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The Secret Life of Canada: Season 6, EP 3: The Secret Life of the Canadian Teen Drama

Hosts: Leah-Simone Bowen and Falen Johnson

ANNOUNCER: Stay tuned for a very special episode of The Secret Life of Canada.

FALEN JOHNSON: It's a Sunday night in early January 1992. 2.4 million Canadians are tuning in to say goodbye to a cast of characters they have welcomed into their homes for years, a group of kids that they have watched go from cute little kids to awkward adolescents to proper teens. For over a decade, many watched these kids deal with a parent’s divorce, failing at school, bullying, racism. We got to sit beside them while they felt the excitement of a first crush, got asked to the dance, had their first kiss. Characters like Joey, Snake and Caitlin.

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[show clip]

JOEY: What were you trying to do back there? You almost blew it for me. I could have killed you. Don't you ever do it like that again. Well, you can learn to lighten up and take a joke.

SNAKE: It's not a joke to me, Joey. You're just so full of yourself. Joey Jeremiah, what a studly guy. Let's recap the Jeremiah summer, shall we? See what a swell and decent human being you’ve been.

JOEY: You have to listen to this.

SNAKE: No, you’re going to listen to me. Joey Jeremiah spends the summer dating Caitlin.

JOEY: Shut up.

SNAKE: And fucking Tessa. Oh, what ethics. What a hero. Let's have a great big hand, shall we? Big round of applause, huh? Yes, all right.

JOEY: Snake’s got a really weird sense of humour.

CAITLIN: Tessa Campanelli? You were fucking Tessa Campanelli?

JOEY: No.

CAITLIN: Don't lie to me, Joey.

JOEY: Caitlin, it’s not what you think.

CAITLIN: Then what is it?

FALEN JOHNSON: This EFF bomb heard across Canada happened before Pacey made out with his teacher on Dawson's Creek, before Beck brought a gun to school on Glee, before Chuck traded Blair for a hotel on Gossip Girl. This was the first EFF bomb dropped on Canadian TV and on CBC, no less. The made for TV movie, Degrassi School's Out, was meant to serve as a sort of goodbye to the kids of Degrassi. But little did the cast, crew or creators know that Degrassi was just getting started. The show would go on to launch some very notable careers and an entire genre.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: This is the Secret Life of Canada, a podcast about the country you know and the stories you don’t.

FALEN JOHNSON: Hey, Leah.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Hey, Falen.

FALEN JOHNSON: So Leah, today, I wanted to talk to you about something very near and very dear to my heart, teen dramas.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Okay, I did not know that about you. Okay.

FALEN JOHNSON: I have always had a soft spot in my heart for teen dramas, from Degrassi to Ready or Not, My So-called Life, Freaks and Geeks, Gossip Girl, and hell, I'll even admit it, I watched some of Riverdale.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Oh yeah, I did watch River. Here's the thing about Riverdale. As a huge Archie comic fan in my youth, I had a lot of issues with the darkness. When it started off, I was like, this is far too dark. You know, Archie supposed to be very fun, but I really fell in love with it. And I was actually hoping that they would kind of point out in the storyline that Archie is actually indigenous, but that never happened, because that's my fun fact. The actor who played Archie, KJ Apa, is half Samoan. His father's like a Samoan chief and he has black hair. Like if you see him in real life, you're like, oh.

FALEN JOHNSON: I didn't know this. I didn’t know this.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: They could have gone for intersectionality, but they said no. Anyway.

FALEN JOHNSON: Well, not surprised. Yeah, I even watched that new one on Netflix that Mindy Kaling put out, Never Have I Ever, starring Canada's Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. The point is I've watched a lot. My streaming algorithm is all reality TV and teen shows. What about you, Leah? Do you watch teen dramas other than Riverdale?

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: I mean, I did when I was a teen. I mostly watched teen movies. Like I watched a lot of Scream and a lot of like 10 Things I Hate About You, that kind of, but I respect the teen drama a lot.

FALEN JOHNSON: Okay. Well, today, I wanted to look back at teen dramas, specifically Canadian teen dramas, because I think, and stay with me now, the teen drama is a Canadian invention. Okay. But before we can talk about TV shows, the first thing we have to talk about is teenagers, because it wasn't always a thing. Teenagers weren't always a thing. The word teenager seems to have come into existence in the early 1900s, but it wasn't widely used. The concept of a teen or teenager didn't really exist. You kind of went from being a kid to an adult with adult responsibilities.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Right. Children were kind of considered miniature adults, which is why kids look very weird in old paintings. They look like little, you know, like they got cigarettes and a sideways hat and just…

FALEN JOHNSON: Yes, they already look like they've been working in a coal mine for like 20 years. Yeah. Yeah.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Exactly. Exactly.

FALEN JOHNSON: And so and this was for a good reason. You needed to survive. You know, you'd have to help on the family farm or with home duties, or if, you know, it was during the industrial era, you had to head to the factory. Over time, many kids had to contribute to the family income.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Which, of course, is still a reality for lots of kids all over the world. Yeah.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yes. True. And being a teen is kind of a privilege. Getting to have that time of development is a privilege.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Mm hmm. Even though when you're going through it, it doesn't feel like a privilege, of course. It feels like hell.

