Tag Archives: Darrin Brown

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 1.4 “Dream On”

Posted on 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 High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1989 to 1991!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

Love is in the air …. for some.

Episode 1.4 “Dream On”

(Dir by John Bertram, originally aired on November 20th, 1989)

I hate bullies.

Sadly, bullies are a part of life and they have been since the start of recorded history.  I imagine that even cavemen had their own versions of bullies and nerds.  Bullies deal with their own insecurities by picking on outsiders.  Most people hate bullies but they keep quiet when they see bullying because the unspoken threat is that, if they speak up, they could be the next one to be targeted.  That’s especially true in high school.

Degrassi High has its own set of bullies.  The episode features Tabi (Michele Johnson-Murray), who has decided to spend all of her time standing in front of the ninth grade lockers and refusing to allow the niners to use them.  When Kathleen and Melanie walk by Tabi, Tabi sprays her hairspray in Melanie’s eyes.  That’s not just rude but it’s also potentially dangerous.  Kathleen is usually not a particularly likable character but, when she finally stood up to Tabi at the end of this episode and yelled at her to get away from the lockers, I wanted to cheer.  Kathleen stands up to Tabi and a stunned Tabi walks away, saying something about niners being crazy but surrendering nonetheless.  Yay, Kathleen!

Where did Kathleen find the confidence to stand up to Tabi?  In this episode, she finally gets a boyfriend!  Scott Smith (Byrd Dickens) is an 11th grader with a really ugly mustache.  Looking at Scott, one can automatically smell the beer and see a future in which he spends all of time getting drunk at hockey games.  That said, he seems to like Kathleen and he encourages her to try out for the school play.  He even escorts her across the quad, which Tabi and her friend Dwayne previously declared to be off-limits for anyone in the ninth grade.  Kathleen has a boyfriend and there’s no way this could go wrong, right?  I mean, it’s not as if the Degrassi franchise has a long history of episodes in which insecure girls end up with older boyfriends who turn out to be abusive, right?

Meanwhile, Arthur has a crush on Caitlin and he’s overjoyed when he overhears Caitlin talking about how she’s getting tired of dating Joey, who is insensitive and only cares about his “dumb band.”  However, it turns out that Caitlin is not interested in Arthur.  Instead, she likes Claude, who has a goat-tee and is massively concerned about the environment.  Claude (pronounced “Klohd” because he’s either really pretentious or he’s from Quebec and maybe both) invites Caitlin to a French movie.

“Do you know Jean-Luc Godard?” Claude asks.

“No, does he go here?” Caitlin replies.

It’s okay.  When I was fourteen, I didn’t know who Jean-Luc Godard was either.  That said, I am old enough now to know that Godard’s post-70s films were not exactly date material.  Maybe Claude is asking her to a showing of Breathless.  Still, I think Claude should have waited for a Truffaut and a Lelouch film to come to town.

My point is that Claude is kind of a douchebag.  It’s obvious to everyone but Caitlin but sometimes, relationships are like that.  That’s especially true when there’s an age and educational difference.  I can understand Caitlin liking Claude, even if Claude seems pretty annoying to everyone else.  But I can’t see this relationship ending well.

Oh well — at least Joey has time to work on the band!  We all know from watching Degrassi: The Next Generation that Joey’s future lies in selling cars, not playing the keyboards.

And don’t worry about Arthur.  He may get his heart-broken in this episode but the actor apparently had a growth spurt between Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High and he now basically towers over everyone in the cast.  No one is ever going to bully Arthur again.

Next week, the drama continues!

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 1.1 and 1.2 “A New Start”

Posted on 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 High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1989 to 1991!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

This week, Degrassi Junior High becomes Degrassi High!

Episode 1.1 and 1.2 “A New Start”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on November 6th, 1989)

It’s a new school year and, due to the Junior High burning down, all of the Degrassi kids are enrolling at Degrassi High!  Along with finally getting to go to a new school, they also finally get a new theme song and title sequence.

Just going to a new school isn’t going to stop the drama, of course.  Joey is still trying to make the Zit Remedy into something more than a mediocre garage band.  Snake and Wheels are still politely listening to Joey’s plans.  Caitlin and Joey are now dating but there’s a smarmy junior named Claude Tanner (David Armin-Parcells) who really seems to appreciate the blonde streaks in Caitlin’s hair.  (Caitlin, it should be noted, does have the best hair in the school.)  Arthur and Yick Yu, who both appear to have had major growth spurts over the summer, are growing apart.  Alexa is not happy when Simon’s recent success as a male model makes him popular with all of the other girls at the Degrassi High.  For neither the first nor the last time, Alexa dramatically gives Simon back his ring while Simon responds with genuine confusion.  We even meet the new homeroom teacher, who assigns the students to read Lord of the Flies.  (If you’ve seen the entire series, including the sequels to the original Degrassi High, it’s hard not to smile at the first of many references to Lord of the Flies.)

