But make no mistake: it's Schuyler who — with a massive team behind her — guided the series and maintained its aura of authenticity over five generations of teenagers.

It's Schuyler who's responsible for the mountain of accolades: Geminis, International Emmys, a prestigious Peabody award.

It's Schuyler who helped launch the careers of rap superstar Drake, Nina Dobrev (Vampire Diaries), Shenae Grimes (90210) and New Dundee native Chrissy Schmidt, who gained post-Degrassi fame as a plus-sized model.

And it's Schuyler who risked fan revolts every time she recalibrated the show to meet network and creative demands.

This, she points out, is one of those times.

"We can't just roll into season 15 without taking a hard look at where we've been and where we want to go,'' she says of extending the current Degrassi into another season.

"For me, it hit like thunderbolt: a 14-year-old audience member today would not have been born when we started Degrassi: The Next Generation.

"We've got to get in touch with the new audience — Generation Z.''

I remember having this same conversation with her in 2001, 14 years after the debut of Degrassi Junior High, the series that sparked the Degrassi phenomenon.

Schuyler had just announced plans to revive the much-beloved franchise after a 10-year hiatus and was facing a backlash from outraged diehards who insisted, however illogically, that she find a way to turn back the clock and reinstate the original cast as teenagers.

Ha, ha. As if. Schuyler is many things, but she's not a magician.

"When we came out with Degrassi: The Next Generation it had the spirit of the original, but it was very much a show for millennials,'' she insists without apology.

The cast, unlike the warts and all original crew, was good looking in a Hollywood way, vital in an era of celebrity worship and TV makeovers.

The show looked more polished, forgoing the cheap, handmade production values of the original.

And issues that hadn't existed a decade earlier — social media, online bullying, sexting — were positioned front and centre.

In 2015, things aren't as clear-cut.

For one thing, the show has been in production the past 14 years, unflinchingly addressing issues like online predators, suicide, censorship, gangs, self-harm, school shootings, rape, abuse, drugs, drinking and murder.

So no one is accusing it of being out of touch.

Nonetheless, says Schuyler, it's time to "press the refresh button."

Having the show appear on Netflix will allow fans to consume it the way they've always wanted — in massive bingeable chunks.

And the new start will allow producers to reaffirm the core values that have always made Degrassi great: unflinching honesty, even-handedness, a laserlike focus on first experiences.

They've been there all along, but clouded by recent experiments in daily production, post-secondary storylines and other attempts to appeal to a rapidly shifting audience.

"I find it really exciting to have an opportunity to do a reboot at this point,'' confides the 67-year-old visionary, noting that half the current cast will return.

"It signals to a new generation of kids 'Don't worry if you haven't seen the previous episodes.

"We just internalized a need.''

jrubinoff@therecord.com