Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 2.6 “Fight!”

Posted on February 11, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, we meet Dwayne Myers!

Episode 2.6 “Fight!”

(Dir by Mike Douglas, originally aired on February 8th, 1988)

After appearing in the background over the past few episodes, Dwayne Myers (Darrin Brown) takes center stage in this episode.

At first glance, Dwayne is the school bully. He’s bigger than everyone else. He appears to be in a permanently bad mood. He deliberately knocks Joey off of his skateboard and then laughs about it. When he later overhears Joey calling him a “dozer,” (which is seriously one of the most Canadian words that I’ve ever heard in my life), Dwayne tells Joey that he’s going to beat him up after school.

And yet, Dwayne is not all bad. When Scooter (Christopher Charlesworth), a student who is younger and smaller than everyone else, needs help opening his locker, Dwayne is the one who yanks off the lock. Later, when Scooter can’t reach his bag of chips (because some other bully put it on top of a high shelf), Dwayne lifts Scooter up so that Scooter can get them. Dwayne seems to sincerely like Scooter, perhaps because Scooter is the only person at the school to not show any fear of him.

Scooter, however, is shocked to hear that Dwayne is going to beat up Joey because Joey, like Scooter, is considerably smaller than Dwayne. When Scooter asks Dwayne why he’s going to beat up Joey, Dwayne shrugs and says, “It’ll feel good.”

And Dwayne proceeds to do just what he said he would do. Joey doesn’t attempt to run away from the fight and that wins him a measure of respect from the other students. But, in the end, he still gets thoroughly beaten up. On the plus side, it wins him some sympathy from Liz and it also wins him a new friend when Scooter decides that he would rather hang out with Joey than Dwayne.

Speaking of hanging out with each other, Stephanie is still obsessed with getting Simon to notice her and Simon is still only interested in Alexa. Even when Stephanie pretends to sprain her ankle, Simon barely notices. (Ankle sprains are no joke, Stephanie! Believe klutzy little me, I know.) Stephanie finally asks Simon to go to the fight with her and Simon says sure. Stephanie is overjoyed until Simon brings Alexa with him as well. Amazingly, Simon and Alexa are both totally clueless as to what Stephanie is doing. Then again, I think we’ve all known at least one couple like Simon and Alexa, who are so perfect for each other and so thoroughly vapid in their personalities that you just know they’re never going to have any disagreements at all and that the real world is never going to invade their fantasy.

This was a good episode, largely due to Darrin Brown’s multi-layered performance as Dwayne. While this is Dwayne’s only big Junior High episode, he is destined become one of show’s most ground-breaking characters once the action moves into high school.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Degrassi Junior High 2.4 “Dinner & A Show”

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In yourself, you must believe….

Episode 2.4 “Dinner & A Show”

(Dir by John Bertram, originally aired on January 25th, 1988)

It’s a night of awkward dates and dinners on this week’s episode of Degrassi Junior High!

Yick Yu finally works up the courage to ask Melanie if she would like to go to a movie with him. While Kathleen rolls her eyes in the background, Melanie says that she’d love to see a movie with Yick. Yick suggests that they see Revenge of the Reptile, which is really gory and features killer reptiles! Melanie says that she’s not into any of that and suggests that they instead see Crying Into The Wind. Yick agrees, even though it’s obvious that Crying Into The Wind is not a film that is going to appeal to a typical 13 year-old male.

After Yick leaves, Kathleen makes fun of Melanie for having a date. Melanie replies that it’s not a date. She and Yick are just friends and Melanie is looking for “a man.” Right on schedule, Snake walks up and asks Melanie if she wants to see a movie. Melanie, forgetting all about her plans with Yick, says, “Sure!” Snake suggests Revenge of the Reptile. Melanie, forgetting that she’s not into gory reptile films, says, “Sure!”

Poor Yick is heartbroken when Melanie tells him that something has come up and she won’t be able to go to the movies with him. Arthur suggests that Yick cheer himself up by going to see Revenge of the Reptile….

Meanwhile, Shane’s parents want to have dinner with Spike and her mother. Shane’s parents have decided a few things. First off, the baby is going to be given up for adoption. Secondly, Shane is going to private school. While sending Shane to a private school might not be a bad idea, deciding what’s going to happen to the baby before they’ve even met Spike or her mother is definitely not cool. Shane’s parents are the first of many bad parents that will show up over the course of Degrassi’s long history.

Spike decides to just not tell her mom about the dinner invitation. But then Shane’s parents call personally and invite them to a fancy restaurant. Needless to say, it’s not a pleasant dinner. Shane’s father not only wants to send Shane to private school but he also thinks that Spike should be sent to a home for unwed mothers, like a character in a 1930s farm melodrama. Shane’s mother, meanwhile, makes no secret of the fact that she blames Spike more than she blames her son. Finally, Shane stands up for himself and says that he’s not going to go to private school. Of course, Shane then ruins the moment by saying that he’s ready to be a father. No, Shane, you’re not. You’re barely ready to be in the 8th Grade.

