Degrassi

The Degrassi series revolves around the lives of a group of children and teenagers who lived on De Grassi Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 'Playing With Time', a small time production house produced the initial days of Degrassi. 'Playing With Time' was established by Linda Schuyler, a former teacher, and Kit Hood, a video editor and former child actor, to produce fun-filled educational videos for children. The initial Degrassi series first aired in 1979. This included a mini-series involving the lives of adolescent kids and was titled 'The Kids of Degrassi'. The actors included young boys and girls with little or no experience in acting. The focus was on elementary and primary school children and the series came to an end when these kids reached the sixth grade. However, a sequel followed '? 'Degrassi Junior High'. This featured the same actors who featured in 'The Kids of Degrassi'. However, they played different characters and now the focus was more on adult issues. 'Degrassi Junior High' was on air in 1987 in Canada and US and soon developed a cult-like following thanks to its realistic portrayal of teenage life in schools. When these actors grew up, 'Degrassi Junior High' was followed up with 'Degrassi High' in 1991. A decade after 'Degrassi High', 'Degrassi: The Next Generation' brought about the revivial of the Degrassi series in 2001. It continues to be immensely popular with teenagers and is aired in several countries around the world. There is even talk of a motion picture adaptation of Degrassi.