Degrassi Junior High

Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood. It is the second entry of the Degrassi television franchise after The Kids of Degrassi Street and aired on the CBC from 18 January 1987 to 27 February 1989, and on PBS in the United States starting from September 1987. The series follows those who attend the titular fictional school and the issues they face.

Produced by Schuyler and Hood's Playing With Time, development of the series began soon after the end of The Kids of Degrassi Street, in response to a perceived lack of teenage representation in media. Its cast mainly consisted of amateurs who were similar in age to the characters they played, a deliberate response to the trend of young adults being cast in teenage roles. The actors had extensive input in the writing process, and plots were often drawn from their real lives. It was filmed entirely on-location in Toronto, with then Daisy Avenue Public School in Etobicoke used as the school.

The series received widespread critical acclaim on release, with praise directed at its realism, cinematography, and portrayal of serious topics, but became a significant commercial success in Canada after it was moved to a prime-time spot, while it also developed cult followings in the United States and Australia. In its home country, it won eight Gemini Awards, including four in a single year. A sequel series, Degrassi High (1989–1991), continued to follow its characters into high school, and the franchise's revival and continuation with Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2015) was brought into motion by a successful 1999 televised cast reunion.

In spite of seldom mainstream acknowledgement, Degrassi Junior High is credited with being the progenitor of the teen drama and a major influence on series such as Beverly Hills, 90210, and continues to be highly regarded. In 2017, the Toronto International Film Festival named it one of Canada's most significant contributions to the cinematic landscape.

Degrassi Junior High follows those who attend the titular fictional school, located in an unnamed North American town. The series deals with a wide range of subjects through its characters, including serious issues such as teenage pregnancy, abuse, bullying, racism, interracial dating, drugs, alcoholism, drunk driving, and eating disorders, as well as more mundane coming-of-age experiences, such as relationships, exams, and puberty.

Schuyler stated the series had a "double mandate to entertain and educate", and each episode was intended as a conversation starter. The series is set entirely from a teenage perspective. Additionally, adults have a small role in the series, usually never being present in a scene without a teenage character present, and the characters are portrayed navigating their own problems and making their own decisions, for better or for worse, with minimal adult intervention: "We're not looking for Father Knows Best."

The first two seasons encompass a full year, with some characters in Grade 7 and some in Grade 8, while season three takes place the following year, in which Grade 9, typically the start of high school in North America, is appended to the junior high school, which was in reality a creative decision to retain the entire cast. In season three, the grade 9 students attend a nearby high school, Borden High, part-time. In the final episode, a faulty boiler causes a fire that destroys the school building forces the characters to evacuate from their graduation dance.

The series is not a sequel to The Kids of Degrassi Street, as it features new characters, despite sharing some of the actors from that series.