All My Shadows

I think the thing with the adults in the early years is that they weren't yet convinced that the show would gain a large enough teen audience to stand on its own, so they wanted to at least keep the interest of viewers of the original series. Those characters were great in their roles as they related to the new set, and anything Spike/Snake was good IMO, but Caitlin was pretty cringe-worthy in those episodes with her trying to stay in Joey's life even as he dated that awful, awful cow Sydney.

The ship may have sailed on a college Degrassi - the moment was really right there when Paige and crew graduated, and that's it. They really dropped the ball there, and yes, it manifested itself in pretty lame college stories. The few stories with potential never really went as far as they could because they were still squished in with everything else going on.

If the new series is to have no strong ties to TNG, then I would love it if we at least got updates on where the characters are now. I would be content with a concise write-up for each of the major players.

3 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

It's so strange that they've avoided an adult-themed spin-off for so long. Most of the original TNG cast would be ripe for a Thirtysomething-esque type of show as well.

Ha, yeah, I didn't realize it upon my original viewing of the show, but that theme was used a lot for Sean. Another example is Sean's season 4 exit (9:05 in and 21:13 in at the end of the episode):

What an unusual ending btw - he just casually break it off with Ellie, and then he and Emma have a lengthy longing stare as Jay drives himself, Ellie, and Emma back, lol? Even as someone who hates that Sean and Emma didn't end up together in the end, this was laying it on a bit thick.  

Gosh, that sweet baby boy...all of the episodes surrounding the shooting have been heavy on my mind this week for obvious reasons. Shortly after Parkland, we were given some bullsh!t reactionary directives to "incorporate active shooter safety into lessons," and I just so happened to be teaching a mini-unit on Canadian history so...we might have watched both parts of "Time Stands Still" in my classes that week, complete with us breaking apart all that was wrong with Degrassi's "lockdown," including kids being locked in classrooms while other people just went in and out of the building.

Sean and Ellie really were my preferred coupling. Separately, their stories were a bit more mature, then they ended up sharing an apartment as that *whispers* high school couple that lives together. Emma kinda went off the rails for a while, and I always thought she'd be better served ending up with someone who didn't go to Degrassi so that she didn't have to live up to the high standards of the righteous "cause girl" she'd been.

I'm ready to start skimming through some episodes to pick up on other regular background music lol There's one little piano piece that would always play at the end of emotionally-charged scenes right before a commercial or freeze frame. It low-key sounds like the hook from Summer Breeze. It looks like they've removed most episodes from YouTube, so I can't find it.

1 hour ago, DramatistDreamer said:

There is something about the Degrassi universe that eschews going too directly into adulthood and the life of adults. It’s something akin to when a member of Menudos’ voice cracks and starts to get deeper.

I don't know, they seemed to have a hard time letting go of the original core group (as they should) for about four solid seasons, with us following the Paige/Marco/Ellie crew off to college and then them trying really really hard to keep Emma and Manny relevant, going as far as having them be in the new "life at Degrassi"-style opening sequence, even though they were no longer there. I think the goal would be not to focus on a much smaller ensemble built around Degrassi characters. I honestly think the first big mistake DTNG made was not just spinning Paige, Marco, and Ellie off after they graduated. Trying to tell college stories on a show that was supposed to be (and was still trying to be) about a high school was rough.

On 5/25/2022 at 3:25 AM, BetterForgotten said:

Or heck, what about the son Liberty and JT gave up for adoption? Surely that kid is now high school age? A little convoluted of an explanation would be needed, but I would be here for it. I think it could be an interesting story arc to have an adopted kid wanting to learn about his biological parentage and the circumstances of why he was put up for adoption, and they can hit us with the built up bang of who his biological parents really are. 

I've been revisiting the seasons focusing on the original set again for the first time in years (I really can't deal with too much beyond like season 7, I never found much of successive sets that compelling). I was already on the verge of graduating high school and going to college when TNG first premiered, so I always viewed the show with slightly "mature" eyes.

Anyway, I think Sean is still my favourite character. I just think he's possibly the only one of the original group that seemed to have a real character arc and grow as time went on. Even though I liked both of his main romantic relationships (Emma and Ellie) for different reasons, I do think he and Emma are soulmates and I'm still very bitter they had Emma and Spinner randomly get married and still kept that narrative that they were still married when Emma appeared on New Class. I kind of hope this reboot fixes that and it's said she and Sean later found one another, but it probably will not happen. 

I think Sean was the only one who had his own theme music tool (though this was also often used for Sean and Emma's scenes as well). Like the below, which still touches my heart as they reference their first pic together from season 1.

 

 

 

 

Liberty and JT's child should be turning 16 in 2022, I believe, so yes, he would be the perfect link between the old and the new. He could be one of the central characters for the first two years before passing the torch on. And then maybe we can finally get a college-set Degrassi spin-off?? It's insane that we haven't already.

