Imagine this cast combined with the newer cast....that's a lot of dang people.
The other day I received this question, and I figured I could answer it with a blog post:
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do you think or will they bring back the old characters of degrassi and have them working in the school or in the community earning a living. this would be a good way to combine the older viewers with the new viewers and the same for the actors which will hopefully give the show stronger ratings. what do you think about that?
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Do *I* think they should bring back a bunch of the original characters for regular or recurring roles?
No, they should not.
Yeah, I used to be one of those people who was annoyed when they started bringing in all of the new characters…but then I got over it. As nice as it would be to have the originals hanging around, it just wouldn’t work realistically:
1) There’d be TOO many characters. Character overload much? There’s only a limited amount of time in any given season, let alone any given episode. Having that many characters causes all sort of development and story issues. You either focus too little on the characters and the season feels scatterbrained (ex: Season 8), or you focus too much on certain characters and leave others behind….defeating the purpose of the originals coming back or it cancels out all the effort they’ve put into the new characters.
2) What do you do with them? Working at Degrassi simply isn’t an option now. What, are they all going to be teacher’s assistants? And having them work somewhere in the city doesn’t seem like it’d be that interesting either (helloooo, Spinner)…who wants to watch them cut back and forth between teen storylines at Degrassi and adult ones in the “real world?” They managed barely watchable plots for the original characters that graduated and went off to University in Seasons 6, 7 and 8.
3) Do they even want to come back? Craig and Manny went off to become superstars. Sean is in the Army. Some just randomly disappeared, but in the reality of the show, would any of the characters that have left even want to come back? And in the real world you can’t assume that the actors have time to come back to Degrassi. A lot of them left to pursue other interests (University, music, other acting gigs), because they recognize the fact that Degrassi won’t last forever. I highly doubt Aubrey “Drake” Graham is gonna give up his rap career to come back to Degrassi full (or part) time to play “Wheelchair Jimmy.”
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Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE when the original characters make cameos after being away for a while. But to bring them back on even a semi-regular basis? I just don’t see having them hang around to try and raise ratings as being the answer. The answer is making sure the quality of the Degrassi product they have now is constantly improving.
Kary's Degrassi Blog 
They should bring back Marco since he was a teachers assistant or something in one episode. He could be Riley mentor or something! Marco was one of the best original characters, and since him and Dylan broke up they just drove Marcos whole character into the ground!
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I agree.His character got a raw deal.I’m still wondering what became Marco and Paige’s friendship, did they ever speak to one another again. It seem like the movie left you hanging at the end.
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It wouldn’t work if the old characters came back because they could just help the new characters before they have any drama of their own!
Paige and Darcy would help rape victims
Ellie would try and stop cutters from cutting
Marco would help with confused kids
Liberty and Mia would help with all the pregers
Manny with a bunch!!!
It wouldn’t work! Besides they have Spinner!!! He’s been there forever and can help with everyone’s dramas.
DOT GUY 2 the rescue!!!
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I don’t think its a question of the original characters. Instead it is a question of the show’s credibility and quality. For example, when Darcy was introduced it did not feel bad or contrived at all. If anything, I associate her with the originals. (she’ll never be quite on par with them, but she was a lot better than some of the 1 dimensional new people. The problem with seasons 7 and 8, in my opinion (solely in terms of the new character), was that we had to suddenly swallow a gazillion new characters and take certain traits and relationships for granted. Contrariwise, we watched the old characters develop. The bright side is that it can only improve if I’m right.
As part of this I must mention that the difficulty over those two seasons was not a new one. I found some of season 1 atrocious because it shoved characters down our throats in very overexaggerated ways. “Here’s Paige. She trying to be obnoxious and kind of a tease. For some reason Terri and Ashley, who don’t seem to get along, associate with her. Meanwhile, Spinner (who we can just refer to as boy with ADHD) is just being kind of a doofus. Also, Jimmy and Ashley (the like supercouple of Junior High *gagh*) are dating despite the fact that they have no chemistry and nothing in common. Now, I’m exaggerating, but the point is accurate. Season one wasn’t perfect, but holding out brought us to wonderful times at Degrassi. Sooner or later we’ll get there again. (season 9?)
That said, I miss Ellie, Paige, and everyone!!! :( :( :'( (while I almost would like to see a spinoff about them, it would be abysmall. And appalling. And atrocious)
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I have a question instead of a comment and i hope you can let me know what’s up. Is Degrassi junior high and Degrassi high shows any good, and
if the shows are good, are they better or just as good as degrassi the next generation.
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I actually love Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High more than Degrassi TNG, and I freakin’ love TNG. Once you get past the whole 80’s cheesiness you’ll notice DJH and DH look and feel a lot more realistic, and actually do a better job of “going there” when it comes to the issues and major storylines. And tying into Michael’s comment somewhat, DJH/DH does a BEAUTIFUL job of introducing characters. A lot of the characters play background roles, sometimes for several seasons before even getting a speaking role…that plays into the realism of the show because you already feel like you know the character since you’ve seen them around. And even if a main character isn’t the focus of a plot, they don’t just disappear…they’re used as background too whether it’s hanging out in the hallways, chillin’ on the front lawn of the school or just casually walking through a shot. It’s little things like those that make DJH/DH amazing.
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I just started checkin out Kary’s blog and so far i find it real cool and interesting. I also want to say to you and all the Bloggers, have a
happy Degrassi holiday and may your new year be filled with plenty of
Degrassi.
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personally i think if they brought back the originals it would be great but i still like the “newer generations better”. also the opening sequence would be like 2mins lokg. and they would have to make whatever it takes longer so it woud play for the entire opening
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Yeah you’re right. The intro would take a long time.I guess since i started watching the show with the old crew I’ve gotten used to them.
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Hey, actually I think the show should have just ended with the original characters leaving. Like any other show would have. It seems like we all wasted a lot of time getting to know everything about these characters from 7th grade to college and then it just turns into a completely different show. I do watch the new character seasons from time to time but not as much as I had when the originals were on, I just found it offputting that any show would just spat out new characters and only leave a few originals. The characters make the show…so when the original characters left it was a whole new show and I’m sure its a good show still, I just didn’t want to take the time to get to know all these new people when I took the time to get to know the originals and they just vanished.
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I have been watching Degrassi TNG since I was in 6th Grade. I am now 21. Teen-Nick and Degrassi should definitely make a show about the original Degrassi The Next Generation characters after High school. Whether it is with college or business. I want to know what is happening with Emma, Manny, Paige, Jay, Sean, Craig, Spinner, Terri, Hazel, Toby, Alex, and Ellie just like everyone else. I really miss that cast, and you could keep the “NEW” season 10 cast, but right after a new episode of “The Boiling Point”, DROP a new series called “Degrassi:The Real Life” or something with the old cast. Just something to think about.
Thanks
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