Degrassi: The Next Generation (renamed Degrassi from the tenth season) is a Canadian teen drama

Teen drama

A teen drama is a dramatic television series with a major focus on teenage characters. The genre was relatively non-existent for the first 45 years of television; it came into prominence in the early 1990s...

 television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler

Linda Schuyler

Linda Schuyler, CM is a Canadian television producer involved in the creation of the Degrassi series and Instant Star series of teen programs...

 and Kit Hood

Kit Hood

Kit Hood is a Canadian television director, writer and producer. Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler created a production company called Playing With Time which was established in 1976. The name was inspired by their first educational documentary called Jimmy-Playing With Time . They worked together in...

 in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street

The Kids of Degrassi Street

The Kids of Degrassi Street is a Canadian children's TV show which aired from 1979 to 1986, and is the first in the Degrassi series, aboutthe lives of a group of children living on Degrassi Street in Toronto, Canada...

, Degrassi Junior High

Degrassi Junior High

Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian CBC Television teen drama series that was produced from 1987-1989 as part of the Degrassi series. The show followed the lives of a group of students attending the titular fictional school...

, and Degrassi High

Degrassi High

Degrassi High is the third television show in the Degrassi series of teen dramas about the lives of a group of kids living on or near De Grassi Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It first aired from 1989 to 1991 and followed the kids from Kids of Degrassi Street and Degrassi Junior High through...

. Like its predecessors, Degrassi: The Next Generation follows an ensemble cast

Ensemble cast

An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...

 of students at Degrassi Community School who face various challenges like poor self image, peer pressure, child abuse, sexual identity, gang violence, self-injury, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and death.