Seeing some of the commercials for the new sketch-com “Kroll Show” on Comedy Central, I figured this was going to be an absolute dud. But last night in the first episode, comedian Nick Kroll landed one of the funnier critiques of media representations of disability while also taking a shot at Canadian icon, Degrassi: The Next Generation. Given that I’m writing about (read: watching and rewatching obsessively) Degrassi, this sketch rang a little too true. For those not in the know, Degrassi featured Aubrey Graham (aka hip-hop artist Drake) playing the role of “Jimmy,” a character who was disabled from a gunshot wound in Season 4 and spent the next 5 seasons in a manual wheelchair.
Check it out Part 1 of the sketch “Wheels Ontario” on Youtube, because it’s pretty fantastic: