Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.7 “The All Nighter”

Posted on June 22, 2025 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 and Tubi

This week, it’s drugs and poker!

Episode 2.7 “The All Nighter”

(Dir by Eleanore Lindo, originally aired on December 16th, 1990)

This week’s episodes tells the story of several all-nighters.

Alex, who is now apparently a major character, pulls an all-nighter to write a last-minute essay, one that he was assigned over a month ago. Hey, we’ve all been there! Luckily, he gets it written. Because this episode aired at the end of the 80s, he has write on an old timey typewriter. I like old typewriters. I can’t imagine writing with one — seriously, how did people correct typos back then? — but I do like the look and the sound of them.

Luke, Yick, Joey, and Arthur play poker at Luke’s house. (Apparently, everyone’s forgiven Luke for giving Shane the LSD that caused Shane to plunge to his near death last year.) At first, Luke doesn’t want to invite Arthur but Yick talks him into it. Arthur turns out to be a poker hustler and soon, he’s made over $15 in dimes. Myself, I don’t think I’ve ever won a hand at poker. I’m good at blackjack, though!

Finally, the most important all-nighter is the one that Maya, Melanie, Caitlin, and Kathleen hold for Diana’s birthday! Woo hoo! Birthday all-nighter’s are the best! However, in this case, Kathleen decides to bring two joints to the party. Kathleen explains that she and Scott used to smoke weed all the time. (Uhmm….okay. I remember Scott and he really didn’t seem like a stoner.) Luke made the mistake of trying to hide his stash in the tampon machine in the girl’s bathroom, which is how Kathleen got her hands on it.

Everyone, except for Caitlin, plays truth or dare while passing around the joint. Uh-oh, can you see where this is going? While Diana complains that she’s not feeling anything, Melanie decides that she’s stoned enough to reveal that she read Kathleen’s diary and that Kathleen has anorexia, an alcoholic mother, an abusive boyfriend, and a therapist. Kathleen gets upset and runs outside. Caitlin comforts her while Melanie giggles inside.

And again, I think just about everyone has been there. From my own high school experiences, weed drama usually didn’t involve people who were actually stoned as much as it involved inexperienced smokers who were trying to convince themselves that they were stoned and who inevitably ended up doing something stupid as a result. Melanie, for instance, I don’t think was anywhere near as stoned as she was trying to act. For someone who has never smoked weed before, it apparently only took Melanie a few minutes to start talking about “the munchies.” Her giggly betrayal of Kathleen was more about her thinking she was “so high” other than actually being high. Still, the damage was done. This episode ends with Melanie apologizing to Kathleen and Kathleen walking away without saying a word.

(While we’re on the subject of weed, I have to admit that I kind of lost interest in it once it started getting legalized and became socially acceptable.)

Anyway, this was a good episode. I appreciated that it didn’t go for any of the usual melodrama that teen shows usually resort to when it comes to people experimenting with drugs. Degrassi High’s strength is its nonjudgmental attitude and that was on display in this episode.

Next week, Wheels wears out his welcome at Joey’s house …. again!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrasssi Hibh 2.6 “Crossed Wires”

Posted on June 15, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In yourself, you must believe …. let’s return to Degrassi High.

Episode 2.6 “Crossed Wires”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on December 10th, 1990)

Alex is dating Tessa but he has yet to kiss her and Tessa’s getting tired of waiting for him. Arthur and Yick (remember them?) both tell Alex that he’s a total wimp. Myself, I’m just wondering how Alex somehow went from being a background character to suddenly getting storylines. For the record, Alex does eventually kiss Tessa and he leaves her breathless, which seems like a bit of an overreaction. I mean, it’s just Alex….

Of course, any Tessa storyline that doesn’t involve Joey is going to feel somewhat odd because true Degrassi fans know that Tessa is eventually going to end up pregnant after sleeping with Joey, leading to a jealous Snake dropping the first F-bomb ever heard on Canadian television. But, that was all far in the future. When this episode aired, Tessa was still just the girl who apparently only owned that one blue dress.

