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!

As much as I love Degrassi, I have to admit that I’ve never really sat down and watched the two shows that launched the entire franchise, Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High.  I figured why not give it a shot now?

Episode 1.1 “Kiss Me, Steph”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on January 18th, 1987)

Welcome to Toronto!  It’s time for a new school year at Degrassi Junior High!

As I watched the first episode of Degrassi Junior High, the first thing I noticed was just how grainy and depressing everything looked.  As opposed to the bright lighting and vibrant colors of Degrassi: The Next Generation, the world of Degrassi Junior High looked overcast and not always inviting.  The school itself looked old, as if it had been a while since anyone bothered to paint the walls or even sweep the floors.  In short, visually, Degrassi Junior High looked pretty much like a real middle school.  The overcast imagery neatly mirrored the way that most people feel when they’re starting the first day of school, especially if it’s a new school.

It’s the first day of school for Arthur Kobalewscuy (Duncan Waugh) and, being short and way too trusting for his own, it doesn’t take long before the school prankster, Joey Jeremiah (Pat Mastroianni), tricks him into getting locked into the janitor’s closet.  Poor Arthur but, far more importantly …. JOEY!  As any true fan of Degrassi knows, Joey would go on to become one of the most important parts the franchise, both in the original series and a good deal of The Next Generation as well.  In the first episode, he’s far a cry from the likable Joey that we all know.  Instead, he’s just an obnoxious kid who wears a fedora to school.

Arthur is the younger brother of Stephanie Kaye (Nicole Stoffman), who is the most popular girl in the school.  One would think that this would be a good thing for Arthur but Stephanie begins the school day by ordering Arthur not to talk to her because she’s in “grade 8” and he’s only in “grade 7.”  Stephanie and Arthur’s parents are divorced, with Stephanie living with her mother and Arthur living with her father.  Stephanie is determined to have a new image for Grade 8 and, as soon as she steps into the school, she heads to the bathroom and takes off her boring white blouse and blue skirt to reveal the crop top and tight jeans that she’s wearing underneath.  Her best friend, the somewhat dour Voula (Niki Kemey), watches in horror as Stephanie puts on makeup.  (I usually waited until I arrived at school to do my makeup as well.)

When Stephanie hears an announcement that student council elections are coming up, she decides to run for President.  Voula is happy to serve as Stephanie’s campaign manager until Stephanie starts exchanging kisses for votes.  Voula is scandalized that Stephanie isn’t talking about the issues and is running with the slogan, “All The Way With Stephanie Kaye.”  Voula warns Stephanie that none of the girls are going to vote for her but Stephanie explains that she only needs the votes of the boys.  Of course, the main reason why Voula is upset is because Stephanie is giving all the credit for her successful campaign to Joey instead of her.

(Interestingly enough, one of the first episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation also featured a student council election and a sister trying to ignore her dorky younger brother.)

While Stephanie is winning over the boys, Arthur finally manages to get a new friend named Yick Yu (Siluck Saysanasy).  Yay, everyone needs a friend!

Stephanie wins the election.  The announcement is made while Stephanie is in home room where her teacher is none other than Mr. Raditch (Dan Woods), who would later be the first of many principals on Degrassi: The Next Generation.  Joey jumps up and hugs Stephanie as the announcement is made.  “Mr. Jeremiah!” Mr. Raditch snaps, “Not in my class!  Save that behavior for the polls!”

(Fortunately, Mr. Raditch would warm up to Joey by the time that Joey’s stepson was enrolled in the school.  But that’s not going to happen for a while….)

Having won the election, Stephanie discovers that she’s actually expected to do a lot of stuff, like give a speech to the PTA.  Stephanie begs Voula to write the speech for her but Voula tells Stephanie that she doesn’t want to be her friend anymore.  “You’re on your own, Ms. President!  You and your new image!”

Oh well.  With great power comes great responsibility and all that stuff.  Personally, I think Stephanie should just blow off the speech.  And really, Voula is being a bit too self-righteous here.  I mean, it’s student council.  It means nothing!  The episode ends with Stephanie swearing that she’s going to be the best president that the school has ever had but it shouldn’t be that difficult since it’s not like the president makes school policy or anything.  As Stephanie, once again dressed modestly, leaves the school, she finally acknowledges Arthur as her brother and Arthur offers to write the speech for her.

This was not a bad way to start the franchise and I enjoyed spotting future Degrassi stars like Wheels, Snake, and Spike wandering around the school.  This episode did a good job of capturing the silliness of student council elections and also the way every day of high school and middle school can feel like the biggest drama ever.  Arthur and Yick are likable in their nerdy way.  I related Stephanie.  Voula kind of needs to get over herself but we all had a friend like that in school, didn’t we?

Episode 1.2 “The Big Dance”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on January 25th, 1987)

It’s time for the fall dance!

Voula, who is still unreasonably angry with Stephanie, suggests that they use the dance as a way to raise money for the foster child that the school is sponsoring.  Everyone thinks this is a great idea and they think Voula should give a speech while handing over the money at the end of the dance.  Unfortunately, Voula’s superprotective father (Paul Brock) refuses to allow Voula to stay out past 9:30.  He also freaks out when he sees that Voula is wearing lipstick and suddenly, it makes more sense why she’s so jealous of Stephanie.

As for Stephanie, she asks Wheels (Neil Hope) to take her to dance and — OH MY GOD, IT’S WHEELS!  Now, as anyone who knows anything about Degrassi can tell you, Wheels eventually became one of the most important characters on the show.  As soon as I saw Joey talking to him, I immediately started to think about the fact that this is the same Wheels who is going eventually lose his parents to a drunk driver, get molested while hitchhiking, develop a drinking problem, and end up going to prison shortly after graduating high school.  In this episode, though, he’s just a pleasant-natured friend of Joey’s.

Voula lies to her father about spending the night with a study group and instead, heads to the dance.  Meanwhile, Stephanie goes to the house of her friend Lucy Fernandez (Anais Granofsky) so she can change into her school dance clothes.  (Fans of Degrassi know that Lucy is destined to end up getting temporarily blinded and crippled as a result of Wheels driving drunk.)  Along with the two creepy twins, Heather and Erica (Maureen and Angela Deiseach), Stephanie ends up having way too much to drink at Lucy’s.

The end result is that Stephanie shows up drunk at the school dance and ends up embarrassing herself in front of Wheels while Voula is caught breaking curfew by her father.  In typical Degrassi fashion, no one gets a happy ending!

I kind of groaned a little when I saw that this was going to be a Voula episode but actually, the episode did a good job of showing why Voula got so angry at Stephanie.  As well, in what would be a Degrassi hallmark, the episode handled the theme of underage drinking with sensitivity as opposed to judgmental melodrama.  Yes, Stephanie has too much to drink and ruined her date but the episode understood that, rather than being the end of the world, this is just a part of growing up.  On Degrassi Junior High, teenagers were allowed to make mistakes.

Finally, during the dance, I spotted Joey dancing with Caitlin (Stacie Mistysyn), who is of course destined to become the great love of Joey’s life.  It was a nice case of (probably inadvertent) foreshadowing.

Next week: Yick thinks Mr. Raditch is a racist!