FALEN JOHNSON: It truly does. The feelings are vivid for me. Like I can't imagine telling a young Falen at the age of 15, while she like endlessly weeps on her bed because her dad didn't get tickets to the Blur concert for her 16th birthday because it was the 90s and he didn't want to buy them online because the internet was a new thing. And so he went to Ticketmaster in-person, but he was too late and it sold out. And then he told me, and I cried. I cried for hours. It's so embarrassing.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: He went to so much effort, though. He went down in-person. Like…

FALEN JOHNSON: I was so ungrateful. I was such an ungrateful little kid.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Props to your dad.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. But the pain is still fresh. Anyway, I digress.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Yeah, I'm feeling that.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah.

FALEN JOHNSON: As the 20th century marches on, a few things happen. Child labour laws become stricter, so kids aren't legally allowed to work the way they used to, and legislation was passed so that school attendance in urban areas was mandatory. In rural areas, exceptions were made so kids could help out on the farm, you know, like during times of harvest and things like that.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Wow. So it sounds like it was tough at this time.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah, family rules were really shifting. And World War II also kind of impacted youth identity. You had kids who were 13 lying about their age so that they could enlist and serve. When these young people returned home, they couldn't really be viewed as kids anymore, but they weren't adults yet either.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Right.

FALEN JOHNSON: The term teenager was being used occasionally, but started to pick up steam around 1941. This is when the word teenager is printed in the magazine Popular Science Monthly. This is said to be the first time that we see it in print. It appeared again in an article in Life Magazine later that same year. Here are a few lines about teenagers from that article.

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LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: They speak a curious lingo, adore chocolate milkshakes, wear moccasins everywhere, and drive like bats out of hell.

FALEN JOHNSON: Okay. That does sound like…

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: You said it was 1941. I'm just trying to approximate the timeframe.

FALEN JOHNSON: No, it's great. Like it’s just so… it's so interesting. And it sounds like some res kids I know, You know? Like cousin, put down the milkshake. You're lactose intolerant. We all are.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Well, you brought up indigenous people being lactose intolerant last season too. If you want to hear a bit more about that, you guys, check out last season's episode, Bread and Cheese. By the way, we have to point to another show, so we're trying to do a transition here. I think it was seamless. Seamless.

FALEN JOHNSON: Beautiful. Oh yeah. Great.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Keep listening to the show, folks. That’s what we’re saying.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Okay. Moving on. Moving on.

FALEN JOHNSON: Okay. Okay. Okay. So while the word teenager is out in the world a little bit more, what it means is still kind of being defined. We know that it's a thing, but what exactly does it mean? In 1945, The New York Times publishes the article, A teenage Bill of rights. The article outlines 10 things that a teen should have, kind of like a manifesto or something. You know, it points out, you know, teen’s agency. So here are a few from that list. Number one, the right to let childhood be forgotten. Number three, the right to make mistakes, to find out for himself. Number five, the right to have fun and companions. Number seven, the right to be at the romantic age. And number 10, the right to professional help when necessary.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Well, those don't sound unreasonable.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah, totally. However, when you kind of like dig a little bit deeper, especially, I found number seven to be a little, little questionable, the right to be at the romantic age. Leah, could you read a bit of that one?

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LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: To the teenager, love is serious. When a teenager falls in love, he or she falls hard. When Mary suddenly realizes that her English teacher is the smartest man in the world, and if she happens to mention what a wonderful man Mr. Maynard is, a sensitive parent should accept it at face value, not laugh. Mary has the right to her brief dream.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: This sounds very… it sounds like a very upside down teen drama itself, but worrying. Worrying.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yes. Yes. Yeah. And it sounds like Mary's parents might want to keep an eye on that situation.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: The situation of Mr. Maynard, the English teacher, because he sounds like a bad man specifically.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. Well, yeah. Okay. So now, a lot of what we're talking about here is the American teen, and that's a bit unavoidable. The teenager really is an American invention. But like so many things in the States, you know, they often make their way north to us.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: So how is being a teen different in Canada?

FALEN JOHNSON: In Canada, teen life was similar to the American teen experience. Canada was also experiencing a post-World War II baby boom. Not to the same degree, but it was happening. And by the 50s, more kids were staying in school and more were graduating. School provided a social setting free from the prying eyes of parents. There were afterschool clubs, bands and dances, and there was more use of the car, giving kids a whole other level of privacy.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: So what you're saying is teenagers were having sex in their cars.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah, this was the invention of teens having sex in cars. This massive new demographic sparked interest in advertisers. They viewed this new group of youth as a, quote unquote, jackpot market.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Okay. But I'm just going to go ahead and guess that this was happening mostly in white urban communities that these youth all had this new wealth. You know, it was very specific to them.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yes, yes, that's a good guess. And yes, this population, mainly of white teens, didn't have adult responsibilities and had cash to burn. This is when we start to see more advertising aimed towards youth in magazines, newspapers and TV.

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FIRST GIRL: Hey, that was wonderful.

