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Degrassi: The Next GenerationDegrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian television series, which follows the lives of a group of high school students. Spawned from the idea of doing a reunion show of characters from the earlier Degrassi series, Degrassi: The Next Generation is a sequel to the popular 1980s series Degrassi Junior High. Rather than do a show focusing just on the (now adult) characters, the creators decided to stay true to the original series and retain its focus on the issues and challenges of real teen life. Several characters from the earlier series appear on the new series as parents or teachers of the new students and have plot lines of their own which intermix with the stories of the younger generation. Degrassi: The Next Generation details the lives of many different characters as they go through their high school years. Since the first season the characters have grown in many different ways. The show has dealt with many issues familiar to teenagers, such as body image, drug abuse, drinking, rape, child abuse, abortion, homosexuality, cutting, death, domestic violence and cancer. While the earlier Degrassi series all aired in Canada on the CBC, Degrassi: The Next Generation airs on CTV. Main CharactersThere is no lead character; but from episode to episode one or two characters will usually be the focus of the main plot. They are listed here in alphabetical order. Returning from Degrassi Junior High
Characters new to Degrassi:TNG
More About the ShowThe ever-changing dynamic between friends, significant others, and enemies on Degrassi: The Next Generation likens it to a teenage soap opera. Much as in a real life, the adolescence of the characters is a mix of happiness and tragedy as they find themselves in very real situations where the stakes are higher than anyone ever seems to remember after exiting High School. Although every episode isn't amazing, the show has been compared to My So-Called Life for its ability to portray the real drama of life as a teenager without resorting to complete melodrama or pandering to its audience. In the United States, Degrassi: The Next Generation airs on The-N (which runs as Noggin for pre-schoolers from 6 AM until 6 PM Eastern time (and shifts for the other time zones; i.e. in the Pacific zone it is 3AM to 3PM), then the focus shifts to teens and The-N runs for the other 12 hours each day). Noggin is owned by Nickelodeon. In Australia it is aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) as part of its "ABC Kids" lineup. (Before each episode is shown in Australia, a warning is broadcast that the programme may not be suitable for younger children). Several factors, including Degrassi:TNG's award winning writing and heavy exposure on The-N have made it surprisingly popular in the United States. A March, 2005 article on this growing "south of the border" popularity in the Ottawa Sun notes that it is by far the most popular show on The-N and has outperformed U.S. youth-oriented non-cable prime-time shows like Joan of Arcadia and 8 Simple Rules even though only a relatively small portion of the U.S. has access to The-N cable channel. This is even more remarkable considering how few TV shows from other English-speaking countries (besides those geared towards young children such as Teletubbies or The Wiggles) have succeeded with a U.S. audience. Other successful English-language shows from outside the U.S. have generally been from the United Kingdom rebroadcast on PBS or BBC America; despite the close proximity, Canadian television is almost never rebroadcast to the U.S., making Degrassi:TNG one of the most successful Canadian TV shows ever in America. As a result, many American fans are only aware of the new Degrassi series, having never been exposed to the original. Recognizing this, American actor and film director Kevin Smith will be making a 3-episode guest directing appearance in the 2005 season. A fan of both the original and current shows, Kevin Smith named a character in Clerks_(movie) Caitlin for the character of the same name in Degrassi. Cast
EpisodesSeason 1Mother and Child Reunion