Alex and Tessa’s rather silly storyline is matched with one where Liz, after going on a date with Tim (Keith White, finally getting a storyline after spending so much time as a background character), freaks out after Tim attempts to kiss her goodnight after taking her to a Pogues concert. Liz eventually tells Spike that she was sexually abused by her mom’s ex-boyfriend and that’s why Liz doesn’t allow anyone to get close to her. (In many ways, this episode feels like a dry run for the Jane Says episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation.) This episode handles the subject with sensitivity, as Degrassi (to its credit) always did. Tonally, it can be a bit of shock to go from the silliness of Tessa’s story to the seriousness of Liz’s but that’s kind of the way it is when you’re a teenager. One minute, you’re in a sitcom. The next minute, you’re in the most depressing drama ever. That’s certainly the way it was for me when I was in high school. I preferred the sitcom moments but the fact that I can cry on cue came in useful whenever things started to get serious.

Finally, Dwayne’s moronic friends are upset because Dwayne will no longer let them beat up on Joey. Dwayne doesn’t care. Joey’s the only person that knows that Dwayne is HIV positive. Joey has kept his word and not revealed Dwayne’s secret. Dwayne helps Joey fix his car and Joey, in return, gives Dwayne a life home. Dwayne going from being a bully to a sensitive guy is another character arc that would become a Degrassi tradition.

Next week, Kathleen finds some marijuana. Oh no!

Song of the Day: Dust (What I Know) by Downtown Sasquatch

Posted on June 4, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Shane Kippel!

Shane Kippel, as I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, played Spinner Mason on Degrassi: The Next Generation. He started out as the school bully but, by the time the third season began, he was pretty much the heart of the ensemble. How cool was Shane Kippel? He was so cool that Spinner ended up getting held back three times just so there would be an excuse to keep Kippel on the show!

(“What type of idiot fails his own language!?” Spinner once said when confronted with his grade in English. Oh, Spinner!)

Today’s song of the day features Shane Kippel on drums. From Degrassi, here is Downtown Sasquatch with Dust!

(The other members of the band are Jake Epstein on vocals, Aubrey Graham on guitar, and Adamo Ruggiero on bass.)

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.5 “Body Politics”

Posted on May 18, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Just when Lucy thinks that she’s out, they pull her back in.

Episode 2.5 “Body Politics”

(Dir by Phillip Earnshaw, originally aired on December 3rd, 1990)

Lucy is depressed because the big dance is coming up and no one has asked her. She makes another one of her video diaries for L.D., in which she says, “I know I can be kind of mouthy.” That’s true but being “kind of mouthy” is a Degrassi tradition and screw anyone who can’t handle someone having an opinion!

Anyway, Lucy does get a date with Dale (Cameron Graham), a jock with a cute smile. But when the Girls Volleyball Team discovers that the Boys Basketball Team has been given all of the best practice slots in the gym (basically, the basketball team gets to practice in the afternoon for as long as they want while the volleyball team only gets a few minutes in the morning), Lucy finds herself starting another protest. However, when she discovers that Dale is the captain of the basketball team, Lucy starts to wonder if she should back off. She wants to go to the dance!

The creepy Farrell twins insist that Lucy has to be their leader and their spokesperson. This episode was the first time that the Farrells were prominently featured in the second season and I had forgotten how annoying they could be with their constant demand that Lucy lead every single protest. Seriously, I’m kind of sympathizing with Lucy’s desire to avoid getting involved.

Lucy does eventually step up and make her argument about the girls deserving equal time to the Phys Ed. department. It doesn’t do any good. It turns out that, when Dale said that no one cares about Girls Volleyball, he was right. Lucy loses her fight and her date. But the president of the senior class, the never before-seen Bronco (L. Dean Ifill), is impressed by Lucy’s fighting spirit and asks her to the dance. So, things work out.

