Oh, there's a spinoff of Degrassi now. The class of the original Degrassi is all grown up and have kids of their own, some of whom (Joey's adopted son and Spike's daughter) star in the new series. And it's being shown on American TV.
SPOILER WARNING! They recently had a story arc where Rick comes back to school. (In the third season, he was expelled after putting his girlfriend in a coma.) The kids bully him of course, even the "good" kids like Emma and Marco. Basically, his only friend's Toby, though Emma has pity on him.
Then there's a special cliffhanger: Rick, Jimmy, Toby, and Emma represent Degrassi on a trivia show, but Alex, Jay, and Spinner decide to set it up so Rick will be covered in yellow paint and feathers at the end. Raditch allows Rick to take the rest of the day off, but instead, Rick comes back with a gun. While Rick's cleaning up, Spinner forces Jay into the bathroom to talk about whether or not to confess and, after noticing Rick's shoes in the stall, they frame Jimmy. Rick shoots Jimmy and is ready to shoot Emma. Sean tries talking him down and that fails, so Sean overpowers Rick. Rick squeezes the trigger, fatally wounding himself. Then there's a scene where Hazel learns that Jimmy's in the hospital.
Suffice it to say, the rest of the fourth season will focus on this.