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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 Junior High 3.16 “Bye-Bye Junior High”

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, Degrassi Junior High comes to an end!

Episode 3.16 “Bye-Bye, Junior High”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on February 27th, 1989)

The school year is ending and things are looking fairly positive for the majority of the students at Degrassi Junior High.

The ninth graders are looking forward to finally getting to enroll at the local high school next year.  The eighth graders are looking forward to finally being at the top of DJHS’s social hierarchy.  The teachers are happy because they’ve given their final exams and almost every student has done well.

Even Wheels!  Even though he skipped most of the year and spent a lot of time in detention due to his behavioral issues, Wheels manages to get passing grades.  Of course, his grades still aren’t that impressive.  Wheels just scrapes by.  However, his homeroom teacher says that everyone knows that Wheels has had a difficult year and the important thing is that Wheels showed improvement when he finally did come back to school.  In other words, Wheels will be moving on to the 10th Grade.

Spike, who has not been allowed to attend school in person, struggles on her final exams.  But Ms. Avery (Michelle Goodeve) talks Spike into taking some correspondence courses over the summer so that Spike can move on to the 10th Grade and take part in Canada’s version of the gifted program.

As for Joey, he gets two A’s and several B’s.  Unfortunately, he gets one C, in French.  (Seriously, how do you live in Canada and not know French?)  Joey’s parents told him that, if he got a single C, he would not be allowed to go to the last dance of the year, the all-important Graduation Dance.  Fortunately, Joey’s parents reconsider this rather harsh deal and they allow Joey to go to the dance with Caitlin.  Caitlin gets to wear a really pretty dress and Joey finally attends a dance without bringing his keyboard.

Even Shane shows up for the Graduation Dance!  Of course, he’s using a walker and has obviously suffered severe brain damage from falling off that bridge but hey, at least he’s not dead.

It’s the most positive episode of Degrassi ever …. until the school burns down.

Yep, you read that correctly.  This episode ends with Degrassi Junior High burning down.  Throughout the episode, the fire alarm keeps accidentally going off and we hear the principal making announcements about how there’s some sort of electrical short in the boiler room.  Well, during the school dance, a fire breaks out in the boiler room and this time, the fire alarm has a good reason for going off!

Degrassi Junior High ends with the students and teachers standing outside and watching as their beloved school goes up in flames.  Never has the cheerful Degrassi Junior High theme music felt more awkward than when it plays over images of flames exploding out of a school.

Why did Degrassi Junior High end like this?  As longtime fans of this franchise know, schools are always burning down in Toronto.  In this episode, we watch as Degrassi Junior High burns down in 1989.  We watch this with the knowledge that, 20 years later, Lakehurst High School is going to burn down and send all of its students to Degrassi Community School.  Though Degrassi Community School never actually burned down, it did see its share of fires.  Whenever this show needed an excuse to bring in a bunch of new transfer students, a school would burn down.

(In this case, DJHS burned down so that all of the incoming ninth graders, like Joey and Caitlin, would be able to attend the high school with Wheels, Lucy, Snake, and the rest of DJHS’s final graduating class, therefore keeping the cast together for Degrassi High.)

This was a good finale for Degrassi Junior High.  It was nice to see everyone happy and this episode certainly did capture the way that I always felt at the end of any school year.  Even the school burning down brought a nice bit of finality to everything.

Next week, we start Degrassi High!

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.5 “Loves Me, Loves Me Not”

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’s episode broke my heart.

Episode 3.5 “Loves Me, Loves Me Not”

(Dir by John Bertram, originally aired on November 28th, 1988)

Oh my God, this episode!  This episode had me cringing with second-hand pain.  As you can probably guess from the title, this week’s episode is all about crushes and we all know how painful a middle school crush can be.  Still, even with all that knowledge, nothing prepared me for the pain of this episode….

Of the three main storylines, the simplest features Yick noticing that Arthur’s cousin, Dorothy, keeps staring at him.  Arthur looks away from the business page long enough to tell Yick that Dorothy has a crush on him and goes on to explain that Dorothy is strange.  Yick looks concerned.

Meanwhile, Michelle has developed a crush on BLT (Dayo Ade).  Michelle goes to Alexa for advice because Alexa has been dating Simon for nearly a year and that makes Alexa and Simon the most stable couple at Degrassi.  Alexa suggests that Michelle come hang out with her, Simon, and BLT.  Michelle agrees but it turns out that BLT would rather talk to Alexa.  Alexa tells Michelle that Michelle doesn’t really have much in common with BLT.  In fact, Alexa seems to really like BLT, despite the fact that she’s dating Simon.  Simon, as usual, seems to be a bit confused by the whole thing.

