Oayis

Sorry for really bumping this, but the news is Ashley, Sean, and Mr. Raditch WILL NOT be in Season 5, which they are currently filiming.

-A new character called Peter, played by Jamie Johnston, has a major role in Season 5.
-In the final episodes of Season 4, Jay and Silent Bob (along with Alanis Morrisette) were seen filming "Jay & Silent Go Canadian, Eh" at Degrassi. It's rumored that Kevin Smith is going to have a cameo in some of the episodes.
-In REAL LIFE, Kevin Smith is said to make the "Degrassi: The Next Generation" MOVIE.
-In Season 5, there may be a musical episode. Wow.

That's all I have for now.

technologysux

i'm afraid to admit it, but yes, i watch degrassi. it pisses me off that i've missed all the recent ones, it seems they keep playing episodes from two years ago.

reginafilangie

I haven't watched that show in a long time. The last thing I remember is Paige was raped, Ashley had ecstacy and became a loner, Manny sleeps with Craig and gets pregnant, Ellie cuts herself and, apparently, my brother told me, that Marco is gay and going out with Paige's brother. Anyone want to fill me in on what has happened since then? I don't really have time to watch it but I'm interested in knowing the story.

Nikku

[SPOILERS]

Ashley went goth, but now she's just a rocker chick. Ellie was cutting and all but I think she stopped with some help from (of all people) Paige. Marco came to terms with his sexuality, came out to his parents and friends and started dating Dylan. But Dylan turned out to be a bit of a hoe so he dumped him. Mannie and Craig had sex (while Craig was still with Ashley) and she got pregnant. But I think she had an abortion or lost the baby somehow. And after that I kinda stopped watching for a while. The last I saw was that Emma is a LOT different now and started going out with Jay. She had oral sex with him and got gonorrea (however the heck you spell that) in her throat. o_O Oh yeah, Rick's dead and Jimmy's paralyzed after a school shooting. Almost forgot that bit.

[End Spoilers]

etherealme

My 10 year old asked me to watch an episode with her last year. Since I grew up watching the regular Degrassi when Spike had Emma and Mr. Simpson was Snake I thought what the hell.
Well I gotta admit it is one of my guilty viewing pleasures too. Plus its something Kendall and I can watch together. I did not let her watch the first episode of this season because of the subject matter. She ended up seeing it anyway so we had a long discussion about it.
I think she is too young to watch it but alot of what is on TV right now is worse than this. I like that she will ask me questions when they arise and is not afraid to come to me if she is confused about things she sees or hears from her friends or on TV.
Incidentally The N considered the episode where Manny got an abortion too controversial to show on TV but they don't seem to have a problem with Marco and his making out with his boyfriend all the time.
I am not a homophobe. I know this is life, people's choices, people's rights.I totally accept that but I am not 100% ok with my child seeing this on a kid's network.
Still as much as I am pro-life I still feel the episode where Manny has to have the abortion should have been shown if they think it is appropriate to show homosexual teens kissing.

reginafilangie

What the heck?! Emma's slutty?! What did her mom think of her daughter getting an STD? Jimmy's paralyzed? So is he in a wheelchair, in the hospital, off the show, what? This show is crazy!

Oh yeah, who's Jay and Rick?

Oayis

Wow, you really are deprived.

Eh, Emma's not slutty, per se. She just likes to get around. She got worried after seeing that Jay's girlfriend, Alex, got gonorrhea. So she asks if she can get tested. It's not known if she did get the STD or not, though.
Jimmy got shot by RICK (details later), and he is now in a wheelchair.

Rick: Rick dated Terri, but he has anger problems and got Terri in a coma (Teri is now not on the show anymore). From this, Terri leaves Degrassi and goes to a private school. Rick also disappears.

He comes back to Degrassi, and everyone hates him, because of what he did to Terri. However, as it progresses, he makes some friends (if not, acquaitances) with Toby, Emma, and Jimmy. Rick also forms a crush on Emma.

Anyway, later in the school year, there is a competition on TV like a quiz bowl at Degrassi. Emma, Rick, & Jimmy are on it. HOWEVER, Jay, Alex, & Spinner still can't forgive him. So they pull this prank on him. When Rick answers the final answer, a bucket of mustard will fall on him. He storms off, going to the boys bathroom. Later in the day, Spinner and Jay walk into the bathroom, and see Rick's feet in the stalls. To make him think they didn't do it, they purposely say that Jimmy did it. On the way home, he bumps into Emma in the hall. He tries to kiss her, but Emma resists.