(Lucy, of course, is destined to be crippled and blinded by Wheels in an auto accident but that’s a while off.)

As for the other plots in this week’s episode, Patrick, the Irish guy who was dating Spike at the end of last season, is single again and asks Liz out on a date. Spike says she’s fine with it but actually she’s jealous. Hey, it happens! And Alexa and Michelle finally decide to be friends again. Yay! Seriously, it’s always nice when friendships are saved.

This episode could have been better. The main problem was that I didn’t buy a lot of the Lucy story. I mean, how come there wasn’t a coach or anyone supervising the gym while the basketball players and the volleyball players were having their argument? How come the athletic teams didn’t already have a set schedule for when they would practice? Since when are the Farrell twins athletic and why can’t they ever do anything without demanding that Lucy be their spokesperson? How exactly is L.D.’s father getting away with traveling around the world with his daughter who I imagine is legally required to be in some sort of school? There were just too many unanswered questions.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.4 “A Tangled Web”

Posted on May 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, everyone’s lying.

Episode 2.4 “A Tangled Web”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on November 26th, 1990)

We’ve got three plots going on in this episode. Let’s start with the one that no one cares about.

Alex, who may appear in the opening credits (he’s wearing glasses and smiling) but who hasn’t really made much of an impression as a character in the 5 years that he’s been a Degrassi regular, has a crush on Tessa. Tessa has a crush on Joey. Arthur — hey! Arthur’s still on the show! — decides to help out by leaving notes in both Tessa and Alex’s lockers. Tessa and Alex meet up after school, each expecting to find someone else. Tessa seems kind of annoyed but Alex swears to Arthur that they actually had a good time talking.

Let’s move on to the plot that only director Kevin Smith, famous for his teen crush on Caitlin, would care about. Caitlin finally confronts her father about his cheating. She also tells her mother. Caitlin’s mom is like, “We’re trying to work through it, mind your own business for once!” As usual, Caitlin is stunned to discover that life is complex and I’m sure her friends will have to listen to her complain about it for the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, Wheels is being a little brat again, refusing to study and lying to his grandmother about his grades. She finally grounds Wheels but Wheels sneaks out anyway so that he can go to the Gourmet Scum concert with Joey and Snake. Uh-oh …. the car that the three of them bought breaks down! Wheels says that this is all Joey’s fault. They’ve missed the concert and now, Wheels is going to be in a huge amount of trouble when he returns home. And Wheels is right about that! In fact, his grandmother kicks him out of the house!

There was a lot of drama in this episode but it all felt a little bit familiar. We went through a whole storyline about Wheels acting like a jerk during Degrassi Junior High. It’s hard not to feel like the show is repeating itself here. And seriously, when did Wheels become such a jerk? In this episode, he does apologize to Joey but then, he asks if he can stay with Joey and his family. Uhmm …. gee, Wheels, didn’t you get caught stealing a bunch off money the last time you stayed at Joey’s house? Interestingly enough, the episode doesn’t make clear where Wheels stayed after his grandmother kicked him out. I mean, where is Wheels going to live? Since Wheels is actually an orphan, shouldn’t grandma have called the Canadian version of Child Protective Services to come pick him up? The whole thing just seems odd!

Now, of course, if you know your Degrassi history, you know what’s going to happen to the characters in this episode. Tessa is going end up sleeping with Joey, having an abortion, and leaving town. Wheels is going to end up in prison after driving drunk and killing a kid. Joey and Caitlin will eventually fall in love again but it won’t work out and grown-up, middle-aged Caitlin will end up sleeping with a college student. And Snake will become the principal of Degrassi. As for Arthur, he’s going to start a computer software company with Yick Yu. And Alex …. well, no one really cares.

Next week, life goes on.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.3 “Loyalties”

Posted on May 4, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In yourself, you must believe….

