The tenth season of Degrassi premiered in Canada on July 19, 2010, concluded on April 22, 2011, and consists of 44 episodes. Degrassi is a Canadian serial teen drama television series. Previously known as Degrassi: The Next Generation, the suffix "the Next Generation" was dropped this season, due to the original next generation of students having all been written out. With the start of the tenth season, the series survived longer than the nine-year gap between Degrassi Highs telemovie School's Out, and Degrassi’s premiere episode "Mother and Child Reunion". Though only two school years have passed in the story timeline since season six, season ten is set from the fall semester through the first term of the spring semester, in which the years it aired. Writers were able to use a semi-floating timeline, so that the issues depicted are modern for their viewers. This season depicts the lives of a group of high school sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduates as they deal with some of the challenges and issues that teenagers face such as domestic violence, dysfunctional families, self image, bullying, sexual harassment, gender identity/transsexualism, teenage pregnancy, online predators, homophobia, school violence, divorce, religion, kidney failure, self-harm, alcoholism, sexual identity, financial difficulties, running away and relationships. This season doubled the order of episodes, and switched to a telenovela/soap opera format, with the show airing new episodes four days a week, for the first 24 episodes. Production for the season began on March 26, 2010 at Epitome Pictures' studios in Toronto, Ontario. This was the first season not to air on broadcast television. It is also the first season to have simultaneous airings in Canada and the United States. This was the earliest start to a season. In the US, the first 24 episodes of season ten were promoted as Degrassi: The Boiling Point, while the final twelve episodes of the season were promoted as Degrassi: In Too Deep'''. The fifth Degrassi dedicated soundtrack, Degrassi: The Boiling Point, was released February 1, 2011. Cast and characters The tenth season features twenty-four actors who receive star billing with sixteen of them returning from the previous season. Returning cast members include: Raymond Ablack as Savtaj "Sav" Bhandari (33 episodes) Charlotte Arnold as Holly J. Sinclair (33 episodes) Stefan Brogren as Archie "Snake" Simpson (20 episodes) Annie Clark as Fiona Coyne (26 episodes) Sam Earle as K.C. Guthrie (25 episodes) Jahmil French as Dave