Country of origin Canada Original network CTV | No. of episodes 22 | |
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Original release 17 September 2003 (2003-09-17) – 5 April 2004 (2004-04-05) | ||
The third season of Degrassi: The Next Generation commenced airing in Canada on 17 September 2003, concluded on 5 April 2004 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 high school freshman and sophomores as they deal with some of the challenges and issues teenagers face such as dysfunctional families, sex, homosexuality, homophobia, theft, self-harm, domestic violence, abortion, emancipation and relationships.
Contents
Every episode is named after a song from the 1980s. Filming began on 26 May 2003, and ended in November 2003.
The third season aired Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. on CTV, a Canadian terrestrial television network, and premiered with a sixty-minute special, "Father Figure", which form the first two episodes of the season. When the season returned to the schedules in January 2004 following a break over the Christmas period, it aired on Mondays at 8:30 p.m. 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 three disc boxed set on 28 March 2006 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.
The season was watched by 669,000 viewers in Canada and became the most-watched domestic drama series, while in the US it averaged 250,000 viewers an episode. It won a total of five awards from the Directors Guild of Canada Awards, the Gemini Awards and the Young Artist Awards, and was described as "groundbreaking", "bold", and the show others in the same genre "should take a cue from", although that groundbreaking boldness caused two episodes of the season to be banned from US television screens for three years and when it was finally aired, it was rated "TV-14," even though more intense episodes still received Degrassi's usual "TV-PG" in the United States.
Cast
The third season features twenty actors who receive star billing with all fifteen of them returning from the previous season. Returning cast members include:
Joining the main cast are Stacey Farber and Adamo Ruggiero as Ellie Nash (13 episodes) and Marco Del Rossi (15 episodes), who were introduced in recurring roles the previous season. Amanda Stepto and Andrea Lewis, who have been recurring for two seasons are promoted to the main cast as Spike Nelson (11 episodes) and Hazel Aden (15 episodes). Stacie Mistysyn makes a permanent return to her Degrassi franchise role as Caitlin Ryan (8 episodes) after appearing sporadically throughout the first two seasons.
Introduced in recurring roles are Ephraim Ellis as Rick Murray, John Bregar as Dylan Michalchuk, Deanna Casaluce as Alex Nuñez, Mike Lobel as Jay Hogart, and Daniel Morrison as Chris Sharpe. Alex Steele, Melissa DiMarco, Katie Lai, Linlyn Lue and Jennifer Podemski returns to play Angela Jeremiah, Daphne Hatzilakos, Kendra Mason, Ms. Kwan and Ms. Sauve, respectively.
From Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, Cathy Keenan, Angela Deiseach and Maureen Deiseach reprise their roles as Liz O'Rourke, Erica Farrell and Heather Farrell for the opening episode, "Father Figure". Shane McKay was played by Jonathan Torrens rather than Bill Parrott, the original DJH actor, and Neil Hope returns to play Wheels in the seventh episode, "Should I Stay or Should I Go?".
Crew
The season was produced by Epitome Pictures in association CTV. Funding was provided by The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit, the Canadian Television Fund and BCE-CTV Benefits, The Shaw Television Broadcast Fund, the Independent Production Fund, Mountain Cable Program, and RBC Royal Bank.
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 is the line producer. Aaron Martin is the executive story editor. At the beginning of the season James Hurst served as the story editor, with Shelley Scarrow as junior story editor; by the end of the season they had been promoted to senior story editor and story editor, respectively. Brandon Yorke also served as a story editor, and Nicole Demerse became a story editor midway though the season. The editor is Stephen Withrow, Stephen Stanley is the production designer, and the cinematographers are Gavin Smith, David Perrauit, and Phil Earnshaw.
The writers for the season are Christine Alexiou, Tassie Cameron, Sean Carley, Craig Cornell, Nicole Demerse, James Hurst, Sean Jara, Aaron Martin, Yan Moore, Shelley Scarrow, Rebecca Schechter, Jana Sinyor, and Brendon Yorke. John Bell, Phil Earnshaw, Allan Eastman, Eleanore Lindo, Bruce McDonald, Andrew Potter, and Stefan Scaini directed the episodes.
