Review of Degrassi Junior High - Series One

Introduction

It seems that the Canadian Broadcast Corporation hit just the right formula for their intended audience with Degrassi Junior High. Not only was this a highly entertaining teenage soap, it somehow managed to deal with all those difficult issues that parents and teachers find difficult to talk about. It`s actually a remarkable achievement. It`s a very moralistic programme, and yet never seems so contrived as to damage its street cred.

The series itself was a natural spin-off from the popular children`s show `The Kids of Degrassi Street`. As the child stars hit adolescence, they made it to Junior High and so did the show.
Unlike US High School shows, `Degrassi` distinguished itself through the use of hard-hitting realism, tackling issues like drugs, sex, bullying and racism head-on. There had been nothing quite like it when it aired in the mid to late 1980`s - unless you count `Grange Hill` which was hardly the same thing and which never made it to the US. Even the Producers of `Beverly Hills 90210` acknowledge the debt that they owe this show.

This collection includes all 13 episodes of the first season, as well as some hard-hitting extra features.

The first series covers a whole load of hot issues - friendship, puberty, protective parents, neglectful parents, drugs, abuse, alcohol and romance. It`s a series of coming of age dramas that may well have made parents squirm if they caught an episode with their young teen offspring, but which intelligently explored the issues faced by many young teens around the globe.

Now that some twenty years have passed since the series originally aired, it looks dated in the same way that `Pretty in Pink` or `The Breakfast Club` look dated…big hair, too much make-up, and ra-ra skirts abound. The general look is soft too, filmed and edited on high-band U-matic with non-digital three tube cameras, it all feels older than its years without looking even a tiny bit stylish.

The acting is frequently wooden, the dialogue a little too neat to feel real, and there are some truly awful cuts. (Clearly this was minimal budget stuff). But somehow it works. Creator Kit Hood manages to inject just the right amount of drama into each episode and despite its age, my teenage daughters soon became completely addicted.

Video

This is an incredibly dated looking show, which may be half the charm for nostalgia freaks, Clearly filmed on a low-end broadcast format (probably Hi-Band) on analogue three-tube cameras, the image is low in contrast with flat colours and a generally unpleasing soft-focus look.

Audio

The audio here is perfectly reasonable live dialogue sound (no post-dubbing here), which is generally close and fairly warm, though on some of the wides gets a little thin and toppy. But perfectly acceptable for low-budget daytime TV from 20 years ago.

Features

Included are six 25-minute documentaries called `Degrassi Talks` where personalities from the show travel up and down the country (Canada) talking to the youth about difficult topics. Included are episodes on: Drugs, Alcohol, Sexuality, Depression, Sex and finally, Abuse. They`re a good mix of commentary with talking-head interviews and cutaway footage and they`re really quite hard-hitting confessionals, allowing young viewers to learn through the painful mistakes of their peers.

Also included is a so-called `Pop Quiz`, which is actually a fun interactive quiz about the series itself. There are also some added DVD-Rom extras on the discs including wallpapers and some Teacher`s notes in PDF format.

Conclusion

Nostalgia freaks may love this trip back down memory lane, with this break-through school drama programme celebrating its 20-year anniversary. And that means big hair, a lot of make up, puffed up ra ra skirts and very dodgy low-end video.

But having tested this series on my teenage daughters, I can also confirm that its potent mix of risqué high drama, romance and pathos is still compelling viewing for its target audience today.

What`s probably most enduring about the show is its ability to cover some fairly hard-hitting topics in a way that doesn`t patronise its audience, yet still manages to deliver some healthy moral guidance - providing a welcome bridging point between well-intentioned parents and their children. The series is actually fiercely moralistic and viewers can learn some tough lessons through the mistakes of their would-be (though fictional) contemporaries.

In addition to the full 13 episodes of Season 1 there are no less than six `Degrassi talks` documentary programmes covering some tough topics in a very acceptable way. So you may end up buying this to satisfy a nostalgic urge, and end up playing it your own offspring - just like I did.