Shark Bytes

I bet you ten dollars that the actors/producers were angry about the episode of when Craig attended his abusive dad's funeral in 2003 like it was the case in the "New Dick Van Dyke Show' in 1974 because of an episode being sex themed in which they weren't ready for back then.

I used to LOVE this show. Now I have no idea who these new people are, I definitely think it jumped when annoying-voiced Mia came along and Darcy went "bad" and the schools merged. I still like to watch the older episodes with the original cast, though every time I watch them, I wonder if the show jumped every time Craig sang.

The Lakehurst-Degrassi merger. And when Manny and Emma go to University. Its not even the same show anymore.

Degrassi here jumps the shark with season 8. OMG it is seriously time to say CANCELLATION (towards the-n). Just like Lola said.
These writers are basically trying to recreate other old existing characters like the infusion of Liberty and Emma in Darcy little sister and the appearance of the fast looking Indian chick similar to Manny, Some guy who is supposedly in the Closet like the reincarnation of Marco. Sheer stupidity if they have to steal from thier previous story lines.
Will they just accept that this show is over.

About the episode of Degrassi in early 2003 of Craig going to his abusive dad's funeral that would mean that I would find it improper in 2003 for it to occur like Johnnie Cochran saying that about 1995 during the OJ Simpson trial that you could tell if someone is African American by the tone of voice because in 1973 Brian and Dennis Wilson because they were victims of child abuse of the Beach Boys didn't go to their father Murray's funeral, Craig going to his abusive father's funeral is as unexplainable like in the Twin Cities Bishop Craig Johnson being bugged by lesser facilites for the disabled compared to the kickstart for it in the 1970's. Craig did not have to go to his abusive dad's funeral.

Degrassi TGN jumped the shark at season 8(if i remember correctly)..Jimmy was going for the stem cell stuff in Europe..then the next episodes he is shown graduating with the crutches? hmmm...then the whole Elley and Marco thing wouldve been a good twist, but all of a sudden they are off the show? Nothing is consistent now, and its very lame. Where is the continuity? Where is Toby? And i agree, Emma turned from a "Save the whales" thing to horny teen??
RIP JT...The new episodes sucked and I absolutely hate Holly J...anyone agree?

Degrassi was amazing until Jimmy got shot then after that I dont know what happned to it. After that they had some good chracters leave then some stupid over-played drama. I miss the old characters when EVERYONE was in high school it needs to end like now!

As I read through the comments, I saw an issue that stood out, and wanted to contribute my humble opinion. (Please forgive my short memory, as I cannot remember which poster pointed out the issue, but here goes…..)

I whole heartedly agree that Emma’s transformation from tree-hugging goody two-shoes to bimbo supreme was very confusing! And yes, the writers should have done a better job as far as giving the viewers some insight as to what brought on her sudden personality change.

I have seen those sort of severe personality changes happen several times in my teenage real life (way back in the day!) You have from my observation 3 types:

Type 1 – Is usually a nice girl with parental units who are respected in the community, so she dares not “act out” and defy them. She is usually friends with a girl who is a confirmed bimbo already. The two very different young ladies are friends for that very reason: they are both so different that they compliment one another. The bimbo makes life fun for the nice girl who lives vicariously thru her. And the nice girl in turn makes the bimbo look a little better. (Folks figure, “Hey, if Nice Girl is friends with Bimbo, then Bimbo couldn’t be all bad”!)

Type 2 – Is usually your average girl, who is friends with another average girl, and they both decide to go boy crazy at the same time and hop on the Freak Train together. They both suffer from “I’ll Do It If You Do It” syndrome. The compare all their grimy notes later in marathon phone conversations. (LOL)

Type 3 – (Emma and Manny’s situation) Is usually a nice girl (A) who is friends with another nice girl (B). A goes thru a hurtful, emotional metamorphosis, (usually via dating and being dumped by some fellow she really liked, -or- being victimized by the “In Clique”) and in hindsight decides that she can not only prevent herself from being hurt again, but also decides that she can control who is attracted to her by upgrading. (Via a serious makeover – physically and mentally (her dating approach). While A means her upgrade for good, it usually does get out of hand. In the meantime, B, now feeling dowdy and ugly, is jealous, fascinated, and righteously indignant of A’s newfound look and attention. B will usually look to out do A, with serious repercussions and damage to both of their reputations and friendship.

I said all that to say this: It would have really helped for the writers to explore Emma’s inner thoughts and feelings, b/c it makes perfect sense that Emma would have felt left in the dust and dumped by Manny! Instead they just made it look like that Emma was at first harshly judging her, and then they made it look as if Emma had just lost her mind! In all actuality, Emma was probably jealous and resentful! The writers need to do more to make those sorts of things clear and bring them to life.

Lola,
Find me that petition and I'll be happy to be the 2nd person to sign it!

