Little Known Degrassi Facts

Watch Degrassi on PBS, because the whole show is filmed, with nocommercials.  The show is really 30 minutes, and the whole program is shown on PBS,but if you watch it on CBC, the show is shortened to 22 minutes, and so there are partscut out of Degrassi, and so to get the clearest picture of   what is happening, seeDegrassi on PBS, commercial free!!

In Canada, Degrassi Junior High's first season premiered onJanuary 18th, 1987. It used to be on Sunday afternoons at 4:30pm on CBC.As the seriesgained popularity, the second season was boosted up to Prime Time, 8:30pm on Mondayevenings on CBC. Season Two of Degrassi on CBC premiered January 4th, 1988. PBS premieredDegrassi's second season January 11th, 1988.

PBS had quite some conflict with Playing With Time, Inc, becauseof its 1989 Season 4 premiere of a New Start Parts 1 & 2. CBC aired the part 2 episodewhere Erica proceeds with having an abortion so she struggles through the crowd ofPro-Lifers and manages to go to the clinic with her twin sister, Heather. On PBS, theyfound it to controversial, so they cut the episode as she is looking on at the crowd, thuswe know that she is going to have the abortion, but we do not see her struggle up thestairs, trying to break free of the Pro-Lifers cries, and struggling to block her way.

Kit Hood, the director and co-creator of the Degrassi series wasvery upset because of the PBS cut. He commented that PBS is making "A New Start Part2" have an American ending, all happy and safe." This was not a true indicationof Erica's struggle as she climbed up the stairs to the clinic. It is not depicted at allon PBS, because the network thought that it was too disturbing to see how pro-lifersbehave and how they express their feelings. On CBC, the full episode was shown and at theend, Erica and Heather were confronted with a plastic fetus that resembles the baby thatshe is choosing to abort. It is more powerful and a realistic portrayel of the reality ofthis hard decision to go ahead with an abortion.

Some Little Known Degrassi Facts

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Sibling Fever: Cathy Keenan andDuncan Waugh, who play Liz and Arthur have real life siblings who also play onDegrassi.  Liz's sister is Anna Keenan, who plays Rainbow on Degrassi, and Duncan'ssister is Annabel, who plays Dorothy, Arthur's cousin. Angela Deisach, who plays Erica onDegrassi is older than her twin Maureen (who plays Heather) by only six minutes.

Little Known Fact: Most of the outdoor scenesfrom Degrassi Junior High are taken along Queen Street, but the school and itssurroundings are actually filmed in the neighbourhood of Mimico, in the western part of Toronto, which is almost 1 hour away from Degrassi Street, (Degrassi street is in East End Toronto, called "Queen-Broadview Village").

This is why in "Smokescreen when Kathleen catches Rick smoking in front of DegrassiGrocery, she hurries back to school to let the group know of Rick's hypocritical act, isis impossible for her to get back to the building where the school is filmed in Mimico,as the building so over one hour away by car. The wonders of Television....

Term 2 of Degrassi has all the characters coming back for thesecond half of Grades 7 and 8, but in real life, term 2 was a new season premieringJanuary 11th 1988. Season two was the first time Degrassi was promoted to prime time.

The character of Avrianna, who was originally the character withSpina Bifida, was replaced by the character Maya.

The show with Michelle and BLTwalking and you see the street intersection of DeGrassi and Pape cannot exist,because the two streets are parallel. They are never perpendicular.

DorisBell's Office is actually on the second floor and not on the first floor. It was made that way by the constant shuffling of lockers.  Mr. Garcia'sclass was actually Ms. Avery's class and Mr. Raditch's class was actually theresource centre.

Some Little Known Degrassi Facts

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Wheels'biological father (Mike) on Degrassi is the same actor that played his brother Duke on Kids of Degrassi Street in the early eighties.  As well both the character Robin Griffiths, and Derek Wheeler, both played by NeilHope both lost their parents. In real life, Neil lost his father as well. Wheels adoptivemother on Degrassi played Martin Schlegel's mother on Kids of Degrassi Street.

Many of the staff and producers, and directors actually play theextras on the Degrassi set. In fact Wendy Watson, who is the singer of the Degrassi JuniorHigh/Degrassi High theme song, played Mrs. Gonzales in Kids Of Degrassi Street.

Check out "Nothing to Fear", and many other episodes ofDegrassi. The hospital receptionist was played by Eve Jennings who co-wrote the whole"Kids of Degrassi Series" book series. She also played the woman who was at thecash register at the pharmacy when Joey bought the condoms for his big date with Liz.

Eve Jennings also happens to be the mother and biggest fan of herson, Kit Hood, who is the director for the three Degrassi series.

