Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.6 “The Mating Game”

Posted on September 21, 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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015! The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, everyone’s thinking about sex!

Episode 1.6 “The Mating Game”

(Dir by Anthony Browne, originally aired on April 22nd, 2002)

Sex therpaist Dr. Sally (Sue Johanson, recreating her role from Degrassi Junior High) is coming to Degrassi and it’s not a minute to soon because everyone is thinking about sex. Ashley and Jimmy’s 8-month reunion is approaching and, when Paige is cast as Juliet opposite Jimmy’s Romeo in a class assignment, Ashley starts to worry that Jimmy might not be happy with their sex-free relationship. Of course, Jimmy is more than happy with his relationship with Ashley. If anything, Spinner seems to be the one who is obsessed with when Ashley and Jimmy are going to “do it.”

Meanwhile, Toby has a crush on Emma but Emma has a crush on Sean. Toby invites Emma to join him in watching a DVD about an endangered turtle. Emma agrees because Emma is all about endangered animal documentaries. But then she stands him up so that she can help Sean out with his school project. Sean tells Emma about how he had to give up his pet dog when he moved in with his brother, Emma says. “Awwww!,” and Toby ends up heart-broken. Emma, for her part, is shocked when Manny later tells her that Toby has a “huge crush” on her.

(Though I’m a huge Degrassi fan, I have to admit that I always forget how much time the first season of Degrassi: The Next Generation spent on storylines that were, more or less, abandoned in future seasons. Toby’s crush on Emma is a good example.)

As for Ashley and Jimmy, they both do the right thing and buy condoms. (Jimmy goes to a drugstore. Ashley orders online.) However, they don’t have sex and instead just blow the condoms up and write cutesy little messages on them.

Finally, this episode features Terri once again getting offended when Ashley comments on her having never had a boyfriend. For those of us who know our Degrassi history, it’s hard not to cringe at Ashley’s comment because we know what’s going to happen to Terri (and eventually Jimmy) once Terri finally does start dating someone.

This episode was okay. These first season episodes are not always easy to watch because the show itself got a lot more interesting after the second season. It’s hard not watch the episodes from the first two seasons and spend most of the time thinking about what the future holds for the characters. In this episode, Jimmy is gawky and Ashley is confident that she and Jimmy will know when the time is right. In the future, Ashley is going to lose all of her friends after taking ecstasy and Jimmy is going to end up paralyzed from the waist down. In this episode, Toby and JT are bummed that only the eighth graders get to see Dr. Sally. In the future, JT’s going to get stabbed to death and Toby’s going to end up dating Spinner’s adopted sister. Meanwhile, Sean’s going to end joining the Army and Emma’s going to end up married to Spinner and Terri’s going to leave school after her boyfriend shoves her and she hits her head on a rock. When you know all that is going to happen, it’s hard to get caught up in Terri’s hurt feelings or Ashley’s awkwardness when she has to pay for her condom delivery. Seriously, they should be enjoying their lives while they can because the future is going to be dark!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.7 “The Whole Truth”

Posted on September 8, 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!

Finally, it’s time to wake up in the morning and return to Degrassi….

Episode 3.7 “The Whole Truth”

(Dir by Eleanore Lindo, originally aired on January 16th, 1989)

Caitlin is super-excited! She is the editor of the Degrassi Digest and she is convinced that the upcoming edition will be the best ever. The only problem is that Kathleen has written an editorial in favor a school dress code. Caitlin doesn’t want to publish Kathleen’s article but what could she replace it with?

When Caitlin sees that Liz and Spike are putting up posters featuring a monkey being tortured, she asks them what’s going on. Liz explains that there’s a big animal rights protest march coming up. Caitlin asks Liz to write an article about it but Liz says she doesn’t like to write. Instead, she invites Caitlin over to her house and shows Caitlin several grotesque videos of different animals being experiment edupon. Caitlin writes an editorial calling for the Degrassi student body to boycott any company that tests on animals.

Woo hoo! Way to go, Caitlin, right? Well, not quite. Kathleen is not happy that her editorial was cut. She informs Caitlin that a lot of important medical breakthroughs were the result of scientists testing on animals. Caitlin does some research and discovers that some animal research has to do with treating neurological conditions, like epilepsy. Being an epileptic, Caitlin no longer feels that she can go to the protest march with Liz and Spike. Liz accuses Caitlin of not caring about animals. Meanwhile, one of Caitlin’s assistant editors resigns from the Digest because her father works for a company that tests on animals.

And so, Caitlin learns that there are two sides to every story! Of course, that’s a lesson that Caitlin will have forgotten by the time Degrassi: The Next Generation rolls around but we’ll get to that later.

While Caitlin learns an important lesson about journalism, Joey continues to try to get someone at CRAZ-E radio to listen to the Zit Remedy demo tape. He even get a job working at the place as a janitor. He does such bad job that he gets fired after three days. But radio sex therapist Dr. Sally (Sue Johanson) listens to the tape and tells Joey that he’s very talented. Joey is super-excited. As for the other Zits, Snake seems to be largely indifferent and Wheels is still too depressed to care about anything.

Finally, Scooter and Bart order some “sea monkeys” from the back of a comic book and are shocked to discover that the ad was rip-off. I understand that Scooter and Bart were probably added to the show so that it could still appeal to kids even as the main cast became teenagers. But seriously, Degrassi Junior High is a show that deals with teen pregnancy, drugs, eating disorders, journalistic ethics, and family conflict. Nobody has time for any of this sea monkey nonsense.

Despite the sea monkeys, I thought this was a pretty good episode. Caitlin’s shock upon discovering that an issue was more complicated than just right or wrong was something to which I could relate. That there are two sides to every story may sound like a simple lesson but it’s one that people often need to be reminded of, perhaps now more than ever. As for Joey, my heart broke for him in this episode. He really doesn’t seem to get that his friends just aren’t as enthusiastic about the band as he is. Poor guy.

Next week, it appears that the episode will be about the Farrell Twins, who are my least favorite characters on the show. Oh well. I know I can make it through.

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.”