FIRST BOY: Oh, let's have another one.

SECOND BOY: Here you go.

SECOND GIRL: Hold it, gang. How about having some sandwiches and coke?

FIRST BOY: Okay, I'll go for that any time.

SECOND BOY: Me too.

FIRST GIRL: On to the icebox.

ANNOUNCER: This smart young hostess knows there's nothing like giving folks what they want. When it comes to refreshment, what everybody wants is a Coke.

FALEN JOHNSON: Radio and TV were guiding factors in the creation of the teen identity, not just in terms of advertising, but also in forming opinions about teens, who they were and what they were all about. And it's about this time that we start to see more and more public service announcements and educational films. Although, now, when you revisit some of these, they don't really sound that educational.

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PSA: It looks innocent enough, doesn't it? A lot of young people hitchhike. Seems like a good way to get from one place to another. But sometimes, there are dangers involved that never meet the eye. So no matter where you meet a stranger, be careful if they are too friendly. One never knows when the homosexual is about.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Oh no, the homosexuals may appear. Sounds like magic. Very magical.

FALEN JOHNSON: Like a magic act at Pride or something.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Yes. Yes.

FALEN JOHNSON: Anyway. So national TV broadcasting in the U.S. started in the 30s, but Canada's national broadcaster, CBC, didn't start until 1952. And because TV was slower to develop in Canada, so was the concept of what a teenager was. In the early days of Canadian TV, a lot of content was coming from the U.S. Oftentimes, people were actually, and like this was a thing I remember doing on the res because we were pretty far in southern Ontario, you would turn your antenna south to pick up American stations.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Yeah. It was like the early VPN substitute, really. Same as it ever was. We're always just trying to watch the American stuff. That's it.

FALEN JOHNSON: I know.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: And we’re on the CBC and I'm admitting that. Like where’s the American shows that I want to watch?

FALEN JOHNSON: I mean, I don't think it's a secret. I don't think it's a secret. Okay. So eventually, CBC began airing American shows, like The Ed Sullivan Show, a show that really spoke to youth.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Right. And The Ed Sullivan Show featured a lot of musical acts, like Elvis in 56, The Supremes in 64, the Beatles in 65. These are really historic broadcasts. The show basically showcased entertainers that a lot of kids love but parents didn't like.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah, for sure. TV and teens, there was this undeniable connection, but it would take a bit for the teen drama genre to really land on the small screen.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Right? Because there were teens in movies, of course, like Judy Garland. Shout out to her. Mickey Rooney, no shout out. That's fine. And Elizabeth Taylor, who, I mean, the best.

FALEN JOHNSON: I like Elizabeth Taylor. Like I have a fondness for Elizabeth Taylor.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: I love the Liz. No, Liz and Judy, but Mickey Rooney. Breakfast at Tiffany's, am I right?

FALEN JOHNSON: I know. I know. That's all I can think about.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Really tanked his career. Anyway. Okay, continue.

FALEN JOHNSON: I don't think it did. Well, I don’t know.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: No, I mean for me and the thousands and thousands of others who live in 2024. I digress. We don't have to talk about Mickey Rooney.

FALEN JOHNSON: Okay. All right. So TV was different from film. Some of the earliest shows featuring teens were shows like Leave It to Beaver or the show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. But the first time I think we see a really teen focussed show was Gidget.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: And what was Gidget all about?

FALEN JOHNSON: Okay. So Gidget was the show that launched Sally Field's career back in the 60s. And like I guess I have a soft spot for Sally field. I think she's cute and she's so adorable on the show. It only ran for a season on NBC. It didn't have the greatest timeslot. And when the show went into reruns in the summer, a lot of teens found it and loved it. And this would kind of become a thing, teen shows being made, getting cancelled and going into reruns and gaining a big following after they had stopped producing.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Right. And that's kind of what happened with Degrassi. Is that correct?

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. Degrassi reruns did really well, and a lot of people discovered the show that way.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Yeah. And a rerun is a show that would be aired over and over again on TV, sometimes in multiple slots, even after it’d gone off the air. So often times, you know, when things would run on TV, you would only see an episode once. And so reruns opened a show up to a huge new audience that, you know, might have missed the original broadcast.

FALEN JOHNSON: This makes me feel old that we have to explain what reruns are.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Here we are. Here we are. It's 2024.

FALEN JOHNSON: Oh, man. Okay. So teen shows had been made before Degrassi, sure, like Gidget, but that was more of a sitcom. And, you know, there were other shows like The Restless Years, this soapy show out of Australia. But the leads in that were like in their 20s, and the storylines felt very grown up. There was also Grange Hill, a BBC show that premiered in the late 70s. Grange Hill does a great job of showing kids on TV, kids playing kids. And the storylines were a bit grittier than anything else that had been shown on TV, but it's still is kind of missing something for me.

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TRICIA: I suppose so, sir. But what’s Benny going to do?

TEACHER: Well, that's very much up to him, Tricia. Look, Benny, you are always going to run into people like Doyle, but hopefully, they'll be far outnumbered by people who are prepared to accept you just for yourself.

BENNY: It's Tozer. He just needles me, sir.

