The N

AGE 2
MUSTWORTHINESS Nickelodeon's teen-targeted offspring takes us back to our angstiest years (in a good way) with its signature series, ''Degrassi: The Next Generation;'' its soapy reality show, ''Girls V. Boys;'' and reruns of ''Daria'' and ''My So-Called Life.'' Thankfully, the channel switches over to preschooler fare during the day or we'd never leave our rooms.
CLAIM TO FAME ''Degrassi'' is by far The N's most popular show, and for good reason: The spin-off of the '80s high school drama had been interweaving parents' (the original characters grown up!) and kids' plotlines long before ''The O.C.'' ''All the actors in the show are within a year of the characters' ages,'' says Sarah Tomassi Lindman, VP of programming. ''There are kids with bad skin. And they're not all decked out in designer clothing.''
NEXT ''Girls V. Boys: Hawaii'' and animated ''O'Grady'' (about a high school plagued by supernatural phenomena); seasons 3 and 4 of ''Degrassi'' in the summer and fall.