Dwayne Meyers (Darrin Brown), the bully who beat Joey up during the second season of Degrassi Junior High, is now attending high school and, as soon as he sees the new students, he decides that it’s time to bring back initiations.  Soon, students are getting covered in white paste, tied to flag poles, and being otherwise ritually humiliated.  Dwayne especially has it out for Joey.  Unfortunately, for Joey, Mr. Raditch has found a new job as DHS’s vice principal and he doesn’t have much sympathy for Joey’s predicament.

That said, the main storyline here involves the Farrell Twins.  I have to admit that I groaned a bit when I discovered this was going to be a Farrell Twin episode because the twins were always the weakest characters on Degrassi Junior High.  However, I have to say that Angela and Maureen Deiseach actually did a pretty good job in this episode.  Erica Farrell (Angela Deiseach), having lost her virginity at camp over the summer, discovers that she’s pregnant and considers getting an abortion.  Her twin sister, Heather (Maureen Deiseach), is opposed to abortion and, at first, refuses to go with Erica to the clinic.  After talking to Spike, who also opposes abortion but who, as a single mother, also understands Erica’s fear, Heather finally shows up at the clinic to support her sister as she walks through a throng of protestors.

Eventually, unwanted pregnancies would occur so frequently on Degrassi that they would become something of a cliche, as would the inevitable decision to get an abortion.  A New Start is one of the better pregnancy episodes, handling the storyline with sensitivity but also bringing nuance to its portrayal of the abortion debate.  Especially when compared to how heavy-handed the show would get in its final seasons, it’s really interesting to see how intelligently and respectfully both the pro-life and the pro-choice positions are presented in this episode.  The episode makes clear that there are no easy answers and there’s also no easy villains, which is something that Degrassi itself would forget during it’s four seasons on Netflix.  As Erica and Heather enter the clinic, a protestor holds up a plastic fetus, an image that was considered to be so controversial that PBS actually censored it when this episode aired in America.

(At least this episode actually made it to America, albeit in edited form.  The next Degrassi pregnancy episode would sit unaired for three years.)

It’s not a great way for the Farrell twins to start the school year but it’s proof that, even as Degrassi Junior High becomes Degrassi High, it will continue to “go there.”

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 2.13 “Pass Tense”

Posted on 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!

The second season of Degrassi Junior High comes to a close with a historic episode!

Episode 2.13 “Pass Tense”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on March 28th, 1988)

The school year is nearly over and it’s time for the 8th Grade to graduate.  Next year, they will all be going to high school except …. well, they won’t.  Even while Stephanie and the Farrell Twins are making fun of the 7th Graders for having to do all the work to prepare for the big graduation dance, word comes down from the district that, starting next year, Degrassi Junior High will have a Grade 9.  Even though most of the show’s characters are set to graduate and go to High School, they’ll still be attending classes at Degrassi Junior High next season school year.

(The official story is that the high school was overcrowded so adding a Grade 9 to Degrassi was the only option.  The truth, of course, is that the show got popular and was renewed for a third season and the show’s producers didn’t want to lose 75% of their cast.)

However, one eighth grader will not be “graduating.”  Joey Jeremiah has flunked! Oddly, Joey passed his final exams but, as Raditch puts it, he only scraped by and Raditch feels that Joey is too smart to only be scraping by.  Mr. Raditch called Joey’s parents and told them that Joey could either go into the 9th Grade and be put in a low-academic program or he could repeat the 8th Grade and hopefully mature a little.  Joey’s parents agreed that Joey should be held back.  “Flunk our son!” they apparently said.

(To be honest, this seems like kind of an unfair move on the part of Mr. Raditch and I’m not really sure how Joey can be held back after passing all of his exams.  It seems rather arbitrary.)

At first, Joey declares that he’s not going to go to the graduation dance, even though the Zit Remedy is scheduled to make their public debut.  Wheels confronts Joey and tells him that he’s smart and that he owes it to his friends to show up.  Wheels gets a bit judgmental, all thing considered.  Joey is being held back on the whims of Mr. Raditch so Joey really has every right to be mad.  Aren’t there any lawyers in Canada who can sue the school on Joey’s behalf?

(Add to that, I always smile a bit whenever Wheels gets judgmental of anyone.  Hey, Wheels, Joey’s not the one who is destined to go to prison for killing someone while driving drunk.)

Joey eventually does show up at the dance, apparently having been convinced that his friends won’t be laughing at him behind his back.  (From what we see, everyone is supportive.  I guess they’re just nicer in Canada.)  Greeting Snake and Wheels, Joey takes a moment to flirt, for the first time, with Caitlin, who is destined to become the love of his life.  He then says that he’s ready to perform.  This leads to a historic moment as the Zit Remedy takes the stage for the very first time.  They perform their one and only song, the deathless Everybody Wants Something.

