Teen angst, as seen on Toronto TV
Stories featuring plain kids with frumpy clothes more relatable than U.S. shows
Punchy teen drama has always been a genre that Toronto TV producers have captured effortlessly and impeccably: witness the breathless anticipation for the latest manifestation of Degrassi, Next Class, now airing on Family Channel in Canada and Netflix internationally. It seems hard-wired into our DNA.
Could it be that while high-profile U.S teen dramas focus on near flawless waxworks leading idealized glossy lives, Toronto’s stories feature plain folk with frumpy clothes, bad haircuts and even worse acne, who lead normal and unremarkable lives? It’s easier for the rest of us to relate, if not exactly an ideal to aspire to. Here are six of the best.
Degrassi Junior High (CBC, 1987-1992) After influencing everything from Beverly Hills, 90210 to How I Met Your Mother and spearheading an immortal franchise packed with ascendant global stars, why does the original still feel underrated?
Shot on location in and around Leslieville and Vincent Massey Junior High in Etobicoke in the mid to late 1980s, the gritty Toronto landscapes informed the series’ low-key ethos, whether its hapless characters were shoulder tapping for booze, wrestling with unwanted pregnancies or fretting over pornographic magazines stashed in lockers. Subsequent Degrassi series have considerably upped the ante but never truly seized the grimy, slush-soaked reveries present in Junior High or its antecedent sprog The Kids of Degrassi Street.
Hangin’ In (CBC, 1981-1987) From an era of sitcoms that occasionally ventured into dark territory every so often for “very special episodes” (see also Diff ’rent Strokes, Family Ties, Mr. Belvedere, etc.), this CBC series went there weekly. Set in a Toronto drop-in centre for troubled youth, Hangin’ In featured early appearances from Keanu Reeves, Megan Follows and Eric McCormack, all playing teens in trouble. Subject matter ranged from racism to rape to drug abuse, and alcoholism to suicide — not the usual flora found in laugh-track-coated CBC sitcoms.
Airwaves (CBC, 1986-1988) Perhaps the closest CBC came to bottling MTV’s neon dreams, Airwaves portrayed the prickly relationship between an opinionated radio talk-show host (Roberta Maxwell) and her punky, high-school dropout daughter (Ingrid Veninger). The lowstakes drama (dating bad boys, staying out after curfew, using curse words) married to colourful urban Toronto backdrops — including many scenes on Yonge St. out front of Sam the Record Man — make the now mostly forgotten Airwaves an essential Polaroid of the city in the 1980s.
Dear Aunt Agnes (TVOntario, 1985-1989) A rare excursion into the scrappy genre from the usually buttoned-up public broadcaster TVO, this series was ostensibly a sitcom sans laugh track and probably best remembered now for its earworm of a theme song. The always exuberant Heather Conkie starred as Aunt Agnes Peabody, ably helping her teenage niblings navigate the tumultuous waters of youth with a bit of homespun wisdom. A variety of small-c crises arose (driving without a licence, skipping class, freaking out during a blackout) set against the mean streets of Rosedale (their house was cozily located on Crescent Rd.), making it perfectly safe viewing for TVO’s impressionable young viewers.
My Secret Identity (CTV, 1988-1991) Not the first superhero story where superpowers serve as a euphemism for puberty, but easily the most fun. Jerry O’Connell starred as a young Andrew Clements, granted powers as a result of his scientist neighbour, Dr. Jeffcoate, tinkering with lasers. Obsessed with comic books, young Andrew wants to fashion himself as a Superman type while Jeffcoate insists his identity be kept a strict secret, forcing the young lad to suffer all the universal indignities of teenage-hood, even though his powers could stop bullies, make him popular and land him a girlfriend.
Ready or Not (Global TV, 1993-1997) Aired directly against sleek U.S. powerhouse teen soaps like 90210 and Party of Five, the much lower-budgeted Ready or Not always held its own with a folksy, nonpreachy, de- cidedly Toronto style. Besties Amanda Zimm (Laura Bertram) and Elizabeth “Busy” Ramone (Lani Billard) struggled through the minefield that was being a teen in the 1990s, coping with divorced parents, homophobia, peer pressure menstrual cycles, eat- ing disorders and the fear of growing apart.
Sometimes bleak, always realistic but never sugar-coated, Ready or Not seemed to temporarily fulfil the promise of what local teen dramas could achieve post- Degrassi.
TVOntario made a rare excursion into the teen drama gene with Dear Aunt Agnes, which featured an exuberant aunt helping her teenage niblings navigate the tumultuous waters of youth