The twelfth season of Degrassi premiered July 16, 2012, concluded on June 21, 2013, and consists of 40 episodes. Degrassi, previously known as Degrassi: The Next Generation, is a Canadian serial teen drama television series. Although only three school years have passed in the story timeline since season six, season twelve is set in the last semester in the years it aired. Writers have been able to use a semi-floating timeline, so that the issues depicted are modern for their viewers. This season again depicts the lives of a group of high school freshman, juniors, and seniors as they deal with some of the issues that young adults face such as homophobia, sexual harassment, religion, stealing, suicide, home invasion, pregnancy scares, family issues, and relationships. This season again has a telenovela/soap opera format, and the show aired new episodes four days a week, for the first five weeks. MuchMusic announced renewing the series for a twelfth season in June 2011. TeenNick, which has aired the series since 2002 in the United States, announced a summer run, following the season 11 finale. Production for the season began on February 27, 2012, at Epitome Pictures' studios in Toronto, Ontario.