Mike's Bloggity Blog

Soooooooooo…..you if you are a fan of Arrested Development and/or Degrassi, you may want to have a seat.  I mean, that is if you are one of those weird people who stand up while reading your computer screen.

The other day when I was researching this story, (yes, I research things.)  I happened to against myself, “What ever happened to Miriam McDonald?”  I used this cool tool called Google and discovered something shocking.  Seriously, shocking.  Are you ready for it?

Miriam McDonald has been cast in the Arrested Development movie.

Take a moment.
Now take another one.

There are absolutely zero details about what her role will be, but still, even you have to admit that it is pretty cool!  I’m hoping she’ll be crushing on Michael Cera‘s George-Michael or maybe Gob.  Ohhhhh Ann Veal is not going to like this one single bit.

So what do you think?  It’s not being nominated for three Grammys but has another Degrassi alumni gotten her big break?

There are few days that get me excited as today:  My birthday, visits to the SPCA, WestJet seat sales and any day that has new episodes of Degrassi!!!

After taking the last month off, my favourite Canadian teens are returning to the Muchmusic airwaves today!  (Don’t worry, I’ve already told my parole officer and he said that as long as I watch the show in the safety of my own home, I should be okay.)

When the show was last on the air, Much was airing new episodes four nights a week.  Now, fans (me) will have to wait until every Friday to see what’s going on post-Lockdown.  I think the network chose wisely, most twenty-somethings that still watch this show would probably be home on a Friday night anyway!

There will be a new episode every week, with tonight’s double-header being the exception. Tonight’s episode is all about Degrassi’s new rules.  It seems people finally caught on to the fact that that much bad stuff is not supposed to happen to one school and now there are new rules like no cell phones and school uniforms. (So basically they just made school what it was like for the rest of us?)

Welcome back Degrassi, we’ve missed you!

Can’t wait for tonight?

Here’s promo for the second half of the tenth season:

But if you ask me, Teen Nick has a much more exciting preview:

It is has been about six days since we’ve last had a new Degrassi episode.  I don’t know about you, but I have the shakes. My mouth is try and no matter how hard I put on a jean jacket, it just doesn’t look as cool as when Alli does it the opening credits.

We’ll have to wait until the fall for new episodes, but I think you can call the six-week telenovela style run a success!  Sure the ending was a little anti-climatic, given all the hype, but it was still really fun.  I was actually on-set standing right beside the kids when they were filming “the stabbing”, so I’m happy to prove to everyone that I can keep a secret….as long as there is a legal contract forcing me to do so.

But through the magic of fast working editors, I’m so happy that we can at least watch the preview of the next batch of six-weeks worth episodes.   As always, well there is alot going on. And if you listen closely at the end, it sounds like someone is leaving Degrassi.

If I had to make a guess, I would say it would be Alli (Melinda Shankar).  She has just been brought back to film her second season of the hit show How To Be Indie and producers of Degrassi have said that she would be disappearing for a while to work on that show, but that she would be in the halls of Degrassi for sure!

Oh Degrassi, why do I always feel like a teenage girl everytime I write about you?  Better yet, why don’t I feel bad about it?

This week marks the final week of Degrassi‘s highly successful Boiling Point summer marathon!  I was actually on the set when they were filming this week’s episodes, click here to read about my set visit.  I’m still sworn to secrecy, but I can tell you that it is going to be such an exciting week of episodes, you don’t want to miss them.

So now that the six-week summer run is nearly, the cast and crew have gone back to filming the second-half of this super-sized season!

And while I don’t think I would be very good at coming up with great storylines, I would like to offer one single suggestion:

I think now would be the perfect time to re-introduce Joey Jeremiah’s daughter Angela! Sure they were last seen moving to Winnipeg, but really, who can live in Winnipeg for that long!  And after some rough calculations, I figured out that Angela would be about 15 years old now, so it would be a perfect time for her enroll in Canada’s most popular high school.  Maybe she could be a love interest for Adam?  Or a jaded survivor of the Maple Leaf meat scandal?  Of course, this would mean that Joey would have to come back too!  Which would be totally awesome!

So Degrassi, think you can make this happen?

