HBO Max Pushes Further Into Teen Dram With A Degrassi Reboot

There can often be some tension between millenials and Gen Z-ers as they fight over skinny jeans, Y2K fashion, and the word “cheugy,” but there’s one thing both generations can agree—nothing is better than a good high school drama. Whether it’s The OC, 90210, or Pretty Little Liars, every age group has grown up with a classic TV show playing in the background. For many, Degrassi: The Next Generation was that show, and now, HBO Max is introducing the classic Canadian series to a whole new audience.

On Thursday, HBO Max announced that a new Degrassi series is coming to the streaming service in 2023. According to a press release, the reboot will include 10-hour long episodes, exclusive to the US. Despite that, the show will be set in Toronto like the original series. Along with the new show, HBO Max also gained the rights to all 14 seasons of Degrassi: Next Generation, which will be made available on the platform in the spring.

Degrassi is being created by showrunners Lara Azzopardi and Julia Cohen, who have previous credits on The Bold Type and Riverdale, respectively. According to the release, the show will be “a character-driven series about the high school experience and the thrilling, often painful journey of self-discovery.”

This new series continues to build on HBO Max’s teen content, a move no doubt related to the popularity of the service’s shows like Euphoria and The Sex Lives of College Girls, which recently got renewed for a second season. Betting on Degrassi, which has a 40-year history of success, was probably an easy decision for HBO. Now, making sure the reboot both lives up to its predecessors while still feeling fresh in the age of Euphoria will be a more difficult task.