The Fascinating World of Saved by the Bell

[Old Guy]

Like a day or two ago there was news that Dustin Diamond a/k/a Screech was writing a tell-a book about Saved by the Bell. Naturally my friends and I went from talking about that to talking about the actual show. And it's kinda sad that we have so much knowledge about such a show. lol. We like to make fun of kids these days with their Hannah Montana, but we also watched crap shows. lol.

So...I was curious about what you guys thought about the show.

When discussing the show you have to start at the beginning. I'm talking about Good Morning, Miss Bliss. In case you don't know what that is...remember those SBTB episodes that took place in middle school? Well, that's GMMB. What happened was that NBC combined it with SBTB to get the show into syndication a lot quicker. In reality, GMMB is more like a first draft than an actual prequel. The show flopped and for good reasons. It's about a teacher. What kid wants to see that? Now watching as a 21 year old I can say that it was actually pretty good. Unlike SBTB it's not...you know...stupid. And the supporting players were really good. Sometimes I think I like Mikey a lot more than A.C. Slater.

But anyway...

Back to SBTB. The show is dumb, but kinda funny. Not intentionally of course. The show is famous for it's unintentional humor. The "caffeine episode" is the general example. It's what makes it stand out from other shows. And the spin-offs The College Years and The New Class were...well...College Years was decent but New Class was a joke.

[Movie06]

Ah yes, Saved by the Bell, my sister used to watch that show. She loved Zack Morris.

[Old Guy]

Ah yes, Saved by the Bell, my sister used to watch that show. She loved Zack Morris.

No need to use the sister excuse, Movie06.

[langden alger]

yeah gmmb was really night and day compared to saved by the bell. gmmb took the more realistic approach, kind of like a boy meets world style and actually tried to give the characters a little more depth...by the time it became the saved by the bell that most are familiar with, it became the broad cartoon/caricature of high school. really just flat, hollow and never meant to be taken seriously...but it's always a fun guilty pleasure to watch and if i stumble on some re-runs i always stop and watch....

as far as screech and his big tll all book, i think it's a mandtate now that any actor from a to the d list has to have one so it was really just his turn to avoid a fine....he can't really tear down elizabeth berkley any further since she kind of did that to herself with showgirls.

[Wonderwall]

as far as screech and his big tll all book, i think it's a mandtate now that any actor from a to the d list has to have one so it was really just his turn to avoid a fine.

Whoa whoa whoa...Calling Screech anywhere near A list is asking a lot of suspension of disbelief

[Movie06]

No need to use the sister excuse, Movie06.

No, it's true. She had me watching the show much to my dismay. I mean, at the time, I was more of a Power Rangers kid. But that show is where I got the idea to describe Power Rangers as "Super Sentai meets Saved by the Bell" years later.

[Michael24]

I've only seen bits and pieces of Good Morning, Miss Bliss, so I don't know much about that show. But I followed Saved By the Bell during it's entire run, along with The College Years. I have the Season 1/2 DVD set, and sure it's cheesy when I watch it nowadays, but I still like it. Takes me back to my childhood (I was in 5th grade when it started). And I had a huge crush on Tiffani Amber-Thiessen.

[Storm Eagle]

Now that I think about it, GMMB might have had plots that were more realistic than SBTB. Ironically enough, with all the other Peter Engel shows that seemed to be repackagings of SBTB, Hang Time was actually the best one. Even so, I can still stand SBTB even to this day if I ever had to watch it.

[Old Guy]

sure it's cheesy when I watch it nowadays

Nowadays? It was cheesy back then as well. There was an episode where they celebrated Screech's birthday in Mr. Belding's office. Even as kids you're like, "this is nonsense" but just went along with it. That's the thing about kids. They go along with anything. It's how a show about a bunch of crimefighting Turtles who eat pizza become #1 in the ratings. Had it been an adults show it wouldn't have lasted three episodes.

[Storm Eagle]

Nowadays? It was cheesy back then as well. There was an episode where they celebrated Screech's birthday in Mr. Belding's office. Even as kids you're like, "this is nonsense" but just went along with it. That's the thing about kids. They go along with anything. It's how a show about a bunch of crimefighting Turtles who eat pizza become #1 in the ratings. Had it been an adults show it wouldn't have lasted three episodes.

I also found it peculiar how the PRINCIPAL was on such good terms with the students. In other shows, that's usually the kind of character who's the mortal enemy of the student body.

[Michael24]

Nowadays?

Well, back then as an 11 year old, I didn't notice such things.

I also found it peculiar how the PRINCIPAL was on such good terms with the students. In other shows, that's usually the kind of character who's the mortal enemy of the student body.

Which was nice to see, IMO. I personally never saw principals or teachers have such bad relationships with students that they were considered the main enemies on campus.

[Old Guy]

Which was nice to see, IMO. I personally never saw principals or teachers have such bad relationships with students that they were considered the main enemies on campus.

You're right. Teachers and principals aren't usually the enemies. It's the other students. That being said...Belding only had a relationship with the main cast. You never saw spend time with other students. It was such lazy writing. They could have included a scene or two every once in a while. Oh, and I loved how he would talk the ENTIRE student body into teaching one student a lesson. Like when Zack Morris gave Kelly a tape with subliminal messages and the episode ended with everyone pretending to fall in love with Zack. lol.

