Degrassi: The Next Generation

[AlexElizabeth]

I can't believe I've never posted in this thread. I used to watch the show religiously and stopped around season 9 or 10. Just recently (as in a month or two ago) I rewatched the entire series and got all caught up with the new episodes I hadn't seen yet.

I always loved Paige, Marco, JT, Manny, Jay. I love so many episodes but my favorite is probably Emma giving Jay a blowjob. The saddest moment for me will always be JT's death. I cry like a baby every time. Loved Paige's rape, Marco's coming out, Manny's abortion, Paige/Alex, Darcy's rape...

Things I did not love are Craig/Ashley, Manny/Spinner (WTF), Terri being written out, and the Kevin Smith crap.

As far as the newer episodes go, I really liked Adam and I hate that they killed him off. I liked Fiona a lot. I love Tristan. I think Jenna and Connor are a cute couple. I do not really care about these Hollingsworth people they keep pushing (except I liked Tristan/Miles) and I find Zoe really annoying. Alex Steele coming back as random ass Tori and not Angela was a huge WTF.

The main thing I'll never understand is who decided the show should revolve around Clare.

Edited June 6, 2015 by AlexElizabeth

[Eric83]

Penis pump was in Season 4! My memory's going to crap. LOL!

[Eric83]

I like Zoe too. She's the strongest of the newer characters. I feel sorry for having to work with the people who play Miles, Maya, and Frankie. It must be like working with cardboard cutouts. I hope she finds work after.

I'm still PRESSEDT that Cassie Steele didn't blow up in the acting or music world. She's amazing. Drake knows he could have put her on a hook or something.

[Eric83]

Yes to the bolded especially those faux Gossip Girl characters Declan and Fiona. They also kinda stopped casting regular looking teens. Miriam McDonald would have NEVER been cast on Degrassi had she been born 10 years later. She developed into a beautiful woman but chile those first 2 or 3 years.... Lol I couldn't imagine going through puberty on television.

[NothinButAttitude]

Chile.... Drake ain't stunning none of his former Degrassi stars. Especially the ones that are transitioning into the music world. None. It wouldn't kill him to put a hook on their records so they could get some shine. He is one of the hottest, most impactful artists out. He could toss them a bone.

And with Ana Golja/Zoe, she just has that natural young, bitchy ingenue that I miss in soaps. I guess that's why I gravitated towards her and watched the past two seasons of Degrassi. Seeing as she had a stellar run as a TV child star and had to transition to normalcy, made Zoe interesting to me as a character. Watching her cipher through the tides of a normal teen life and trying to claim Queen Bee status along with having to watch her be vulnerable at times was a treat too.

I wish an American soap would snag her. She'd be a perfect Claire recast for DAYS.

[Eric83]

Yall remember them wasting an A plot on Spinner and Manny getting together only to have them break up three episodes later when Spinner told Jimmy he was part of the reason Rick shot him? They didn't even have a formal break up he just showed up to school the next day looked at Manny and she paid him dust.

And I forgot to mention U Got the Look. The beginnings of Manny being the "school slut" in Emma's word (fast forward a year later and Emma is sucking Dick in the ravine and contracts gonorrhea lol)

Manny: He said no visible underwear. Do you see any underwear?

Emma: No

Manny: Good. Because I'm not wearing any.

I was like YAAAASSSS

Netflix needs to snatch this show up. Binge watch fantasy.

[All My Shadows]

Oh yes! I think that's one of the reasons I felt so close to those characters. They were ALL weird looking in the beginning, and they look even weirder now that it's nearly 15 years later and styles have changed so much. Ashley legitimately had mom hair. As me and my friends grew up and started looking better, so did they. I can't stress enough that I really did grow up with these people.

I think of all the early cast, the strongest performers were Cassie Steele, Lauren Collins, Ryan Cooley, and my baby Dan Clark. They need to be on TV again.

Edited June 6, 2015 by All My Shadows

[AlexElizabeth]

Ugh, I forgot about Declan. I liked him for about 2 or 3 episodes and then ended up not being able to stand him. I especially hated him and Holly J and their epic love. I was thrilled when he left.

Manny going slutty was so great.

Speaking of bad styles, do you guys remember Emma's dolphin pants?!

[All My Shadows]

Flare-leg jeans! Damn, bruh.

The most iconic outfit in Degrassj history would be Manny's velour tracksuits.

[BetterForgotten]

I always thought it was so strange Emma ended up with Spinner of all people.

I did stan pretty hard for Emma and Sean for a while, I'm not gonna lie...

[All My Shadows]

I never did get to see that. I think they were thrown together mainly because they wanted closure for those characters and not a lot of the others were available.

Not that high school relationships are expected to last forever, but Sean and Ellie should have been reunited at least in passing mention at some point. Their relationship was the deepest on the show and the most grown-up, and it's just so foolish to think that Sean would go back to Emma after all that went on before he moved to Wasaga.

I also wish we would have gotten at least a little something on Terri at some point. Again, just a passing comment would have been good enough. I hate Ashley, but I would have accepted them linking back up together somewhere.

AH, just to have that gang together one last time! they should totally do a 10-year class reunion special next year for Paige and crew.

[BetterForgotten]

They seemed to really struggle writing for Ellie by her last few seasons on the show. Never in a million years did I think she would ever go for someone like Craig.

It was strange that she and Sean never really interacted when he returned in season 6. They seemed really intent on pushing Sean/Emma hard from then on until Daniel Clark decided to leave for good again by the end of that season.

[All My Shadows]

Ellie/Craig, I think again, was a result of TPTB trying to rush a happy ending for the older characters. I mean, honestly, odds are if two people were not involved with each other while they were in high school, it's highly unlikely they'd end up together several years afterward. Granted, it happens, but they could have done better. This show always was afraid to let characters ride off into the sunset with "new" people. Better yet, they could have just let a lot of them be content in their newfound adulthood without being tied to someone's hip.

[BetterForgotten]

I didn't know Sean come back for one episode in season 7, I think this was the season I stopped watching consistently and never really followed it closely again.

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I was never in the right demo for the show, as I started watching when I was a freshman in college. I think I just stumbled upon a random episode on The N. What I liked most was the thoughtful and sensitive writing on the show in those early seasons. The show knew how to pack an emotional punch that really hit you in the gut when it was at its best.

[cassadine1991]

It seems to me that once Degrassi got popular and kind of mainstream in the US, the quality was going down