DeGrassi episodes "watered down" for non-Canadian audience

[KurtNYC]

Scarrow's and Canada's old-fashioned liberal openness hasn't always played well abroad: stations often choose to alter specific episodes and some have simply stopped broadcasting the show altogether. In 1988, PBS edited an abortion episode so U.S. viewers wouldn't see a teenage girl push her way through a crowd of anti-abortion protesters (shoving plastic fetuses at her) on her way to a clinic. The BBC stopped showing ''Degrassi Junior High'' following episodes that dealt with teenage pregnancy and lesbian daydreams. Deals are still pending with several Latin American countries. It's not hard to imagine the discussion in standards offices around the world about whether to show episodes like ''Secret,'' in which teenage girls (including, of course, Amy) ''earn'' brightly colored bracelets for ''hooking up'' with random guys from school, or ''Moonlight Desires,'' in which the gay class president shares a kiss with his straight male friend.

Still, the storytelling risks that ''Degrassi'' favors -- even when watered down for non-Canadians -- have more edge than those on competing shows because these kids look like real kids, with pimples, sweaty hair and tragic wardrobes. And that's because they are real kids. ''You take a 23-year-old,'' says Schuyler, ''and even if they look 100 percent believable as a 15- or 16-year-old, the performer, no matter how good an actor they are, brings with them five or six more years of life experience. 'Degrassi' is a show about firsts, so when you're doing a show about firsts, and some of your actors are really experiencing these things for the first time, there is a sincerity and an authenticity that comes through in the performance that I don't think the best actor in the world can necessarily create.''

Detailed (fairly long) article on one of Canada's best traveled exports:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/magazine/20DEGRASSI.html?ei=5090&en=c117f6b9cb0cc498&ex=1268974800&partner=rssuserland&pagewanted=print&position=