Hey, America! Hands off my Degrassi!

I grew up on television. Sesame Street, He-Man, The Smurfs and Inspector Gadget, I watched it all. I chose afternoon Kindergarten specifically so I could watch Scooby Doo in the morning and I wanted to be Jem when I grew up for a long, long time. It was the Canadian shows, however – The Littlest Hobo, The Polka Dot Door, Anne of Green Gables and Today’s Special, that still hold a special place in my heart.

But none of those shows compare to my absolute favourite Great White North original: Degrassi, from The Kids of Degrassi Street right up to The Next Generation.

Back in the day, I was a religious Degrassi watcher. As a kid, I got completely caught up in the story lines and related to some of the characters so strongly that sometimes, I felt like I almost knew them. I remember how scary I thought LD getting leukemia was and how shocked I was when Spike found out she was pregnant with Emma – that was a big deal back then, you know? I remember All the way with Stephanie Kaye!, when Michelle and BLT started going out, the name of Lucy’s cheesy horror flick (It Creeps) and the lyrics to Joey, Wheels and Snake’s epic jam, Everybody Wants Something (long live The Zit Remedy!)

In a nutshell, I grew up with those kids. I grew up with Degrassi. And I realize that nowadays it’s probably not at all cool for me, a thirty-one year old stay-at-home mother of two, to say that one of her top five favourite television shows IN THE HISTORY OF TIME is Degrassi: The Next Generation, but it is, and I’ll shout it from the rooftops baby, loud and proud. I try as often as I can to keep up on the dramatic (and oftentimes completely scandalous) lives of Peter, Emma, Manny, Marco, Ellie, Paige and the rest of the Next-Gen crew and have even managed to get my husband a little hooked on it, too.

With this knowledge in mind, imagine my complete and absolute delight when I read that a made for TV movie called Degrassi Goes to Hollywood was in the works for the summer – the first of its kind since School’s Out aired in ’91. And then imagine my extreme and utter disappointment when I read, mere seconds later, that it will be airing in the United States before it airs here, on CTV, “at an undetermined date.”

Airing in the States first? How’s that? Everybody knows that Degrassi and Canada go together like peas and carrots! To say I'm jealous of the fact that our friends below the border get to see a movie based on my favourite Canadian television show BEFORE WE DO is a gross understatement - I’d consider hitchhiking to the States to watch it (which may seem extreme to you but to me, is an option totally worth considering), but I don’t have a passport. (Mental note: Get passport, soon.)

Le sigh.

So hurry up, CTV, and disclose the date you’re airing Degrassi Goes to Hollywood so I can mark it on my calendar in big letters (with hearts over the I's, of course) and cling to my rapidly fading youth for a little while longer.

:::This is an original Canada Moms Blog post. Mamatulip blogs her life at Where am I going...and why am I in this handbasket?:::

(Photo credit: author)