Episode 2.3 “Loyalties”

(Dir by John Bertram, originally aired on November 19th, 1990)

Oh look, more Caitlin drama.

Seriously, if I was a student at Degrassi High, I would warn any new enrollees about becoming friends with Caitlin. Caitlin may be nice and she may be sincere in her desire to be friendly with the new students but, ultimately, everything with Caitlin is a drama and being her friend means being a part of the drama, whether you want to be or not. Last season, Caitlin had to go to court after he got caught vandalizing the nuclear plant and she immediately expected all of her friends to skip school and go with her. This episode, Caitlin spots her father having a romantic lunch with someone who is not Caitlin’s mother and, of course, Caitlin’s friends are expected to forget about the own problems so they can listen to her obsess about it. And while Caitlin did not tell her mom, she did suggest that her dad take her mom to the restaurant where she previously spotted him.

Caitlin wasn’t the only person with drama this week. Michelle is struggling to deal with having gotten dumped by BLT. When she discovers that Alexa and Simon are still hanging out with BLT and his new girlfriend, Cindy, she’s not happy. Alexa and Simon, meanwhile, are tired of Michelle being such a downer. And while I had sympathy for Michelle, I also had sympathy for Alexa. It’s not easy when your friends break up and you find yourself expected to pick a side. Snake has a crush on Michelle and they go out on a date but Michelle starts crying ten minutes in. Later, Michelle apologize to Snake and says she’s not ready to date. Snake, being the perfect guy despite (or maybe because of) his nickname, is totally understanding and says he’ll wait until she’s ready.

Awwwwww!

Compared to last week’s episode, Loyalties was not quite as memorable. No one discovered they were HIV+. Still, it was a nicely done episode and I appreciated the effort to try to realistically deal with Michelle’s feelings. I’m not looking forward to the inevitable episode in which Caitlin confronts her father but I know it’ll happen. That’s Degrassi!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.2 “Bad Blood: Part Two”

Posted on April 27, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Dwayne gets some life-changing news.

Episode 2.2 “Bad Blood: Part Two”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on November 12th, 1990)

After his summer girlfriend informs him that she’s tested positive for HIV, Dwayne goes to the local clinic to get tested. He’s understandably nervous as the doctor draws his blood. The doctor mentions that Dwayne is in a high-risk group because he had sex without a condom. Dwayne gives about twenty different excuses for why he didn’t use a condom. The doctor looks on, disappointed. Two weeks later, Dwayne returns to the clinic and is informed that he has tested positive for HIV. The doctor informs Dwayne that he’s going to have to start living life differently. He’s going to have to take care of himself. He’s going to have to give up any plans he ever had of being a father. He’s going to have to be careful when it comes to his blood.

At school, Dwayne takes out his anger on one of the condom machines in the bathroom. Wheels witnesses this and quickly runs off to tell Joey. Joey still needs a little over $300 to get his car. He also needs some money to pay everyone who took a bet on the previous episode’s attempt to walk through the cafeteria naked. Joey decides to blackmail Dwayne to get the money. (Joey has figured out that Dwayne is the one who snitched to Raditch about the walk through the cafeteria so Joey feels that Dwayne owes him the money regardless.) When Joey confronts Dwayne in the boys bathroom, it leads to another fight. Joey cuts his head. Dwayne ends up with a bloody nose. As soon as Dwayne sees that he’s bleeding, he backs off and tries to end the fight. Joey taunts Dwayne for being scared of a little blood.

“What if I have AIDS!?” Dwayne yells back.

Joey laughs off Dwayne’s comment, which leads to Dwayne throwing a fit and shouting that he didn’t do anything wrong. Joey figures out that Dwayne actually is HIV+. Later, Dwayne gives Joey the three hundred dollars in return for Joey not telling anyone. “We’re getting a car!” Snake and Wheels celebrate but the look on Joey’s face indicates that Joey is not happy about the way he got the money. In other words, Joey has a conscience! Yay, Joey!