TEACHER: Well, don't let him needle you. He doesn't play for the school football team, does he?

BENNY: No, sir.

TEACHER: Right.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: I'm sorry to say, but that clip was terribly boring.

FALEN JOHNSON: I know.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: The show sounds real sleepy.

FALEN JOHNSON: Whoo! Apologies to any Grange Hill stands out there. This show, at least in its early years, was painfully boring. It did go on to cover more intense subjects, but in its early days, it was like essentially sleep aid.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: It feels that way. Yeah.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. I think what it comes down to here is that there have been many attempts to make shows aimed at teens, but they often felt like they were coming from an outside gaze, from an adult perspective. At times, they felt soapy and sensational or overly moralistic and had a tidy ending, a sanitized version of what it was like to be a young adult. But one show was about to come along and push the genre further.

[song: “Degrassi Daze” by Beatbox Machinery]

ANNOUNCER: We now return to a very special episode of The Secret Life of Canada.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: So to recap, teens as more of an independent population of people separate from children and adults started about after World War II, and there was a baby boom, which meant the teen population exploded. Lots of teens all at once, and a lot of these kids were staying in school longer and socializing differently than their parents had. Advertising in TV saw this new section of the population as really valuable. More products in media were aimed specifically at them. Then TV sees the value in teen programming, and that's how we arrive at the teen drama.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yes. And I really started to think about this last year. I was sitting in a hotel room watching TV, and instead of stopping on the Learning Channel to watch Doctor Pimple Popper or 90 Day Fiancé, which is what I normally do, I found myself reunited with some faces I hadn't seen in a long time. It was Snake, Wheels, Joey, Spike, Lucy, Caitlin, Melanie, and one of my faves, Stephanie K.

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Show clip: What do you think? It's my new image.

FALEN JOHNSON: I was immediately transported back to a time in my adolescence when I would rush home after school and turn on Degrassi. I had seen them all a bunch of times, but something in me, you know, still wanted to watch them over and over again. And sitting in that hotel room, that feeling was still there. This feeling kind of sparked a curiosity in me. What is it about this show that feels so different, so rooted in youth culture that other shows don't? And what is it about this show that makes it so different from other teen dramas? What did Degrassi do differently so that it would have so much staying power? I reached out to the woman who started it all, the mother of all Degrassi.

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LINDA SCHUYLER: I'm Linda Schuyler, and for 40 years, I have been the co-creator and producer of over 525 Degrassi episodes.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Wow, 525 episodes. I did not know that it was that many. Wow.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yes, I didn't either. It's a lot. Here I was feeling, you know, really proud of us for our six seasons of a podcast. So much more work to do. So I asked Linda why she wanted to start making content for kids and teens, and it kind of seems to be out of necessity. Linda was a teacher.

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LINDA SCHUYLER: When I was teaching, I would go down to the Toronto Board of Education and I would say, my kids, my junior high school kids, they need shows for them. So can you please help search through the libraries? And what can we order that will specifically work for my kids who are at this very particular point in their life? and the AV people will come back to me and say, Linda, we've searched libraries. We don't have anything. And I would say to them, that's not fair. These kids need a voice. And so because I had been dabbling in making shows and whatnot, and I was teaching and making other documentaries, doing my summertime, one day, it was just like, oh my goodness, maybe Linda Schuyler, maybe you have to make these shows.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Wow, that's some serious dedication, you know?

FALEN JOHNSON: I know. So Linda and her then partner, Kit Hood, secured funding, and they set up a production company. Their first short film was based on the book Ida Makes A Movie. The storyline is essentially that young Ida makes a movie about littering and enters it into a local contest. She wins, but quickly realizes that the judges misinterpreted her vision, and she has to make the choice to tell the truth and maybe lose the award or just take the award and run. For the casting process, they advertised in schools and put a sandwich board in front of their offices with the words kids wanted.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Direct, but definitely would get you arrested today.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yes. Yes, Linda talks about that in her book. Ida Makes A Movie aired on CBC in late 1979 as an afterschool special, and it was so well received that the CBC commissioned more episodes, and then encouraged Linda and her team to develop the concept into a series. These episodes would be the first in the Degrassi franchise, This is The Kids of Degrassi Street. The show would run for over 20 episodes and win a bunch of awards. While Linda and her team were filming The Kids of Degrassi Street, PBS approached the team and expressed interest in the show. They wanted in.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Hmm. So it sounds like it was really successful off the bat.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah, it kind of was. There was a lot of interest. And after seven years of doing the show, Linda kind of wanted to present the kids with a set of new challenges, the challenges of junior high.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: And so what changed in the junior high version versus the earlier version when it was a kids show?

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. There were a few changes between The Kids of Degrassi Street and Junior High. Some of the actors had their character names changed or their family backgrounds changed, and this freed up the writing team to sort of have a fresh start and imagined new storylines. And the team even called a meeting and gave the kids a chance to have a say if they minded. And that was sort of central to the Degrassi method, giving the young actors a say. The show would rehearse and there would be a dialogue between the writers and the cast. I found this clip from CBC back in 1985, where Linda is interviewed about the Degrassi approach.

