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Last week I revealed that TeenNick was going to be doing a Degrassi marathon during these final days leading up to Christmas…then they put out a promo later that day.
Now MuchMusic will be getting into the marathon game in a new way. Much put out a press release about the return of all their big shows in January, and one of their “new” shows will be Degrassi TMI:
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DEGRASSI TMI – *Re-charged Season 11* Monday-Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, beginning Jan 16
Just when viewers thought DEGRASSI had covered every teen experience imaginable, along comes DEGRASSI TMI, its sassy little sister! The “TMI” stands for “too much information” and that is exactly what is delivered. A motley team of DEGRASSI experts and ace banterers give viewers a fresh take at the award-winning show. There is trivia, insider info and random commentary, all delivered via drop-in windows during each episode. It’s kind of like watching DEGRASSI with your know-it-all BFF, who just won’t keep quiet.
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Basically it’s gonna be a Degrassi version of Pop-Up Video. And what they also don’t tell you is that the scheduling of this basically leads us to the February 24th premiere of the rest of Season 11.
But even before all of that, MuchMusic will be airing another Degrassi special:
The Degrassi In Haiti special will air Thursday, December 20th at 4:30pm. You can CLICK HERE to see the promo.
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Oh and in unrelated news, last week it was revealed that “Highland Gardens” official name is “The L.A. Complex”
THE L.A. COMPLEX – *New Series* Premieres Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 9 p.m. ET
Full of new relationships, salacious temptations and make-it-or-break it decisions, THE L.A. COMPLEX’s coming-of-age dwellers grapple with life’s defining moments as they deal with the unreality of the show-biz industry. In the series premiere “Down in L.A.” after getting evicted and finding herself broke and desperate, Abby finds a place to crash at “The Lux” motel in Los Angeles. Here, she meets a group of like-minded, displaced dreamers and after a series of missed opportunities, mishaps, and a broken down vehicle, Abby starts to wonder if it’s time to go back to Toronto and give up her dreams, or if tomorrow will be her day?
Is anyone planning on watching this? The only reason I’m bringing this up is because it’s produced by Epitome. And it also stars Cassie Steele. We’ve seen the impact this show has on Degrassi already, forcing Epitome to push back filming of Degrassi episodes, so hopefully it’ll be worth it.
But at the same time just looking at it and reading the description reminds me of that awful TeenNick show Gigantic. We’ll see. They also keep saying the U.S. broadcaster will be announced soon……let’s be honest here, it’s gotta be TeenNick.
Kary's Degrassi Blog 
If The LA Complex is not on TeenNick, then possibly ABC Family since they are all about those “teen” shows. Since the cast looks like they are out of high-school and could be in their early 20’s, it may be beyond the TeenNick “demo”, even though the same group of people will watch the show regardless of network.
Why doesn’t TeenNick ever air any of those Degrassi specials? It’s not like they can’t find time to squeeze that in. They make really lousy programming decisions.
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For forever I’ve been torn on whether or not Degrassi should be on ABC Family instead of TeenNick. ABC Family has a lot of new programming and Degrassi fits right in. I mean how amazing would it be to have a show like Pretty Little Liars or something as your lead in instead of an irrelevant show like Zoey 101 or Drake & Josh…plus it’d get more exposure since it’s on basic cable. But being on TeenNick means Degrassi will forever be “king of the hill” on that network so to speak, because it’s obvious they’re not going to put forth any effort to build a decent lineup around Degrassi.
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I don’t know how licensing works, but I assume that Bell Media and MTV Networks (the parent companies who own both MM and TN) license the show from Epitome. I don’t know how long those contracts are for, but I don’t think MTV owns the rights to air the show on TeenNick forever. It would be a very risky move to make now, but I do think they’d fit in well with the ABC Family lineup.
I think they should have moved US networks when they moved from CTV to MM at the launch of Season 10. That seemed to be the perfect time to rebrand the show. ABC Family draws a lot more viewers than TN does, even on their greatest days. It might be in Epitome’s best interest to license a show for more money to a network with a wider audience reach, which will in turn benefit ABC Family, who will be able to draw on the popularity of an established series.
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I’ll certainly give anything produced by Epitome a chance. Sure, the concept is a bit tired, and I’m disappointed/happy that it appears to not be within the Degrassi universe, but they’ve pulled off greatness before. Just keep in mind how dubious the plot was to Instant Star (also produced by Epitome, for those of you who have joined the Degrassi fanverse after the end of Season 7), but it actually grew into a pretty decent and under-rated drama.
Of course, a lot of Instant Star’s appeal was the personality of its actors, especially Alexz Johnson as the titular star, so I have a feeling this show will make it or break it based on the chemistry of the actors. And if that’s the show’s legs of support, then it’s probably a good thing they cast Cassie Steele.
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LA Complex is going to be absolutely terrible.
I can’t say I’m looking forward to that PopUp Video show either. Will just be an annoyance.
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^ Um, you have absolutely no idea if the show is going to be terrible or not. Just give the show a chance and actually watch the first episode, before you judge it. In reference to the second part of your comment… No offense, but do you even like Degrassi?