Everybody wants something

They’ll never give up

Everybody wants something

They’ll take your money

And never give up

Finally, Spike, who is allowed to attend the dance after not being allowed to attend class, goes into a labor as the episode’s end credits roll.  This is a huge moment, both because Spike is giving birth to Emma Nelson, who will be the lead character for the first few seasons of Degrassi: The Next Generation.  A running joke on DTNG would be Emma’s hatred of Everybody Wants Something so, for me, it was kind of fun to watch this episode and discover that this was the last song Spike listened to before giving birth.

(Speaking of Degrassi: The Next Generation, I had to smile at just how much Joey freaked out about getting held back.  DTNG was infamous for using the flimsiest of excuses to keep its more popular characters from graduating on time.  Ashley, Jimmy, Spinner, and a host of others were all held back.  Spinner was actually held back twice.)

And so ends the second season of Degrassi Junior High.  The second season was great and this finale did everything that a good finale is meant to do.  It wrapped up two major storylines while also hinting at what the future held.  It also gave Pat Mastroianni, Neil Hope, and Amanda Stepto a chance to show how much all three of them had developed as actors since the show’s first season. Mastroianni especially did a good job as Joey realized that his year of goofing off and not trying had finally caught up with him.  That said, I still think he needs to sue both the school and Mr. Raditch.  He probably needs to get emancipated from his parents as well.  What type of mother or father says, “Flunk my child?”

Next week, we start season 3!

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

Posted on 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 2.1 “Eggbert”

Posted on 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!

It’s time to start the second term!

Episode 2.1 “Eggbert”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on January 4th, 1988)

It’s time to start the second term at Degrassi Junior High and a few things have changed.

For instance, both Voula and Rick are no longer enrolled at the school, though they still appear in the opening credits.  Two new students have enrolled at the school.  Scooter Webster (Christopher Charlesworth) is a young genius who has skipped ahead a few grades.  Meanwhile, the enigmatic Simon Dexter (Michael Carry) is blonde, handsome, and apparently is already working as a male model.  Stephanie and the Farrell twins are excited when Simon joins their class.  Yick and Arthur, meanwhile, are excited that Scooter’s presence means that they are no longer the nerdiest kids at school.

Lucy is still on probation as a result of getting arrested for shoplifting and she has decided to tone things down until she’s finished her sentence.  She still wants to throw a party at her house but she now has very firm rules about what her classmates can do — i.e., no drinking and no breaking the furniture.

Stephanie has given up her trampy look and is now determined to be the best school president that she can be.  She gives all of her old school clothes to Alexa (Irene Courakos), just to then watch as Simon starts flirting with Alexa because, as he tells Snake, “I love the way she dresses.”  When Stephanie later asks Alexa to return her clothes, Alexa refuses.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that Spike is pregnant and still trying to decide whether she wants to keep her baby or not.  The counselor at her support group suggests that Spike carry around and take care of an egg for two weeks so that she can experience what it would be like to have to spend all of her time taking care of a baby.  Spike agrees.  At school, Alexa takes the egg, draws a face on it, and names it Eggbert.

Shane, who has still not even told his parents that Spike is pregnant, begs Spike to forgive him and to let him be a part of her life again.  Spike tells Shane that if he really wants to be a part of her life, he needs to spend a week taking care of Eggbert.  Shane is hesitant but agrees.  And while all the girls thought it was cute when Spike had the egg, all of the boys are quick to make fun of Shane when they see him carrying around Eggbert.

Lucy throws the first party of the term and everyone’s miserable because she won’t allow them to have any fun.  To Spike’s surprise, Shane shows up at the party and he brings Eggbert with him.  Soon, Eggbert is getting tossed from person to person.  Even Shane tosses Eggbert to Joey.  Somehow, Eggbert survives.  However, when Spike and Shane have an argument outside about Shane not being responsible, the egg falls to the ground and breaks.

YIKES!

I swear, I nearly cried when that egg hit the sidewalk.  It was a powerful symbol of the fact that neither Spike nor Shane was ready to be a parent.  While it was irresponsible for Shane to bring Eggbert to the party, it was also irresponsible for Spike to leave the egg with someone who she knew would not be able to properly take care of it.  At the end of the episode, Shane finally tells his parents about Spike but it really does feel like a case of too little too late.  Shane had his chance to step up and he failed.

What a sad episode!  Still, this episode is an example of what set the Degrassi franchise apart from other teen shows.  Whereas other teen shows would have resolved this storyline as quickly and as patly as possible, Degrassi Junior High portrays the subject matter with realism and sensitivity.  There are no easy solutions in Toronto and it doesn’t matter how well-intentioned or optimistic everyone tries to be.  Sometimes, you just end up with a broke egg on a frozen sidewalk.