At the movie theater, Snake and Melanie discover that they really don’t have much in common. Snake may be a nice guy but he’s a terrible conversationalist. Joey and Wheels, upset that they don’t have dates, show up and spend the whole time making snarky comments. (Joey brings along a toy Godzilla that he uses to try to scare Melanie.) Worst of all, Yick shows up and finds himself staring straight at Melanie. Melanie smiles awkwardly while Yick’s heart breaks once again.

The next day, at school, Melanie tells Kathleen that her date wasn’t that great. Meanwhile, Spike asks Shane if he even wants her to have the baby and Shane can’t answer.

I loved the way the episode contrasted the awkwardness of Melanie’s date with the awkwardness of Spike’s dinner. Melanie’s problems are nowhere near as serious as Spike’s but both of them are a result of immature people trying to make mature decisions. The main theme of this episode is that no one is ready to be an adult. Melanie says that she’s ready to date “a man,” but she can’t even find it in herself to be honest with Yick. Yick and Snake both want to start dating but they’re still incapable of understanding that Revenge of the Reptile is not exactly a romantic movie. Shane wants to be a father but can barely stand up to his own parents. Shane’s parents may be adults but they don’t understand that being an adult means talking to other people before deciding their lives for them. The only person who truly understands how lost everyone is Spike and all she can do is try to make it day-by-day.

Watching an episode like this, it’s nice to know that Spike will eventually find happiness with Snake and that her daughter will grow up to be Emma. I can only imagine how emotionally devastating all of this must have been for people watching it for the first time in 1988. Degrassi Junior High rarely offered false hope, which is why it remains relevant today.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Degrassi Junior High 2.3 “Great Expectations”

Posted on January 14, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Finally, after being preempted two weeks in a row, Degrassi Junior High returns!

Episode 2.3 “Great Expectations”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on January 18th, 1988)

There’s a new student at Degrassi Junior High. Her name is Liz O’Rourke (Cathy Keenan) and she’s not happy to be starting at a new school in a new country. (Liz formerly went to school in London.) Liz dismisses the students at Degrassi as being a bunch of “preppy” snobs and Stephanie and the Farrell twins do their best to prove her right by making a bunch of catty comments and making her feel even more like an outsider. Only Spike and Joey attempt to befriend Liz. Spike knows how it feels to be an outsider at Degrassi. As for Joey, he’s desperate to lose his virginity and he’s convinced himself that Liz, because of the way she dresses (even though she doesn’t dress all that differently from anyone else at the school), wants to have sex with him. When Joey shows up at Liz’s house to work on a school project and then, from out of nowhere, asks to have sex with her, Liz kicks him out.

Oh, this episode broke my heart. As someone who moved around a lot when she was younger and who frequently had to get used to new schools and as someone who learned early on that teenage boys almost always had one thing on their mind, I knew exactly what Liz was going through. In true Degrassi style, this episode opened with Liz feeling miserable about starting at a new school and ended with her feeling even more miserable about being at a new school. One of the many things that set Degrassi apart from and elevated it over other teen shows was that Degrassi rarely ended on an altogether happy note. The problems that the students dealt with on Degrassi could rarely be solved in just 30 minutes. Cathy Keenan did a great job capturing Liz’s brief hope that she may have found a new friend and also the crushing heartbreak of discovering that friend was only talking to her because he thought she was “easy.”

For those of us who first discovered the character on Degrassi: The Next Generation, it can be a bit jarring to see the way Joey Jeremiah behaves on Degrassi Junior High. There’s a big difference between the mature, adult Joey of Degrassi: The Next Generation and the immature and self-centered Joey of Degrassi Junior High. But I suppose that’s true of most people. Everyone does foolish things when they’re younger and everyone makes mistakes when they’re immature and unsure of themselves. As the episode ends, Joey tells Wheels that he actually did like Liz and that he made a huge mistake. Joey realizes what he did was wrong but that’s not going to make things any easier for Liz, who starts another day of school while feeling more alone than ever.

Things work out a bit better for Arthur and Yick Yu. Arthur is freaking out because he’s been having wet dreams so Yick encourages Arthur to call Dr. Sally (Sue Johanson), a sex educator who has her own radio show. Arthur calls and Dr. Sally tells him that his dreams do not make him a pervert. It’s a pretty simple storyline but an important one as it introduces the character of Dr. Sally, who will be mentioned many times throughout both Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi: The Next Generation. It’s also an important storyline because of the contrast between how Arthur and Joey handle their questions about sex. Arthur asks an adult and is lucky enough to get a straight-forward and nonjudgmental answer. Joey convinces himself that he’s ready for sex when he’s obviously not, freaks out just trying to buy condoms, and then ruins his friendship with Liz.

Finally, Stephanie is once again secretly changing into her trampy clothes at school in an attempt to get Simon to notice her. However, whenever Stephanie tries to talk to Simon, she gets interrupted by the Alex, the dorky student council treasurer. Even if Alex didn’t keep showing up, I doubt it would have made a difference. Simon’s just not that into her.

This was a sad episode but I’m glad I finally reviewed it! Between taking time off for the holidays and getting ill, I was worried I’d never review Degrassi again! But, as the theme song says: “In yourself, you must believe.”