In 2004, the U.S. distributor for Degrassi: The Next Generation, a Canadian soap opera for teens, decided not to air a two-part episode called “Accidents Will Happen.” Young American fans, myself included, were pretty upset. “We feel that the teens of the U.S. should have the same right to view the episodes as they are seen in Canada,” said one online petition at the time. “We are no different than them so why not show it,” went another. I half-remember unsuccessfully trying to download the episode using a risky file-sharing platform, like Limewire, or maybe it was Kazaa. I probably put a virus on my parents’ desktop computer.

The episode in question is centered around a 14-year-old gymnast named Manny, her unplanned pregnancy, and her subsequent decision to have an abortion. It’s one of several storylines in the cult Canadian franchise’s 38-year history — which includes five main series, The Kids of Degrassi Street; Degrassi Junior High; Degrassi High; Degrassi: The Next Generation; and Degrassi: Next Class — that deal with hot-button, high-stakes issues through the eyes of adolescents, who are almost always played by actual teenagers.

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“A lot of Degrassi episodes were pretty controversial,” said Jake Epstein, who played bipolar heartthrob Craig Manning. Craig had unprotected sex with Manny a few episodes earlier, in the garage where his band practices. He had a girlfriend at the time, a vindictive mall goth named Ashley. In the show’s first season, Ashley, an eighth grader, takes ecstasy at a house party. The next year, her friend Paige gets raped by a jock from a rival school. “When we found out [‘Accidents Will Happen’] was not aired in the States, that was a real shocker,” Epstein said. “I was like, This was the one they’re not gonna air?”