The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 12

Arts A12 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2001 returns ifh new, old faces Unfortunately, the stories are stuck in the old ruts I in. 3 i I yv' jS 1 1 1 I 11 'ilk daughter she bore in Grade 8 is just about to start Grade 7. Emma is our link to the new Degrassi; in the opener she becomes involved in the kind of kid-centric issue that was the original series' bread-and-butter; she has an Internet flirtation with someone she believes to be a high-school student in Yellowknife, and agrees to meet him over the protests of her friends. The premiere, and a couple of other episodes available for preview, suggest the new series has the same simple narrative told from a kid's viewpoint, and the same regard for unvarnished reality. Degrassi: The Next Generation is light years from far-fetched high-school melodramas like Boston Public and Dawson's Creek.

The new series also has a cleaner and more interesting look than Degrassi fans are used to, and a more uniformly capable cast. Whereas none of the original Degrassi kids had professional experience, about half the new bunch are trained actors, says producer Linda Schuyler. But while the new Degrassi has gained polish, it has lost its edge. When the first show aired, it was breaking ground. No one was making teen drama, and certainly no one was tackling issues like teen pregnancy, abortion, homosexuality and AIDS.

In the decade since, teen drama has become one of TV's most popular dramatic genres, from the semi-realistic (Freaks and Geeks) to the surreal (Buffy, The Vampire Slayer). Nor were such overproduced and overwrought U.S. efforts usually featuring overage actors the only examples of the form. In Canada, Degrassi inspired similarly honest and direct teen series like Ready or Not and Fast Forward, which often dealt with Degrassi-like issues. So in the new Degrassi, when a young girl thinks she is too fat to go to the school dance and works up her nerve by getting drunk, or when a pair of Grade 7 boys get caught cruising Internet porn sites, there is a Degrassi: The Next Generation cast members include, from left, Aubrey Graham as Jimmy Brooks, Jake Goldsbie as Toby Isaacs, Melissa Mclntyre as Ashley Kerwin, Shane Kippel as Gavin (Spinner) Mason, Christina Schmidt as Terri MacGregor, Miriam McDonald as Emma Nelson, Ryan Cooley as J.T.

Yorke, Sarah Barrable-Tishauer as Liberty Van Zandt, Lauren Collins as Paige Michalchukand Cassie Steele as Manuella (Manny) Santos. TonyAtherton Television First the good news: Degrassi: The Next Generation is every bit as good as its beloved predecessor, the groundbreaking teen series that was a Canadian hit in the late '80s, and an international cult favourite in reruns. In fact, in some respects it is even better. However, it almost certainly won't have the same impact as the original. It offers almost nothing new to viewers familiar with the 70 episodes of the series that went out of production more than a decade ago, nor to anyone else who's watched the deluge of teen dramas since.

The series begins on CTV tonight at 7 with a one-hour premiere that doubles as a reunion for the old Degrassi cast members; they return to a newly refurbished Degrassi Community School to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their graduation. Caitlin (Stacie Mistysyn), now the crusading host of an environmental TV show, comes back with her boyfriend, a hot-shot L.A. director (Don McKellar). Lucy (Anais Granofsky), who still needs a cane to walk because of the injuries she suffered in a car accident seen in the series' denouement, is finishing up doctoral studies at Queens, and Snake (Stefan Bro-gren) has returned to Degrassi as a teacher. Joey (Pat Mastroianni) is a car dealer and single dad who wants to take a pass on the reunion; he's still getting over the death of his wife a year before.

Spike (Amanda Stepto) is returning to Degrassi in more ways than one. Emma, the and would give away the family fortune if left unchecked, so his grandfather (Boyce Holleman) and niece (JoBeth Williams) plot to marry him off and settle him down. But when Daniel hitches himself to a backwoods waif who is even more childlike than him, calamity ensues. Mob Week: Beginning tomorrow, Discovery Civilization at 9 p.m. A three-part series, The Rise and Fall of the Mafia, looks at the western world's most famous organized crime operation, and its code of honour.

