Country of origin Canada | No. of episodes 24 | |
Original network CTV (Canada)
The N (United States) Original release 14 January (2008-01-14) – 23 June 2008 (2008-06-23) | ||
The seventh season of Degrassi: The Next Generation commenced airing in Canada on 14 January 2008, concluded on 23 June 2008, and consists of twenty-four episodes. Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian serial teen drama television series. This season takes place during the second semester of the school year that began in season six and continues to depict the lives of a group of high school sophomores, juniors, seniors and college freshman as they deal with some of the challenges and issues young adults face, such as rape, school violence, cancer, drug use, prostitution, sexual misconduct, racism, sexism, parenthood, HIV and relationships.
Contents
Season seven aired Mondays at 7:30 p.m. (7:00 p.m. in Quebec) on CTV, a Canadian terrestrial television network. In the United States it aired Fridays at 8:00 p.m. on The N, a digital cable network aimed at teenagers and young adults. Season seven premiered in the US three months before it began broadcasting in Canada, on 5 October 2007. In total sixteen episodes aired in the US before they did Canada. Further to being broadcast on television, episodes were made available for free streaming on CTV's website; registered users of the Canadian and US iTunes Stores are also able to purchase and download the season for playback on home computers and certain iPods. The second Degrassi dedicated soundtrack, Music from Degrassi: The Next Generation, was released 9 December 2008.
Production took place in Toronto, Ontario between April and December 2007. In addition to the twenty-four regular episodes, two "special episodes" were produced, not part of the Degrassi continuity. In the U.S. Bust, "A Move Part 1 and 2" were formed together to form "Degrassi Spring Break Movie". The first, "Degrassi in Kenya" depicted the cast members travelling to Africa to assist the building of a school. It aired 18 October 2007 on MTV Canada, and 14 March 2008 on The N. The second, "Degrassi of the Dead", was a Halloween special, and featured the characters being turned into zombies. It aired on 26 October 2007 on The N, and four days later on CTV.
Viewing figures for season seven were not as high as previous seasons; by the twelfth episode, figures were down to 314,000 viewers, a 46% decrease from the season premiere which was watched by 585,000 viewers. Despite the decrease in viewers, however, reviews for the season were of praise, rather than criticism.
Cast
The seventh season features twenty actors who receive star billing with fourteen of them returning from the previous season. Returning cast members include:
Joining the main cast are Charlotte Arnold, Paula Brancati, and Mazin Elsadig as Holly J. Sinclair (11 episodes), Jane Vaughn (11 episodes), and Damian Hayes (7 episodes). Dalmar Abuzeid, Nina Dobrev, and Marc Donato as Danny Van Zandt (13 episodes), Mia Jones (6 episodes), and Derek Haig (11 episodes) were promoted after recurring in the previous seasons.
The three actors from season six who did not return this season were Deanna Casaluce as Alex Nuñez, Daniel Clark as Sean Cameron, and Ryan Cooley as James Tiberius "J.T." Yorke, Jake Epstein as Craig Manning, Jake Goldsbie as Toby Isaacs, and Melissa McIntyre as Ashley Kerwin. All left the series, except for Deanna Casaluce, who appeared in two episodes, and Daniel Clark and Jake Epstein, who both guest starred later on this season. Jake Goldsbie and Melissa McIntyre returned in recurring capacities this season.
Returning in their recurring roles are Scott Paterson as Johnny DiMarco, Steve Belford as Jesse Stefanovic, Linlyn Lue as Ms. Kwan, and Jennifer Podemski as Ms. Sauve. Raymond Ablack, Marc Minardi and Samantha Munro are introduced in recurring roles as former Lakehurst students Sav Bhandari, Lucas Valieri and Anya MacPherson. Nathan Stephenson also joins the roster of recurring cast members as Griffin, the new roommate in Ellie, Marco and Paige's apartment.
Stacie Mistysyn, who portrayed Caitlin Ryan in the earlier incarnations of Degrassi, as well as seasons one to five of Degrassi: The Next Generation, guest stars in episode eight, "Jessie's Girl". The fourteenth episode "Bust a Move, Part Two", which features a guest appearance from Shirley Douglas as Smithdale University's Professor Dunwoody. Episode twenty features a guest appearance from Free the Children founder Craig Kielburger as himself. English pop singer Natasha Bedingfield appears in the season finale performing her songs "Unwritten" and "Pocketful of Sunshine" at the prom.
Crew
The season was produced by Epitome Pictures in association with 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.
