Degrassi High

Degrassi High is a Canadian CBC Television teen drama series that was produced from 1989 to 1991, and is the third series in the Degrassi franchise. The show was filmed in downtown Toronto and at Centennial College.

Degrassi High
Created by
Country of originCanada
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes28 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time26 minutes (including commercials)
Production company(s)Playing With Time Inc.
Release
Original network
Original releaseNovember 6, 1989 –
January 28, 1991
Chronology
Preceded byDegrassi Junior High
Followed bySchool's Out

Much like its predecessor, Degrassi High followed the lives of a group of students. The students attended the titular fictional school and dealt with controversial issues including AIDS, abortion, abuse, alcoholism, cheating, sex, death and suicide, dating, depression, bullying, gay rights, homophobia, racism, the environment, drugs, and eating disorders.

Censorship

The first two episodes sparked controversy in the United States over the issue of abortion. The character Erica had scheduled an abortion and Canadian viewers saw the full non-edited episode where Erica battles her way through anti-abortion protesters, one of whom is holding up a plastic fetus and warning Erica, "Please don't do it, it's your last chance".

The American version, which originally aired on PBS, was edited not to show the protesters.[1]

As of October 2005, the American broadcaster, The N, made the decision not to air episodes 101 and 102 "A New Start Parts 1 & 2" due to the subject of abortion.[2][3] The N made the decision not to air episode 103 "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" due to the references of the abortion made in the previous episode.[4]

In Australia, all episodes originally aired unedited in their original run throughout the 1990s, but were censored when repeated on Nickelodeon Australia. The episode "A New Start" was edited in such a way that it appeared Erica was never pregnant by the end of the episode, abruptly ending after a joke between Wheels, Joey and Snake, although the scene of Erica reading her pregnancy test was kept as a still over the credits.

The entire second episode was removed, a similar situation that occurred with "Showtime Parts One and Two". These episodes deal with teen suicide. However, when the episodes were repeated in 2009 on ABC2, the original unedited episodes were shown, with the episodes (#25 Showtime part 1 and #26 Showtime part 2) featuring Claude Tanner's suicide.

Cast
Main articles: List of Degrassi characters and List of Degrassi Junior High and High characters

While Degrassi High is a separate series in its own right and only lasted two seasons, it could also be considered the fourth and fifth seasons of Degrassi Junior High.

  • Angela Deiseach – Erica
  • Stefan Brogren – Archie " Snake" Simpson
  • Neil Hope – Derek "Wheels" Wheeler
  • Pat Mastroianni – Joey Jeremiah
  • Anais Granofsky – Lucy Fernandez
  • Amanda Cook – L.D.
  • Irene Courakos – Alexa
  • Michael Carry – Simon
  • Amanda Stepto – Spike
  • Cathy Keenan – Liz
  • Siluck Saysanasy – Yick
  • Duncan Waugh – Arthur
  • Darrin Brown – Dwayne
  • George Chaker – Nick
  • Michaele Johnson-Murray – Tabi
  • Stacie Mistysyn – Caitlin
  • Kyra Levy – Maya
  • David Armin-Parcells – Claude
  • John Ioannou – Alex
  • Rebecca Haines – Kathleen
  • Sara Ballingall – Melanie
  • Dayo Ade – BLT
  • Nicole Stoffman – Stephanie
  • Maureen McKay – Michelle
  • Keith White – Tim
  • Christopher Charlesworth – Scooter
  • Kirsten Bourne – Tessa
  • Krista Houston – Joanne
  • Adam David – Mr. Walfish
  • Michelle Goodeve – Ms. Avery (season 1)
  • Dan Woods – Mr. Raditch
  • Billy Parrott – Shane McKay (season 1 guest from Degrassi Junior High)

Episodes
Main article: List of Degrassi episodes

Home media

DVD release

WGBH Boston Home Video released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 on October 8, 2007.The 4-disc set entitled Degrassi High:The Complete Collection, features all 28 episodes of the series as well as the follow-up TV-movie Degrassi High- School's Out!.

In Region 4, Beyond Home Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD in Australia. They released each season as a separate set in 2006 followed by a complete series collection in 2008. The complete collection also contains the follow-up TV-movie Degrassi High- School's Out! as a bonus feature.

DVD name Ep # Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 DVD Special Features
Season One 15 N/A N/A February 13, 2006 None
Season Two 13 N/A N/A June 12, 2006 None
Degrassi School's Out 4 N/A N/A July 10, 2006 None
Degrassi High: The Complete Collection 29 October 8, 2007 N/A March 12, 2008 Degrassi Movie: School's Out
The Complete Junior High & High Series 73 11 October 2016 N/A 2 November 2016 Degrassi High School's Out

Degrassi Talks Series

Degrassi Between Takes

References
  1. "Degrassi". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  2. "A New Start (1)". TV.com. Retrieved 2005-10-12.
  3. "A New Start (2)". TV.com. Retrieved 2005-10-12.
  4. "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do". TV.com. Retrieved 2005-10-12.
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