And so does Dwayne. One of the things that Degrassi did very well was that it took characters who conformed to certain stereotypes and then dug underneath the surface and revealed that everyone — even the school bully — had their own individual fears and dreams. This episode finds Dwayne’s bravado crumbling as he’s forced to face his future as someone who is HIV positive. Darrin Brown, who is now a director, did a great job as Dwayne as did Pat Mastroianni as Joey. Both of them really grew as actors over the course of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High.

While that was going, BLT finally broke up with Michelle. Michelle was not happy. Eh, who cares? This was a good episode but BLT and Michelle were a boring couple and it’s hard to get overly worked up about them splitting up. Dwayne had a real isssue to deal with. Michelle will eventually find someone else willing to deal with her nonstop drama. Such is the way of the world.

One final note: in this episode, Lucy is shooting a video for L.D. Spike appears with her baby, Emma. Emma says, “Hi, L.D.” These were the first of many words to be spoken by Emma Nelson on Degrassi. (Emma, of course, will grow up to be one of the leads on Degrassi: The Next Generation. We’ve got a while to go before we reach that point, though.)

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.1 “Bad Blood: Part 1”

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s time for another school year!

Episode 2.1 “Bad Blood: Part 1”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on November 5th, 1990)

It’s time to start another year at Degrassi High! There’s a lot going on:

Michelle spent the summer on a trip, which gave BLT time to find a new girlfriend. He hasn’t told Michelle yet. BLT says, “Michelle is so sensitive,” as if that’s a bad thing. Remember when BLT was like the perfect boyfriend last season? I guess that’s all gone out the window.
L.D.’s cancer is in remission! However, she’s not back at school. Her father sold his garage, bought a sailboat, and now he and L.D. are circling the globe. So, I guess L.D. is just going to be a high school dropout? Lucy films a video for L.D. Good luck delivering it to the middle of the ocean.
Condom machines have been installed in the bathrooms! The Farrell twin who keeps getting pregnant is super excited.
School bully Dwayne also loves the condom machines because he can fill the condoms with water and drop them on his longtime nemesis, Joey Jeremiah.
Joey is upset that Dwayne and his gang are in Joey’s special ed class. However, Joey does have one good thing happening in his life. He finally got his license! Now, he just needs a car.
Hey, here’s a car that’s for sale! But it costs …. $3,000! And Joey only has $75. Ha. Loser.
How can Joey raise money? What if he asks everyone to pay him to walk naked through the cafeteria? All of the teachers are going to be in a staff meeting so there’s no way Joey’s going to get caught!
Joey goes through with it, walking into cafe naked while holding his fedora over his …. well, you know. Joey’s embarrassed but he’s going to get a car!
Except …. OH NO! IT’S RADITCH!
Who snitched on Joey? That’s right, it was Dwayne! Joey gets dragged to the office and he doesn’t get any of the money that he needed for his car.
Dwayne is still laughing about it when he arrives home. His father tells him that “some chick” called for you.
Dwayne calls Penny, his summer girlfriend. Penny tells him that her ex-boyfriend has tested positive for HIV and that’s she tested positive for HIV and maybe Dwayne should get tested….
To be continued….

Agck! That’s quite an ending for what was, otherwise, a fairly light-hearted episode. But that’s one thing that made Degrassi such a good show. It understood how being in high school was often a bizarre mix of comedy and drama. This episode spends a good deal of time portraying Dwayne as being the biggest jerk ever and then it ends with him looking absolutely terrified. It’s a powerful moment.

Next week, the story continues as Dwayne’s life is changed forever.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 1.15 “Stressed Out”

Posted on April 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the first season of Degrassi High comes to a close!

Episode 1.15 “Stressed Out”

(Dir by John Bertram, originally aired on February 13th, 1990)

The first season of Degrassi High comes to an end with an episode that once again establishes Caitlin as being the worst.

