Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

This week, Degrassi goes there!

Episode 1.5 “The Great Race”

(Dir by Clarke Mackey, originally aired on February 15th, 1987)

“Degrassi goes there!” was the catch phrase that was often used to describe Degrassi: The Next Generation because Degrassi had a reputation for being the show that would deal with the type of issues that other teen shows didn’t have the guts to take on.  Indeed, it’s generally agreed that Degrassi did, at the beginning, “go there.”  The general point of contention amongst fans is when Degrassi stopped going there and became too much of a soap opera for its own good.  A lot of fans will tell you that it was Season 10.  Personally, I think it was when the show moved to Netflix.  But no matter.  That’s something that we will get to far in the future.

This week’s episode of Degrassi Junior High proves that Degrassi was willing to go there before the cast members of the Next Generation had even been born.  This episode opens with Melanie (Sara Ballingall) worrying that her breasts aren’t developing as quickly as they should be and complaining that her mother refuses to allow her to wear a bra because she says that Melanie doesn’t need one.  When her friend, L.D. (Amanda Cook), secretly takes Melanie bra shopping, Melanie feels good about herself for exactly 12 hours before she goes to school and is immediately made fun of by Joey (Pat Mastoianni) and his idiot friends.  Myself, I had the opposite issue of Melanie when I was in middle school.  I developed before everyone else and I had to deal with stupid and hurtful comments about actually having breasts, not just from the boys and girls who had the excuse of being immature but also from adults who really should have known better.  Growing up is not easy.

Melanie has a crush on a classmate who is named Archie but who is known as …. OH MY GOD, IT’S SNAKE!  As any fan of Degrassi knows, Archibald “Snake” Simpson (Stefan Brogren) is destined to become one of the most important characters in the history of the franchise.  Though he starts out as just another student, Snake is destined to become a teacher at Degrassi, Emma Nelson’s stepfather, a cancer survivor, and eventually the school’s principal.  All of that is far in the future, of course.  In this episode, Snake is just a friendly and tall guy who wears a loud Hawaiian shirt and occasionally flashes an appealing smile.  In fact, Snake is not even friends with Joey or Wheels in this episode.  (That will change, with their friendship coming to define Degrassi for many people.)

Everyone in this episode is fascinated by Snake.  Yick and Arthur, who are worried that they’re not getting as tall as their classmates, decide to follow around the very tall Snake to see what he eats.  Meanwhile, Jason (Tyson Talbot), the captain of the soccer team, wants Snake to join the soccer team because he’s a good swimmer.

What?  Okay, allow me to explain….

Basically, when the totally sexist Jason makes an announcement asking people to come out and support the Boys’ Soccer Team, L.D. and Melanie demand to know why he didn’t mention the fact that the Girls’ Swim Team, of which they are both members, won their last swim meet.  Jason replies that no one cares about girls’ sports.  This leads to the swim team challenging the soccer team to a swimming competition.  Because Snake is a championship swimmer, Jason wants him to swim for the boys but Snake would have to join the soccer team to do so and, as Snake himself admits, he sucks at soccer.  (Awwwww!  That’s our Snake!  Always honest!  Except for that time he cheated on Spike but again, that’s far in the future….)

Anyway, Melanie is so tired of being made ridiculed that she’s not sure that she even wants to swim anymore.  But Snake encourages her to do so because she’s really good at swimming.  (Snake has realized that Jason just wanted him to join the soccer team so he could swim and being the most ethical student at Degrassi, Snake wants not part of that.)  Melanie shows up for the meet and the girls totally humiliate the boys.  YAY!  Plus, the girls’ team gets revenge on Joey by tossing him in the pool.  YAY AGAIN!

This was a good episode and a good example of Degrassi going there and handling a subject to which its viewers could relate with sensitivity.  Plus, after walking around in the background for the previous 4 episodes, Snake finally got to speak.  It’s just not Degrassi without Snake!