The nightly one-hour installments are followed on Thursday by Dragons of Crime, an NFB documentary about Asian crime syndicates, and on Friday by the hour-long profile Al Capone: The Untouchable Like Stephanie, Ashley is good-looking, popular and full of herself, and like Arthur, Toby is rotund, sardonic and prone to getting into trouble with his best friend, J.T. (Ryan Cooley). Just like Arthur and Yick of the original series, Toby and J.T. provide much of the comedy relief. What The Next Generation has going for it is momentum.

Given the cult status of the original series, the new Degrassi is the most anticipated Canadian drama since Sullivan Film spun off Road to Avonlea from his successful Anne of Green Gable miniseries. The new Degrassi has already been sold to U.S. cable and is a hot property at European TV markets this fall. However, hype can only carry it so far. The show is targeted at 11- to 14-year-olds, but CTV has put it in a family slot on Sunday evenings, clearly hoping that The Next Generation, like Degrassi High, will appeal to a wider audience.

The question remains whether adults are willing to take to the angst of 12- and 13-year-olds the way they have to that of older teens. If they don't, will CTV have the patience to wait until the kids grow into their audience? Also coming up: The Ponder Heart: Tomorrow, PBS at 9 p.m. Peter Mac-Nicol (Ally McBeal) plays the good-hearted but wilfully aimless youngest son of the richest man in Clay County, Mississippi, in this warm and gentle Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of the comic novel by Eudora Welty. Daniel is generous to a fault, The grumpy Governor General's book winner sense of deja vu. There is by now little ground left to break in teen drama.

The plots aren't the only thing familiar about the series. Many of the cast members seem like shiny new tintypes of the those who went before. Emma (Miriam McDonald) is a burgeoning Caitlin, pretty and committed to a variety of causes. Like Caitlin she is taken with a kid who stands out from the pubescent pack, although unlike Joey Jeremiah, Sean (Daniel Clark) is not cool because he's funny. He's cool because he's aloof.

Standing in for Stephanie and Arthur, the original series' misfit step-siblings, are Ashley and Toby (Melissa Mclntyre and Jake Goldsbie), who are miffed because their respective parents have moved in together. from the reviewers coming from I'm sorry to say the newspapers of this country," says. "There might be some honest people who might come through but in my own thinking the impartial reviewers would be the ones in the States and the United Kingdom." Jackal is to be released in the United States and Britain in January. An American tour is already being arranged. Mezlekia seems to be counting on the Americans either not knowing or not caring about the controversy over Hyena, which received rave reviews on both sides of the 49th parallel.

In his review, Pyper described Jackal as "a surprisingly mechanistic read." However, Pyper's many criticisms were offset by many praises, including Mezlekia's ability, as witnessed in Hyena, to describe the Ethiopian land 1 1 i I -V 4 MUSIC REVIEW Hull Chamber's Gauvin sings with beautiful clarity By Richard Todd The Hull Chamber Orchestra, for all its accomplishments, has a bit to learn in the publicity department. For example, a number of people, myself included, showed up for the orchestra's benefit concert Friday evening, only to learn that the event had started at seven. Why didn't we read the brochure which presumably made mention of the non-standard hour? I for one never got one, nor had any of the other media people or musical professionals I found among the audience. So we missed Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 4 and his Cantata no.

sijauchzet Gott in alien Landen. The latter must have been a real show piece for guest soprano Karina Gauvin and a pity to miss, though we did hear a similar coloratura tour de force in Mozart's Exul-tate, jubilate, K. 165. Most of the time Gauvin sang with beautiful clarity and a thoroughly pleasing sound. Her coloratura sounded precious, though, and didn't always advance the musical statement convincingly.

Worse, she felt she had to act throughout the piece, forgetting perhaps that the text is a prayer, not an operatic scena. She was more successful in two dramatic numbers by Handel, Lascia: Chio pianga from the opera Rinaldo and Let the bright seraphim from Samson, one of the composer's mature oratorios. These seemed much more congenial to the voice with which Gauvin has established herself as one of Canada's leading sopranos. One has to conclude either that coloratura is not her strong suit, or that she was having some specific trouble with it Friday evening. In other respects she was terrific.

