The 'Shark in the Water' Promo That Saved 'Degrassi' and Changed TV Forever

[beeweastie]

The oral history of the 'Shark in the Water' promo that saved 'Degrassi' and changed TV forever https://t.co/DcJC9ofUyv
- Entertainment Insider (@EntInsider) July 15, 2021

Writer Erin Ajello gives an in-depth look to Insider about how Degrassi's iconic "Shark in the Water" promo, set to VV Brown's equally iconique song, saved the show.

• Just before season 10 went into production, showrunners were informed that the show might be cancelled by CTV
• TeenNick ordered 48 episodes for a 10th season, effectively giving them a second chance - the plan was to air 4 new episodes a week for the first 10 weeks. A Degrassisance with "The Boiling Point" leading up to a lockdown in the finale.
• Even the stars didn't know that they had almost been cancelled - hottie Drew Torres/Luke Bilyk and lesbian queen Fiona Coyne/Annie Clark are interviewed for the piece
• VV Brown's label sent the song "Shark in the Water" to TeenNick, who came up with the promo idea and thought the song fit perfectly (yes, it did)
• The cast had a great time shooting the promo and didn't even know the turns their own stories would take. Melinda Shankar and Luke Bilyk didn't know their characters would get together, and Annie Clark didn't know what her black eye would mean.
• Munro Chambers had just signed a four-year contract but was worried that his character pulling the Death tarot card might mean the literal death of his character Eli. Luke was like, "Dude, you have a contract, you're fine."
• Annie Clark felt like she had finally made it when P*r*z posted the promo on the front page of his site. To her, that was when you were truly a celebrity, and Degrassi was no longer just a little regional show, but an international one.
• The promo marked a shift in the show to feeling more American, but also widened the audience and took it to new heights.
• Went from near cancellation to several more successful seasons and generations of the show
• VV Brown said that the promo completely revived the song (which had come out a few years earlier!) and that Degrassi's push of the song and its subsequent popularity is the reason she can feed her kids

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Best promos ever? Fav degrassi ships? Why hasn't Netflix brought this amazing show back yet???

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