Degrassi (franchise) - The Next Generation

The Next Generation

Almost a decade later, the Degrassi series has been revived by Stephen Stohn as Degrassi: The Next Generation. During the series Degrassi Junior High Christine Nelson gave birth to a baby girl named Emma, who became the lead character of the fourth show. This Degrassi series deals with issues that many teenagers must face in high school. It has had a successful run thus far and has grown its own distinct cult following amongst teenagers and adults alike. This series was broadcast on CTV in Canada, prior to 2010, and MuchMusic since, and rebroadcast to the United States on the cable channel TeenNick (The N prior to 2010) and MTV, and to the Netherlands on Z@PP, to Brazil on the cable channel Multishow, to Australia on ABC3 and Nickelodeon, to Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and Chile on the cable channel MTV Latin America, and to Poland on the Canal+'s channel ZigZap.

This newer version of Degrassi has thus far dealt with more topics including online predators, suicide, censorship, gangs, self-harm, school shootings, imprisonment, rape, abuse, drugs, drinking and murder, displaying the many challenges teenagers face in high school and the early years of college.

On 15 January 2009, Program Partners, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television, announced that they have acquired the syndication rights to the show, which will start showing daily on local stations in the US during the early evening fringe hours (between 5 and 7 pm) beginning in September 2007. One of the reasons of the program's sale in syndication is that its programming content complies with federal E/I programming requirements.

The broadcast company put together the first Degrassi: The Next Generation film, titled "Degrassi Goes Hollywood" in 2009, to end the eighth season. Season 9 finished 16 July 2010 with another two hour film, titled "Degrassi Takes Manhattan."

Season 10 of Degrassi: The Next Generation premiered 19 July 2010, and marked a change in production style which saw the series switch to a telenovela/soap opera format, and for the first time, episodes airing in Canada and the United States on the same day. Season 10 also dropped the "The Next Generation" tag-line, and is now operating under simply Degrassi. Season 12 premiered 16 July 2012. 305 episodes have aired as of November 23, 2012.