The show USED to appeal to all people, gay, black, white, hispanic, asian, heterosexual, rich, poor ect. It covered things that people usually don't talk much about, like mental disorders and bullying (on a more realistic level) however the show is now a disgrace to television and I wouldn't watch it if the-n was the only running television station. It's THAT bad. The show should have NEVER made Mia, Peter (*shivers*), the two lame boys, ALL of the Lakehurt characters, ect main characters, that was probably the biggest mistake of the entire series! This is one of the MAIN reasons why Degrassi has JTS. I mean, the show slightly started to jump the shark when Emma started giving head (all out of nowhere) to Jay. With Manny, her promiscuity was explained and we fully understood everything that was going on, Emma going from holier-than-thou "let's all save the whales" to a deep-throater, flashing her body to the school, and turning into a pseudo-feminist was NOT expected nor was it fully explained. The new charcters are terrible, their existence on the show has turned the entire Degrassi sitcom shittier than it was before. It's complete overkill. A show should have a BEGINNING and an END...Degrassi doesn't HAVE an end, and I'm not so sure the writers know how to end it. This show should have ended when Jimmy and Spinner became friends again and their class graduated. Holly J being on the show does not explain the incessant mentioning of the the non-visible Heather Sinclair either...both of whom are entirely unnecessary (but I suppose they need a bitch to be in the school to harass all the other kids and since Paige is gone....).

The story began with Joey, Emma's mom, Craig, Sean, Manny, Snake, Emma, Terri, Toby, Libery, Marco, Paige, Ashley, Hazel, JT, Jay, Ellie, Alex, Spinner, and Jimmy and it should have STAYED that way. Adding all of these new characters only to basically recycle the plot of the earlier seasons of Degrassi is stupid and redundant.

The writers of this show should call it a wrap. They've been doing the Degrassi thing for 10+ years, that's commendable for any teen sitcom...however, they need to know when to say "the end". The Degrassi series NEEDS to end. People are over it....

I'd be the first one to sign a petition to get this show OFF of the air...

There's a LOT of shark jumps but I'll start with the good things about this sequel to the classic Canadian icon:

1. Marco and Spinner had by far the best actors in the history of the show playing them. (Their dynamic during the "Spinner caused the shooting" debacle was the one thing that made this period in Degrassi history watchable.)

2. Getting rid of Raddich was LONG overdue. (Look at all the tragedy that went down under his watch while he clearly could care less in both incarnations of Degrassi and tell me a real principal would have lasted this long.)

Now on to the REALLY bad shark jumps:

1. Kevin Smith, nuff said.

2. At what point did Degrassi become the largest sausage party on tv? Having a gay character or two is one thing but almost HALF the cast has "come out" in the last 6 years and we are at the double figure mark. Has anyone heard of overkill?

3. ALL of the gay characters were one dimentional. Maybe this is how the gay community is right now but why must one's sexual orientation define them?

4. How the hell did Craig become this big superstar and why the hell did all the girls love him so much. The dude was EASILY the biggest douchebag on the show and treated EVERYONE like crap. He was also the worst actor on the show.

5. The Emma/Manny double standard: Manny was a bit of a wild girl and many a time it got her in trouble but when Emma went self destructive she was NEVER called on it. Why is that?

6. The Lakewood era: Can you say Garry's Olde Towne Tavern?

7. Killing JT: However, turning him into Craig lite during Liberty's pregnancy was worse.

8. EVERYONE who had sex who WASN'T GAY either got pregnant, AIDS or another STD, PERIOD.

They liked to say they were groundbreaking by having the first openly gay character as a regular on a teen dramatic series . But what did they do with Marco? They quickly turned him into a one-dimensional stereotype who liked art, was clothes-obsessed and kept chasing after cheating athlete! Boo!

So now I guess I'm just going to have to accept that Rick's dead, then.
But i did like that he isn't completely forgotten about. When Rick died, he got about an episode of attention and a five-minute funeral when he impacted a lot at the school. Then, when everyone got used to Jimmy being in a wheelchair, he was completely forgotten for about 3 seasons. Especially after JT died. It made me really bad to see everyone piss and moan and guilt over JT dying when they should have been guilting over the fact that every single person that was friends with JT caused Rick to be pushed over the edge. No one but Spinner paid for what they did and he already had the most guilt (because of Jimmy) and the least hand in the paint. It really pissed me off.
But Curse of Degrassi was really cool in that everyone really remembered what happened. Spinner apologized, even if Halloween Degrassi might not really be...canon-ish.
I loved Curse of Degrassi.

While this show can in no way compare with the original Degrassi (one of my all time favorite shows) the first couple seasons of Degrassi TNG were excellent. The kids were actually played by KIDS, and the storylines had them dealing with real life problems, much like in the original series. I don't know when it happened but suddenly the show became one big drama fest. I'd have to agree with the majority of everyone here and say that the show probably jumped when Terri left but it became GODAWFUL when Degrassi merged with Lakehurst and JT died. And Craig being this major superstar? Yeah right. The show has become unwatchable, which is unfortunate because it was once a really great follow-up to the original.

Degrassi's had many jump the shark moments over the last few seasons (Kevin Smith, JT, graduation), but it's descent from a realistic portrayal of teenagers into an "OC" clone started way back in Season 3 when Terry left the show. That character was probably the closest to a normal teenager - she wasn't glamorous or confident -- instead she was insecure and desperate for acceptance. Part of the appeal of the old Degrassi was that the actors looked like normal teens, not like Abercrombie & Fitch models.

The new show was still watchable for a few seasons after Terry's departure, but it was never the same. There was a lot that could have been done with her character, but she was tossed aside (along with Toby, although he lingered around) while Degrassi focused on the pretty/popular crowd. The show now is pretty much unrecognizable. Very disappointing.