Sean remains my favorite, as well. Craig, I liked when I was younger because he was such a disaster and "I could fix him," but Sean's heart of gold mixed with his tendency to run screaming back to the jacked up life in which he was most comfortable makes him the true stand-out. In all my years of watching the show, I don't think I ever connected him with that piece of music, but it's one of the general themes that comes to mind when I think of the show's sound, especially those freeze frame endings.

This is so sad. I enjoyed her as Alison, and I really just loved that the Stewarts were present as a family unit again. So much more could have been done with them, but that's neither here nor there. Marnie, Marie, and Kelley were a great trio.

I saw the video from the supermarket shooting this morning, and those images will probably be burned into my mind forever. The poor woman gasping for air on the ground...then he just murders her and walks over her body like she was nothing.

The most shocking part for me is how he casually apologizes to the white man hiding under the checkout counter. Just insane.

Season 5 is atrocious, guys, wow. And to get to the end and feel them trying to end the show and knowing that there’s another season…yikes.

The Joey episode with the mugger is provably the worst and most pointless in the series.

Looks like I should’ve watched after Easter like I planned bc it’s already been taken down.

Is this something new? I remember pictures of Bruce Michael Hall and his twin brother Seth being on soap hunk websites 20 years ago.

Such a shocker about Naomi! I haven't listened to as much of the Judds as I should, and I plan to change that, but Love is Alive is one of the most simplistic yet naturally beautiful songs of 80s country music.

Two or three years ago, I came across some art on Etsy or an Etsy like website of digitally drawn recreations of some 70s soap logos in full, vibrant color. Really pretty but also really expensive.

@j swift, I love that idea!!

It's been SO long since I watched Bare Essence, but just the first five minutes took me right back to the first time I saw it! That sweeping arrangement of the theme as the camera chases up the beach...flawless. I'll definitely be sinking my teeth back into this again tomorrow as a nice post-holiday viewing.

I honestly forget that they made a series out of it lol obviously we all "want" to see it, but at the same time, I feel like there's no big huge loss in not seeing it. The mini is perfect all by itself.

RIP to the one and only Kathryn Hays. That face, that voice...she was an icon of CBS Daytime and embodied literally every thought that crosses my mind when I think of "grandma's stories."

The more of early Kim that we can get our hands on, the better. I'd be happy to just see that very short tag scene of Kim and Jennifer from the end of a 1974-1975 episode one more time, with Kim's ENORMOUS hair taking up half the frame.

On 4/5/2022 at 10:11 AM, Liberty City said:

I know they needed to usher in new cast, but when The Next Generation core cast exited, it kind of changed, which is why I'm happy the name switched to simply Degrassi. Since HBO Max added it, I've been re-watching from the beginning and just finished the sixth season. The influences of the next class coming in were done nicely, but it did begin to feel as bit... off.

I agree, there was a big change. Seasons 6, 7, and 8 are the roughest to watch for me, outside of the big moments like JT's death. They were scared to let go of the original core group but also needed the show to still be set at Degrassi. Stretching a school year out over two whole seasons was their remedy for that, but it just made things worse because by the time the Emma crew were ready to graduate, it felt like they should have BEEN finished school.

And they never had to do anything like that with the 80s series. It ran in a short little package that allowed them to follow the same group from junior high to high school and then "The End." They clearly needed to keep the 2000s series going because it was still very popular, but maybe being a little braver with pushing ahead with new kids would have helped. The problem is that they centered the show around those two grade levels (Paige/co and Emma/co) for so long and never developed any younger than the Emma crew until they absolutely had to.

I’ve never seen It’s a Living, and I really want to. It definitely should have showed up on TV Land for a run or two in the early 2000s. Barrie Youngfellow is more recognizable to me for her appearance in one of my favorite Three’s Company episodes, “Triangle Troubles,” where she plays a classmate of Jack’s trying to hide the fact that she lives with two (hot af) guys.

I've become a fan of Julia's thanks to Pluto TV. I don't even know if fan is the right word. I enjoy her onscreen persona, especially watching how it changed over the years. She was severely nervous and earnest in the BW French Chef but was pretty confident and grandiose in the color French Chef (just compare the theme music from the two runs). By the 90s, she was kind and grandmotherly in Master Chefs/Baking with Julia, but when it was her and old friend Jacques Pepin together, she was ornery and mischievous with Jacques Pepin. I'd love it if they added her late 70s series into the rotation.

Seeing her kitchen at the Smithsonian a few months ago was a big moment, so I guess I really am a fan. I'll watch this series but I kinda agree with you, j swift, that we know her story so well at this point that telling it again just seems redundant. I just hope they portray Simca with all of the no-nonsense bitchery that she has on her appearances on French Chef.

49 minutes ago, SFK said:

This has made me sadder than I could have expected. Their quarantined cooking tutorials were the highlight of my IG feed, you could just feel warm waves of their love emanating from the screen. And boy did it ever make my day when Susan responded to one of my comments on Helmut’s salad making technique.