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ANCHOR: The Kids of Degrassi Street has gone into its sixth year of production of critically acclaimed dramas for children. Nan Devitt of CBC Toronto reports that this show has turned a group of ordinary Toronto children into internationally known television actors.

REPORTER: Degrassi Street, It's a humble little street with an unassuming grocery store on the corner, and it's also the setting for an award winning children's television series.

LINDA SCHUYLER: The response to these shows is incredible. I mean, Degrassi Street is a little tiny street, as you well know, over in Toronto's east end, and it's known around the world.

ACTORS: And… action. Quitting the window washing business.

REPORTER: The Kids of Degrassi Street is a hit show on the BBC in Britain. It's aired in the United States, Scandinavia, Turkey, even Singapore.

ACTOR: Just because I made one mistake doesn't mean that we don't have a deal.

REPORTER: This is a show with universal appeal, but it's not a big bucks operation. Not many film crews do location shooting in the producer's garage.

LINDA SCHUYLER: A lot of the success of our children's films comes from the fact that the kids are very natural on film, and we work on that. We don't overwork them in terms of trying to get perfect performances. We don't get them from agencies. We find them from local schools. We put them through our own workshop and training period. And then when we're shooting with them, we don't treat them like stars.

REPORTER: Most of the actors in this series come from the Degrassi neighbourhood. They wear their own clothes and no makeup, and they've all learned their craft on the job.

FALEN JOHNSON: For me watching the show as a young person, seeing these kids play kids was pretty rare. I asked Linda about this.

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LINDA SCHUYLER: We always cast age appropriate, which I think was very important to our show. We didn't have 25-year-olds playing 15-year-olds. They were 15-year-olds playing 15-year-olds. And that had an interesting effect because my cast was also my target audience. So when we would read through scripts before we would publish them and my cast would give me input into the script, we listened because those kids were living what we were talking about. And then on the other end, for our audience, it, I just think, really helped with the authenticity of the show that 15-year-olds were seeing real 15-year-olds, you know, doing their best, making messes, having jokes, that they were identifiable. And I think that was critically important.

FALEN JOHNSON: Seeing kids wear the same outfit, the same tube top, shout out to my girl, Stephanie Kay, over and over and look kind of awkward was tremendously rewarding for me. It made me feel slightly more normal. You know, I can have crooked teeth, zits, puffy hair. I could be a kid going through puberty. I asked Linda about why the show covered what it covered and why it was important to her.

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LINDA SCHUYLER: Our subject matter was fearless. We felt that if kids were talking about it in the schoolyard and now, of course, if they're talking about it on social media or whatnot, it's fair game to talk about it on Degrassi. But the trick for us was we never wanted it to feel like it was ripped out of the headlines or being sensational for sensational sake. On the other side, we didn't want to trivialize it.

FALEN JOHNSON: Degrassi gave kids info they weren't getting anywhere else in a way that didn't feel preachy or goofy. It might have made you giggle, but it taught you something that would kind of stay with you. Like things about abortion, eating disorders and sexuality. Here's Linda again.

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LINDA SCHUYLER: Well, and also, not only were there materials not available, there also wasn't anything in the curriculum in terms of really helpful sex education. You know, sex education in those days was all about the mechanics, the birds, the bees, you know, nine months, child, but nothing. Nothing about protocols of dating, nothing about relationships, nothing about how to deal when you're questioning your own sexuality. And so Degrassi actually had a mandate to sort of take on that role of a sex educator.

FALEN JOHNSON: I know for myself, my parents really couldn't handle a sex talk with me, and part of me is eternally grateful for that. But Degrassi sort of filled in a gap. It could tell me things that my parents couldn't.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Right. That makes sense.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. So through the Degrassi franchise, viewers could learn and grow as the cast did. In Junior High, we saw the kids deal with abuse at home, alcoholic parents and teen pregnancy.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Yeah, there's the very famous episode where Spike gets pregnant in the first series.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yes. Yes. And so this is season one of Degrassi, right? This is Degrassi Junior High. Spike, a 14-year-old student, gets pregnant. And this is pretty unheard of to see something like this on TV in the 80s.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Right. And we're talking about the era of Conservative governments in Canada and Republican governments in the States.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. Yeah.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: So not into teen pregnancy.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah, but it was clearly that perspective was needed. There was some pushback to that episode, but there was also critical success. The episode even won an Emmy. Degrassi Junior High only ran from 1987 to 89, but the show wasn't done yet. It was time to head to high school. Degrassi High would continue to push the bar, covering issues like Aids, suicide, partner abuse, interracial relationships.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: I do remember when one of the twins got pregnant as well.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yes. The twins were Erica and Heather. And in season two of Degrassi High, Erica learns she is pregnant and makes the choice to have an abortion. This episode was actually censored in the U.S. In Canada, the version you see, you see Erica push past all these pro-life protestors, and she makes her way into the abortion clinic and this scary elderly lady holding like a replica of a foetus. She like points it at Erica and holds it up with her bony hand and says, this is your baby.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: I remember that.

FALEN JOHNSON: I know, right?

