It's very sad about Neil Hope. He passed away in a boarding house in my hometown. If anyone wants to pay their respects to him he is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Burlington Ontario. Great interview.
Pat has such a sincere, good natured temperament. He said it in the video but it's true, I'm so glad his character was influential in my childhood as a sign of stability and kindness (I was watching in 2000s so I had full circle step-dad Joey to watch as well). He even sent a kind message with a package from some merch, I'll always appreciate him!
I found out about him a week or 2 ago when I was watching Degrassi Jr high and Degrassi High for the first time, it's so sad 😔😔 and I can't believe he didn't keep in touch with Snake or Joey they were like brothers in the shows 😭😭
Hmmm, I watched Degrassi on PBS in 1987 and my entire town was hooked. So, Pat is wrong to think kids didnt watch the show until the 90s. We would watch it like a soap opera and we would talk about it all over the playground. Our PBS station had Doctor Who and Degrassi in El Paso Texas, KCOS Channel 13!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Maximus Prime friends and i used to watch degrassi after school in chicago on channel 11 as well. wasnt it on at like 4:30 weekdays? i remember when it ended then it was usually time for dinner
I believe Pat was referring to the initial CBC ratings in Canada because it was definitely a smash hit on PBS in the US markets as other posters attested, including when I watched it in NJ in 1987.
Another Chicago kid here! It was so awesome when you'd meet someone who was also watching it. One girl I knew had the study guide or whatever and we pored over it like it was fascinating LOL
Despite it being what's classified as a "kids" or "teen" show,the Degrassi series from day one is one of the best put together,acted,socially aware series ever made Canadian or not!!!
Joey's right. I first was introduced to the show in 7th grade in '87/'88 by a substitute teacher who brought the tapes into class, but didn't get into it until the CBC reruns in the mid nineties. I was lucky enough to live in Detroit where we got the CBC.
teen/kid show my @$$ since most adult problemz can b traced 2 unrezolved childhood challengez i'll havv 2 say that it wuz the best SHOW period, espeshully since they d-veloped their storeez at the speed uv real life & not hollweerd speed where thingz a falsely rezolved 4 who knowz what reezun
I actually DID watch this show back when I was in 8th grade in my homeroom class. I, along with my classmates, watched the entire series. Seasons 1 through 3. And I remember I really enjoyed this show. It's what made me a degrassi next gen fan.
I watched the old 80s Degrassi while I've been sick. I used to love as a kid they put the whole series on youtube, it was fkin good, for a teen drama show which I would never watch today. I thought it was really awesome, great characters, that dark gritty 80s style, I sort of like how no one was really a good guy or villain every different character had their faults and their good moments, and for 80s Canadian TV there were really some disturbing moments but it was awesome!!
The way Pat talks about working with Neil Hope again that one time reminds me of how Snake referred to Joey at the end of School's Out as "a childhood friend." It's sad but that does really happen.
seriously I am the last guy you would ever think LOVED Degrassi... thats how dam good this show is... id love to meet Pat one day and shake his hand... I was always routing his character Joey on this show, and felt like even giving him advice at times u know... through all of his ups and bluders... your there, you watch these kids grow before your eyes and thats the beauty of this show, the characters feel like they are all your friends, like you come to know them.. and omg, Caitlyn as with most girls on degrassi but especially her she was absolutely adorable!!!! another thing that makes this show for me hehe ;p;p;p
Ikr my teacher when I was a freshmen use to talk about it is how I got into it and never looked back miss yall wish they a do something to bring original cast BACK
Was a typical after school show that showed issues about what kids at that age were going through in the 80's. Just like 90210 was an after school program for highschool kids. But I don't like how the ended Degrassi though. I wish it had a better ending.
Oh I so agree did not like how they pushed degrassi high so fast but ran TNG even longer did not like that esp when they used a lot of storylines from the original just changed it up a lil bit
nah...I watched it in the 80's and all my friends did! When I started dating my husband, he proudly said he watched it too and had a crush on Michelle LOL
Our kids enjoy the Degrassi series from when I was a kid, over the next generation because they were just regular, relateable kids. Was such a socially progressive bit of programming.
When exactly did Pat Mastroianni go bald? In the early 1990s he had a full set of hair, by the very end of the 1990s at the time of the Degrassi cast reunion on Jonovision he was bald.
Degrassi High was most definitely popular in the late 80s. Although I was too young to be interested in it at the time, I was fully aware of the show through all the commercials and older kids on my bus talking about last night's episode. Degrassi is just something that even if you didn't watch it, you knew somebody who did 🇨🇦.
@@langdonalger9219 acid is good. Luke talking about it makes me want some.... Shane messed up cause he didn’t research or ask questions. He should’ve microdosed at home or something