It’s been some years now, but @DRW50 posted some early ‘70s AMC articles featuring Susan and Helmut. It makes me misty just thinking about them, relatively newlyweds so obviously in love, Liza and Andreas still years away, finding their feet with no clue of the heights this life would take them. And then in those IG videos, seeing them in their huge beautiful kitchen, empty nesters, having the same kind of intimate dinners they surely had 50 years ago. 

Such beautiful thoughts!! And as if your avatar was ever going to disappear, now it absolutely has to stay forever and ever.

6 hours ago, Jonathan said:

I was thinking about Susan the last few weeks because she has been very quiet on Instagram. She usually posts a few times a week. Now it makes sense. Last year she lost her mother and now Helmut. I hope Susan can lean on her family and friends during this difficult time.

Oh man, I’d forgotten that her mom passed last year. Our girl is strong, and I hope she finds peace with all of these changes.

I’ve already been broken up over Tom Parker’s death, and now to see that Helmut has passed…

Tom was my favorite in The Wanted - idk why, I just really loved his wild man vibe. I knew he was sick but I guess I didn’t realize the end was so near for him.

And Helmut…sigh. Erica had plenty husbands but Susan had Helmut and no one else. I honestly like to think that she willingly shared him with all of us. He was OUR husband. I will miss her Instagram videos of his cooking!

After all these years, I'm glad to finally see that I'm not alone in thinking that Ray could have been a good long-term character and that the abuse story was unnecessary. I'm not sure if Caroline McWilliams had staying power as his boozy ma, but they at least brought something different to the 90210 circle.

Currently up to episode #60 in watching the series (I torrented the first 30 over a decade ago, and I've rewatched those while continuing on via the Shout! Factory DVDs), and it is just so GREAT to be knee-deep in well-plotted, slow-moving soap. It took sixty damn episodes to get to the climax of George shooting Elliott, but you look back and realize that each and every one of those sixty episodes served a purpose toward getting us to where we are now. The suspense that began with the intro of delicious instigator Paul Hanley just built and built until now, and everything is tense and emotional - perfect soap.

I will always be okay with and excited about a new Degrassi series. To me, it really is the phoenix of teen dramas - it's always been centered around a school and its ensemble of students. You don't have to look into bringing back a bunch of old characters or cast members, you don't have to make the set exactly the same, etc. There should be little tie-ins to the previous series, but the focus should always be on the new/current characters and their stories.

I do worry about the possibility of them trying to chase the current view of what a "real" teen drama. DTNG went off the rails a lot post-2010 and lost a lot of what made it such a good, grounded school drama. Next Class was better but it felt a little try-hard/forced (the focus on social media/phones, the "all-inclusive" club). I worship the ground Linda and co. walk on, but I think they did good by choosing to step away. I just hope the new PTB have studied the template carefully.

My favorite anniversary show will always be AMC's 20th - The remaining originals just sitting around and interacting, in character, as the present a sort of "This is what you missed in the first twenty years" clip show. What I love the most about it is how Erica, when surrounded by all of these much older characters who'd been with her since she was still a spoiled brat, couldn't help but release a little bit of her adultness and be that spoiled brat all over again. None of the character interactions were forced just for the sake of the concept - these were characters who'd had real relationships with one another for twenty years, and you absolutely believed that they could all be together that night just the way they were. Also, no annoying musical montages - just straight up flashbacks telling the story of the show's first two decades.

Though it was tarnished by residual baby switch mess, the 35th anniversary was good for all of the related scenes at the hospital. Agnes awkwardly stumbling through her lines with a big ass grin on her face (definitely saying "I made all of you bitches" under her breath) while Ruth Warrick rolls in to applause - it's just AMC af. Plus, it doesn't get much better than Bianca reading Mona's letter, though, ending with the AMC poem. It hits even harder all these years later as so many of the cast members who were so alive and vibrant are no longer with us now.

Ron is a loser, and I'm sorry, but all of his DAYS cronies publicly high-fiving him in the comments would make me stop watching/supporting the bag of warm sh!t that is Days of Our Lives immediately - that is, if I was watching it. It seems to me that very few people involved care about what they're bringing to the audience at all. They're completing tasks so that they can get paid. Hey, that's fine, we all gotta eat. But if audience satisfaction is that far from your realm of caring, then don't cry when your ratings tank.
 

On 3/15/2022 at 8:00 AM, Errol said:

Another said, “DAYS popularity has always been because it was the campy, supercouple, comic booky , action/adventure soap, since I watched as a young boy on the late 80s, the show has never been realistic , that’s part of its appeal, I’ve seen more grounded , realistic soaps.”

And this person suffers from the same ailment as Ron, the legitimate belief that the history of daytime soap opera began in the 80s. What the fck do you mean DAYS has "always" been popular because of campy comic book action/adventure nonsense? Bill Bell ought to smite the sht out of whomever wrote this foolishness.