African novel he hopes to begin in a few months. After that, he wants to tackle a book about his own experiences as an immigrant to Canada. For those interested in determining whether Mezlekia has received a fair hearing, here are some excerpts from reviews of Jackal: Ottawa Citizen (Carla Maria Lucchetta): "The matter (of Hyena) is still before the courts but the public will undoubtedly be reading this book to see whether Mezlekia can write without massive editorial intervention. In most respects, it turns out he can." Montreal Gazette (Carmine Starnino): "Mezlekia's celebrity will always bear traces of Stone's claim and one hopes that readers won't be so distracted by the whodunit speculations that they will turn to a weak novel as proof as his guilt." Vancouver Sun (Brian Brett): "If there were any doubts about his talent, he can rest easy." Globe and Mail (Andrew Pyper): "For a story full of magic and spirits, Jackal is a surprisingly mechanistic read." Calgary Herald (Janice Paskey): "Whatever the fallout from the allegations still swirling around him, even a skeptic must admit that the author of this book is talented." And a postscript: In Hyena, Stone was given no credit for whatever her role was in helping write or edit the book. In Jackal, Toronto freelance editor Cheryl Cohen is thanked for her "thorough editing and insightful feedback." Review: For a full analysis of The God Who Begat a Jackal, please see page C12 Mezlekia upset first novel fuss dogs new book By Paul Gessell Toronto author Nega Mezlekia says he can't get a fair hearing in Canada: "The whole thing is muddled here." Mezlekia is talking about the treatment of his latest book, The God Who Begat a Jackal, not the libel case about his earlier book, Notes from the Hyena's Belly.

This is not to say the two books from Penguin and their respective hearings are unrelated. Mezlekia, an Ethiopian-Canadian, believes the reception given Jackal in the past few weeks is coloured by the court case over Hyena. You'll remember Hyena, the memoir that won the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction last year. Shortly afterward, Vancouver novelist Anne Stone claimed she actually wrote most of the story of revolution and repression in Ethiopia. Mezlekia replied that Stone only did some minor editing and promptly sued.

The case is still before the courts and the issue is supposedly unmentionable in any interview with Mezlekia for legal reasons, of course. Nevertheless, it is the issue on everyone's minds within the literary community, as both professional and armchair critics scan Jackal, a fantasy tale in 18th- and 19th-century Ethiopia, to determine whether Mezlekia really can write. Like a hyena stalking prey, Hyena stalks Jackal. In the interview, Mezlekia said he has not been made to feel welcome in Canada's literary community and he would offer only a "no comment" when asked if he felt people were out to get him. He was more expansive when commenting on reviews of Nega Mezlekia, a native of Ethiopia who now lives in Toronto, won the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction for Notes from the Hyena's Belly.

The book describes revolution and repression in his homeland. KEVIN VAN PAASSEN, THE NATIONAL POST scape. Mezlekia interpreted that statement as meaning the landscape descriptions were the only things Pyper liked about Hyena. "There's a lack of integrity here," Mezlekia said. A reviewer who disliked Hyena, he added, should not have been allowed to review Jackal.

Despite winning the Governor General's award last year, Mezlekia says he is not an accepted member of Canada's literary community. "I'm an outsider. That was confirmed to me over the past many months in so many different ways. But I hope some day they will accept me. I'm here to stay and I'll keep on writing." Mezlekia says he is constantly trying to improve his writing and will take heed of "constructive" criticism from the American and British reviews when writing his next book, another Jackal although it appears, at the time of the interview, he had only read one review, a negative one, in the Globe and Mail.

He said he was unaware of highly positive reviews earlier published in newspapers in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton and it's probably just as well no one showed him the unkindness published in the Montreal Gazette. The Citizen's review, a positive assessment, appears today on page C12. Mezlekia's negative feelings toward the Canadian press are not just based on one negative notice by Andrew Pyper, a fellow novelist, in the Globe. Mezlekia has, after all, been the subject of many news stories this past year and many have been unflattering, especially the ones about the blood-curdling e-mails he allegedly sent to Stone and others who have crossed him. "I just can't expect much.