Episode 122: Pat Mastroianni – AKA Degrassi’s Joey Jeremiah

The YVR Screen Scene Podcast · Oct 23, 2020 · 1m

Pat Mastroianni played Joey Jeremiah on Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High (and, later, on Degrassi: The Next Generation). The pre-Internet incarnations of Degrassi – all shot on location in Toronto-area schools – built a massive fanbase for tackling topics that weren’t being broached anywhere else on children’s television: interracial dating; sexual violence and child abuse; teen suicide; drunk driving; epilepsy; depression; grief; abortion; bullying; poverty; teen pregnancy; AIDS; burgeoning sexuality. The original shows explored all of these heavy topics with kids playing their actual…