Mike's Bloggity Blog

It seems that every time Degrassi comes back for a new season, I feel like I have to apologize for loving it so much.  But I apologize I will not!  Not today, not ever again.

I’m so excited that this show is back tonight on Much.  Even though it’s about teenagers, it’s still one of my favourite shows on television.  I love how quickly the stories move along, I like the diversity of the characters and I like that they don’t follow the kids to University anymore.  That means, once you graduate, you’re out. It means that you don’t get sick of any of the characters and if you do, you know their only going to be around for a little while.  Kinda like real life high school!

While season 11.5 hasn’t even started yet, I do have a bone to pick with the new season.  Audiences in the States already got the chance to watch the new episodes, since they are airing five days before they do in Canada!  Talk about role reversal.  We always get American shows late and then when there is a great Canadian show to watch, those darn Americans get it before us?  Me no likey.

Either way, I’m stoked that Much continues to air this awesome series and while I’ve told everyone that I have plans for Friday night, let it be known that those plans in actuality are boxed wine and Degrassi.

The perfect Friday.

Just because I’m a super fan, here are the new credits, featuring the kids at Degrassi. Can’t wait!

Wow.  Now this is just a crazy story.  It was just announced today that Neil Hope, the actor who played lovable Wheels on the original Degrassi series, has died.  But here’s the thing, he actually died five years ago.

The request to not announce his death five years ago was made by his family and since that time, it sadly seemed that no one noticed…or thought to ask.   However today, Degrassi producers Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stoh the tragic news.  Apparently Neil died five years ago of natural causes.

All told, Neil played the character of Wheels on three different shows: Degrassi: The Next Generation, Degrassi Junior High and The Kids of Degrassi Street and the Degrassi movie Schools Out. His character was last seen in 2003, in an episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation.   Degrassi fans should smile knowing that his last scene on the series was singing The Zit Remedy’s “Everybody Wants Something.”

In honour of his passing, I’d be remiss to not play the song that every kid in Canada’s knows off by heart.

Rest in Peace Neil.

All this week, Mike’s Bloggity Blog will be celebrating Valentine’s Day with a special series called Bloggity Dates. Every day, some of the biggest names in Canadian entertainment will be dropping by to share stories of their best, worst and most embarrassing gifts that they’ve gotten from a loved one. If I were you, I’d take notes to ensure you have a perfect Valentine’s Day. Just be sure to invite me to the wedding.

Degrassi’s Cristine Prosperi:

The worst date I’ve ever had was when my date and I decided to go to the Drive-In in the summertime. I asked my dad to borrow his truck so we could make a little fort in the pick-up to watch the movie in! I thought it was the cutest little idea and my date was highly impressed. Even though my dad was skeptical about me taking the truck, he let us have it for the night. The movie was great and the food was yummy. When it was time to head home, I got in the big driver’s seat and tried to start it. Of course the truck wouldn’t start… THE BATTERY HAD DIED. I started to have an anxiety attack and it became unbelievably awkward in the car. Long story short, my date was a hero and ran outside to find someone as most of the cars were leaving. We had to wait a good hour for someone to come save us. We laugh about it now but back then we were so scared… till this day my dad doesn’t know… Hey dad, surprise!

Brand new episodes of Degrassi return to Much on February 24th!

Here’s a sneak peek at the second half of the 11th season!:

If you’re like me and you’ve been a fan of Degrassi your whole life, you’ve always wondered what happened to the characters after they graduated?  Fans of the original series got a taste of life after Degrassi when the still controversial movie School’s Out premiered in 1992.  And, while it was never declared a Degrassi spin-off, the long forgotten Liberty Village featured a grown up Pat Mastroianni continuing to figure out life in Toronto.

Tonight, in a dual broadcast with CTV and Much, The L.A Complex will look to tell the stories of characters so similar to those we’ve grown to love in Degrassi, it’s hard to believe that it too is not a spin-off.

When I started to write this blog post, I didn’t want to mention Degrassi. It’s not really fair to compare the shows, because they aren’t even about the same thing.  But since both shows are produced by the same production company, use some of the same sets (I’d recognize The Dot coffee shop anywhere) and even feature a Degrassi alumni (Cassie Steel), there are bound to be some similarities.  Luckily, all the things that Degrassi does well, The L.A Complex does almost better at. The show follows a wide ranging group of aspiring performers pursuing stardom in Hollywood, who all happen to live in a Melrose Place-esque complex, no doubt making it easier for the show’s writers to find ways of keeping the actors, dancers and comedians tangled in the The L.A Complex’s deliciously twisty story lines. Another benefit of not being a Degrassi spin0ff is that the show doesn’t haven’t to appeal to the Teen Nick demographic, nope, this show oozes sex ans sunshine, which is never a bad thing.

