Degrassi - The "Newbies" vs. The "Originals": Everyone is divided. Let's talk about it.

**kaleidocat** · 10-26-2009, 09:45 PM

- Think it's fair that a certain few get to hang around while others get no send off whatsoever or are left with only a few lines if they are lucky?
- What's your ideal send off for your favorite original characters?
- Do we need the originals?
- Do we need the newbies?
- Think the newbies are only rip offs? Or do they have their differences from the originals?
- Would a spin off ever work with the originals?

Just a few starter questions. Feel free to address anything that's related to the ever apparent noob character vs. old character fight that seems to be apparent on every board. No need to answer the questions I suggested. Get to it. It's something we talk about in one way or another.

Nekoshoujo · 10-26-2009, 11:25 PM

I'm glad to see this topic because everyone seems to be slipping this issue into all the recent Degrassi disscussions. It's not something you can easily avoid these days.

Personally I don't understand the hate on the new kids. For one thing, nothing the new kids do erases what the original cast did. So Holly J stood up to a gunman at The Dot. Does that make Rick shooting Jimmy in Time Stands Still any less dramatic? No.

And while there are lots of similarities between the new kids and the originals, I think people are way too quick to draw comparisons between the two. I think I've heard "OMG! Clare is like totally just the new Emma!" a thousand plus times by now. Sure KC and Sean both had tragic backstories and played basketball. Yeah Alli and Manny both have strict parents and were in a rush to grow up. It's really the storylines and the character dynamics that make a character and from what I've seen the new kids are quite different. Sean just lived away from his parents, KC is in a group home setting, something I find really fresh and exciting. My personal favorite is when people compare Riley to Marco. I'm sorry but what do those two have in common aside from being gay?! I think there is still lots of storylines Degrassi has yet to cover and regardless of their similarities do the originals, I think the newbies have a lot to offer us.

I think it's dumb to just right the show off because the originals are gone. Most of the original characters have hit their peak of development and personally I'd rather watch the newbies than see Emma reinvent herself for the 10000 time or be bored by storylines from the oroginals that we've seen before. Face it, Degrassi was going to get stale. It really need the new blood. Besides season 9 has been really impressive! The writing on the show this season is wonderful, much better than S7 and S8's usual fair save for a few standout episodes. The dialog is great and I love that they're following up their storylines this season instead of having everything be episodic. The fans who stopped watching are really missing out.

Besides a lot of the original cast members seem ready to move on: College, other TV gigs, maybe they just need a break from playing the same character everyday. Why not let some young new actors take the spotlight?

And the newbies are NEW, hense the name. Maybe they just needed a season to get into their roles. And maybe in season 10 they'll be more widely liked.

Personally I'm Pro-New Kids. Maybe by the end of S9 I won't feel like a minority in this debate.

**gizzie_fan** · 10-27-2009, 05:35 AM

Wow, it's great to see someone having the same opinion as me. Personally i didn't think s7 and s8 were bad at all. And it's so annoying hearing people say that it's not Degrassi anymore and that the originals aren't on the show anymore. Personally, i think we were lucky to get to see some of them in college/uni.

I still think it's real and goes there. IMO people should try and give it a chance before complaining like they always do. What i love the most is that even though they recycle several storylines like pregnancy and rape and stuff like that, it's never the same. They always change it, so i don't see what people hate about that.

Oh-Canada · 10-27-2009, 06:22 AM

I completely agree with both of your posts!

This is my order of preference...
Originals while they attended Degrassi
Newbies while they attend Degrassi
Originals outside of Degrassi

I grew up with the originals, so I'm always going to like them better. I went through stuff while I watched them go through similar things as well. BUT there are also lots of new Degrassi fans who are just getting into the new characters the way I got into the old ones back in the day and I think thats GREAT!

Hopefully Degrassi can last forever

Or at least until Linda Schuyler retires

vivalalove · 10-27-2009, 01:27 PM

I'm surprised a thread for this wasn't created a long time ago. Great idea though!

