Hey! I loved this show growing up,I went to school in Chicago I did not realize how many of my classmates watched the show we use to have discussion about different episodes,the only other American T.V. show I can think of that came close was a short lived series called "Up and Coming",it aired on WTTW channel eleven.My two favorite characters were spike and joey, I have not watched the current series I guess I'm too old school for it,you can't mess with perfection.I caught the show in 1990 and followed it every since,most of the cast showed be in there mid thirties now,what I like the most about them there not like the majority of young American actors who got burned out young and started doing idiotic things for attention.That's my observation and opinion being an American I seen this time and again, the kids from Degrassi seemed solid and grounded in their work.

The Degrassi series are very realistic - none of that "happily ever after" nonsense typical of Hollywood and Disney. I've noticed that a lot of Canadian shows and stories are like that. The show deals with problems all kinds of teenagers face in the real world. My favourite episodes were those that focused on Wheels. He becomes orphaned at the age of fourteen and lives with his grandparents. Wheels becomes angry and rebellious, as well as very denying of his feelings. We see him picking fights with his grandmother, running away from home, doing poorly in school, stealing, lying, coming home past his curfew, and not taking responsibility for his actions. And all because Wheels is angry and misunderstood and isolated. It did bother me when his grandmother chucked him out of the house for sneaking out to go to a concert with Joey and Snake when he was grounded. I think she should have been more understanding of his anger. Later, when I saw "School's Out", I was saddened when Wheels was on the brink of moving away to Calgary and to his lover and starting a new life, and then was imprisoned for drinking and driving and being responsible for an injury and a death. But that's the way it goes with troubled teens in the real world. This isn't a Disney fairy tale.

I grew up watching Degrassi in Canada. I started with Degrassi Street, and I had a crush on 'Griff', played by Neil Hope ('Wheels' in Degrassi Jr. High) and was hooked from then on. I had no idea this was such an international success until I read comments here from Israel, the UK, U.S.A. and Mexico! I really thought Canadian kids were the only lucky ones to get to see it.To this day my friends and I still reminisce about the show, certain episodes and our favourite characters. As a Canadian, I hold these actors very dear to my heart. We get so excited when we see one of them on another show, or get a part in a movie, and say 'Hey, he's from Degrassi!' We fell in love with these characters. I never cared that the acting wasn't the best, or the sets weren't perfect. These were real kids, and they used a real school as the set! That is what made this show awesome. The topics were what was really going on in youths' lives. There was as much funny stuff as serious stuff, and we really got to feel involved with these characters.There has been nothing like Degrassi since and may never be. I don't relate to Degrassi: the Next Generation as much I think because I'm older now , or maybe it's really not as good. All I can say is Kitt Hood had a vision, and she brought those kids into our houses every week and made my teenage years more bearable and memorable. Thanks Kitt.

First syndicated in Australia on the ABC's "Afternoon Show" with James Valentine from 1988/1989 onwards, this was a terrificly topical show for elderly children and younger adults. Episodes concerning teenage alcoholism, pregnancy, delinquency, child abuse, homosexuality, harassment, puberty and depression were delivered with an immediate frankness not previously produced for the little screen."Degrassi Junior High" was throughly entertaining; creating many lasting characters, particularly Joey Jeremiah and Derek "Wheels". The show lost its earnesty - though not its appeal - when it became "Degrassi High", the tele-movie extrapolation, "School's Out" was subpar whilst strangely compelling and the most recent series deplorably banal, but the original series was a classic."Degrassi Junior High" looks as if it was hastily filmed; with post-production added only sparingly - the show looks scant and cheap - but it was undeniably charming; the very theme song ("Wake up in the morning...feeling shy and lonely...") alerted me to the joy that would unfold over the next 22 minutes or so. The Junior High School looked anitiquated, dirty, cold and industrial - the Toronto skies were perpetually grey, the stories and familiy life not alway positive, but it was thoroughly commendable.I haven't seen an episode in years; I try desperately to remember more of the plotlines, more of the obscure characters. I can't - only the vibes remain. But what vibes! And what a show! It has deservedly won quite a cult following around the world, particularly Australia and the U.K, but the author is surprised to discover that it is virtually unknown in the U.S and to some extent in its homeland!Let's see it on DVD soon!