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: That really seemed cool. She seemed real chill.

FALEN JOHNSON: Oh, God.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Just reasonable. Reasonable.

FALEN JOHNSON: It is so burned in my head that it's so burned in my head. So in the version that went to air in the U.S., the shot freezes before Erica makes the choice to go into the clinic. Degrassi wrapped in 1991, and we see the teens of Degrassi again briefly in the movie that we talked about at the top of the episode, School's Out. But then, the Degrassi universe kind of goes quiet, that is until a class reunion happened.

SOUNDCLIP

[cheers]

JONATHAN TORRANCE: Hi, everybody. I'm Jonathan Torrance. In 1991, after 13 long years and 97 long episodes, Canada's most famous high school students finally graduated. I'm talking, of course, about the kids from Degrassi High.

[more cheers]

JONATHAN TORRANCE: And since it's been almost 10 years, we thought, isn't it time for a reunion? And we also thought, what better place to have a reunion than right here on our very show? Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Joey and Snake, Pat Mastroianni and Stefan Brogren.

[cheers, music]

JONATHAN TORRANCE: Hi, guys. Nice to see you. Thanks very much for coming. Pat, how are you doing?

PAT MASTROIANNI: Good. How are you doing, Jonathan?

JONATHAN TORRANCE: Good. Nice to see you. Why do you think the show is so popular?

PAT MASTROIANNI: I just… I think that for the most part, we were just trying to be as real as possible. I mean, we weren't trying to be anything we weren't, and people can relate to that. And the stories in it were real and were honest.

FALEN JOHNSON: So this is a clip from the show Jonovision. I actually remember watching this when it aired. I remember watching this with my sister. It was a teen talk show that was on CBC, and this Degrassi reunion aired back in the late 90s. And it piqued a lot of interest with broadcasters, and talks of a reboot started.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Enter Aubrey Graham.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yes. Did you all think we weren't going to go there? So the reboot. Degrassi The Next Generation premiered in 2001. One of the central characters was Emma. Emma was Spike's daughter, and this was the baby that she would have had when she was in junior high. And in the timeline of Degrassi, Emma would have sort of been the perfect age for entering high school. So that was sort of the premise.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Yeah. I do remember that it was really great. A full kind of circle moment there. Spike's baby is ready for junior high.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. And so the Next Gen followed. Emma, Spinner, Manny, Paige, Marco and yes, Jimmy, AKA Aubrey Graham, AKA Drake, as they dealt with similar issues we saw in the old Degrassi. But there was also, you know, a whole bunch of new things for these teens to deal with, school shootings, online predators, nudes being shared with the entire school.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: So stuff that kids were dealing with at the time.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yes. We also saw the return of some familiar faces from the old Degrassi with characters like Joey, Caitlyn, and even snake showing up as a teacher at Degrassi. The Next Generation aired for 13 seasons, but was cancelled by both its Canadian and American broadcasters. But just a few days after getting this news, Linda was on a plane and headed into talks with Netflix about another Degrassi incarnation, Degrassi Next Class.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Okay. So I have a question. Why? Why Degrassi Street? I live very close to Degrassi Street. I walk by there all the time. I've often wondered why that street. Did Linda live there or…

FALEN JOHNSON: No.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: There's a school on that street. It's not called Degrassi High. Like what's the significance there?

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. No, no, she didn't live there. It was actually her friend Bruce's house. Here's Linda again.

SOUNDCLIP

LINDA SCHUYLER: When I shot my very first half hour for television, I had like $5000 to make a half hour. And shortly before shooting, I had no locations where to go. And so at that time, I wasn't teaching anymore. And Bruce said, oh, well, I'm teaching during the day. If you'd like to use my house, you can use my house as a location. And we did. And that house happened to be number 98, Degrassi Street, and subsequently gave me the name for what would become the series.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Relatable. Relatable. As someone who's produced indie theatre back in the day, I can really appreciate that choice there.

FALEN JOHNSON: I know. Me too. So Bruce is someone who is really important to the show. He even had a cameo as a teacher. So I read Linda's autobiography for this episode, and I asked her about the very special dedication of her book.

SOUNDCLIP

LINDA SCHUYLER: I dedicate my book to my very dear friend Bruce Mackie, who I call the grandfather of Degrassi Street. And by his own admission, Bruce self-identified as a queer queer. And you have to remember, we're talking now, I met Bruce when it was in the 70s when we were both teaching for the Toronto Board of Education. And in those days, the Board of Education could not know that Bruce was gay. So Bruce lived a life where from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, he played straight. And in the evenings and on the weekends, he was at the gay bars and he was cruising and he was just living his other life. And he taught me a lot about the gay scene in Toronto in the, you know, the 70s and 80s. We have to remember that it was in 1981 that the police broke into bathhouses with hammers and raided them and outed over 250 gay guys and charged them for being in a buddy house. So that's what the times were like.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: So Degrassi had some queer roots. That's very nice.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. And I had no idea how deep those roots ran until really looking into this. Queerness is pretty central to the show. I reached out to someone who had a pretty amazing story about Degrassi’s impact.