Spike's daughter, Emma, is now a teenager and is getting ready to participate at Degrassi, along with her friends, Manny and JT. Spike and the old gang of Degrassi are reuniting for the first time in a while, and people are familiarized with the characters again. When Spike goes off to the reunion, Emma left as well, to meet a guy that she had become online friends with on the Internet. Manny phones Emma and even checks by her house, and realizes that there is no one home. She decides to go to J.T. and his friend from summer camp, Toby (a whiz with computers). They hack into Emma's e-mail and discover that the guy Emma is going to meet may be dangerous. Emma is at a hotel waiting for the guy and "his teacher" greets Emma and invites her up to his hotel room, saying that the person Emma is supposed to meet should be coming soon. Emma soon discover that the teacher is the boy she met on the Internet. She freaks out and attempts to leave, but he stops her so she scurries into the bathroom. The teacher tells Emma that he is leaving, but it is actually a trick. He has a video camera, and plans on taping him raping Emma. Toby, J.T., and Manny hurries to the reunion and tells Spike and Mr. Simpson about the whole thing and how Emma is in danger. They hurry to the hotel room and rescue Emma before anything nasty happens. In the end, Emma learns her lesson and the bond between her and Spike grows even closer. Family Politics
Ashley has set her sights on becoming Degrassi's School President. Toby, spurred on by their awkward new situation as step-siblings, is frustrated by her unchallenged status and convinces J.T. to run against her. The conflict follows them home. Eye of The Beholder
Terri's uneasiness about the school dance and her feelings for Spinner are not aided by Paige as she has her own motives of getting Terri drunk. Toby and J.T. pass on the dance in favour of sneaking a glimpse of some net porn. Emma meets Sean at the dance. Parents Day
It's Parents' Day at school and Toby tries to keep his parents apart or else they'll fight like they always do. Ashley and Paige compete to get Toby's mom attention. Toby's mother is a casting agent and both of the girls want to be auditioned for anything. It ends up that Terri gets the business card. Emma writes in the school paper her opinion on how Squigy-Boys aren't lazy, poor and useless. Sean's brother think that her paper is 'garbage' and later Sean apoligizes of what his brother told Emma. The Mating Game
It's Ashley and Jimmy's 8th months aniversary together while Ashley wonders if Jimmy wants to have sex now even though she does't want to. Ashley tells him that and they both agree to be patient. Meanwhile, Toby tries to impress Emma about his project on endangered turtles. Only, Emma still falls for Sean. Basketball Diaries
Hey, all you Panther fans, ready for some basketball action? This week at Degrassi CS - Our First Big Game! Who will make the cut and Coach Armstrong's ultimate team? Why's Jimmy B losing his cool? Off the court, Liberty's planning to take Ashley on one-on-one too. Secrets and Lies
Liberty admits she has an ultimate crush on J.T. He, on the other hand, tries to stay away from Liberty saying that he's gay. Later, when J.T. tells the truth to Liberty that he is not, it leads her to be heartbroken. Meanwhile, Ashley's divorced dad comes to town and explains her why he and Ashley's mom divorced in the first place. That is because he himslef is gay. Ashley makes a statement to her dad and Terri that she doesn't want to see his face again. Coming of Age
It's Jimmy's birthday and Toby spills the beans that he heard Ashley was going to breakup on Jimmy's 14th birthday. It ends, that Jimmy and Ashley were on the border line to breakup. Meanwhile, Emma gets her first period and with the help of Paige, she's ready to face growing up. Rumors and Reputations
Emma believes that there is something going on between Mr. Armstrong and Liberty because they were spending a lot of time with each other and they are passing notes, etc... While Spinner was attacked by an earwig when he received his lunch and he announces that the cafeteria food was infested by bugs, but no one believed him because the bug had vanished, when someone had stepped on it. So, he decides to throw earwigs around in the cafeteria but he was caught in the act and was paunished by working with the lunch lady with the food preparation and serving. Emma secretly started a rumour with her friend about Mr. Armstrong and Liberty, but another student had overheard what she said, and passed it on. Then the word was spread all over the school, changed dramatically to become more interesting until the point where everyone thought the teacher and the student were "doing it". The teachers had known about this, and they talked about this problem with Mr. Armstrong, and there has to be some consequences. Emma tries to look for who had spread the rumour, but finds out she had done it, so she must confess to Liberty. Friday Night