You don’t have to be on EI or a housewife to know that the Soap Opera is dying.  In the age of Tivo, PVR and Reality Shows, Soap Operas seem to have lost their place.  In the past ten years we’ve seen the cancelations of Guiding Light, Another World, Passions, Port Charles and As The World Turns.  Do you know that a new Soap Opera has been created since 1999?!  Which leads me to question, what the hell are people watching on their summer breaks?

But don’t start making funeral arrangments for the Soap Opera yet, if they’ve taught us anything, anyone and anything can come back from the dead.  Case in point: Degrassi.

Since premiereing in its new daily format two weeks ago, the show has been bringing in huge ratings and even bigger drama.   Things actually progess on this new form of a tele-novela. More importantly they are bringing in the young viewers which means money, money, money for MuchMusic’s owner CTV.

The secret behind Degrassi’s success can be directly places on its writers.  Over the past ten years they have perfected how to tell a story with lots of progression at a lightening fast pace!

For example, in the past two weeks, the following as happened:

• Fiona fell in love, then got the shit beat out of her, so they broke up. She moved back from NYC and become best friends with Holly J.
• Sav ran for president, found out he got Anya pregnant, Anya was faking it, told Sav, he didn’t seem to mind, kept lying to win the election, won the election, then told everyone they weren’t pregnant.
• Holly J comes back from New York and starts her long distance relationship with Declan.  She also finds out that her parents are broke and they are moving to a smaller apartment.  They’ve also spent all her tuition money and won’t be able to go to Yale unless he gets a scholarship. Since she doesn’t have any money, she decides to steal it from Fiona for an SAT prep class.  She gets caught and apologizes.  She also runs for president and loses to Sav.
• KC made the football team, lots of girls started flirting with them, he also confessed that his mom got out of jail a while ago, but didn’t want to live with her, stole gin from her closet, got drunk and passed out in a car, keyed the coaches car and finally decided to move in with his mom.
• Clare got laser-eye surgery but everyone thought she got a boob job. Either way, she liked the attention. ThenClare met Eli.  He is dark and brooding and drives a hurst to school.  He challenges her to stop caring what people think. They end up being writing partners and he gets her to write about how she thinks her parents are going to get a divorce.
• Alli didn’t make the power squad, so she made her own dancing club, got it taken over by some better dancers, went and danced at the football game anyway, met new quarterback Drew and made out with him.  Mistakingly lead Dave on and apologized for it.
• Riley kept it a secret that he had a boyfriend all summer.  In an effort to spend time with Riley, Zane joined the football team.  Riley became worried that people would figure out he was gay, which rival QB Drew did.  To make sure Drew didn’t say anything, he saran-wrapped him to a flagpole to show him who was boss.  Riley eventually confessed and lost QB to Drew.  He also almost came out to his football teams, but decided not to at the last minute.

Seriously all that happened in eight episodes.  Talk about progression.  So while the Soap Opera is definitely on deaths door, Degrassi has proven that if these shows pick up the pace a little bit, there can be hope for shows like Days of our Lives and General Hospital yet!  And if all else fails, hire Pat Mastroianni.

Check out the promo for this week’s episodes:

Growing up, I always wanted to go to Degrassi.  It didn’t matter if it was the Junior high or high school, I wanted in.  Truthfully, I always kinda resented my parents for not enrolling me in what has always been Canada’s coolest school.

So just in time for the tenth season premiere of Degrassi, I decided to take some initiave and enroll myself.  I know what you are thinking: “Hey Mike, aren’t you 28 years old?That’s super creepy.”  To which I politely respond: “It wasn’t creepy Drew Barrymore did it, so why can’t I?”

So I hopped on a plane, flew to Toronto and immediately found out where the kids of Degrassi go to school.  Turns out, it is just on the edge of the Toronto/Scarborough border, how quaint.

When I talked to the main office about registering at the school, they didn’t seem to mind, although they did say that I would have to audition. I thought this was weird, but I struck my best pose and earned my hall pass to Degrassi!

If I wanted to fit in with anyone at Degrassi, I knew I needed to be friends with the most popular girl in the school! So I went to the computer lab and tracked down Alli(Melinda Shankar).  I immediately felt over dressed, but she was still super cool and she said she’d be my friend and offered to show me around.