SOUNDCLIP

JOCELYN CLAYBOURNE: My name is Jocelyn. I'm a 30-year-old Degrassi fan from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. And online, you might know me as the Degrassi kid.

FALEN JOHNSON: So I came across Jocelyn's Instagram and her podcast, the Degrassi Kid Podcast, and I knew I had to get in touch. And if you're a fan of Degrassi and you don't follow Jocelyn, you should do that now. She has so much fun content that spans the entire Degrassi universe, and that is where I saw this video.

SOUNDCLIP

ANNOUNCER: Stefan Brogren and Degrassi superfan Jocelyn Claybourne.

JOCELYN CLAYBOURNE: Degrassi taught me if you're going to be anybody, you should be yourself. And I learned that lesson when they introduced a character named Fiona Coyne. When I saw Fiona, I felt like I was watching my life play out on screen, but I had no idea that Fiona would one day say, I'm in love with her and she's a girl. That night, I came out of the closet and became a Degrassi superfan for life.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Oh wow. So Degrassi helped her come out.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. So this video is from December 2023, when Degrassi received a star on the Canada Walk of Fame. I asked Jocelyn what she thought about Degrassi’s Queer Roots.

SOUNDCLIP

JOCELYN CLAYBOURNE: Yes. Oh my gosh, it's literally based on the foundation of, you know, Linda Schuyler’s best friend, Bruce Mackey, and Linda struggling to be able to tell stories about queerness on television. I mean, the first time that they really talk about queerness is Degrassi Junior High's episode, Rumour Has It. And even in that case, they have to make it really about a teacher because you can't talk about queer kids on TV. I know that the U.K. had a problem with that episode, and it was one of the reasons they decided to stop airing Degrassi Junior High briefly overseas. So, you know, Linda's always faced this roadblock of being able to tell queer stories. And finally, we get to see that lift, with Marco as one of the first teen queer characters we see. Then we get to season 10 of Degrassi, and kids are coming and they don't have to come out anymore. There are still kids who are facing, you know, being in the closet, and now, maybe they're exploring it through a religious lens. But, you know, now, we've gotten to a point that kids can just be queer on TV. And I think, again, Degrassi is a time capsule for that because it goes through those motions of showing you how difficult it is to come out. So I do think Degrassi is rooted in queerness and is part of the reason why I love the show. It really advocates for those people who don't have a voice, and the queer community is part of that.

FALEN JOHNSON: From Junior High to Degrassi Next Class, we have seen the show tackle queer themes, pushing a bit further and further as years pass. While working on this episode, the question why does this genre have so much pull? Why do people of all ages from across the world love Degrassi? I had to ask Linda.

SOUNDCLIP

LINDA SCHUYLER: Well, it's a very unique time in someone's life. I mean, doesn't matter how old you get. You look back at those four or five years of high school, and they are… they come into sharper focus than almost any other period of your life because it is a time of great change. It's a time when you're starting to assert your independence. You're becoming an adult. And I like to talk about it as a time where within you, there is a push pull between the child that you want to leave behind and the adult that you want to become. And that tension is just ripe for story.

FALEN JOHNSON: And I think that's so true. Being a young adult, that time in your life feels almost operatic. The feelings are so big. And I feel like that's the same no matter where you are in the world. Degrassi aired all over in 140 countries. From its beginnings, it was embraced and loved outside of Canada. So we put the word out on social media to see who from around the world watched Degrassi and felt impacted by it, and the response was really overwhelming.

SOUNDCLIP

LISTENERS: Hi, my name is Violet. Hi, my name is Sinata. Hawkin. Maria Cuco. Melanie. My name is Reuben. My name is Aleah. Deanna. Taylor Blevins. Sierra. Carmen Right. Audrey Davis. I'm calling because I am one of Degrassi’s biggest fans. Huge Degrassi fan. The biggest Degrassi fan of all time. And this is what Degrassi means to me. It has shaped my views, my morals, my beliefs in so many different ways. It has made me such an open minded person. Everyone all over the world could relate to it, no matter the experience, because you had kids coming from different upbringings and kids coming from different walks of life and kids that had different responsibilities. I have been like diagnosed with autism. If I didn't have Degrassi, I wouldn't have been able to socialize in high school. They really helped me figure out how to interact with people, sign up for activities, be part of social groups and everything. It was the first ever episode of any television I saw about a transgender person, and it just connected with my heart in a way I couldn't describe, and now, I identify as non-binary. I was also able to find myself in some of the characters and some of the storylines. The thing about Degrassi is it's just so relatable and approachable. I felt seen and understood given that as a young teenager, no one understands. But, you know, Degrassi did. Being adopted and growing up in a small town of only 1200 people, I felt very out of place. As a child that grew up with a lot of mental health issues and not really having anywhere to turn and feeling like I was alone, it was nice to be able to turn on Degrassi and know that there are other people out there who deal with the same things I do. Craig is one of my favourite characters, not only because he's bipolar like I am, but also because he was raised by Joey, someone who was not a biological father. And as a child that was raised by adoptive parents, it meant a lot to see that. I've met people from all around the world, from Australia, Russia, Canada, everywhere. I live in Nashville, Tennessee. I'm from Johannesburg, South Africa. I'm from Brazil. Iowa. Aston, Pennsylvania. Connecticut. Portland, Oregon. I'm from Peru. Degrassi was just bringing people together all around the world. Degrassi truly changed my life. It changed my life forever. No topic’s forever taboo. We can't ignore that these topics like pregnancies or intimate photos and drugs are also happening to teenagers. Like it's just so perfect. I have a Degrassi tattoo. If Degrassi was a religion, I would be a high priest. There's just something going on in there. It really does give me the strength I need to keep going.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Wow, that's… it's touching, you know?

