''Straight Up'' is a short lived

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television series produced by

Back Alley Film Productions Back Alley Film Productions is a television production company founded by Janis Lundman and Adrienne Mitchell and based in Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec Canada. Founded in 1989, Back Alley is a creator and producer of original content for t ...

. Although critically acclaimed, the show only ran for 13 episodes on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

from 1996 to 1998. Set in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, the show dealt with the gritty problems of teenagers living in an urban environment. Rather than focusing on a core group of principal characters, each episode would typically feature a different set of the ensemble teenage cast. Initially, although the character relationships were intertwined, each episode would feature a self-contained plot usually involving only a few of the characters. However during the second season, there was a continuing story arc involving a murder over multiple episodes. Although ''Straight Up'' only lasted for two seasons, it spawned the spin-off series ''

Drop the Beat ''Drop the Beat'' was a Canadian television series produced by Back Alley Film Productions, which aired on CBC Television in 2000 and 2001."TV show puts spotlight on hip-hop". ''Sudbury Star'', February 9, 2000. A short-run dramatic series, the sh ...

'', which followed the characters of Jeff and Dennis as DJs at a

campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produce ...

station.

Cast

*Tomas Chovanec as Tony *Evelyn Anders as Claire *Mona Atwell as Simone *Morpheus Blak as Vanya *

Robin Brûlé Robin Brûlé is a Canadian actress, who is best known for her role as Susan Hunter in the ''Roxy Hunter ''Roxy Hunter'' is a fictional character played by Aria Wallace in four television films for Nickelodeon in the United States: ''Roxy Hunter ...

as Marcia *Marc Cohen as Murray *Nicole Crozier as Louise *Sasha Dindayal as Charlene *

Chad Donella Chad E. Donella (born May 18, 1978) is a Canadian actor who has appeared in several movies and television shows. He married Joni Bertin in 2007. Life and career He attended the Arts York Drama Program, in which he participated in such plays a ...

as Rick *Dyson Forbes as Dyson *Omari Forrester as Pipe *Tamara Gorski as Corey *Suzanne Hatim as Sondra *Erin Hicock as Jaz *Kirk Lewis as Clay * Noam T.C.S. Lior as Ed *Shawn Mathieson as Steve *

Merwin Mondesir Merwin Mondesir (born February 21, 1976) is a Canadian actor. He is of Saint Lucian descent. He resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Selected filmography Film * 1997 '' Critical Care'' as Head Injury * 2000 ''Steal This Movie!'' as Private Kend ...

as Dennis *

Justin Peroff Justin Peter Papadimitriou (born October 13, 1977), family name changed to Peroff, is best known as the drummer for the Toronto-based indie rock collective Broken Social Scene. He is a credited actor, appearing in the major motion picture ''How to ...

as Rory *

Sarah Polley Sarah Ellen Polley (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian actress,Howell, Peter (September 24, 1999)"Nobody's Starlet: Toronto's Sarah Polley is Only 20 but already a veteran actor so secure in her craft she can thumb her nose at Hollywood" ''Tor ...

as Lily * Mark Taylor as Jeff *

Jacob Tierney Jacob Daniel Tierney (born September 26, 1979) is a Canadian actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for playing Eric in ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1990–1992) and as the co-writer, director, and executive producer of ...

as Alex

Episode list

Season 1

1.1 - Jam
1.2 - Dead Babies
1.3 - Big Time
1.4 - Small Bang Theory
1.5 - Sacrifice Trick
1.6 - Seize

Season 2

2.1 - Strapped
2.2 - Raw
2.3 - Mortifying
2.4 - Façade
2.5 - Gravity (

Kim Poirier Kim Jacinthe Poirier (born February 6, 1980) is a Canadian actress, singer, film producer, and television host. Biography Personal life Born in Drummondville, Quebec, the daughter of actress/model Carol Laquerre who was Miss Toronto in 1976, sh ...

guest starred as AJ's Gang Member in this episode)
2.6 - Pudding
2.7 - Bomb

Awards and nominations

At the 1997 Gemini Awards,

Jerry Ciccoritti Jerry Ciccoritti (born August 5, 1956) is a Canadian film, television and theatre director. His ability to work in a number of genres and for many mediums has made him one of the most successful directors in the country. Biography Born in Tor ...

won for "Best Direction in a Dramatic or Comedy Series" for the episode "Small Bang Theory" and James Bredin was nominated for "Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series" for same episode. At the 1998 Gemini Awards,

won for "Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series" for the episode "Mortifying" and Jerry Ciccoritti won for "Best Direction in a Dramatic or Comedy Series" again this time for the episode "Raw" . Also at these awards,

was nominated for "Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series" for the episode "Façade", Karen Walton was nominated for "Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program and Series " for the episode "Gravity". The episode "Raw" was also nominated for "Best Sound in a Dramatic Program or Series" and "Best Costume Design". Finally, ''Straight Up'' was nominated for "Best Children's or Youth Program or Series".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Straight Up (Tv Series) 1990s Canadian teen drama television series 1996 Canadian television series debuts 1998 Canadian television series endings CBC Television original programming Television series about teenagers Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows set in Toronto