The Kids Of Degrassi Street

''The Kids of Degrassi Street'' is a Canadian children's television series and the first in the ''Degrassi'' franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler. It follows the lives of a group of children living on De Grassi Street in Toronto. It originated from a series of standalone short films that aired on CBC Television annually starting with ''Ida Makes a Movie'' on December 8, 1979. The CBC ordered five more episodes in 1982, effectively turning it into a television series.

While considered the first entry in the franchise, it is unrelated to the other four series, which focus on teenagers attending middle and high school. It is notable for featuring several actors who would later star in ''Degrassi Junior High'' and ''Degrassi High'' playing different characters.

Development

Linda Schuyler, a seventh and eighth grade teacher at Earl Grey Senior Public School in Toronto, formed the company Playing With Time with Kit Hood in 1976. At the time, Schuyler had been teaching her students an early version of media studies, which included filmmaking with Super-8 film. Discovering that there was a lack of resources on the subject, Earl Grey librarian Bruce Mackey ordered several books about filmmaking, one of which was the picture book ''Ida Makes a Movie'', which was written by Kay Chorao.

Neither were aware that ''Ida Makes A Movie'' was a preschool book, in which the titular character was a cat. Nonetheless, Schuyler felt the story was powerful, and became interested in making a live-action adaptation, featuring children instead of cats. She sought the advice of then-lawyer and future Epitome Pictures co-founder Stephen Stohn, who advised her to forego a lawyer, and instead propose the deal herself. Schuyler flew to New York, where she met with Chorao and secured a $200 deal to adapt the book into a movie. Yan Moore, who would eventually become ''Degrassi Junior High'' and ''Degrassi High'''s head writer, became a writer for the series after he rectified problems with the story of the episode ''Casey Draws The Line''.

Opening sequence and music

The opening sequence consists of a short piano piece, set to black and white stills of the Leslieville neighbourhood.

Wendy Watson and Lewis Manne, who later composed the music for ''Degrassi Junior High'' and ''Degrassi High'', composed the music for ''The Kids Of Degrassi Street'', with John Forbes initially performing the music on a Fairlight CMI.

Cast

''The Kids of Degrassi Street'' featured many of the same actors who would later appear on ''Degrassi Junior High'' and ''Degrassi High'', including Stacie Mistysyn, Neil Hope, Anais Granofsky, Sarah Charlesworth, John Ioannou, in different unrelated roles.

Episodes

Broadcast

Ida Makes A Movie premiered on CBC on December 8, 1979.''Degrassi Generations: The Official 411'' states that it premiered on September 20, 1980. () By 1982, the CBC, enamored with the short films that Hood and Schuyler were producing, ordered five more, effectively turning the annual movies into a television series. In the lead-up to Degrassi Junior High, the series was re-run on Sundays at 5:00pm, until it was replaced by its successor in the same timeslot. In the United Kingdom, the series debuted on BBC One on July 9, 1984, with the final episode airing on June 16, 1986. In Australia, the series debuted at 6:00pm on February 2, 1987 on ABC TV.

Print media

In late 1986, James Lorimer & Company published a series of illustrated paperback books based on the television series, written by Schuyler and Hood with the assistance of author Eve Jennings.

Home media

On July 31, 2007, WGBH Boston Home Video released ''The Kids of Degrassi Street: The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1.

In Region 4, Beyond Home Entertainment released the entire series on DVD in Australia on March 12, 2008.

See also

*''Degrassi Junior High'' - The immediate successor of ''The Kids Of Degrassi Street,'' featuring several cast members from this series

Notes

References

Sources

*

External links

*

Episode guide for ''The Kids of Degrassi Street''

Kids of Degrassi cast and character page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kids Of Degrassi Street, The
1979 Canadian television series debuts
1986 Canadian television series endings
1970s Canadian children's television series
1970s Canadian drama television series
Canadian television soap operas
1980s Canadian children's television series
1980s Canadian drama television series
Television shows set in Toronto
Television shows filmed in Toronto
Degrassi (franchise)
CBC Television original programming
Television series by DHX Media
Television series about children