Nickelodeon To Use DEGRASSI To Try Out Telenovelas

Nickelodeon's TeenNick will use the 10th season of the series DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION this summer to test the viability of the telenovela format. The network will air half-hour versions of the teen drama 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday for six weeks, Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami told the New Yor Daily News Thursday.

"We're making additional episodes, a little more in the telenovela format, a little bit faster, cheaper and more efficient," Zarghami said. "It will be, I think, a big success."

"Telenovelas are soap operas, and I just think it's finding the right story, the right cast and finding the right audience to do it for," Zarghami said.

"If this works, then we know the format works and we need to do it with properties that are more established," she said, noting the genre appeals to teen girls.

Production on the new season of DEGRASSI gets underway this month.

Also, PBS has posted the entire first episode of DEGRASSI JUNIOR HIGH fraom January 18, 1987. Watch it here.