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I do agree with you on the pop-ups, though… So I apologize about the second half of my previous comment. I remember the “vlomments” or whatever they were called, that The-N used to do. While very interesting, it was frustrating as hell when they kept popping up all over the place every two seconds. It’s like paying attention to a foreign film while also reading the subtitles… Now that is just ugh.
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I don’t mind subtitles in movies, but The-N’s old vomments? Oh dear god those were unbearable.
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This is what I mean. While I have grown increasingly frustrated with the Degrassi since the end of Season 10, my main beef was that the pop-ups end up getting in the way. It works on “Pop-Up Video” because a music video is only three to four minutes of your time and you can still listen to the music. With a 22 minute episode I fear it will become redundant and take away from the episode.
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TeenNick did that Pop-Up Video thing with the Hollywood movie; it was very distracting and annoying.
Good to see Cassie Steele is still around. I wonder what most of the old cast is up to nowadays. I’m curious what she thinks of her sister Alex being on/returning to Degrassi.
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I will be giving L.A. complex a shot. It’ll be interesting to watch since the show was originally intended to be a DeGrassi spin off. Read the press release one more time but switch the name Abby for Manny. Still works. Kary, what are your thoughts on LA complex originally being a DeGrassi spin off?
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I kinda wish it would’ve been an official spinoff. Abby’s the lead, so if it were Manny they’d already have an established, well-developed character from the get go.
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I agree. Do you think making it a spin-off would’ve hurt or helped the ratings? I think it would’ve helped, but it would’ve brought in a different audience then what Much and Epitome are looking for.
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I have a feeling that The LA Complex might be on the CW. Cause a while ago, when Stohn was trying to sell the show to a network here in the US, he tweeted about visiting the CW Company. Then when someone asked him why he visited the CW he told them he couldn’t say and they would just need to wait and find out. Sounds very suspicious.
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omg please don’t Stephen. The CW will not hesitate to cancel the show if it doesn’t do at least .7 in the 18 -34 demo. Please let it be on MTV or somewhere so it has a chance to live XD
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Pretty much this. TeenNick’s main demo is 12-17 yr old females and while there is definite overlap with those viewers in the 18-34 demo, it can’t compete on any of the “major” 5 networks. The most viewers the show has pulled in on TN is something like 1.2 million viewers for Season 10’s “The Heat is On,” but last summer only brought an average of around 650K viewers.
No way would they be able to compete with the 18-34 demo that advertisers rely on on The CW.
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If the CW wanted a show about a bunch of twenty-somethings living in an apartment complex in LA trying to make it, then they wouldn’t have cancelled the Melrose Place reboot. This is virtually the junior version.
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I predict LA complex will not be good because unlike some people I believe that unless Cassie Steele has matured and become a much better actress then she had been previously then it will fail because of the uselessness and overall over-acting as well as the plot seems to be unoriginal and not too interesting but I will watch it just to be fair and who knows maybe the rest of the cast is phenominal
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Cassie Steele, a terrible actress??? HA! I respect your opinion and everything, but to make her sound THAT bad? Lol.
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All I wanted to say is halle-freaking-lujah at hearing Degrassi news again. I am drowning in this hiatus.
Also The L.A. Complex doesn’t strike me as being any more ground breaking than all the other formulaic “artists struggling to make it” shows/movies. But I will watch the pilot for Cassie Steele’s sake. It seems like an ensemble show but if Abby is the main focus, I might stick around because I like Cassie Steele’s acting.
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I’ll be watching THE L.A. COMPLEX. 99.9% of people HATED Gigantic and i LOVED it. Im sure that’ll be the case with this,and im sure i will love this as well.
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Whats with Stephen and shows about teenage stardom?
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I concur. I’d dare to say that you can compare DJH and DTNG and surmise that Stohn is all behind the “Famous” angle that makes the show unbearable at times. Remember when Craig had his great bipolar storyline going but it kept getting interrupted by Caitlin Ryan and Kevin Smith flirting. YICK!
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Whats funny to me is they should’ve kept it with the original next generation of Degrassi with Manny being the main character, then it could’ve been the Melrose Place of the Degrassi univere!! oh well!
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With all of the Degrassi vs. 90210 comparisons made throughout time, that would’ve been hilarious.
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i love the random comment boxes on other movies/shows as long as it isnt happening during premieres (are separate) i will be fine with it. its a good way to know useless info you would otherwise not know, or interesting info, you wouldn’t otherwise know.
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i just saw a picture of tori and adam together ….. *fangirl scream* <- in the most heterosexual way ever!
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its not gonna be in LA huh? :( but is that dude in the glasses trumen from life with derek
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I ment on teennick
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http://degrassipathershigh.wikia.com/wiki/Season_1_characters
can yall see my fanfiction
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when does the next season of degrassi begin? im getting waaaay to impatient LOL and i watch degrassi on the ‘ much ‘ channel… so???
try to reply ASAP
thanks a bunch c:
:)
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