Jimmy and Spinner receive detention with Mrs. Kwan. At the end of the day, the two trouble-makers decide to go and cause trouble to Mrs. Kwan. When she is teaching English-as-a-second-language course to adults, they make a prank phone call that Mrs. Kwan wants to order a number of pizzas. Then when she is ready to leave, she finds that her van was vandalised. This was the work of Jimmy and Spinner. Soon, when Kwan is missing the next day for class, they discover that she was under a lot of pressure, especially when her husband was ill. Meanwhile, Emma and Sean finally accept each other's offer on going on their first date. When Sean arrives, things start going horribly wrong. When they arrive at their place for dinner, they are both extremely nervous, and they accidentally do some silly things. Near the end of their date, Emma reveals that her purse is lost, and the two go scrummaging through garbage cans, etc... to find the missing bag. When they finally find it in the stupidest place, they both reveal that it was still a great date and wishes to do it again some day. Wannabe
Emma who is against sexism, and believes cheerleading is sexist. She discovers that her best friend, Manny is auditioning to be a cheerleader. Manny soon discovers that being a cheerleader is not that important, and agrees what Emma was talking about. Meanwhile, J.T., Toby, Liberty and Spinner team up together to get the ace of spaids and the ace of clubs so they could win ONE MILLION DOLLARS! Only at the end, they have both of one kind and the contest is now ended. Cabaret
Instead of following Ashley's rules, Terri decides to go follow Paige for the School Show. Meanwhile, Toby decides to be in Emma's and Manny's dance for the talent show, but only to be with Emma. Under Pressure
Spinner and Sean seem to be stressed to know that the exams are up. So stressed, Sean is ready to take on Jimmy. While the fight occured, Sean "accidentally" pushes Emma to the ground which leads to breaking up with him. Meanwhile, Spinner tries to get himself out of school by stealing Terri's flu. It actually ends that both of them get good marks. Jagged Little Pill
At the end of the year a little girls night at Ashley's turns into the party of the year. Toby invites Sean and JT as his guests and JT has a little "party favor", he's brought extacy. When Sean tells them he's going to the kitchen to split the pill into 2 so Toby and JT can take it, he runs into Ashley. He switched the extacy with asprin and gives the extacy to Ashley telling her to throw it out. Meanwhile, Paige is pressuring Ashley to have more fun so Ashley takes the extacy. She then calls Jimmy and his friends and Jimmy quickly discovers Ashley is high. JT and Toby also invited Emma and her friends over so Emma and Sean fight. Sean is heartbroken. Ashley then cheats on Jimmy and makes out with Sean. Then Jimmy finds out and Ashley publically dumps him and then she even makes fun of Paige. The next day while trying to clean the house up Spinner comes by to inform her that Jimmy wants to break up and gives her some things Jimmy had of her. Ashley is now no longer popular and her only friend is Terri. Season 2When Doves Cry
An amazing start to the second season, a great episode that is possibly more superior than any other episode in the series. When Degrassi expands their school by merging with a neighbouring high school, accepting Grade 9-12 students, the school must face budget problems. The kids must share lockers, and use limited supplies, while Joey Jeremiah's troubled stepson, Craig, begins to spy on him and his daughter, Angela, taking photos of "The Perfect Family", which includes, Joey, Angela, and himself (discluding his father). At school, he gets reacquainted with Emma - who babysits Angela, and makes a best friend with Sean. Toby creates a new "Isaacs System", which determines what chance you have with getting a date with a woman. J.T. decides to go for older women, and chooses Paige to be his date, as his challenge. Things started getting rough when Joey notices Craig spying on his daughter, while Paige accepts money to go on a date with J.T. Joey calls Craig's father that Craig has been hanging around Angela, which upsets Craig's father. Joey believes that Craig and Angela should be able to play around together, but Craig's father disapproves of it. Craig is invited by Emma to join a party with Angela, and Craig suddenly walks away when Joey arrives.The second part of the season premiere, with great performances by new main stars and guest stars. When Craig got home, he discovers that his father has been rumaging through his dark room, viewing all the photos that he has taken of Joey and Angela. This led to his father beating him, resulting in the destruction of Craig's camera. The next day, Craig's father apologizes and offers Craig a few thousand dollars for a new digital camera. Later, Craig takes Angela off of Emma's hands to the park, but Craig surprisingly asks Angela to go to British Columbia with him, with the money that his father gave him for a camera. Joey finds out about this, and is angered, finally telling him to stay away from his daughter. When Craig arrived home, his father receives the news earlier in the day, and chases after Craig, ready to beat him. Successfully, Craig jumps out of his window, and meats up with Sean, thinking whether to leave to British Columbia. When he played chicken with a train, he runs off while Sean obtains help from Emma and Joey, revealing that Craig is beaten by his father. Joey and Sean continue to search for Craig, and finally locates him at his mother's grave. As a last decision, Craig wants to leave his father with Joey. Saddened, Craig's father tried to pursue his son to stay with him, but it did not work, as Craig grabbed his stuff and left with Joey. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Emma can't believe her ears when her Mom tells her she's dating Mr. Simpson her teacher and things get really bad when she can't handle that her mom is with Snake 24/7 and decides with Manny and the help of Craig to crash the seniors dance. Also Spinner and Jimmy are competing to get tickets and in the process sabotage each other. Karma Chameoleon
Ashley wants her friends back all of them even Terri is a bit different and she's willing to do anything so everyone can forget about last years party, but karma has its way and Ashley finds herself with no friends at all. Meanwhile Toby takes a liking to Spin's sister Kendra. Weird Science
Emma feels uneasy when Mr. Simpson offers help on her science project at the school's science fair and Manny mistakenly lets the entire school know that Emma's mom is dating Mr. Simpson. Also Spinner adapts to his new role as a ladies' man, and gets Jimmy upset when he flirts with the girl he likes. Drive
Craig gets to drive and he's only 14!! And he's even happier when Joey lets him stay home alone and even invite his friends. But then they get the brilliant idea to take one of Joey's cars around the block. Meanwhile Ashley wants to impress her new friend Ellie by getting her belly button pierced. Shout
Paige has meet Degrassi's rival star player Dean and she's intrigued and he even invites her to a party, but when they go upstairs to talk things go terribly, terribly wrong. Also JT and Toby are having problems sharing a locker.Paige Terri and Ashley reunite in Degrassi's hottest band. Ashley is noticing a diffrent Paige like something is wrong with paige and tries to see what's going on. When the song they sing talks about rape Paige gets mad. Will Ashley find out what is really going on with Paige? JT wants revenge against Liberty a girl who makes fun of him in Class. Mirrors in the Bathroom
Toby feels invisible because he is only on one team, the computer team. He decides the best way to get noticed is by joining the wrestling team. He then begins training... by going on an eating disorder. He starves himself, then he binges after eating lunch one day. During a big wrestling match, he passes out because he's been starving himself. Meanwhile, Paige and Hazel have been noticing Terri has gotten some pretty expensive things, so they wonder if she's been shoplifting. Turns out Terri has been working as a plus-sized model. And when she gets teased for it, she's considering ditching her job, but Paige and Hazel convince her not to. Then she tells off Mohammed, who teased her, by saying she earns more than him for modeling. Take my Breath Away
Manny likes Craig she can't hide it so she askes craig out for a date. When on the date Manny wants to kiss Craig. The next day she tells all about it. But Craig does not. Manny desinges his locker and Craig tells Manny what he thinks. Elli likes marco so does Hazel. Marco tells Elli that Hazel wasn't his type. And tells Elli he likes her. Dont Belive the Hype
It's "International Day" and Hazel goes undercover as a jamaican as she is ashamed of her REAL culture. Meanwhile, JT has a talent in sewing and Liberty is the only one who knows that. She makes a deal with him: he makes her a skirt and she doesn't tell he knows how to sew. In sewing class, as Liberty takes the credits that she did, she exclaims that it's JT and he didn't want her to tell anyone. Everybody laughs at JT but after class, girls line up at JT's locker to have their waist mesured for skirts--Sean and Toby are jealous! White Wedding
Snake and Spike are only two days away from the wedding. Emma styles her hair, only for it to turn out worse than she thought. Spike and Snake have an argument about having a baby in which Snake reveals that he's not ready for a child. Spike later finds out that she is pregnant...and plans to have an abortion. Snake has a bachelor party in which Joey invited a stripper. Emma catches J.T. and Toby spying on "Fancy" outside Joey's window on her way to tell Snake about the baby. Spike finds out that Emma told Snake, and they end up having a long discussion that makes them late for the wedding. The wedding goes on, and so does the reception afterward. Emma makes up with Sean and they kiss in the end. External links
Last updated: 05-16-2005 04:45:13
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