The Best Years?

I have a major soft spot for all cheesy television shows and movies that are obviously geared towards a younger demographic. This category features, but is not limited to, Saved By the Bell re-runs, The Princess Diaries, and anything starring Mandy Moore. The king of this category, at least for me, has always been Degrassi, a Canadian cult icon that is re-broadcasted on the N, Fridays at 8pm. Appparently I'm not alone out there: Degrassi is the most popular imported English-language TV show in the history of American broadcasting.

Naturally I was psyched when The Best Years, a Degrassi spin-off, was scheduled to debut in June. The story line follows 18 year old Samantha Best, an orphan raised in South Boston, who thanks to a wealthy benefactor now has the opportunity to attend prestigious Charles University (obviously Harvard) across town. Week after week Samantha battles her WASP roommate, demanding professors, and rude sorority girls, all while maintaining her tough-girl Southie exterior.

Americans often get accused of not being knowledgable about foreign cultures. While citizens all over the world get to learn about American culture from watching Jerry Springer, I have to wonder if the Best Years is a representation of what Canada thinks of our university culture.

Though the show takes place in Boston, you'd be hard-pressed to find a single character who talks with even a trace of a Boston accent. In fact you're more likely to hear "aboot" than "wicked" in any given sentence. Alcohol also plays a huge part in each week's episode. Apparently the writers aren't able to grasp the fact that the drinking age is 21? The show's characters enjoy hanging out at swanky Colony, which they frequent thanks to their fake ID's. It's maddening to think that they would never show a character smoking on TV (something as college freshman they would be legal to do) but it's perfectly acceptable to show under-age students drinking and a laisse-faire attitude towards tampering with a federal document.

While the Best Years doesn't have the bite of Degrassi, it is if nothing else a wacky social commentary on how we are viewed by our neighbors to the North. Since the Toronto-based writers made absolutely no attempt to convert to American slang and spellings, one has to wonder why they chose to use an American college town in the first place. Cultural hiccups aside, The Best Years is a fun show to watch, especially since they do show shots of downtown Boston between scenes. If you want to jam-pack your DVR with 90 minutes of glorious Canuck entertainment, the Best Years is on at 8:30 on Friday, immediately following Degrassi.