My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Joel Zwick and written by Nia Vardalos. The film stars Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Gia Carides, Louis Mandylor, Andrea Martin, and Joey Fatone. It follows a young Greek-American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek and struggles to get her family to accept him while she comes to terms with her heritage and cultural identity.
Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian television series created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler. The second series in the Degrassi franchise and the first to be set in a universe that has spanned multiple decades, it aired on the CBC from 18 January 1987 to 27 February 1989, and on PBS in the United States starting from September 1987. A non-union show, it was primarily produced by Playing With Time with involvement from WGBH. Although not generally acknowledged by the mainstream, it has been frequently referred to as a pioneer of the teen drama genre that prefigured later and better-known series such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Dawson's Creek.
Antonia Eugenia Vardalos is a Canadian actress and screenwriter. She starred in and wrote the romantic comedy film My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), which garnered her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, which went on to spawn a media franchise.
Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Yan Moore and Linda Schuyler. It is the fourth series in the Degrassi franchise and a revival of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High. It premiered on CTV on October 14, 2001, and concluded on August 2, 2015, on MTV Canada. The series centers around a new ensemble cast of students at the fictional Degrassi Community School who face challenges such as sex, teen pregnancy, bullying, date rape, drug abuse, body image, homosexuality, domestic violence, gang violence, self-injury, suicide, abortion, mental disorders and many other issues. Various characters from the previous two series also returned as adults in recurring or guest roles.
Degrassi is a Canadian teen drama television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler. Spanning five main series from 1979 to 2017, it follows the lives of youths in Toronto. With the exception of the first series, the franchise takes place in the same fictional timeline, with the titular school as the central setting. Outside of television, the franchise comprises companion novels, graphic novels, documentaries, soundtracks, and non-fiction works.
Lauren Felice Collins is a Canadian actress, best known for portraying Paige Michalchuk on Degrassi: The Next Generation. She has also had supporting roles in the films Take the Lead (2006) and Charlie Bartlett (2007). In 2013, she appeared in multiple episodes of the sketch comedy Kroll Show, as well as a recurring guest role in the fourth season of the FX series The Strain (2017).
Thea Andrews is a Canadian journalist and television personality in both sports and entertainment news, as well as hosting reality competition and morning shows. From October 2003 to November 2006, she served as co-host on several ESPN shows such as Cold Pizza (2003–2005), Breakfast at Churchill Downs (2004–2006), Breakfast at Pimlico (2004–2006), The ESPY Red Carpet Show (2005–2006), ESPN Hollywood (2005–2006) and Sports and Hollywood (2006). Andrews reported on horse racing, college basketball and college football for the network.
Amanda Felicitas Stepto is a Canadian former actress who is best known for her role as Christine "Spike" Nelson in the Degrassi television franchise. With no previous acting experience, Stepto rose to prominence playing the character in the critically and commercially successful CBC series Degrassi Junior High (1987–89) and its follow-up Degrassi High (1989–91).
Linda Schuyler is a Canadian television producer. She is best known for being the co-creator and producer of the Degrassi franchise, which has spanned five series over four decades. She is a co-founder of Playing With Time, Inc., and Epitome Pictures, the production companies involved with the franchise over its 40-year-long history respectively.
School's Out is a Canadian drama television film based on the Degrassi teen drama franchise created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. It was directed by Hood and written by Yan Moore, based on a story by Moore, Schuyler and Hood. It aired on CBC Television on January 5, 1992, and served as a finale to the series Degrassi High and its predecessor Degrassi Junior High, which are collectively known as the Degrassi Classic era of the franchise.
Steven Shehori is a multiple award-winning Canadian writer, director, journalist, playwright, actor, author, and comedian from Toronto, Ontario. He contributes to Vulture and The Onion's The A.V. Club, and worked as a writer, editor, and celebrity interviewer for The Huffington Post from 2008 to 2018, contributing humor, film, music, political, and journalism pieces. In 2010, his satirical musical comedy Stephen Harper The Musical became the first-ever play to be staged at the international comedy festival Just For Laughs. In 2011, he broke the front-page Huffington Post story of the Toronto Catholic School Board dropping a lesbian comedian from its homophobia awareness event after discovering she was gay married. That same year, Shehori made headlines for securing the first post-series finale interview from Lost creator Damon Lindelof, where instead of discussing the show, the two men wrote out a beat-by-beat alternate version of Sex and the City 2.
Jessica Shaia "Jessi" Cruickshank is a Canadian television personality. She is the former co-host of MTV Canada's program The After Show and its various incarnations including The Hills: The After Show and The City: Live After Show with co-host Dan Levy. She also hosted Canada's Smartest Person and The Goods on CBC.
My Life in Ruins is a 2009 romantic-comedy film directed by Donald Petrie and starring Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Alexis Georgoulis, Rachel Dratch, Harland Williams and Alistair McGowan. Set among the ruins of ancient Greece, the film follows a tour guide whose life takes a personal detour, while her group gets entangled in comic situations among the ruins, with a series of unexpected stops along the way. The film was released on May 7, 2009, in Greece and on June 5, 2009, in the United States.
"Mother and Child Reunion" is the two-part pilot episode of the Canadian teen drama television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, which premiered on October 14, 2001 on the CTV Television Network. The episode was written by story editor Aaron Martin and series co-creator/creative consultant Yan Moore, and directed by Bruce McDonald. As with the majority of Degrassi: The Next Generation episodes, "Mother and Child Reunion" takes its title from a pop song, "Mother and Child Reunion", written and performed by Paul Simon.
Degrassi Goes Hollywood, known in syndication as "Paradise City", is a 2009 Canadian television film based on the teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation, the fourth entry of the Degrassi television franchise. Directed by Stefan Brogren, it premiered in the United States on The N on 14 August 2009, and in Canada on CTV on 30 August 2009.
Degrassi Takes Manhattan, titled "The Rest of My Life" in syndication, is a 2010 Canadian television film based on the teen drama television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, the fourth entry of the Degrassi television franchise, which by release was renamed simply Degrassi. Directed by Stefan Brogren, it premiered in Canada on MuchMusic on 16 July 2010 and in the United States on TeenNick on 19 July 2010.
Out There with Melissa DiMarco is an internationally distributed comedy series that follows the misadventures of an entertainment journalist, and her offbeat "Out There" crew as they navigate the "glamorous" world of Hollywood. Canadian actress Melissa DiMarco portrays a neurotic entertainment journalist, struggling to keep her sanity while interviewing A-List stars.
Cristine Prosperi is a Canadian actress. She is known for portraying Imogen Moreno on the long-running television series Degrassi. She also starred as Aria on the web series Totally Amp'd, and as Mikayla Walker in the TeenNick television series Open Heart.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 is a 2016 American romantic comedy film directed by Kirk Jones and written by Nia Vardalos. The film stars Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Andrea Martin, Ian Gomez, and Elena Kampouris. It is the sequel to the 2002 film My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the second installment in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise. Filming began in late May 2015 in Toronto and the film was released on March 25, 2016, by Universal Pictures, receiving negative reviews from critics. The film grossed $90.6 million worldwide against a $18 million budget. A third film, entitled My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, was released on September 8, 2023.