FALEN JOHNSON: Oh, it's like… Okay. And I want to make sure to shout out Jocelyn here, the Degrassi kid, for helping us get the word out. When she posted it on her Instagram, the response was really, really amazing. And I admit that I cried more than once listening to those messages. And so thank you to everyone who sent in your thoughts, your emails, your voice memos. It was just… Thank you. It was so lovely to actually hear people's voices and see how far the show reached. And so the question I had was, you know, what did Degrassi pave the way for? What was its influence? And was it the first?

SOUNDCLIP

LINDA SCHUYLER: Well, I like to think that we were there first. And I don't take any particular pride in that. It's just I had been searching for this kind of material. I couldn't find it. I made it. I didn't make it to be the first one. I just made it because I couldn't find anything else like it. Well, you know, rumour has it that Spelling actually read Degrassi scripts as he was developing Beverly Hills 90210. And of course, now, the genre is everywhere.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Yeah. I mean, I love that it was the first. You know, I think it's something actually that Canada can actually be really, really proud of. I mean, and then, she mentions Spelling, as in Aaron Spelling, of course, like the creator of Beverly Hills. 90210, Melrose Place, 7th Heaven, and that just like catapulted all of these teen properties off, you know? It's why we have so many today.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. Yeah. Now, now, they're everywhere. And the genre has really exploded. And I like to think that Degrassi had a hand in that, in making the genre what it is.

SOUNDCLIP

FALEN JOHNSON: In the book, you speak about a toast that was made to Degrassi, and it really stood out to me, I think, in a lot of ways. It's the sort of core of what I'm trying to get at in this episode, which is, the toast went, we are so grateful for you and your voice for youth empowerment. It's a voice that couldn't have been produced in the States. You go on to talk about why you think that's true. I'm wondering if you can tell me why you think Degrassi could only come from Canada.

LINDA SCHUYLER: That toast came from our American broadcaster, and we were toasting, having done a number of years of business together. And, you know, we sort of thought, why is that so? And it's really hard to put into words, but I found that in terms of parenting, that American parents are, at that time anyway, just that much more protective of their kids than Canadian parents. Canadian parents tended to be a little more liberal. Let the kids try something, fall down, hurt themselves and, you know, they'll learn a lesson. And that mentality towards parenting was very acutely aware in the executives who were in charge of storytelling for young people. They brought that kind of parental concern and guidance to it. And it was… I'm sorry I'm not being very articulate because it's really hard. There's not an easy answer for this, but the Canadian values are just that much more liberal than American values. And it gives me great joy, actually, when I know that our show has seen all over the world that we are exporting Canadian values.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Exporting Canadian values. I can see that.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah, me too.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: See, it's not just about oil, beef or soya beans, right? We can also export our values.

FALEN JOHNSON: Yeah. All right. Well, do you want to go watch some Degrassi?

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Yes, I do.

FALEN JOHNSON: Okay. Which one?

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Let’s go.

FALEN JOHNSON: Okay. Which one? Which series?

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: I actually want to start with the new.

FALEN JOHNSON: Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Like the very new, because I haven't watched any of those.

FALEN JOHNSON: Oh yeah, it's okay.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Let’s see what the kids are up to.

FALEN JOHNSON: Let's see what the kids are up to.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: This episode of The Secret Life of Canada was written and produced by me, Leah-Simone Bowen.

FALEN JOHNSON: And me, Falen Johnson, with sound design and editing by Graham MacDonald.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: Script editing is by Yvette Nolan, with research assistants by Andrea Eidinger and CBC archives. Our logo is by Patuo’kn Illustration and Design.

FALEN JOHNSON: For CBC Podcasts, the coordinating producer is Roshini Nair. The executive producers are Cesil Fernandes and Chris Oke, and Tanya Springer is the senior manager. Kate Evans is our senior producer.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: The director of CBC Podcasts is Arif Noorani. You can find us on our socials at Secret Life of Canada, and our full show notes and links are on our website at cbc.ca/secretlifeofcanada. You can reach us by email at secret lifeofcanada@cbc.ca.

FALEN JOHNSON: Special thanks to Jocelyn Claybourne. Check out her show, The Degrassi Kid Podcast, and continue the conversation on Spotify, where we'll be poling listeners on what teen dramas they love.

LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN: If you learned something in this episode, please share it with a friend, and thanks for exploring Canada's hidden history with us.

TRANSCRIPT: The Secret Life of Canada, Season 6: The Secret Life of the Canadian Teen Drama

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