandon.. Oh right… This bitch was about Degrassi! I miss the original… I remember watching it with my sisters.. she sat by the TV with her Ghetto Blaster and Recorded the ZIT Remedy song so we could listen to it over and over again after the show was over!! :)hmm.. Wonder if I can find that on Youtube 🙂
When I was in grade 9, in 2000, my PDR (Personal Development & Relations) teacher used to tie in Degrassi episode to every class – it was awesome! Also, back in 2004 I met Snake & Joey be jealous 😉 haha
hahahhaahah, me and my best friend did the same thing with our ghetto blaster, but we made a music video to go along with it. the video camera we used was a giant shoulder model that you actually popped a VHS cassette into. i think. and we wore Ray-bans with neon pink stems and i think i was wearing a Rainbow Brite fanny packbut Catlady, im more than ok with steering the flow of conversation to 90210. i hadnt watched it in years until i turned it on a couple months ago, and just hearing the beginning notes of the credits sent chills down my spine!!! i dont so much miss the show, i miss the aura around it. like it was a simpler time. lol, almost like little house on the prairie for our generation. I was a David Silver girl myself when i was young, but as i aged i began to appreciate the melancholy, brooding complicated mess that is Dylan. mmmmmm……i just want to save him……
MeNotYou, did you go to school in halifax??
Anony, I actually went to school in the Valley.