"Degrassi: The Next Generation" is actually part of a TV franchise that ran for nearly 40 years.
In 1979, Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood started creating educational programs for kids and teens, which sparked the idea for a "The Kids of Degrassi Street" miniseries focusing on elementary-school students.
When all of the characters reached sixth grade, Schuyler and Hood's production company started working on a new series, "Degrassi Junior High," which featured seventh- and eighth-grade students and aired on CBC in 1987.
The third spin-off series in the franchise, "Degrassi High," aired in 1989 and followed the students into high school. The series ended with the TV movie "School's Out" in 1992.
The series wasn't revived again for nearly a decade when Schuyler and Stephen Stohn created "Degrassi: The Next Generation" in 2001. The show introduced new seventh- and eighth-grade students to follow and eventually expanded into high school.
After running for 14 seasons, the franchise moved to Netflix and launched "Degrassi: Next Class" in 2016. The show premiered its fourth and final season in 2017.