Line #20 Series/DegrassiHigh


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6	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bnwqymwixztgtnmy1ni00nmfhltlkmjutzgzinwfjzmzjywywxkeyxkfqcgdeqxvymjczotu2nti_v1.jpg]]
7	[[caption-width-right:350:Everybody can succeed, in yourself you must believe!]]
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9	''Degrassi High'', the immediate follow-up of ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'', that aired on Creator/{{CBC}} from November 6, 1989 to January 28, 1991, with a total of 28 episodes across 2 seasons in a DramaticHalfHour format.
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11	Being a direct sequel of ''Junior High'', everyone who was left off from the end of that series is back and are now in high school, ready to confront more serious problems. Being a ''Degrassi'' show, it focused on the day-to-day problems of being a teen, such as bargaining for more freedom from your parents, preparing for life after graduation, and (especially) the perils and pitfalls of NoGoingSteady. Every few episodes, a monster problem would hit, like AIDS, a kid running away from home, and so on. However, the cast were such a DysfunctionJunction that the day-to-day episodes could feel almost as soap-opera and dramatic as the heavy-hitter ones. Without exception, every single storyline had a follow-up later. In many ways, it serves as a bridge between the individual episode focus of ''JuniorHigh'' and the sprawling SoapOpera of ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration.'' But in spite of that, it was far more continuity-heavy than its successsors with its ThreeMonthRule and HeelFaceRevolvingDoor.
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13	At its best, Degrassi High turned a large cast into TrueCompanions with a bond so real you could taste it, and a school that felt more real than almost any other on TV. It still has a ton of die-hard fans who love it like ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fans love their continuity. At its worst, it could be frustrating stew of too many SpearCarrier characters and repetitive romantic subplots, made worse by regular RetCon. The most striking innovation of the show was that all characters had SoapOpera adventures even when the camera wasn't on them, and time visibly passed each episode -- which made everything fit together, but also meant a ton of SecondHandStorytelling.
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15	The series ended with a GrandFinale movie, ''[[Film/DegrassiSchoolsOut School's Out]]'', which caused an outcry by going DarkerAndEdgier than anything ''Degrassi'' (or almost [[Series/BeverlyHills90210 any other]] [[Series/SavedByTheBell teen show]]) had done at the time, with tons of FanService (from actors who were real teenagers), drugs and alcohol, sex scenes, and characters turning very unpleasant (themes that teen dramas would later be DEFINED by, mind you). Most notable was using real cursing in a show that had never had it before -- one foul-mouthed line became an instant MemeticMutation. Like many DarkerAndEdgier shows, fans tend to either love it or hate it. (Of course, compared to its successor, it may be quaint in some ways -- and yet, still DarkerAndEdgier in others.)
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17	The series was followed up with ''Series/DegrassiTalks'', a documentary special where ''Degrassi'' actors interviewed people for real stories of drug addiction, domestic abuse, etc. interspersed with relevant clips from the show.
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20	!!This show provides examples of:
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22	* ADayInTheLimeLight: As is par for the course with ''Degrassi'', characters get a plot centered around themselves.
23	* TheAllegedCar: Clutch's Mustang II, Joey's older (but cooler if no less junky) Mustang Sportsroof, Snake's parents' huge, rusty '76 Oldsmobile, Spike's mom's Lada, Wheels' heavily beat-up Chevy Malibu wagon. It gives the impression that the production could only afford Alleged Cars for the characters to drive.
24	%%* AnAesop
25	%%* AllForNothing: Constantly.
26	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Just like in ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'', it's very frequent.
27	** Heather's crush for Wheels.
28	** Alex likes Tessa, who has a crush on Joey (who doesn't seem to notice her until TheMovie).
29	** Arthur loves Caitlin who is interested in Claude.
30	** Spike likes Snake, but he has still a crush on Michelle (ironically since in ''The Next Generation'', Snake and Spike are a married couple).
31	* AlphaBitch: Averted when Stephanie Kaye left ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'' -- this may be the only teen SoapOpera without one.
32	** Amy and especially Allison though they are only minor characters.
33	%%* AntiHero: Wheels.
34	* AscendedExtra: Maya, Michelle, Diana, Alex, Dwayne and Tessa. All of them were minor or background characters in ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh''. Dwayne was a one-off (and also a background character) in Season 2 in Junior High.
35	* BadBadActing: Some of the teenage cast fall susceptible to this because they weren't experienced actors. This is also a reason some newer fans tend to write off the older Degrassi no matter how entertaining the show still actually is.
36	%%* BetaCouple: Simon and Alexa.
37	%%* BettyAndVeronica
38	%%* BigEgoHiddenDepths
39	%%* BirdsOfAFeather: Simon and Alexa.
40	%%* BittersweetEnding: Almost half the episodes.
41	%%* {{Blackmail}}
42	* BreakTheHaughty: Dwayne. Poor, poor Dwayne when he gets HIV. One good thing to come out of this is that he befriends Joey.