I don't necessarily love either batch of characters as a whole. People compare Alli and Manny because rather small details. I can't stand Manny but I love Alli. I think it depends on how the viewer receives the information and how they choose to respond to it. There are old characters I miss and new characters I am on the edge of my seat to know more about. It depends on what viewers are looking for in a character, I guess.

I'll go ahead and answer your questions too.

- Think it's fair that a certain few get to hang around while others get no send off whatsoever or are left with only a few lines if they are lucky?-
No. No. And no. I know Aubrey is doing great with his rapping and all now, (go Drake!) but at the same time, whatever happened to Jimmy? The last time we saw him he caught his dad having an affair with his secretary and then he was thinking about stem cell surgery. He comes back and tells Spin he's going to propose to his girlfriend. Do you know how many directions those things could have gone off in?
Paige thought she might have contracted HIV and then we see her acting like some Barbie Princess in "Degrassi Goes Hollywood?" What was up with that?

What's your ideal send off for your favorite original characters?
I don't really have an "ideal" send off exactly, but take Kelly for example. Of course no one really seemed to care about him, but he got caught with pot and he couldn't live on campus anymore. So he's gone. That's done and taken care of. Just let the old actors finish out their storylines and then send them packing, would ya D:TNG writers?

-Do we need the originals?-
I love Spin. Emma and Manny... eh. But we don't need them anymore at all. They've already went through so much. I know Cassie has music on the side and I'm not sure what Miriam and Shane are up to. But most of their old castmates have already moved on.

Do we need the newbies?-
Only the good newbies. Leia, Blue, Bruce, and Chantay can all go.

Think the newbies are only rip offs? Or do they have their differences from the originals?
Definitely not. Of course some storylines are being repeated, but different actions are being taken so nothing and no one are exactly the same.

-Would a spin off ever work with the originals?
I'd give it a try, but I don't think it would be well received overall. It would probably get mediocre ratings and stuff.

Oh-Canada · 10-27-2009, 01:51 PM

Personally I think that the last 3 episodes of season 7 were brillant and they should've ended the originals there. ALL of the characters got a great ending IMO(except for characters like Sean, etc that were already gone). Spinner got it together and graduated high school. Jimmy showed that despite everything he was still a good friend to Spinner. Paige, Marco, and Ellie were all moving out but they still cared about each other and sometimes that's what happens to friends. And Emma, Manny, Liberty, and Toby ended at JT's Memorial. Even Ashley and Craig were back together doing their music thing.

I don't need an explanation of what every single character is doing post Degrassi. I don't know exactly what all of the kids I used to go to high school with are doing. All I want know is that they've moved on and grown up, and that they "made it through" high school

liveincolor · 10-27-2009, 03:49 PM

- Think it's fair that a certain few get to hang around while others get no send off whatsoever or are left with only a few lines if they are lucky?
Absolutely not, most never get to have anything resolved whatsoever, they're there one minute, and, then next...poof...barely a sentence of explanation, and gone. I know the actors often are ready to move on, and that's great for them, I just wish somehow they left not so suddenly. The problem really is that the writers continued the characters too long and, by then, they just had no where left to go.
- What's your ideal send off for your favorite original characters?
I really don't know

Just something resolute and finished, I wouldn't mind at all sending off my favorite original characters if I felt there was nothing left to tell, or something to that effect
- Do we need the originals?
Do we need them? No. Most would have recycled plot lines by now, and no longer be the original characters. But do I miss them? Yes.
- Do we need the newbies?
I suppose for the show to continue, yeah,we do, but I don't know...I feel like all of a sudden they were all new, whereas I'd've warmed up faster if it was little by little, but, I don't mind the new characters, and I'm interested in seeing where they're all going. I'll always prefer the originals just becuase that's exactly what they are...the originals, but I like the newbies too.
- Think the newbies are only rip offs? Or do they have their differences from the originals?
There's always going to be similarities, that's like if you met two people in your school with a similar interest or background, and thought they were just copying the other, or whatever. I think they have their differences, sure. I still don't think I really know enough to judge quite yet.
- Would a spin off ever work with the originals?
I think that...it could, but most probably wouldn't. It really would depend on the writing, and how true to their roots the characters stuck. I'd watch it, but, most probably, just miss them as they were, not how they are.