I'm the same age, and although I never miss any of the new Degrassi episodes, the 80s episodes are the ones I grew up one. I loved that all the actors looked and felt like real kids/teens. TNG had that feel for the first round of cast members, but now, they use 20 something actors instead of teens and they are all too pretty and "TV awkard" (let's put glasses on them because that surely makes them uglier).