Back in 2001, Drake went by Aubrey Graham and he was on a little show called Degrassi: The Next Generation. Now 17 years later, Wheelchair Jimmy thought it was time for a high school reunion and got the OG cast together for his music video I’m Upset.
The reunion included Stacey Farber, Adamo Ruggiero, Lauren Collins, Jake Epstein, Christina Schmidt, Andrea Lewis, Melissa McIntyre, LinLyn Lue, Stefan Brogren, Jake Goldsbie, Marc Donato, Dalmar Abuzeid, A.J. Saudin, Miriam McDonald, Cassie Steele, Nina Dobrev, Sarah Barrable-Tishauer, Paula Brancati, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith. The rapper even made sure to invite Ephraim Ellis, the actor who made him Wheelchair Jimmy.
My favorite part of the video is when we heard Snake rap. Who knew Brogren could do that? Dare I say it, he might even be better than Drake? Granted those of us who watched the OG Degrassi knew that from when he was in The Zit Remedy!
Talking about zits, can we talk about how the class after Drake’s all turned out to be hot? His class all look the same, the next class went from geeks to on fleek.
When it comes to the video itself, I hated it. it was too dark for me. Degrassi touches on dark subjects, but it is still a feel-good show. This shows they all grew up to be f*cked up. Instead of remembering them like they were in this video, I will choose to remember them as they are in this behind-the-scenes photo that Lauren Collins aka Paige shared. That is the Degrassi we know and love!
Before there was the Degrassi you know today on Netflix, there was one the parents of the fans of the reboot used to watch. It was originally called Degrassi Junior High and its follow-up Degrassi High.
People who were fans of the original still love it just as much today as they did then, None more than the Canadians where the show is shot. About a year ago, Pat Mastroianni aka Joey Jeremiah (the one with the hat) started reuniting cast members at conventions. Recently, he started a Degrassi Tour, bringing the show to theaters around the country.
They will have another day in June, and they created a poster for it. One that looks familiar to fans of both Degrassis because it is a parody of Stranger Things. Instead of those kids, we get to see Spike, Snake, BLT, Wheels and the others together again like we knew them back then. Such an amazing poster, I want to blow it up and hang it up on my wall. The only thing that is missing is the twins. Where are they?
Plus, now that Toronto is warming up, I am so tempted to fly up there for the bus reunion tour. When it comes to who will be there, they will be announcing that in the coming weeks. Sadly, Neil Hope, who played Wheels (He is in the center with glasses), will not be there. He passed away in 2007.
Mastroianni, who posted the photo, hinted to Netflix that they should revive the series. I completely agree with him. Why the streaming service is not showing the original is beyond me. If they did, I bet they would do a revival. Those Degrassis were the best! I wished my high school life was like that and it never was. They had it all, sex, drugs and rock’n’roll!
UPDATE: Pat Mastroianni just sent me the second poster and this one includes the twins (Maureen and Angela Deiseach) and Lucy (Anais Granofsky). This poster makes me wish even more that someone would bring back their show. Degrassi was our sex ed, say no to drugs and you will have friends until the end, teacher. We would watch it over the weekend and talk about it when we went back to school on Monday. It was our show and not our parents, Now, it could be our show and not or kids! Everybody wants something and this is I want.
Miami is a magical place that you cannot help to fall in love with when you visit. Drake has been filming a music video there and he loves it so much that he throwing his money all over the place. Not on himself, but on other people.
According to WPLG, it started on Monday at Miami Senior High School where he was filming his video. He not only gave the school $25,000, he is designing the school’s uniform next year and giving them to the students for free. After that, he graduated to my alma mater, University of Miami, and gave one student at the music school a $50,000 scholarship. The next day, he went in the Lotus House homeless shelter for around 260 women and children and gave them a $50,000 donation. People reports that he gave all of the moms $150 gift cards to Target and the kids got toys and games. He made one more stop on his donating spree and that was to a supermarket on Miami Beach. He grabbed the megaphone and told all the shoppers he was paying for their groceries. The bill reportedly came out to around $50,000.
Drake has not said why he so generously gave away around $200,000 in 2 days, but who cares. If you see him, shake his hand because we need more celebrities like him. That and if he says he wants to shoot something in your town, welcome him with open arms.
BTW I wonder how The Rock feels about being one upped on the niceness in his hometown and at our college. DJ, time to match him!
For most of Stefan Brogren’s life he has played the good guy Archie Simpson in the Degrassi franchise. It seems like Snake is sick of that goody two shoes image and wants to change things up. His Zit Remedy’s bandmate Pat Mastroianni aka Joey Jeremiah shared this photo of his childhood friend holding an axe and he looks really scary. Maybe it is time they do another Horror movie at Degrassi and he is the killer killing off all of his students.
Before there was Degrassi: The Next Generation, there was the original generation. This weekend 5 of those cast members reunited at Toronto’s Comic-Con and we got these wonderful photos of them together.
How much fun is it to see Pat Mastroianni aka Joey, Stefan Brogren aka Snake, Stacie Mistysyn aka Caitlin, Kirsten Bourne aka Tess and Dan Woods aka Mr Raditch together again. Yes, we saw them together again a few times when Degrassi: TNG premiered, but they were sharing the spotlight with the new students at Degrassi. It is about time they got their own show. Degrassi: The First Generation. Netflix can add it to their lineup with the new Degrassi episodes and it can be a lot more real than it was on PBS back in the ’80s.
Only sad part is there will never a be a Zit Remedy reunion. RIP Neil Hope aka Wheels.
If you have never seen the original Degrassi episodes, you need to find them. It was the best show ever done for teens and adults could enjoy and learn something from it too.
