School's Out! | |
Background Information | |
Genre | Drama |
Created by | Linda Schuyler Kit Hood |
Directed by | Kit Hood |
Produced by | Kit Hood |
Written by | Yan Moore |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Language | English |
Production | |
Running time | 90 minutes (including commercials) |
Prod. Company | Playing With Time Inc. |
Broadcast | |
Original channel | CBC Television |
Release date | January 5, 1992 |
Chronology | |
Preceded by | Degrassi High |
Followed by | Degrassi: The Next Generation |
"Joey Jeremiah spends his summer dating Caitlin, and fucking Tessa!!" |
School's Out! is a 1992 TV movie featuring the characters of the immensely popular Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High television series. The show's longtime team of writers filmed this feature length movie during the summer of 1991 to be shown on CBC Television during the new year. Initially, the movie was intended to wrap up the entire Degrassi saga, but in 2001, Degrassi: The Next Generation gave the Degrassi series a revival.
Plot[]
It is graduation time for the gang at Degrassi High, and everyone is making plans for the summer and their future. Most are preparing for university or far-off travel except for Joey Jeremiah who is preparing for another year in high school. His longtime girlfriend Caitlin Ryan has taken a number of extra classes and completed high school in three years and has graduated with Joey's former peers.
Eager to hold on to her before she leaves for university to study journalism, Joey proposes to Caitlin at a graduation party hosted by Lucy Fernandez. Caitlin demurs, explaining that she is not ready for that kind of commitment. Joey storms out, only to run into classmate Tessa Campanelli fresh from an argument with her boyfriend Todd, and agrees to give her a ride home.
Arriving at the Campanelli house, Tessa pulls Joey toward her for a kiss. The next day, on a break from the photo shop where she works, Tessa visits Joey next door at the drug store where he works and asks him on a date. Joey, though initially hesitant, accepts Tessa's offer, has a great time, and, as he tells Wheels the next day, gets to third base. Tessa confides in her co-worker, Spike, the details of the relationship. Spike reminds her that Joey and Caitlin have a pattern of breaking up and reuniting. Tessa rejects Spike's argument, noting that Caitlin will be leaving for university in a matter of weeks anyway. With Caitlin working most evenings and weekends and Joey working days, they spend little time together and Joey starts seeing Tessa more frequently and they soon go all the way. As the summer goes on, Joey sees both Tessa and Caitlin with neither realizing he is dating them both.
By the middle of August, Tessa discovers she is pregnant and decides to have an abortion. When she realizes that Joey is still with Caitlin with no intention of breaking up with her, she dumps him. Joey and Caitlin finally make love on his nineteenth birthday, approximately a week before Caitlin, Lucy, and Snake are all scheduled to depart for university. It's Caitlin's first time, though she is unaware that it is not Joey's. Unbeknownst to Joey, Caitlin has decided to attend a local university in order to remain close to him.
The next day, at a lake house party, hosted by Lucy's boyfriend Bronco Davis, Caitlin accepts Joey's earlier marriage proposal. Joey, who had been teasing Snake all summer about his inability to get a girlfriend brags once more about his abilities with women. Snake finally lashes out at Joey for all the teasing and blurts out about him sleeping with Tessa. Caitlin overhears and confronts Joey about it. She storms out after breaking off their engagement and telling Joey of her would-be plans to study locally in order to be with him. Immediately after unintentionally breaking up Joey and Caitlin, Snake realizes that former classmate Allison Hunter is drowning and rushes in to the lake to rescue her. Everyone congratulates him for saving her life, but he breaks down in a flood of emotion and anxiety.
Wheels, who had been drinking heavily, leaves the party with Lucy to get more chips but ends up crashing into another car. The crash kills a two-year-old boy in the other car, and seriously injures Lucy. The next day, Joey visits Wheels in jail, where Wheels tells him he has been charged with one count of criminal negligence causing death, two counts of criminal negligence causing injury, and drunk driving. He asserts that it was not his fault that the child was not wearing a seatbelt or that Lucy wanted to get more chips. Caitlin visits Lucy at the hospital where she is immobilized and unsure if she will ever see or walk again. Later, Joey stops to see Snake as he prepares to leave for university and asks why he won't accept Wheels' phone calls. Snake is disgusted by Wheels, particularly in light of Wheels having lost his own parents to a drunk driver. He apologizes to Joey for saying what he said at Bronco's place. Joey accepts his apology saying that Caitlin would have found out sooner or later.
Two months later, most of the gang get together for the wedding of Alexa Pappadopolos and Simon Dexter. Absent are Wheels, Erica, and Lucy. Wheels, still incarcerated, is planning to plead guilty for his crimes. Erica is teaching abroad in the Dominican Republic and has met a new boyfriend in the process. Meanwhile, Lucy has since regained vision in one of her eyes but is still not well enough to attend the wedding. Snake is accompanied by his girlfriend Pam whom he met at university, and he appears considerably more self-assured; he is still vocally disgusted by Wheels. Both Snake and Caitlin are receptive to Joey's apologies for the way he had behaved toward them. Joey and Snake make plans to hang out before he goes back to university, and as Simon and Alexa have their first dance as husband and wife, former fiancƩs Joey and Caitlin share a dance as friends. He predicts that she will be famous in the future.
