Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Linda Schuyler and Yan Moore. It premiered on CTV, a terrestrial television network, on 14 October 2001 with the pilot episode " Mother and Child Reunion". It is the fourth series set in the fictional Degrassi universe created by Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1980. Like its predecessors, Degrassi: The Next Generation follows a group of students from Degrassi Community School, a fictional school in Toronto, Ontario, and depicts some of the typical issues and challenges common to a teenager's life such as drug taking, drinking, rape, pregnancy, abortion, bullying, family problems, sex, homosexuality and death. In the United States, the series is broadcast on TeenNick, a digital cable network aimed at teenagers and young adults. As of 30 November 2009, 179 half-hours have aired. The ninth season premiered on 4 October 2009. The first eight seasons of Degrassi: The Next Generation are available on DVD in Region 1, with season one also being available in Region 4. ^[1] Episodes are also available digitally: CTV and The N stream episodes on their websites; registered users of the Canadian and U.S. iTunes Stores are able to purchase and download episodes for playback on home computers and certain iPods; ^[2] and episodes are also available for download from Puretracks in Canada. The episodes are in a Windows Media 10 file, and the purchaser owns them forever, although the episodes can only be burned onto a disc three times and copied to a device three times. ^{[3] [4]} Additionally, every episode is available on the Xbox Live Marketplace in the U.S. ^[5]

In addition to the regular episodes, four " special episodes" have been produced, which are not considered to be part of the Degrassi continuity. "Degrassi in Kenya" ("Degrassi: Doing What Matters" in the US) aired 18 October 2007 on MTV Canada, and 14 March 2008 on The N. ^[6] It documented the Degrassi: The Next Generation cast visiting the Masai Mara, Kenya to build an extension onto Motony Primary School. ^{[7] [8]} "Degrassi of the Dead", parodying the zombie movie Dawn of the Dead, was a Halloween special episode which aired on 26 October 2007 on The N, and four days later on CTV. ^[9] The episode was not part of the Degrassi continuity, although the first fifteen minutes did feature a number of actors in character, some of whom had turned into zombies after eating genetically modified food in the school cafeteria, while others were trying to escape. ^[10] The second half of the episode was a behind-the-scenes look with actors Cassie Steele, Aubrey Graham and Lauren Collins. It was directed by Stefan Brogren, and originally made as five online-only Degrassi Minis, with an additional streaming video of Aubrey Graham dancing to a Halloween-themed rap performed by Brogren. ^{[11] [12] [13]} The third was a second Halloween special called "Curse of Degrassi," which aired on CTV on October 26 and The N on 24 October 2008. In this special, Rick Murray's ghost possesses Holly J. and begins tormenting the students who laughed at him on the day of the "Whack-Your-Brain" incident which eventually led to his death.

A number of episodes have aired out of production order in either Canada or the U.S., this is a list of Degrassi: The Next Generation episodes by order of production, as they appear on the DVDs.

Series overview

Season 1

Season 3

References