TORONTO – The MuchMusic parking lot has had more facelifts than Heidi Montag and last night it was transformed again as 299 Queen Street West was turned into an outdoor theater for Degrassi‘s eleventh season premiere.
The makeshift drive-in without cars not only offered free chips and bottled water to enjoy while the show was played on a gigantic outdoor screen but also gave fans the chance to mingle with the stars of the series themselves.
There was a Q & A session fronted by Much’s Lauren Toyota, an introduction to the show’s new iPhone and iPad app and the ability to have photos taken with the cast.
While I have covered many show premieres before, I have never seen a better degree of accessibility with the cast of a series as I did with Degrassi‘s. Many of the actors danced around, “planked” and high-fived the crowd with a true sense of genuineness, one that could not have been faked. While the appeal of the show has always relied on the idea that the kids from the show face the same issues that their viewers do in real-life, it can now also be said that the Degrassi kids could just as easily be friends with their fans and that is a point that I have not found with any other program.
Clearly critics are paying attention too as the show was just nominated for its first Emmy award in the “Outstanding Children’s Program” category.
I managed to catch up with the cast for a pic and got one with the show’s newest series regular, Cristine Prosperi (to see it, check out the gallery below). I pretty much had to considering we were wearing matching outfits. As an aside, next to Fiona, Imogen is my new favorite on the show.
And as for the season premiere itself? Well, it delivered. There was a death aaaaaand a lesbian kiss aaaaand a performance by Keke Palmer aaaaand a confession to the police aaaaaand that was just in the first episode!
The first episode has set-up some interesting storylines for future episodes including:
– What does the future hold for Fiona and Charlie (a question that every guy in attendance including the ones on the show were left asking) ?
– What will happen to Drew after his chilling confession?
– What does the future hold for Sav’s new relationship?
The best part is you don’t need to wait until next week to find out. The next episode airs tonight on MuchMusic and TeenNick at 9 p.m.
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