In the episode entitled "Censored", the angry parentswho wanted Spike out of Degrassi for setting a bad example were none other than a majorwriter and director of the series. The angry parents were played by director Kit Hood andDegrassi Publicist Kathryn Ellis. On Degrassi High, one of the new teachers was played bynone other than Linda Schuyler.

Sheila Brogren, who plays Kathleen' alcoholic mother on theseries, is actually Stefan Brogren's real life mother. Ingvar Brogren, who is StephanBrogren father played Snake's father in Season 5. Robert Mistysyn, who is the father ofStacie Mistysn (Caitlin) was the animation designer for all the Degrassi TV series.

Earl Grey Public School was the building where Borden High wasset in, where the grade 9 student took their science classes. Linda Schuyler also taughtat Earl Grey Public school. (she used to be a teacher before Degrassi). Earl Grey publicschool was also the setting for Degrassi Junior High's cafeteria and auditions for KODS and DJH were held at Earl Grey Senior School. The school is located at the corner of Strathcona and Jones.

Remember the episode "Fight" (Season 2) where Joey fights Dwayne. Well the park where the fight takes place "Schuyler Park" is actually Withrow Park located on a big block between Carlaw and Logan south of Danforth and just north of Withrow (Withrow is alittle north of Gerrard street).

Kathleen Mead, who is the character that Rebecca Hainesportrayed, was actually the woman who used to clean the Playing With Time offices.

Schuyler Park was the fictional park where Joey and Dwayne had their fight in the episode "Fight" (Season 2 DJH). The real park was Withrow Park, which runs south of Danforth from Danforth south to Withrow and spans east-west from Logan top Carlaw. Closest subway station to get there is Chester station.

Schuyler Stadium was the fictional stadium where the Gourmet Scum played (season 3 DJH- Taking Off Part 1). The real stadium was the U of T stadium at Bloor near St. George on the south side next to the Royal Conservatory of Music. The stadium was taken down in 2002 or 2003. It is not a flat football field. In the Toronto tradition, expect a condo there in the next few years (updated Feb 2006).

Whosemystery butt is flashed every time at the beginning of the Degrassi High opening themesong?

Have you ever wondered whose butt is flashed at the beginning ofDegrassi High? I have always suspected it was Jacy Hunter, who played Amy on DegrassiJunior High and Degrassi High. The wavy blondish hair with the round bottom could havebeen a couple of actresses. On my mailing list, The Degrassi Digest, some have thought itwas Kirsten Bourne (Tessa), or Irene Kourakos (Alexa).
I would like to thank Rebecca Haines who has confirmed that the butt with the PWT (PlayingWith Time) jean label is Jacy Hunter.

Some MoreDegrassi Facts

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Degrassi was a non union show. This means that the actors were not paid as well as the new Degrassi TV series (Degrassi:The Next GenerationP). ACTRA could not be involved because there were too many minors and ACTRA supports television productions with a cast of adults and some minors.
Degrassi was originally categorized as a children's show for CBC Television so this could be one of the reasons why it was not a union show. The new Degrassi employs professional actors who already had careers so they were not more informed on labour standards. Today's actors would not "screwed over" financially like the original Degrassi cast, who receive no residuals on reruns at all. There is more information accessible to younger people out there, thus there may be less exploitation of younger actors.

Syndication residuals (money made from reruns of the show) get distributed to the producers of the Degrassi TV series but not the actors.

Vincent Massey Public School was built in 1929. To make the school look bigger, the second floor of Vincent Massey Public School had many lockers which were switched around. To give the impression of more classes, lockers were switched around to give the illusion of many hallways on the second floor of Degrassi Junior High. 

Doris Bell's office was actually on the second floor of Vincent Massey School. The broom closet was next door and the office was often covered up by lockers. The illusion was that the office was actually downstairs but in fact it was on the second floor with all of the classes.

Only three classrooms were used in Degrassi Junior High. Mr. Raditch's class, Ms. Avery's class, and the library that was rarely used on the show. Later on it seems that Mr. Garcia's class was used instead of Ms. Avery's class. The other classrooms in the building were probably used as dressing rooms and eating areas of study rooms for the cast when they were not in any scenes. 

Vincent Massey is actually very small. It contains a central reception area, four classrooms on the first floor and four classrooms on the second floor. The other rooms used was abroom closet located on the second floor and the secretaries office located on the second floor as well.

Mr. Lawrence's office (the principal) was actually not an office but a small crawlspace. Doris Bell's office was very small and when students were asked to see Mr. Lawrence, they actually opened his door to a very small space. There was a wall installed to give the illusion that there was an office for the principal, but in fact there was no such office.

The real De Grassi street is not even close to the building where Degrassi Junior High was filmed. De Grassi street is in the area of Riverdale, which is fairly close to downtown Toronto by streetcar or subway. De Grassi street runs north-south from Queen Street north to Gerrard Street.

Degrassi Awards.....