When production of season three began, someone with the username "ExecProducer" started a thread on the official Degrassi: The Next Generation website, revealing production details, guest actors, scheduling information and DVD release details. He actually referred to himself as "Stephen Stohn" in one post, although this was not officially confirmed until the release of Degrassi: Generations - The Official 411 guidebook in 2005, when Stohn confirmed it was him.
Reception
In Canada the third season of Degrassi: The Next Generation was the most-watched domestic drama amongst adults 18 to 49, and the most-watched domestic drama series overall. It received an average of 669,000 viewers, an increase of 44% compared to season two. In the US, the season averaged 250,000 viewers.
Following season finale, the San Jose Mercury News said "If they [Everwood, The O.C., and One Tree Hill] want to be taken seriously, the shows could take a cue from Canadian drama Degrassi: The Next Generation, which ... addresses the same gritty teen issues without being far-fetched", and Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle echoed that by adding "Degrassi: The Next Generation has cultivated a loyal audience by avoiding the sugar-coating niceties of old-school teen TV and by treating those 10- to 14-year-olds as, well, not adults per se, but definitely maturing viewers. Degrassi focuses on a high school with a disparate student body, with countless individual stories to tell (which is why the franchise has lasted this long). There's nothing corny or sweet about "Degrassi" as it boldly tackles everything from obesity to date rape, thongs to drugs". Others, such as The Advocate gave praise and said the series was breaking new ground by depicting a gay romance between two teenaged boys.
Two of the episodes of season three were considered "too honest" for US viewers, as they portrayed a fourteen-year-old girl having an abortion, and having no regrets later, and The N refused to air the episodes. On the decision, The N said, "It's a serious episode and the summer [schedule] is all lighthearted", but "unrelated to any policy position regarding abortion." The refusal caused an uproar amongst the show's US fans, over 6000 of whom signed a petition calling the decision "unjust and asinine", and even attracted the attention of newspapers and media in Canada and the US, with The New York Times reporting on the portrayal of abortion on television.
The season won a total of five awards and six more nominations from various bodies. At the 2004 Directors Guild of Canada Awards, "Holiday" won "Outstanding Achievement in a Television Series - Family" and garnered a nomination for Stephen Stanley for "Outstanding Achievement in Production Design - Television Series". "Pride" won Aaron Martin, James Hurst and Shelley Scarrow the award for "Best Youth Script" at the Canadian Screenwriting Awards, given out annually by the Writers Guild of Canada, and "Best Direction in a Children's or Youths' Program or Series" at the Gemini Awards. The series also won the Gemini for "Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series". Jake Epstein was nominated for "Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series" for his acting in "Should I Stay or Should I Go?", and Shelley Scarrow, Nicole Demerse and James Hurst were nominated for "Best Writing for a Children's or Youth Program or Series" for "Accidents Will Happen". The series received a nomination for "Outstanding Drama Series" at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards, which honor the media for their portrayal of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives. Jake Epstein was nominated for "Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series Leading Young Actor" at the Young Artist Awards, Alex Steele was nominated for "Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series Young Actress Age Ten or Younger", and the show won "Best Family TV Series (Comedy or Drama)".
Episodes
In the US, The N aired season three in two separate blocks as it had done with the second season. The first block of episodes aired between 3 October 2003 and 19 December 2003, and the second block from 4 June 2004 to 6 August 2004. Episodes fourteen and fifteen, the "banned" episodes, were finally broadcast on 26 August 2006, three years after their original Canadian broadcast during an "Every Degrassi Episode Ever" Marathon.
In Canada episode 313 "This Charming Man", aired before Christmas themed episode 311/312 "Holiday".
This list is by order of production, as they appear on the DVD.
DVD release
The DVD release of season three was released by Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment in Canada, and by FUNimation Entertainment in the US on 28 March 2006 after it had completed broadcast on television. It was released in Australia by Shock Records on 13 April 2011. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including Audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and bloopers. Currently Season 3 Isn't Being Released On DVD by any Studio in Australia