- This is the first episode to take place during Summer Vacation. The others are Mother and Child Reunion (1), Mother and Child Reunion (2), Degrassi Takes Manhattan, Nowhere to Run, Summertime, and Don't Look Back.
- This is the famous movie where Snake and Caitlin used the word "fucking" on television. They were the first ones to say it in Canadian television history.
- This is set a year after One Last Dance.
- At some point prior to this movie, Joey got a job at the local drug store.
- Canadian-American actress Sandra Oh makes an uncredited appearance as a waitress.
- This marks the end of Joey and Caitlin's second relationship.
- This marks the start and end of Joey and Tessa's relationship.
- Tessa gets an abortion without telling Joey. This is the second abortion in the series after Erica Farrell's in A New Start.
- The Class of 1992 graduate from high school.
- Lucy and Bronco host a lake house party.
- Caitlin and Joey briefly become engaged. They would later do so again in Goin' Down the Road (1). However, they did not marry on either occasion.
- Snake saves Allison from drowning. Afterwards, he panics.
- Wheels gets into a drunk driving accident; killing a two year old boy and being arrested. He says he is 19. The only thing shown is the aftermath of the accident.
- Lucy was in the vehicle and became temporarily blind from the incident.
- Snake ends his lifelong friendship with Wheels.
- This features the first wedding of two Degrassi students, as Simon and Alexa get married.
- School's Out! was the first of 5 Degrassi movies. The others were Paradise City, Degrassi Takes Manhattan, Degrassi: Las Vegas, and Don't Look Back.
- Former regular cast members and Degrassi High students Dwayne Myers (Darrin Brown), Michelle Accette (Maureen McKay), Maya Goldberg (Kyra Levy), Melanie Brodie (Sara Ballingall), Kathleen Mead (Rebecca Haines), Arthur Kobalewscuy (Duncan Waugh) and Alex Yankou (John Ioannou) are not seen at all in the film and it is possible they went to different schools and lost touch with the others after the closing down of Degrassi at the end of the series.
- This marks the final appearances of Tessa, Nancy Kramer, B.L.T. Thomas, Amy Holmes, Bronco Davis, Luke Matthews, Tim O'Connor, Tabi, Nick, Joanne Rutherford, Cindy and Mrs. Jeremiah.
- This includes the wedding of Alexa Pappadopolos-Dexter and Simon Dexter.
- This movie is named after the song "School's Out" by Alice Cooper.
- This is Joey's last appearance with a full head of hair.
- When this first aired on CBC Television, Tampax was the sponsor.
- The film ends with the song "We Can't Look Back" by Amy Sky playing over the end credits. It is heard again at the reunion in Mother and Child Reunion (2).
- Pat Mastroianni as Joey Jeremiah, a humorous and immature class clown with a complicated love life.
- Stacie Mistysyn as Caitlin Ryan, a human rights activist and aspiring journalist thinking about losing her virginity to her boyfriend.
- Neil Hope as Derek "Wheels" Wheeler, a troubled orphan developing a problem with drinking.
- Stefan Brogren as Archibald "Snake" Simpson, a tall, friendly graduate awkwardly trying to lose his virginity before college.
- Kirsten Bourne as Tessa Campanelli, an immature, promiscuous girl trying to find love.
- Anais Granofsky as Lucy Fernandez, a worldy, popular girl and budding filmmaker bound for college.
Supporting Cast[]
- L. Dean Ifill as Bronco Davis, Lucy's smart, supportive boyfriend.
- Irene Courakos as Alexa Pappadopolos and Michael Carry as Simon Dexter, dim-witted high school sweethearts about to be wed.
- Amanda Stepto as Christine "Spike" Nelson, an easy-going, punk-rock teen mom, Tessa's co-worker.
- Sara Holmes and Jacy Hunter as Amy Holmes and Alison Hunter, inseparable best friends, stuck up and snobby troublemakers.
- Andy Chambers as Luke Matthews, a troublemaking student involved in drugs.
- Siluck Saysanasy as Yick Yu, a former nerd who has reinvented himself, falling in with a 'cooler' crowd and experimenting with drugs and alcohol.
- Arlene Lott as Nancy Kramer, a know-it-all who keeps herself updated on everything.
- Keith White as Tim O'Connor, a smart, bookish graduate, Nancy's best friend.
- Angela Deiseach as Erica Farrell, a loud, boy-crazy girl who has a love/hate relationship with her twin sister.
- Maureen Deiseach as Heather Farrell, a somewhat timid girl with strong morals who has a love/hate relationship with her twin sister.
- Gretchen Helbig as Mrs. Jeremiah, Joey's mother.
- Former Degrassi students Liz O'Rourke (Cathy Keenan), Vicky Friedland (Karryn Sheridan), Tabi (Michele Johnson-Murray), Nick (George Chaker), B.L.T. Thomas (Dayo Abe), Cindy (Marsha Ferguson), Diana Economopoulos (Chrissa Erodotou), Joanne Rutherford (Krista Houston) and Trish Skye (Danah-Jean Brown) appear in non-speaking parts in the background of several scenes.
Snake to Joey: "Joey Jeremiah spends his summer dating Caitlin, and fucking Tessa!"
- Watch School' Out! on YouTube.