TV Guilty Pleasures: Degrassi

Imagine your favorite childhood TV show—Boy Meets World, Saved by the Bell, anything that depicts the trials of high school life reimagined for an audience of middle schoolers. Now imagine that the characters on that show constantly go through life-changing traumas. This week, an outbreak of oral gonorrhea infects the entire sophomore class because girls are competing for bracelets that are awarded only after giving someone a blow job. Next, the gay student council president finally comes out—while performing the title role in Hamlet in front of the whole school. The best part? Everyone has a Canadian accent, pronouncing “sorry” so that it rhymes with “glory.”

This, in a nutshell, is Degrassi, a soapy drama that explores the tumultuous lives of a group of well-coiffed teenagers. Degrassi is ridiculously plotted, often poorly written, and addictively entertaining—like a sixth grade health textbook come to life, and set in Toronto.

Degrassi was originally meant to be a realistic portrayal of high school. As it’s matured, though, the series has become so exaggerated that it’s almost a parody of TV for teenagers. That’s what makes Degrassi more enjoyable than much of its competition—its campiness is completely self-aware.

I firmly believe that you don’t have to feel guilty about watching Degrassi. Who wouldn’t love a show that features dialogue like, “Having cancer doesn’t give you the right to be a jackass”? And, after all, slacker auteur Kevin Smith openly admits to being a Degrassi fan, so much that he even appeared on five episodes of the show. If it’s good enough for Silent Bob, isn’t it good enough for you?