Degrassi

Degrassi is a Canadian teen drama television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler, that follows the lives of youths attending the eponymous secondary school in Toronto. Each entry since 1987 has followed the same continuity. It is regarded as one of Canada's greatest and most successful media exports. Outside of television, the franchise comprises a variety of other media, such as companion novels, graphic novels, documentaries, soundtracks, and non-fiction works. The franchise originated in the late 1970s, when ex-schoolteacher Schuyler formed a partnership with editor Hood to produce educational films and documentaries. The television success of Ida Makes a Movie (1979), a short film based on a book by Kay Chorao, on the CBC, led to the pair creating subsequent installments which eventually began airing under the name The Kids of Degrassi Street (1982–1986). By the mid-1980s, the aging cast inspired the pair to develop a new series, Degrassi Junior High (1987–1989). Regarded as the first modern television teen drama, Degrassi Junior High gained widespread acclaim and established the franchise as a Canadian cultural icon. It enjoyed further acclaim and success after rebranding to Degrassi High (1989–1991), which chronicled the Degrassi Junior High cast's high school years. Creative exhaustion largely contributed to the franchise's initial end with the controversial post-graduation television film School's Out (1992), which drew double the average viewership of the series, followed by the non-fiction documentary miniseries Degrassi Talks (1992), in which actors spoke to teens nationwide about various issues. Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High experienced sustained success in re-runs and syndication throughout the 1990s, aided by the emergence of online fan websites. A successful televised cast reunion in 1999 ultimately resulted in Schuyler creating a revival series, Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2015), which originally aired on CTV in Canada and The N in...