From this, he leaves home, and gets a gun. His first victim was going to be Paige, but when she says that he didn't deserve the humility, he puts back the gun into his backpack. His next victim is Jimmy. Rick says to him that he thought they were friends, and Jimmy, of course, has no idea what he's talking about. Rick pulls out the gun, and Jimmy tried to run, but Rick shoots him in the back, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. Emma, Sean, & Toby later come walking down the hall, and Rick confronts Emma with a gun towards her. Sean tries to wrestle the gun out of his hands, and a shot goes off. It's a bit unclear what happens, but it could be that when Sean and Rick were fighting, Sean accidentally pulled the trigger which shot Rick. However, it's unclear. Rick inevitably dies in the end.

See: http://degrassitngho.com/Characters/Rick.htm

Jay: We have seen Jay before in previous seasons. Sean previously hung out with him and Alex and their crew when he acted all gangsta (remember when Sean stole Simpson's laptop).

However, he's featured more in Season 4, where he possibly gives Emma an STD and he gets expelled when Spinner tells Mrs. Haziltakos (sp.), who is now the new principal ever since Raditch was fired, that he , along with Jay, pulled the prank on Rick. They both get expelled.

***

Oh, and some more spoilers.
Paige has a relationship with a teacher's assistant, but only Manny and Hazel know. However, when the relatioship interferes with cheerleading, Manny exposes the secret (there's more to it, I'll explain later).

"Jay & Silent Bob" film a movie at Degrassi, entitled Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh!, and Kevin Smith (Silent Bob) falls in love with Caitlin Ryan.

Ashley leaves for London for a music program in the summer, and Craig tries to follow her, but Ashley stops him and tells him that the reason that she's going is for some space. His bipolar disorder becomes even worse.

Spinner and Manny get "close", which makes Paige break up with Spinner.

Ellie's mom is a drunk, as we find out, and she almost burns the house down. From this, Ellie goes and lives with Sean, and when her mom finds out, she gets pissed, but understands why when Ellie tells her about her problems with drinking.

****

Whew, that's a lot. ::faints::

darkrainbows

i watch it on CTV.does anyone know when the new seaon starts? i last episode i saw was when Sean decided to stay with his parents after Rick got shot and killed.

Oayis

They've started filming for the 5th Season already.

The first episode of the 5th season is called Venus, Part 1.
It will air on September 19, 2005 in Canada. (Tentative Date)
In the US, it'll air on October 7, 2005. (Tentative Date)
Here's a description of it:
"Manny is anxious to pursue an acting career. Unfortunately, she is not prepared for the harsh realities of living out her Hollywood dream. Meanwhile, Craig receives an unwelcome birthday present from Ashley."

Here's a list of the titles for some of the episodes of the 5th season.

Has anyone realized that almost all of the titles for D:tNG are songs from the '80s?

Oayis

I think that it's good that parents watch it with their kids with some of the episodes, because there are some aspects that may not have been known to them. So, it's a good way for parents to explain. Kudos to you!

Also, I agree that The-N has a bad way of choosing which episodes to be played. I, for one, do not mind that there is a homosexual part of it. I mean, it's in it. However, I think that they shouldn't have taken out the abortion episode, because although they're trying to "shield" us, it's not going to help. I say we should know about this when we come to an appropiate age. I started watched Degrassi:tNG when it first premiered, and I didn't understand some parts of it, but it was good for me to learn about them, because when I learned more about it, it gave me a better understanding. For instance, they didn't originally air the "pilot" in which Emma was almost raped, nor did they originally air the episode at the end of season one where Ashley takes a drug. I didn't understand why they didn't air them in the order it was meant for, because they aired them later. I remember along with the episode of Ashley taking drugs, the actor who plays Sean (Dan Clark), also gave some information, which helped clear things up for me.

I also feel that Canada obviously is more lenient to what is aired. They aired the abortion episode, they didn't edit the finished episodes (when Degrassi aired in the US, they cut the scenes with cursing or anything else "inappropiate"), and they didn't take out episodes.