She immediately took me to the cafeteria.  Nothing against the people that worked there, but the food tasted like plastic and the milk tasted like it was ten years old! No wonder all those Degrassi kids are so skinny.

During our of the school, Alli introdced me to some of her friends.  They were all really cool and none of them noticed that I was more than tens years older than them.  I knew after that we would be life long friends.  My new besties from left to right are: Drew (Luke Bilyk), Ali, Claire, (Aislinn Paul) Eli (Munro Chambers) and Fitz (James Edward Campbell) Although, I don’t think Eli and Fitz really got along.  You know boys and all their drama. Who can keep track?
Next was Math class, but I think Alli knew I wasn’t very good at math, so we cut class and decided to go for a walk.  Turns out the entire city of Toronto is only one block  wide and is pretty much attached to the school!  Who knew?!  We kept trying to go into the stores, but they were all closed. We did walk by Spinner’s car, but he was nowhere to be found!

After our walk, I was getting pretty tired.  We decided to swing by Fiona’s penthouse but she wasn’t there.   Alli said it didn’t matter, and we went in anyway.  It was huge!  We went through her clothes and even had time for a quick nap. When we woke up, it was time for the big school dance.  I thought it was weird that Degrassi seemed to have a dance almost every week, but Alli told me to just “go with it,” so I did.

When we got back to the school the dance was in full swing, but (as always) things to went from good to bad FAST!  I’m not allowed talking about it, but it was actually really scary and  they had to call the cops and everything! (Spoiler:  Yes, this was the “biggest event in Degrassi history!” those ads talked about)  In the end someone even got arrested!  Degrassi proved once again that this isn’t your normal high school!

I quickly realized I wasn’t cut out for Degrassi!  There was just too much drama and even though I had only been there a couple of hours, I already felt an eating disorder coming on. It was all just too stressful.  Plus some of kids started teasing me for being bald, so I withdrew from Degrassi and got myself a part time job at the Dot.  After Emma had burnt it down,they were looking for new employees. Sure it isn’t the same as going to Degrassi, but I get to see my friends all the time and I could eat as much biscotti as I wanted!

In the end, I quit my job at the Dot and returned back to Calgary.  I decided that I would much rather just watch them on TV.

Degrassi premieres Monday night on MuchMusic!
Follow Melinda Shankar on Twitter!

When Degrassi (now minus “The Next Generation“) starts its tenth season next week, it is going to look a little different.

First, it will now be on MuchMusic!
Second, it will now have all new episodes, four days a week!
Thirdly, there will be a trans-gendered student!!!

Okay, that is a lot to take in.

The new student’s ane will be named Adam, and will have to keep the secret that she was actually born a girl!  The role is going to be played by the ridiculously cute Jordan Todosey, who fans of Candian TV will know from Life with Derek.

That is quite a transformation!

I’m not going to spoil anything, but Adam’s won’t be a secret for long.  Expect the entire school to find out by mid-August!

Degrassi premieres this Monday!

I don’t care what you say about Degrassi, but I freaking love this show.  Actually, I’m pretty sure that me and Chris from Out Is Through are the only fans over the age of 25.  As I typed that, I realized that I probably could have had a kid on that show by now.  Shudder.

All of this Degrassi ranting to say that the show has a brand new promo/music video that has been on repeat ever since I discovered it.

The video is set to the music of VV Brown‘s incredibly catchy Shark in the Water and it shows the cast taking over an old school carnival.  The clip is laced with hints and secrets of the show’s gigantic new season. I say gigantic because Degrassi will now air daily with over 40 new episodes.  Not many shows can make that claim in their TENTH season!

The end of the video teases the “Biggest Event in Degrassi History!” as the magic wheel slows down on the word lock down.  Not to mention the video’s hints at secrets, lesbians and domestic abuse!

While I understand the Degrassi may not be your cup of tea, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how the video is such a tease of the season to come.  It kinda reminds me of the trailer for season 3 of Grey’s Anatomy with The Fray‘s How to Save a Life.

Degrassi Season 10 Carnival Promo from NickPress on Vimeo.

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For all the Degrassi fans out there, your PVRs are about to get really full!

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