The school year is coming to a close and everyone is stressed about final exams. Michelle is taking speed to stay up and study. Normally, this would be a big deal but this episode only devotes a few scenes to it and we don’t even get a big dramatic meltdown on Michelle’s part. I mean, I guess it’s good that Michelle finally got a plotline that doesn’t revolve everyone being shocked about her dating BLT but why would you do a drug storyline without a meltdown?

The majority of this episode is taken up with Caitlin getting upset because Ms. Avery will not be working at Degrassi anymore. Under the impression that Ms. Avery has been fired, Caitlin passes around a petition. When Ms. Avery says she appreciates the support but that she’s actually the one who decided to quit, Caitlin freaks out (in much the same way that Michelle should have freaked out) and gets all upset and says that she’s not even going to go to the end-of-the-year school party.

Hey, Caitlin — IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!

Seriously, Caitlin — Ms. Avery is an adult. She has every right to quit her job. Now, it does turn out that Avery quit because the school board wanted her to become a substitute teacher. Avery wants her own classroom. Caitlin is still upset. How can Ms. Avery be so selfish to abandon the one student who actually cares about whether or not she has a job or not? Avery really should have just told Caitlin to get a life but finally, Ms. Avery takes a job teaching at another school. So, Ms. Avery will get her own classroom and, even more importantly, she won’t have to deal with Caitlin anymore.

Whatever happened to Caitlin’s court case? Shouldn’t she be doing community service or something?

This finale was a bit of a letdown but it happens. Not every school year ends with something exciting happening. Next week, we start the second and final season of Degrassi High!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 1.14 “It Creeps!”

Posted on March 16, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Wake up in the morning, it’s time to make a feminist slasher film….

Episode 1.14 “It Creeps!”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on February 6th, 1990)

Shane’s back!

We haven’t seen Shane since he showed up at the last junior high dance. Shane, of course, is the ex-boyfriend of Spike and the wayward father of Emma. Shane took LSD while at a concert and either jumped or fell off a bridge. When we see him in this episode, he’s suffering from brain damage. One minute, he’s greeting Spike like his best friend. Another minute, he’s yelling at her and suddenly acting aggressive. Spike still tries to be nice to him, despite Liz’s comment of “He’s creepy.” (Seriously, what is going with Liz this season?) What’s really disturbing, though, is that Shane’s only close friend still appears to be Luke, the idiot who gave him the acid in the first place.

(Seriously, how did Luke get away with that?)

That was the B-plot of this episode. The A-plot featured Lucy finally making her feminist horror film, It Creeps!!, for her creative writing class. Personally, I like the idea behind It Creeps!! It’s a slasher movie where, for once, it’s the guys getting knifed in the shower instead of the girls. It’s the type of thing that would get Lucy a deal with Blumhouse today. I’m a little bit surprised that she was able to get away with making it for a school project but I guess that 80s were a more innocent time. If a student shot a bloody slasher film in her school today, she’d probably be suspended.

Lucy shows her film to the class and is shocked when they laugh at certain parts. She runs out the room but her creative writing teacher assures her that class is enjoying her film. He tells her that she did a good job, considering that it was her first film. (It’s a hundred times better than Michael Scott’s Threat Level Midnight.) Lucy returns to the classroom, just in time to find everyone cheering as Wheels dies on screen.

Of course, those of us who know our Degrassi history, know how this is going to turn out. After graduation, Wheels is going to be driving drunk and he’s going to have the accident that will not only send him to prison but will also leave Lucy crippled and temporarily blinded. Seriously, this show is a lot darker if you already know what’s going to happen in School’s Out!

As for this episode, it was a good one. The plot with Lucy’s film worked because the end result actually looked like something that had been filmed by a moderately talented teenager who owned a somewhat beat-up video camera. And I was glad that the show remembered that Shane existed. Amanda Stepto did a wonderful job portraying Spike’s reaction to seeing Shane. This was Degrassi High at its best.