Finally, Caitlin has a crush on Joey.  Both Caitlin and Joey are students in Mr. Raditch’s class.  Caitlin, who now has the blonde streak in her hair that would be her trademark for the rest of the original Degrassi series, is the best student in the class.  Joey, who is repeating the 8th Grade, is still struggling.  Caitlin has such a crush on Joey that she even buys the Zit Remedy demo tape and starts listening to Everybody Wants Something over and over again.

When Mr. Raditch assigns the class to watch and review a movie, Caitlin asks Joey to be her partner.  Joey is totally excited because Caitlin is smart and Joey feels that he’s dumb.  Caitlin and Joey go to see Teen Academy 4.  (Apparently, Teen Academy is a forerunner to the Clown Academy films that everyone was always going to see in Degrassi: The Next Generation).  Joey thinks the film was funny.  Caitlin thinks the film was sexist.  For their presentation, they both give their own opinion and playfully debate the merits of the film.  Awww, what a cute couple!  And hey, the school dance is coming up!

For the dance, Caitlin — who says she’s never had a boyfriend or been on a date before, which I’m sure would be news to Rick Munro — gets a pretty black dress and gets all made yo.  She arrives shortly before Joey.  When Joey walks into the gym, he walks over to Caitlin, smiles, and says, “Hey, Caitlin, have you seen Liz?”

AGCK!

SERIOUSLY, THE PAIN!

JOEY!!! — Liz doesn’t even like you!

When we next see Caitlin, she’s crying, wiping her makeup, and throwing away her demo tape.  Poor Caitlin!  I mean, if you’ve watched Degrassi — The Next Generation, you know that Joey and Caitlin are eventually going to get back together (they’re actually going to get back together several times), but it’s still painful to watch her face when she realizes that Joey is still interested in Liz.  My heart broke for her.  I mean, Caitlin’s hair is a hundred times prettier than Liz’s!  There’s no way Liz could pull off a blonde streak.

The next day, an oblivious Joey is surprised to discover that Caitlin is upset with him and no longer wants to help him out with his classes.  “I thought you liked me,” Joey says, right before the end credits roll.  (To be clear, clueless Joey means “like” as in friendship.)  Poor Caitlin.  I can see where this is probably going to lead, with Caitlin doing Joey’s homework while Joey asks for advice about Liz.

This was a powerful episode, one that I think anyone could relate to.  Pat Mastroianni and Stacie Mistysyn both gave strong and likable performances and the show deserves a lot credit for realistically portraying their relationship.  I think everyone has been Caitlin at some point in their life.  Don’t worry, Caitlin — it’s going to get better!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 2.12 “He’s Back”

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!

Mr. Colby returns!

Episode 2.12 “He’s Back”

(Dir by Clarke Mackey, originally aired on March 21st, 1988)

Mr. Colby (Marcus Bruce) is back, substituting for Ms. Avery.

The last time that Mr. Colby substituted at Degrassi, he ended up sexually harassing Lucy.  Despite the attempts of L.D. and Wheels to convince her otherwise, Lucy decided not to report Mr. Colby.  She just wanted to put the experience in the past and move on.  However, this episode opens with Lucy being woken up by nightmares, in which Colby is the central figure.  When Lucy sees Colby in the office, asking for Ms. Avery’s lesson plans, she freaks out.

Still, she refuses to go to the principal about what happened.  She still just wants to move on.  After her trouble with shoplifting during the first season, Lucy has finished up her community service and is now volunteering at a daycare out of the kindness of her heart.  She’s trying to build a new life for herself but, when it becomes obvious that Colby is now grooming Susie (played by Sarah Charlesworth), Lucy realizes that she can no longer be silent.

“You want to see Mr. Lawrence?” the school secretary says when she sees Lucy, Susie, and every other girl in Colby’s class standing in front of her.  “This better be important.”

It is, Lucy replies.

This is a pivotal episode as far as Lucy’s development is concerned.  In this episode, Lucy shows that she’s gone from being spoiled and self-centered to someone who actually does care about other people and who wants to make the world a better place.  If you know the history of this show and the characters, there’s something a little sad about the scenes in which she goes to Wheels for support.  Those of us who have seen School’s Out (and this is a spoiler for those of you who haven’t so consider yourself warned) know that Wheels is destined to go to prison for killing a kid while driving drunk.  We also know that Lucy is destined to be temporarily blinded and crippled in that same accident.  In this episode, though, both Wheels and Lucy still have their entire future ahead of them.

This episode was a good example of what Degrassi Junior High did so well.  So many teen shows would have wrapped up this storyline in one episode and certainly, they would have never address Lucy’s lingering trauma.  Instead, Lucy would have done gone to the principal on her own, Colby would have been fired, and the entire thing would have never been mentioned again.  Degrassi Junior High, on the other hand, understands that it’s not always easy to do the right thing, especially when you just want to put it all behind you and get on with your life.  With its portrayal of Lucy’s lingering trauma and her reaction to seeing Mr. Colby back in the school, Degrassi Junior High proves itself to be one of the most honest shows about growing up.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Degrassi Junior High 1.3 “The Experiment” and 1.4 “The Cover-Up”

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!