43	* BrokenBird: Liz at the end of the day, having been sexually abused as a child.
44	* TheBully: Dwayne (initially) and his minions, Nick and Tabi, although they are mostly only shown bullying Joey and a bunch of non-notable background characters most of the time. (Tabi towards Melanie and Kathleen in that one episode not withstanding)
45	%%* CantGetAwayWithNuthin
46	* CrapsackWorld: At the end of the day, Degrassi seems like a high school you would actually want to avoid. Nearly everyone has problems and conflicts.
47	%%* DarkerAndEdgier: ''School's Out''.
48	* DarkFic: ''School's Out'' according to those who find it overdone.
49	* {{Deconstruction}}: ''School's Out'' according to those who think it's an appropriate BittersweetEnding.
50	* DemotedToExtra:
51	** Arthur and Yick. Along with Stephanie Kaye and Joey, they were the main stars of ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'' (especially in season 1), and were often involved in a subplot in every episode. But no longer cute little kids, they were relegated to minor background players in Degrassi High.
52	** Melanie. She has even less screen time than Yick and Arthur in Degrassi High.
53	%%* DiabolusExMachina
54	* DirtyCoward: Claude, who leaves Caitlin stuck on a fence when escaping police and then uses his suicide as essentially an act of revenge.
55	%%* TheDitz: Alexa and Simon - a rare ditz couple.
56	* DomesticAbuse: Scott, Kathleen's boyfriend, both verbally and physically, especially involving a play. Melanie unwittingly stumbles across one of the more physical instances and tries to tell Kathleen that she is being abused.
57	%%* DownerEnding: Almost half the episodes.
58	%%* DrunkDriver: Wheels.
59	* {{Expy}}: Diana becomes a DarkerAndEdgier version of Voula from ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh''.
60	* FanDisservice: In ''School's Out'', Joey, who is short and scrawny, gets two separate shots of his naked butt.
61	** Tessa and Alexa seem to enjoy it.
62	* FanService: Tessa in a yellow dress making out with Joey in ''School's Out''.
63	%%* FawltyTowersPlot
64	* FormerChildStar: RealLife example: of the show's actors who stayed in acting, most were hopelessly type-cast. A few of them even ended up playing the same characters on ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration''; although this would likely fall under CastingGag. Luckily, with the exception of Neil Hope, there were no casualties.
65	%%* FreudianExcuse
66	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: While Joey and Caitlin are sharing an emotional moment at the talent show, Wheels is dancing in the background in his Mexican outfit (complete with a huge sombrero covering his head).
67	%%* GentleGiant: Snake.
68	%%* {{Gonk}}: Nick.
69	%%* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Dwayne.
70	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Snake, Joey, and Wheels.
71	** Melanie and Kathleen.
72	** Spike and Liz, as in ''Junior High''.
73	%%* HopeSpot: In the first episode.
74	* HustlingTheMark: In one episode, the cool kids invite nerdy, insecure Arthur to their poker party so they can take him for all he's worth. He's totally out of his depth -- at one point, he asks, "does three of a kind beat a full house?" But he suddenly starts winning, and by the last hand, it's down to Arthur and the host ...and Arthur wins almost all the money by bluffing when his hand is complete junk. The cool kids are amazed, then Arthur grins and says, "'Does three of a kind beat a full house?' You guys are so gullible.".
75	* ImagineSpot: Spike has one where she is laughed out of the library for asking out Snake.
76	* {{Irony}}: Wheels lost his parents to a drunk driver, [[spoiler: he ends up taking a life while driving intoxicated.]] more ironic being that in the episode Pa-arty in season 3 of Degrassi Junior High, Wheels [[spoiler: refuses to drink, saying the reason was that his parents died of drunk driver.]] Snake even LampShades this in "[[TheMovie School's Out]]".
77	%%* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy
78	* {{Jerkass}}: Dwayne's minions and later Wheels after his FaceHeelTurn.
79	%%* JerkJock: Dale.
80	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Joey. In ''School's Out'' he's more of a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk.
81	* KarmaHoudini: The only penalty Luke ever faces is losing some money.
82	* KudzuPlot: The use of SecondHandStorytelling means we simply never find out how some things happened.
83	* LiteralGenie: A complicated one in ''School's Out''.
84	** Joey wanted to get laid. He got Tessa and Caitlin.
85	** Wheels didn't want to live with his grandparents. He isn't living with them at the end.
86	** Caitlin wanted to choose between university and love. Joey made the choice very easy for her.
87	** Snake wanted a lifesaving fantasy, but he still didn't lose his virginity.
88	%%* LivingInAFurnitureStore
89	* LoonyFan: RealLife example: Sara Ballingall, who played Melanie, was stalked for ''six years'' by a crazed Australian fan who kept an armory in his house, sent increasingly threatening letters, claimed Ballingall was the one wronging him, and ran a Degrassi fansite. Ballingall is nowhere to be found at any fan events or conventions.
