School's Out (1992 film)

School's Out
Drama
Based on	Degrassi by Linda Schuyler Kit Hood
Screenplay by	Yan Moore
Story by	Yan Moore Linda Schuyler Kit Hood
Directed by	Kit Hood
Starring	Pat Mastroianni Stacie Mistysyn Neil Hope Stefan Brogren Kirsten Bourne Anais Granofsky
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Linda Schuyler
Producers	Linda Schuyler Kit Hood
Cinematography	Philip Earnshaw
Editor	Robert de Lint
Running time	92 minutes[1]
Production company	Playing With Time, Inc.
Original release
Network	CBC Television
Release	January 5, 1992 (1992-01-05)

School's Out (also referred to on home video as Degrassi High: School's Out) is a Canadian

, which are collectively known as the Degrassi Classic era of the franchise.

The movie, centered on the Degrassi students during their first summer post-graduation, primarily focuses on the relationship between Joey Jeremiah (Pat Mastroianni) and Caitlin Ryan (Stacie Mistysyn); after Caitlin politely rejects Joey's marriage proposal, he begins becoming romantically involved with Tessa Campanelli (Kirsten Bourne), while also still being involved with Caitlin; he has sex with both, with Tessa being first, and brags about it with his friends. Later, Joey's friend Archie "Snake" Simpson (Stefan Brogren), frustrated of his inability to get a girlfriend, ultimately reveals this fact at a party while Caitlin is in the same room, causing her to break the relationship off. Joey and Snake's friend, Derek "Wheels" Wheeler (Neil Hope) starts drinking heavily, resulting in a car crash which kills a two year old boy and blinds class valedictorian Lucy Fernandez (Anais Granofsky).

The movie was noted for its inclusion of coarse language and more sexually-oriented content as opposed to the television series, including two instances of the word "

, whose premiere episode primarily centered around the ten-year reunion of the original class.

This article is part of a series about Degrassi
Awards and nominations Characters 1987–1992 2001–2015 2016–2017 Places Home video Main series The Kids Of Degrassi Street (1979–1986) Degrassi Junior High (1987–1989) Degrassi High (1989–1991) Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2015) Degrassi: Next Class (2016–2017) Television movies School's Out! (1992) Degrassi Goes Hollywood (2008) Degrassi Takes Manhattan (2010) Other series Degrassi Talks (1992) Degrassi (unproduced 2023 series) Episodes "Ida Makes a Movie" (The Kids Of Degrassi Street) "It's Late" (Degrassi Junior High) "Bye-Bye, Junior High" (Degrassi Junior High) "A New Start" (Degrassi High) "Showtime" (Degrassi High) "Mother And Child Reunion" (Degrassi: TNG) "Accidents Will Happen" (Degrassi: TNG) "Time Stands Still" (Degrassi: TNG) "High Fidelity" (Degrassi: TNG) " season 10 ) Characters Joey Jeremiah Caitlin Ryan Christine "Spike" Nelson Derek "Wheels" Wheeler J.T. Yorke Novelizations Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High novels Spike Degrassi: Extra Credit Creative personnel Linda Schuyler (co-creator) Kit Hood (co-creator) Stephen Stohn (executive producer) Yan Moore (writer) Susin Nielsen (writer) Related De Grassi Street Playing With Time, Inc. Epitome Pictures Liberty Street The LA Complex Instant Star Kevin Smith The N "I'm Upset"
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Plot

It is graduation time for the seniors at Degrassi High, and everyone is making plans for the summer and their future. Most are preparing for university or far-off travel. One who is not is 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

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

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 realises that Joey is still with Caitlin with no intention of breaking up with her, she dumps him. Joey and Caitlin finally have sex on his nineteenth birthday, approximately a week before Caitlin, Lucy, and Snake are all scheduled to depart for university. It is 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 an end of the summer lake house party, hosted by Lucy's boyfriend Bronco, Caitlin accepts Joey's earlier marriage proposal. Joey, who had been teasing

all summer about his inability to get a girlfriend, brags once more about his abilities with women. Snake (citing that he's been living through the "summer from hell") 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 realises that former classmate Allison Hunter is drowning and rushes into 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 and the driver of the other car. 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 will not 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 Pappadopoulos and Simon Dexter. Absent are Wheels,

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 is implied to have finally lost his virginity to her, and he appears considerably more self-assured; he still has yet to get into contact with Wheels. Joey and Snake have an awkward reunion, but make unspecific plans to hang out before he goes back to university. Joey also apologizes for hurting Caitlin, who forgives him, and as Simon and Alexa have their first dance as husband and wife, former fiancés Joey and Caitlin share a dance as friends.

Cast

Production

During development of School's Out, six of Degrassi's actors filmed Degrassi Talks, a six-part non-fiction miniseries in which the actors interviewed teenagers and young adults across Canada about issues explored in the show.^[3] Principal photography for School's Out began on July 21, 1991.^[4] Yan Moore explained the use of the word "fuck" in the film: "There was a tension growing, especially between Joey and Snake. Snake had this tremendous frustration and the word had never been used in a script before. So, when Snake finally lost it with Joey, the word was included. Since Caitlin overheard the conversation, it just seemed right for her to use that totally un-Caitlin-like word."^[3]

Music

The film featured eight songs from the debut album of

The film also featured songs from top Canadian artists including Gowan (the song "Moonlight Desires"), The Box (band), Spoons (band), Amy Sky, Images in Vogue and Malcolm Burn.

Release

Broadcast

School's Out aired on

Home media

School's Out was released on VHS by

Critical reception

School's Out received critical praise from the Canadian press on its original broadcast. Writing for the

References

External links

• School's Out at official Degrassi website
• School's Out at Degrassi.ca
• School's Out at
  IMDb