The creators of Degrassi have always been applauded with pushing limits and with The LA Complex, they are given a whole new palatte in which to play with.  Compared to Toronto, Los Angeles is darker, it’s dangerous and it offers up limitless problems for our little Canadian actors. Cassie Steele, who we all grew to love as the sweet Manny Santos on Degrassi, essentially curb stomps that character to death with her new role as Abby Vargas, the stripping, esctasy taking, cheating, unprotected sex having and not to mention homeless actress, who can’t seem to catch break.  It’d be easy to not like her character, because seriously who would, but Steele is able to give the character a breath of sincerity and honesty, which makes you want to root for her, even though you know, as a person with a moral code, you probably shouldn’t.

In the first two episodes, there are a whole lot of characters to digest, but one that stuck out for me was Raquel, who’s played by Vancouver native Jewel Staite.  Sci-fi fans will recognize the actress from Firefly and Stargate:Atlantis.  As the veteran actress in the resident, Raquel is a formidable foe for Cassie Steele’s Abby, who unbeknownst to her, does not always have her best interests at heart. And why should she, after all they’re already competing for the same roles and men. It will be interesting to see the tension between the two grow until the inevitable all out, fall into the pool cat fight.

And a just to tease you a little bit, the last thirty seconds of the second episode offers a shock so big, I let out a whoop and then a holler.

The current state of Canadian television is dreary, but The L.A Complex is not. It’s bright, fun, energetic and while I’ve never been a struggling actor in LA, seems to come from a real place. The first season will offer up only six episodes, and I’m hoping that this fantastic show quickly finds an audience, so we can continue to see what happens to the kids of Degrassi, when the city of L.A gets ahold of them.

The L.A. Complex premieres tonight at 9PM ET/PT on MuchMusic.

The LA Complex, CTV’s newest series, hasn’t even debuted in Canada yet and the show is already picking up steam in the states. Reports surfaced all over the place today that the CW is thisclose to signing a deal to bring the series to the Vampire Diaries network.  The show is about a no-holds-barred, character-driven relationship drama that follows the exploits of six attractive, young hopefuls in search of stardom in Hollywood. Basically it’s if the kids of Degrassi lived in Melrose Place.  Actually, it even features one of Degrassi’s alumni Cassie Steele as a Toronto girl who thinks she has what it takes to make it in Hollywood. Don’t we all.

There’s a joke about a Canadian show, about an American city, that’s shot in Canada, being picked up in the States…but I can’t seem to put my finger on it.

While it’s always good news when an American network picks up a Canadian show, it doesn’t always mean success. The last show that the CW picked up was 18 to Life and it was promptly canceled after only three episodes. Admitidly, The LA Complex oozes sex, which is what The CW is all about, so hopefully they’ll find some success this time around, especially if Degrassi’s rabid fan base (myself included) warms up to the series.

THE L.A. COMPLEX will have a special simulcast premiere on MuchMusic and CTV on January 10th and the series will likely air this summer on The CW.

This blog post is also available on Huffington Post.

As I get ready to enter my third decade on this earth, I realize now that I’m genetically disposed to hate teenagers. With the confidence of my 20s fading, I feel an awkward amount of jealously towards those who don’t know about hair-loss and car insurance. Yet for some reason, maybe because I’ve always wanted to be friends with the popular kids, I can’t bring myself to hate the kids of Degrassi and sometimes, I have to work even harder to not love them.

After watching nearly 11 seasons of the Canadian teen drama, I’ve decided to give up defending why I’m hooked, and instead I’m devoting my energy trying to figure out why you’re not.

I can’t emphasize enough how awesome this show continues to be. Almost halfway through its seven-week summer run, we’ve already seen a murder, cocaine use, a student stealing his teacher’s underwear, liver failure, a stalker, bed bugs, secret adoptions and a transgendered student accidentally peeing on another kid at the urinals. Seriously folks, I couldn’t make this stuff up… luckily the writers of Degrassi can.

The great thing about the show is that, while other teen dramas like Vampire Diaries wait three seasons for two of their characters to kiss, Degrassi moves at a Coronation Street-like speed, often starting and finishing story lines before you can say Joey Jeremiah. For example, at the beginning of a recent episode, Anya and Owen hated each other, the next scene they are sleeping together and by the end of the 30-minute show, they were already dealing with Facebook rumours about their now committed relationship. The long and drawn-out story lines of Gossip Girl should take note.

