Country of origin Canada Original network CTV | No. of episodes 22 | |
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Original release 29 September 2002 (2002-09-29) – 23 February 2003 (2003-02-23) | ||
The second season of Degrassi: The Next Generation commenced airing in Canada on 29 September 2002, concluded on 23 February 2003 and contains twenty-two episodes. Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian serial teen drama television series. This season depicts the lives of a group of eighth and ninth grade school children as they deal with some of the challenges and issues teenagers face such as child abuse, hormones, date rape, body image, hate crimes, sexual identity, alcoholism, protests, and relationships. This is the first season to feature high school students from grade nine and the last season to feature middle school students.
Contents
Filming began 10 June 2002, and continued into November 2002. Every episode is named after a song from the 1980s.
The second season aired Sundays at 7:00 p.m. on CTV, a Canadian terrestrial television network, and premiered with a sixty-minute special, "When Doves Cry", which form the first two episodes of season two. Additional episodes were also aired on Fridays during January 2003. In the United States, it was broadcast on The N, a digital cable network aimed at teenagers and young adults. The season was released on DVD as a four disc boxed set on 21 June 2005 by Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment in Canada, and by FUNimation Entertainment in the US. Registered users of the Canadian and US iTunes Stores are also able purchase and download the season for playback on home computers and certain iPods.
A critical and popular success, the second season of Degrassi: The Next Generation was the most-watched Canadian drama series for Canada's younger viewers aged two to thirty-four. It was nominated in eight categories at the Gemini Awards, four categories at the Directors Guild of Canada Awards and the National Council on Family Relations Media Awards, and in two categories at the Young Artist Awards. Four episodes were also nominated at the Awards of Excellence Gala, hosted by the Alliance for Children and Television, what recognize quality Canadian children’s programming.
Cast
The second season features fifteen actors who receive star billing with all thirteen of them returning from the previous season. Returning cast members include:
Joining the main cast this season:
Amanda Stepto and Andrea Lewis continue their recurring roles as Christine "Spike" Nelson and Hazel Aden and Stacey Farber, Adamo Ruggiero, Melissa DiMarco, and Katie Lai are given recurring roles as grade-nine students Ellie Nash and Marco Del Rossi, science teacher Daphne Hatzilakos, and 7th-grader Kendra Mason, respectively. Alex Steele, who appeared briefly in "Mother and Child Reunion" as Joey's daughter, Angela Jeremiah, returns in a recurring role. Tom Melissis and Jennifer Podemski are introduced playing Mr. Perino and Ms. Sauve, and Linlyn Lue returns to play Ms. Kwan.
Siluck Saysanasy who played Yick Yu makes a cameo in "When Doves Cry". Anais Granofsky and Stacie Mistysyn, who had acted as Lucy Fernandez and Caitlin Ryan in the preceding series, return to the franchise when they guest-star in "White Wedding".
Crew
The season was produced by Epitome Pictures and CTV. The executive producers are Epitome Pictures' CEO and Degrassi: The Next Generation co-creator Linda Schuyler, and her husband, Epitome president Stephen Stohn. Degrassi: The Next Generation co-creator Yan Moore served as the creative consultant and David Lowe was the line producer. Aaron Martin served as the executive story editor. James Hurst served as the story editor, with Shelley Scarrow as the junior story editor. The writers for the season are Tassie Cameron, Craig Cornell, James Hurst, Sean Jara, Aaron Martin, Yan Moore, Susin Nielsen, Clare Ross Dunn, Shelley Scarrow, Jana Sinyor, David Sutherland, and Brendon Yorke. The season's directors are Bruce McDonald, Philip Earnshaw, Paul Fox, Anais Granofsky, and Stefan Scaini.
Reception
Well received by critics and audience alike, Degrassi: The Next Generation's second season became the most-watched domestic drama series for Canada's three younger age groups of children aged two to eleven, teenagers aged twelve to seventeen and adults aged eighteen to thirty-four.
The season was not without controversy, however. There are a number of episodes with scenes of one teenager being beaten by his father. When reviewing those episodes, the Ryerson University of Toronto said the show "stands on its own" in reflecting "the kinds of issues [teenagers are] facing in their own lives ... handled with care and consideration, without all the glamour of a Hollywood soap opera." A two-part storyline about date-rape proved too risqué for The N officials, who delayed its broadcasting until suitable edits could be made, and other special treatments were available in the form of panel discussions, online parental guides and separately filmed introductions. The Gazette said, "You've got to hand it to the creative team behind CTV's justly celebrated teen series, Degrassi: The Next Generation. They're nothing if not a clever bunch", and Brian Orloff of the St. Petersburg Times praised the series as it "stays in touch with teens' lives".
By the end of 2003, the season had been nominated for or won several awards. The Gemini Awards named Degrassi: The Next Generation the "Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series" and nominated it for "Best Short Dramatic Program". It won the "Best Interactive" category for its connection with the official website, which also won in the "Best Website" category. Bruce McDonald took home the Gemini award for "Best Direction in a Children's or Youth Program or Series" for the episode "Weird Science", and "White Wedding" earned a nomination for Stephen Withrow in the "Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Series". "Careless Whisper" garnered Aaron Martin and Craig Cornell a nomination for "Best Writing for a Children's or Youths' Program or Series", and Jake Epstein's performance in "Tears Are Not Enough" secured him the award for "Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series". At the second annual Directors Guild of Canada Awards, "White Wedding" received recognition for Bruce McDonald in the "Outstanding Achievement in Direction - Television Series" category, and Stephen Stanley in the "Outstanding Achievement in Production Design - Short Form" category. "When Doves Cry" won in team category for "Outstanding Achievement in a Television Series - Children's", and earned Stephen Withrow an honor in the category for "Outstanding Achievement in Picture Editing - Short Form". Jake Epstein's acting earned him a second award when the Young Artist Awards gave him the award for "Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series Leading Young Actor", and the young cast was nominated for "Best Ensemble in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama)".
Episodes
CTV originally aired episode fourteen, "Careless Whisper", two days before episodes twelve and the thirteen, the hour-long special "White Wedding". Episode eighteen, "Dressed In Black" aired before episode seventeen, "Relax".
In the US, The N aired season two in two blocks. The first block aired 7 October 2002 to 13 January 2003. The second block of episodes aired 11 July 2003 to 29 August 2003, but the episodes did not air in the order intended by the producers. The season finale of season one, "Jagged Little Pill", had been held over, and was shown in an edited format as this season's third episode, along with season two's true third episode to form an hour-long special. Due to the sensitive subject of rape, episodes seven and eight, the "Shout" two-part special, were held over until 11 July 2003 and opened the second half of the season creating an hour-and-a-half long special with episode twenty, "How Soon Is Now?". Because of plot continuity, episode nine, "Mirror in the Bathroom", was also held back and had its first US airing in the second week of the second block of the season, before episodes fifteen through nineteenteen continued to air in the correct order, followed by episodes nineteen and twenty, "Tears Are Not Enough, Parts One and Two" which were broadcast as an hour-long season finale. In re-runs and syndication, the episodes have all aired in the order the producers intended.
This list is by order of production, as they appear on the DVD.
DVD release
The DVD release of season two was released by Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment in Canada, and by FUNimation Entertainment in the US on 21 June 2005 after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including deleted scenes, bloopers and behind-the-scenes featurettes. in Australia Season 2 is currently being released by Umbrella Entertainment.