[G. Wen]

When I was little, I was just bored by it. Didn't really make me laugh, didn't relate to the chracters, didn't like Screech at all, etc... When I finally went to high school, and I saw reruns of the show, I just stared at it in disbelief. It's referncing some odd plane of existance, and I'm not quite sure it's high school...

[Tobias]

The New Class suffered because they were constantly changing up the cast. NO ONE outside of Belding stayed in the new show for the entire duration. Of course, the show lasted a good seven years, but still, you'd think we'd have gotten at least one character to stick around for at least four years until graduation.

[langden alger]

You're right. Teachers and principals aren't usually the enemies. It's the other students. That being said...Belding only had a relationship with the main cast. You never saw spend time with other students. It was such lazy writing. They could have included a scene or two every once in a while. Oh, and I loved how he would talk the ENTIRE student body into teaching one student a lesson. Like when Zack Morris gave Kelly a tape with subliminal messages and the episode ended with everyone pretending to fall in love with Zack. lol.

yeah i always kinda felt bad for all the other students in the school besides the main cast....i take it they all had perfect grade point averages and no personal problems to speak of since they were pretty much ignored by mr.belding and the other teachers....

[Storm Eagle]

The New Class suffered because they were constantly changing up the cast. NO ONE outside of Belding stayed in the new show for the entire duration. Of course, the show lasted a good seven years, but still, you'd think we'd have gotten at least one character to stick around for at least four years until graduation.

So how else would you say it suffered despite having had gone on for so long? Also, maybe it was the cast members themselves who decided that they wanted to leave.

[Wonderwall]

And I had a huge crush on Tiffani Amber-Thiessen.

Who didn't

[Old Guy]

didn't like Screech at all, etc...

Screech is interesting because of all the characters he went through the biggest transformation. On GMMB he was just the third wheel. Then, during season one of SBTB he was Zack's nerdy sidekick. After season one he became like the Kramer of the show, except that he was very annoying. For a guy who was supposed to be the smartest in class he said and did a lot of stupid things.

People tend to blame Dustin Diamond for this, but it's clearly the writers fault.

Screech worked best as Zack's sidekick. I even think he was the best of all of Zack's sidekicks. Mikey on GMMB and A.C. Slater during season 2-4 of SBTB and College Years were basically the same. They were his b-word. Zack and Screech on the other hand had an interesting dynamic. It was obvious that they didn't care for each other. They just used each other. Zack used Screech to pass his classes and Screech used Zack so he could hang with the popular crowd. It would have been interesting to see where that would have gone. But...the writers decided to turn A.C. Slater from Zack's rival in season one to his sidekick. And, of course, Screech had to be changed into something else.

[hobbyfan]

Like a day or two ago there was news that Dustin Diamond a/k/a Screech was writing a tell-a book about Saved by the Bell. Naturally my friends and I went from talking about that to talking about the actual show. And it's kinda sad that we have so much knowledge about such a show. lol. We like to make fun of kids these days with their Hannah Montana, but we also watched crap shows. lol.

So...I was curious about what you guys thought about the show.

When discussing the show you have to start at the beginning. I'm talking about Good Morning, Miss Bliss. In case you don't know what that is...remember those SBTB episodes that took place in middle school? Well, that's GMMB. What happened was that NBC combined it with SBTB to get the show into syndication a lot quicker. In reality, GMMB is more like a first draft than an actual prequel. The show flopped and for good reasons. It's about a teacher. What kid wants to see that? Now watching as a 21 year old I can say that it was actually pretty good. Unlike SBTB it's not...you know...stupid. And the supporting players were really good. Sometimes I think I like Mikey a lot more than A.C. Slater.

But anyway...

Back to SBTB. The show is dumb, but kinda funny. Not intentionally of course. The show is famous for it's unintentional humor. The "caffeine episode" is the general example. It's what makes it stand out from other shows. And the spin-offs The College Years and The New Class were...well...College Years was decent but New Class was a joke.

Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which had Hayley Mills in the title role, was originally on Disney Channel, and never aired on NBC to my knowledge. NBC picked up the series, changed the title and shuffled the cast, with Slater and I believe either Kelly or Jessie added. NBC got 4 years with the original cast, plus 7 more of New Class. College Years proved that the transition from SatAM to prime time was not smooth. Wedding in Las Vegas, which saw Kelly & Zack tie the knot, was the coda for the original group.

SBTB got played into the ground during its run on TBS (do they share cable rights now with The N?), making it difficult for it to be fresh again. New Class, however, hasn't seen the light of day since it ended 8 years ago, despite having more eps.

[Michael24]

When I finally went to high school, and I saw reruns of the show, I just stared at it in disbelief. It's referncing some odd plane of existance, and I'm not quite sure it's high school...

Saved By the Bell was probably closer to my own high school experience than some of these other movies/shows that depict high schools as war zones where it's every man for himself. LOL! (Though Disney's Even Stevens is the closet I've ever seen a show get to my own h.s. experiences.)

yeah i always kinda felt bad for all the other students in the school besides the main cast....i take it they all had perfect grade point averages and no personal problems to speak of since they were pretty much ignored by mr.belding and the other teachers....

All that stuff just happened off screen.