Another example this season was when Drew and Bianca killed a would be rapist, they literally glazed over it during the next episode with a blinked and you missed it comment, “Remember when we went to trial over spring break?” It was terrific and reminiscent of a forgotten murder story line during the second season of Friday Night Lights.

I’m also a fan of how this show gets rid of characters that they no longer have a need for, (or get jobs on American shows.) Love them or hate them, every character gets the same non-existent sendoff. Who cares if you’ve been on the show for seven years, unless your character dies, Degrassi simply doesn’t have time for a cheesy montage. At first it’s jarring to see your favourites just disappear, but at the same time it’s exciting… and I bet it keeps the actors on their toes too!

So how realistic is the show? Well it’s not a documentary. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Toronto but I’m fairly certain it has more than two restaurants. And the show’s writer in residence Eli can whip up a play in two days. It’s a feat that any writer, no matter the age, would be jealous of. But why let the unrealism bother you, I choose to think it all adds to the show’s charm.

Degrassi has turned itself into a solid series, while also being a breeding ground for the next generation of successful Canadian actors. What may have started out as a high school crush has now turned into something different. Simply put, it’s the best show on television this summer.

Holy shit, it took 25 years, but Snake might actually get an Emmy!

The cast and crew of Degrassi are celebrating today,their show has just been nominated for its first ever Primetime Emmy!  They found out the big news this morning, when it was announced that the show was nominated for Outstanding Children’s Program. Some of the show’s producers include Linda Schuyler, Stephen Stohn,  Brendon Yorke and Stefan Brogren, who played Snake in the original series and is now the principal of Degrassi!

This has been a stellar year for Degrassi, so far it’s already picked up a Peabody Award, and now there’s a chance it could be bringing an Emmy home to Canada.

The timing of the nomination couldn’t be better, the show is about to kick off its ELEVENTH season this Monday on MuchMusic.  That’s right, it’s been eleven years since the Next Generation of Degrassi started, who feels old now?

Congrats to the cast and crew!

We’re only three weeks away from the premiere of the 11th season of Degrassi and yes, I’m as excited as a tween.  I never got on the Justin Bieber train, let me have this, okay?

One of the best parts of any new season of Degrassi are the new opening credits, who’s in, who’s out, and who didn’t you know was still even on the show

Well the kind folks at Epitome Pictures have released the opening credits a little early and it already has me salivating for the new season.  I realize that is a gross visual to describe a show about teenagers, but that’s what you get.

Take a look at the trailer below, keen listeners will notice that it’s Alexz Johnson singing the credits this year, she is from another Epitome Pictures project a few years back, Instant Star!

Degrassi: Now or Never begins July 18th, Monday to Thursday on Much Music.

Look, I know that I’m pretty much the only person over the age of twenty-five that regularly gets excited about anything to do with Degrassi.  (I still have a very clear memory of watching the first episode during my first year of university, I had a Degrassi party. There were three people there. It was a big deal.)  So now, eleven years later, even I’m surprised that I’m still invested in the show as much as I am.  It really is the Coronation Street of my generation.

Well in a few weeks, the series will kick off its eleventh season and if the new trailer is any indication, Degrassi is in fine form.  Much like last year, the trailer plays more like a music video, with lots of hints and clues about the forthcoming story lines.  It’s like a magic eye with pretty people.  (I can say teens are pretty…right?)

I will say, the trailer isn’t as exciting as last year’s carnival themed trailer, but this one has its moments too.  The young love! The fighting…oh and a gun!  It really does feel like a new season of The O.C, doesn’t it?

Take a look at the  trailer, featuring Augustana’s newest single “Steal Your Heart.”

The new season of Degrassi premieres on July 18th on MuchMusic, with four episodes a week for seven weeks.  Now that’s what I call a great summer vacation!

Usually when someone leaves a successful show, their path can be well…uncertain. Just ask whatshername (Shelly Long) and hopefully and most likely, Charlie Sheen

So when it was announced that Landon Liboiron would be leaving Degrassi for a new show on Fox, it was a bit of a risky move.  Sure Terra Nova is executive produced by Steven Spielberg and the network is already putting a ton of money behind the project, but that doesn’t always guarantee success.

But luckily for Landon, given how great the just released trailer for Terra Nova looks, I think he’ll be just fine leaving behind the kids of Degrassi!

Seriously, how awesome does that show look? Since it doesn’t look like we’re getting a Jurassic Park 4 anytime soon, Terra Nova will happily tide me over.