MovieChat Forums > Degrassi: The Next Generation (2002) Discussion > Do you ever get used to new casts?

Do you ever get used to new casts?

posted 8 years ago by xPhenomenusx
15 replies | jump to latest

I'm just starting season 8 for the first time and I'm already missing some of the older characters.

I'm not sure who will show up again later but just not seeing Ellie, Paige, Marco, Jimmy, etc. in the opening credits now stinks. Even Darcy who's still in the show has been reduced to "Also starring" credit. I'm sure some of them will show up again cause their storylines haven't concluded but does it just take anyone else a long time re-adjust and care about the new characters?

Spinner is my absolute favorite and I'm glad he's still around. But once he, Emma, Liberty, Manny, and the rest of them are gone completely idk if it will hold my interest as much.

With the format of this show it can essentially go on forever like most daytime soaps. It can just indefinitely introduce new characters, but they will never be as interesting as the originals because they all sort of fall into similar archetypes.

[–] allieb956 8 years ago

It didn't keep my attention. Once Emma's class left high school and they went to college, they were only seen in a few episodes and the show majorly featured the former Lakehurst students and the only one I liked was Holly J. I tried with season 10, but just completely lost interest.

[–] J-Man6609 8 years ago

I've been watching since season 3 originally aired (retroactively caught up on 1 and 2 many times at this point) and I've liked each new class. They usually do a good job of making the new cast background characters for a season so you get to know them before giving them central story lines. The only other option is to just end the show, because these characters do need to move on. I'd rather get to know a new cast every few years, and keep Degrassi on the air. Also, that Sav/Holly J/Anya class is probably my favorite of all of them and you'd just be getting started so you've got a lot of great episodes to watch.

[–] allieb956 8 years ago

I can get used to new cast members, but when all the characters that I grew up with and I loved left, I lost interest.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] summer_of_41 8 years ago

Each class (since Season 8) has celebrated individual successes, but the OVERALL team win goes to Seasons 3 & 4.

[–] The_Grimm_Reaper 8 years ago

It's really hard to get used to new casts for shows like this but to be honest, during the airing of season 10-12 I came to conclusion that I like the newer characters (Claire, Drew, Alli generation) much better than the originals. I felt like newer Degrassi was much more mature though it had lots of annoying plots, I felt like I grew with them more, probably because I was the same age as them when they started out and when they all left the show.

[–] J-Man6609 8 years ago

Seasons 10-12 were excellent. I think what really helped is the quality of the acting. Go back and watch Seasons 1-3 with a critical eye and characters like Emma & Ashley really stand out for some rough acting. Season 3 is still my favorite so it's not THAT bad, but the quality in acting certainly was higher for those seasons.

[–] ldm-mcdonald 8 years ago

That's a shame. Seasons 1-7 (I guess maybe 8 and 9) are way better than later seasons and I grew up on the Emma/Paige era (I'm 25) because they were my generation. They're better because the stories are more memorable and hard hitting (i.e. Paige's rape storyline, Marco's difficulty to come out, the school shooting, J.T.'s tragic death, etc.).

[–] xxlove21 8 years ago

I miss older characters but if the newer characters are interesting then I adjust. Most of the time I don't feel like I'm watching a 2.0 version of a past character, and I'd rather they have characters who they have a story to tell with then keep ones who ran their course and have been on for 8 seasons just because they are a fan favorite.

[–] alanajemison 8 years ago

for me i lost interest in it around the fiona drinking to cope with sexuality etc plot. i live(d) and breathe the emma jimmy manny toby generation. all of the new cast/plots seem so done. 2000 era degrassi was just ground breaking to me

[–] doLLish 8 years ago

I liked the Alli/Clare/Jenna class and the Marisol/Katie/Bianca class. I finally lost interest with the Maya/Zig/Zoe class. Those kids were awful and I just could not do it anymore. I last watched Degrassi during season 13 and that was a full on hate watch for me.

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[–] alycat32 (133) 4 years ago

I've been watching since the reruns of the original Degrassi Jr High hit the airwaves on Showtime in like 1993. I've managed to find something about each class to enjoy. There's always that mourning period though when cast members leave. It killed me when Joey and Caitlin broke up for the last time, and then suddenly they were phased out and no longer were shown. I kind of had to get used to the fact that the first few seasons they had more storylines because it was kind of gimicky for us people that watched the original, and now Craig was being reduced to a guest star so there wasn't any need for Joey anymore. What was strange, was that Spike seemed to have been phased out to. There was a period of time where I swear she was never around and I didn't see her for like two years or something until Emma and Spinner got married. I might be remembering wrong but the whole thing was weird, because when Connor moved in I don't ever remember seeing Spike, or Jack, who would have been able to start at Degrassi in reality had the netflix series went on. Man that's weird to think! That literally Spike gave birth to him in 2003. It's kind of mind blowing to think how many classes we'e seen roam those halls.