For me there's an emotional connection between the episode titles of older seasons (like Shout) and the plots within them. Nowadays, that connection is virtually nonexistent. The title Cry Me A River has no emotional value to me when I think about the episode's storylines.
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Raise your hand if you’re one of those people who could name off every single Degrassi episode title in order (from Season 1 through now), and also know the exact plots in every one of those episodes.
Not me. Not anymore.
There used to be a time where I knew every episode title in order. Learning of new episode titles was a big deal…the question always being “How do these titles, from 80’s songs, tie into what these episodes’ plots will be?”
It was about Season 6 when I started reaching my limit of remembering every episode title; it became a taxing ordeal to force myself to remember them all. Now that we’re in Season 11? You can forget it, hahah…I mean I do remember most sporadically, but there’s no way I could name off every episode in order like the old days.
Nowadays, I don’t really care about the episode titles anymore. When Stephen Stohn releases titles I no longer jump for joy, then google song lyrics to see potential hidden meanings. This is kind of difficult to explain, but I used to look at the show in three steps:
First you had SEASONS broken down into EPISODES that contain PLOTS.
Degrassi used to be written where plots would primarily be covered in about 1-4 episodes. Ever since Season 10 plots last longer, and now they also span the course of 3 to 5 TIMES as many episodes, because longer seasons allow for the plot timelines to be spread out (ex: the gang storyline was not featured in every episode of Now Or Never, but existed over the course of all 29 episodes before finally being wrapped up ). I can’t remember the name of every episode in which the gang storyline was one of the plots and what happened in every one, but I do remember the storyline details on its own, if that makes sense. Trying to remember every episode title is too much when a plot is focused on for two episodes, takes a break for 4, then resumes for another two. For me, instead of looking at it as episodes, I just focus simply on the storylines.
So now I think of Degrassi in two steps: SEASONS that contain STORYLINES.
People ask me why my list of Top 10 favorite Degrassi episodes is composed of episodes from the older seasons…this is one of the reasons why. There are obvious exceptions, when there are standout episodes like My Body Is A Cage, Chasing Pavements and Extraordinary Machine…but I think of the show now as a collection of storylines, not episodes. When I think about Now Or Never, I think about the best storylines, not necessarily the best episodes. When I review episodes, I always review the plots separately instead of reviewing the episode as a whole because I view the plots as separate entities. I no longer form an emotional connection between the episode title and the episode’s contents.
Now do I think Degrassi episode titles are dead? No. Do I think they should stop giving the episodes titles? Absolutely not…most television shows give every episode a title, even if it’s never displayed after the opening credits like they are on Degrassi. For me, their “death” is that (by no one’s fault) the episode titles are no more valuable than the production codes they give every episode: it’s just part of the job.
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Kary's Degrassi Blog 
very intesting
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I feel the exact same way.
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I knew that they used old song titles for episode titles! Did they get “Dead and Gone” from tthe song by T.I and Justin TImberlake??? Just wondering, plz don’t judge me to harshly
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The episode titles are all still named after songs. They only used to be named after 80’s songs, but starting with Season 10 they decided to open it up and now they can be named after more current songs.
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I’m glad someone finally brought this up… First of all, I am one of the few people who actually can name off every episode of The Next Generation in order at any given time. After 9 years of obsessing hardcore over this show, I guess that’s just a given. On the contrary, don’t expect me to ever memorize the original Degrassi episodes as a whole. Especially when you take into consideration that Kids Of Degrassi Street is still a part of the franchise, it’s just too much… That series alone is a complicated enough to remember. With current Degrassi, it’s gotten to the point where I have to stop and think about what plot was in an old episode. I’ve contradicted myself many times when it came to the B, C and even rare D&E plots of Now Or Never, they were just all over the place. I personally have a ton of favorites from the past summer block. In fact, the only episodes I wouldn’t place as highly as the others would be Idioteque, Cry Me A River, Should’ve Said No and Should’ve Said No… I also can’t stand Mr. Brightside; I don’t know what it is, but I definitely view it as my least favorite Degrassi episode of all time. That’s saying something, as I normally don’t compare certain episodes to other ones. For me it’s always been it either stands out or it doesn’t. Season 11 switched that up quite a bit. There are also certain episodes I’m always iffy on, such as LoveGame and Paper Planes. I understand what you’re saying with the storylines- to me that applies with the block as a whole. Nowadays when looking back, I don’t just go through and try to analyze every episode that was aired. Instead I immediately focus on the main stories that stood out to me- The gang storyline, Eli’s bipolar disorder, Holly J.’s adoption storyline and the Kenna parenthood.
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Didn’t mean to write Should’ve said no twice, lol.. Also, I forgot to mention how increasing great Part 2’s are becoming. I loved the buildup to them that we got in Now Or Never. I found myself only freaking out over 2nd parts of episodes- like Dirt Off Your Shoulder, U Don’t Know, Lose Yourself and Don’t Panic. I generally enjoyed Spring Fever, Drop It Like It’s Hot, Take A Bow and Dead And Gone.
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Open question… What are your favorite episode titles from all the seasons? Least favorites?
My favorites: When Doves Cry, Father Figure, Goin’ Down The Road, Turned Out, Free Fallin’, Standing In The Dark, Death or Glory, All Falls Down, Drop the World
Least Favorites: Touch Of Grey, Redemption Song, West End Girls, Wanna Be Starting Something…. Those 4 Episodes just to me give no reflection upon the episode.
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I want to know one thing, how do they pick the names?
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I’ve always thought that the writers use the theme/issue of the episode’s storyline(s), usually the A plot, and then find a song title that has some kind of connection to it. Even in current seasons, the episode titles still frequently connect back to the storylines, just not as clearly as they did in earlier seasons. However in season 11 I feel like many of the titles had absolutely nothing to do with the episode as a whole.
S10 episode titles that made sense: Breakaway, Better Off Alone, My Body is a Cage, Still Fighting It, All Falls Down, Don’t Let Me Get Me, The Way We Get By, Hide & Seek
S11 episode titles that made sense: Cry Me a River, Paper Planes, Don’t Panic, Dead & Gone
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Hmm I really liked Drop it like it Hot, Springfever, Take a Bow and Dead & Gone. I really like the idea of one the eposodes title be called Airplane
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Kary, your argument here falls right in line with a previous one where you made a point that Degrassi Seasons 1-9 should be looked at as a completely different series from Degrassi 10+.
That argument has actually made me have much less contempt for the newer Degrassi episodes. Instead of trying to compare the new episodes to the much better older episodes, I’ve started to take the show for what it has to offer as a new series *
*Clare should still be viewed as the worst character of all time, all the way back to Kids of Degrassi Street
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Whoa I’m not the only person who knows all the episode titles!? I feel better now.
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completely
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I totally agree. I can name every old episode’s (1-9) storylines and titles, and I love that. I don’t remember anything about the past two seasons. There are so many episodes it’s ridiculous, and the titles have no emotional value anymore.
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I have never been a fan of episodes being named after song titles. It always struck me as tacky.
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Best episode title: “Drop It Like It’s Hot.”
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I think they should have used 90s song titles but thats just me.
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