Linda Schuyler, co-creator of the Degrassi franchise and CEO of Epitome Pictures, was an executive producer of season seven, as were Stephen Stohn (Epitome Pictures' president) and Brendon Yorke. David Lowe served as producer, and Stefan Brogren as co-creative producer. In several episodes James Hurst was credited as executive creative consultant. Vera Santamaria was executive story editor, with Duana Taha serving as story editor. The editor was Stephen Withrow, Stephen Stanley the production designer, and the cinematographers were Gavin Smith and John Berrie.
The writers for season seven are Emily Andras, Nicole Demerse, Brian Hartigan, Matt Huether, James Hurst, Aaron Martin, Kate Miles Melville, Vera Santamaria, Sara Snow, Duana Taha, and Brendon Yorke.
Directors of the episodes include Phil Earnshaw, Sturla Gunnarsson, Eleanore Lindo, Graeme Lynch, Bruce McDonald, Stefan Scaini, Gilbert Shilton, and Pat Williams.
Reception
Viewing figures of the seventh season of Degrassi: The Next Generation did not fare as well as previous seasons. The first twelve episodes averaged only 455,000 viewers, compared to the same number of episodes in season six, which averaged 500,000 viewers. The season premiere achieved the highest figures with 585,000 viewers. This progressively dropped over the forthcoming weeks from 446,000 viewers on 28 January 2008, to 407,000 viewers on 11 February 2008, and continued to fall to 314,000 viewers over forthcoming weeks.
Despite the poor ratings, the mass media still reacted positively to the season. Joel Rubinoff of the Waterloo Region Record praised the show for "remaining consistent ... [in] its ability to shock and surprise in a way that never lets us [the viewers] down ... Shenae Grimes, whose complex portrayal of a young woman in mental pain—and the conflicting emotions that entails—makes her depiction not only believable, but to those who have had similar experiences, entirely relatable." Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star also had praise for the season, commenting that "the way that it has managed to deal with aging—which has been the destruction for many of its peers, and the level of honesty and attempted authenticity has always set Degrassi apart. The fact that show has always cast actors within a year or two of their characters' ages has always helped." AfterElton.com, a website which focuses on the portrayal of homosexual and bisexual men in the media, and owned by MTV Networks' Logo cable television network, named the character Marco del Rossi as one of their "Top 25 Gay TV Characters".
Season seven also won awards for its gay-oriented storylines; it was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in the Best Drama Series category, alongside Dirty Sexy Money, Greek, The L Word and the winner, Brothers & Sisters. In the US, The N was presented with The Trevor Commitment Award by The Trevor Project for breaking new ground in the positive representation of gay and questioning youth. The season was also nominated for a Teen Choice Award in the Choice TV: Comedy category, but lost to Hannah Montana. In the 2008 Directors Guild of Canada Awards, which were held on 8 November, "Standing in the Dark" Part Two was nominated in the Television Series Sound Editing category. "Pass the Dutchie", directed by Patrick Williams, won the award for best direction in the Team Television Series – Family category. In the 2008 Gemini Awards the season picked up four nominations. The series won the award for Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series; Shane Kippel and Lauren Collins were vying for the award for "Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series" for their performances in the episodes "Death or Glory Part Two" and "Talking in Your Sleep", respectively, but ultimately lost to Alexz Johnson from Epitome Pictures' Instant Star; and Phil Earnshaw was nominated for Best Direction in a Children's or Youth Program or Series for "Standing in the Dark Part One".
It was also during this season that Degrassi won a 2008 TV.com award for best teen clique; Hannah Montana, Greek and Gossip girl were among the other nominees included in this category.
Episodes
Season seven premiered on The N three months before its CTV debut; Canadian viewers had to wait until the thirteenth episode to watch an episode before American viewers. The N broadcast the season in three separate blocks, airing the first seven episodes from 5 October to 16 November 2007, before putting the show on hiatus. It returned on 8 February 2008, and went off air 9 May, before returning once again on 11 July for the remaining six episodes. In Canada, the season premiere aired 14 January 2008 and aired a new episode each week until the season finale on 23 June.
The N aired Bust a Move Part 1 & 2 together as The Degrassi Spring Break Movie. The N aired episode 718, "Another Brick in the Wall" before 717, "Talking in Your Sleep", and 721, "Everything She Wants" before 720, "Ladies Night". CTV held back episode 703, "Love is a Battlefield," and broadcast it after episode 719, "Broken Wings".
This list is by order of production, as they appear on the DVD.
DVD release
The DVD release of season seven was released online and in select stores by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment in the US on 17 March 2009, this is the first season not to be released by Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment in Canada, or by FUNimation Entertainment in the US. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including deleted scenes, bloopers and behind-the-scenes featurettes.