90	* LoveTriangle: Joey, Caitlin, and Claude were the main one but ''School's Out'' has the much more infamous triangle of Joey, Caitlin and Tessa.
91	* MagicalNegro: BLT, Maya, and Patrick, a rare Magical Irishman.
92	%%* TheMagicPokerEquation: Subverted in "The All-Nighter".
93	* TheMasochismTango: Joey and Caitlin, despite being deeply in love, would clearly make a horrible couple in the end, and some characters point this out in the show.
94	* NaiveEverygirl: Melanie, although she's a bit toned-down since ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh''. Michelle also.
95	* {{Narm}}: Despite how ahead of its time the show actually is, some people may not be able to get past the narminess the show can exhibit.
96	%%* NoGoingSteady
97	* NoRespectGuy: Snake in ''School's Out''. It made no sense when you consider he had multiple girls interested in him all through junior high and high school, and was respected by everyone.
98	%%* TheOjou: Lucy.
99	%%* PluckyGirl: Spike and Michelle.
100	* PrecisionFStrike: The F-word is used ''twice'' in near-succession during the climax of "[[Film/DegrassiSchoolsOut School's Out]]". Extremely jarring in that the show hardly ever used even ''mild'' swearing. Notable in that it's the first use of the f-word on Canadian television.
101	* PretentiousPronunciation: Pretentious Claude insists on having his name pronounced in the same manner as "clone".
102	* ProductPlacement: Skippy peanut butter, Canon cameras, and Dipps granola bars.
103	* PutOnABus: Many. However L.D. is still mentioned by Lucy even in the last season.
104	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: the opening sequence has a scene of Arthur's bike getting smeared with peanut butter -- part of a bullying plot that was canceled when Arthur's actor suddenly hit his growth spurt.
105	%%* RetCon
106	%%* RomanticFalseLead: Claude.
107	* SchoolNewspaperNewshound: Lucy is a school ''film'' newshound.
108	%%* SecondHandStorytelling
109	%%* ASimplePlan
110	* SlumberParty: Where Melanie infamously blurts out Kathleen's personal problems while laughing on weed.
111	%%* SmugSnake: Luke.
112	* SoapBoxSadie: A whopping four of them -- Caitlin, Claude, Liz, and Lucy, and each one with a distinct style.
113	* SoundtrackDissonance: The end credits theme can have this effect on the show's Cliffhangers. A standout moment is the end of Bad Blood, Part 1, when Dwayne learns that he's been exposed to HIV.
114	%%* SpearCarrier
115	* SpoilerOpening: The credits spoil a few things; far worse is the decision to put the ''Series/DegrassiTalks'' episodes (of which include clips from ''Degrassi High'' on the ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'' [=DVDs=], making it impossible to watch them in the order you see the discs without spoiling the biggest surprises.
116	* StarCrossedLovers: Joey and Caitlin.
117	* StylisticSuck - showcased spectacularly in the Talent Show auditions, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdC5lOHkEZ8&feature=relmfu
118	%%* SmallNameBigEgo: Joey.
119	* TeenDrama: Along with ''Degrassi Junior High'', considered the real TropeMaker. While most teen drama history narratives tend to pinpoint ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'' as the beginning of the genre, others (particularly with a less American-centric view) point out that ''Degrassi High'' was really the originator of the genre.
120	* TerribleTrio: Dwayne, Tabi, and Nick, although Dwayne falls out with them after revealing he has HIV.
121	* TookALevelInJerkass: Wheels and, to a lesser extent, Yick. Wheels gets much worse in TheMovie, and so does Joey.
122	* TookALevelInKindness: Kathleen, especially after being abused by Scott.
123	** Tabi, Dwayne's female crony, has a change of heart after he reveals his HIV status and asks him to dance at the prom.
124	* ThoseTwoGuys: Amy and Allison, the closest we get to an AlphaBitch archetype in this particular season, and are never seen by themselves most of the time.
125	* TheUnfairSex: Joey and Caitlin both cheated on each other at different points. While Joey's affair with Tessa was rightfully viewed as him being in the wrong, Joey never discovers that Caitlin went out with Claude and kissed him at least once before their first relationship ended. This occurs in again in ''The Next Generation'' where Caitlin drunkenly makes out with Kevin Smith. Both times, Caitlin is portrayed sympathetically.
126	%%* ValleyGirl: Amy and Allison.
127	* VariationsOnAThemeSong: The theme song for here is more or less the same as ''Degrassi Junior High'', shifted two keys below and with a new set of lyrics. However, the end theme is basically that of ''Junior High'' but rearranged in a more late 1980s style as opposed to the synth-drenched mid-80s sound of the original.
128	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Patrick is nowhere to be seen after his argument with Spike in the library in ''Body Politics''. Shane (in his brain damageed state) is only seen in one episode, with no resolution to his story until ''Next Generation''.
129	%%* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: BLT and Michelle
130	* WildTeenParty: Like
131	%%* ZanyScheme
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Context Series / DegrassiHigh