Degrassi and Kevin Smith
The most notable booster of the Degrassi series is popular director Kevin Smith. His first exposure to the Degrassi series came when he worked at a Quick Stop in Leonardo, New Jersey around 1990. His friend, actor Jason Mewes, who was also his co-worker at the time, became a fan after being introduced to the series by Smith. Every Sunday morning at work, Smith and Mewes watched re-broadcasts of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High on PBS. Drawn by the drama of the Degrassi series, Smith became an obsessed fan. The climax of his Degrassi obsession was realized when he landed guest appearances on Degrassi: The Next Generation in a 3-episode story arc to conclude season 4 & re-appeared in a 2-episode arc in season 5. Mewes also landed guest appearances with Smith in four of those episodes, three of them as their characters, Jay and Silent Bob. A fan of both the original and current shows (as a teen he was one of the few viewers of the old PBS broadcasts), Kevin Smith pays homage to Degrassi by making reference to it in several of his films. An example of this is when he named Caitlin Bree from the movie Clerks after his favourite Degrassi character, Caitlin Ryan.