Oh my God, is Mr. Raditch a racist!?  We’ll find out this week.

Episode 1.3 “The Experiment”

(Dir by Clarke Mackey, originally aired on February 1st, 1987)

Joey Jeremiah’s a drug dealer!?

I am stunned!  Seriously, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, Joey was the grown-up who was always giving the teenagers a hard time for being irresponsible.  When his stepson, Craig Manning, got hooked on cocaine, Joey sent off to rehab and didn’t even bother to show up at the airport to say goodbye!  And yet, with this episode, we discover that, in junior high, Joey Jeremiah sold pills.

Now, I should point out that they were just vitamin pills.  Joey told Melanie (Sara Ballingall) and Kathleen (Rebecca Haines) that the pills were actual drugs that would get them high but, as he explained to Wheels, he was just doing that to make some money.  In fact, Joey tells Wheels that he deserves a lot of credit for keeping Melanie and Kathleen off of hard drugs!  That said, Melanie and Kathleen both fool themselves into thinking they’ve gotten high and they ask Joey to get them even more drugs.  In fact, Melanie and Kathleen bring some of their friends with them so that everyone can get high!

Meanwhile, Yick and Arthur have a problem of their own.  Yick thinks that Mr. Raditch is biased against him because Raditch is constantly criticizing Yick for being disorganized.  He even refers to Yick as being “Mr. Yu the Disorganized.”  In order to test whether or not Mr. Raditich is prejudiced against Yick, Arthur takes a paper that Stephanie wrote for Mr. Raditch the previous year and he has Yick turn it in as his own work.  Yick finally gets a good grade!  But just to make sure that Mr. Raditch isn’t prejudiced, Yick turns in a second paper that was originally written by Stephanie.  This time, Mr. Raditch recognizes the paper as having been originally written by Stephanie.

This leads to an absolutely brilliantly played scene, in which Mr. Raditch interrogates Yick and Arthur in front of the class about why they’ve been turning in Stephanie’s work as Yick’s own.  While Yick attempts to explain why he feels that Mr. Raditch is prejudiced against him, Kathleen, Melanie, and their dumb friends keep laughing loudly because they’re convinced that they’re all stoned even though they’re not.  Mr. Raditch, needless to say, is not amused.

Anyway, things work out in the end.  After Stephanie asks Joey if he’s really a drug dealer, Joey confesses the truth.  Unfortunately, for him, his confession is overheard by Melanie and Kathleen and Joey ends up being chased down a hallway by a bunch of angry, wannabe drug addicts.  Meanwhile, in detention, Yick writes a paper about stereotypes and how difficult it is to be called Mr. Yu the Disorganized.  Both Yick and Mr. Raditch realize the errors of their way.  Yick and Arthur leave school to play basketball together, but not before locking Joey in the janitor’s closet.

Episode 1.4 “The Cover-up”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on February 8th, 1987)

School picture day is coming up and Stephanie is freaking out because, if she wears the frumpy clothes that she wears around the house, everyone will laugh at her.  But if she wears her trampy school clothes, her mom will know the truth about how Stephanie changes whenever she gets to school.  As usual, Voula smirks about it and refuses to give Stephanie any advice, largely because Voula is the absolutely worst.  (Not everyone wants to dress like they shop at the American Girl store, Voula.)  In the end, Stephanie wears her trampy clothes to picture day and good for her!  Seriously, dress however you want.

While this is going on, Caitlin (Stacie Mistysyn) and her friend Susie (Sarah Charlesworth) try to get the mysterious Rick (Craig Driscoll) to smile.  They tell him jokes.  They were pig noses.  Rick, however, has little to smile about because, as Joey discovers, Rick is being beaten by his father.  When Joey asks the school secretary what he should do if he knows someone who is getting beaten, the secretary misunderstands Joey’s comment and calls Child Protective Services on Joey’s parents!  (It  doesn’t help that Joey has a black eye as the result of a skateboarding accident.)  Fortunately, the very Canadian social worker guy figures out that Rick is the one who is being beaten and he arranges for Rick’s father to get some help and for Rick to stay with his older brother.  The next day, at school, Rick smiles!

This was a significant episode because it featured the first Caitlin storyline.  Caitlin, of course, is destined to become one of the most important characters in Degrassi history, with her love story with Joey destined to take over 20 years to play out.  Of course, in this episode, she’s more interested in Rick.  (Rick, for his part, feels like an early version of Sean Cameron, Degrassi: The Next Generation‘s resident troubled bad boy.)

Anyway, these were two good episodes.  It’s kind of interesting to watch as Joey Jeremiah goes from being an annoying prankster to basically the center of just about storyline.

Next week: it’s time for a Canadian swimming competition!