S01.E01: Pilot

[paulvdb]

Quote

Bayside gets an influx of new students after Governor Zack Morris shuts down underfunded schools.

 

[absnow54]

You can tell this show came from a 30 Rock alum. I thought it was a lot of fun, and signed up for the Peacock free trial to watch the rest.

[Lili]

I've only watched this episode so far, as it's free to watch, even without the free trial. I'll get the free trial at some point to check out the rest.

But I'm not feeling it much so far. It was good to see Zack, Slater, Kelly and Jessie again, and how they've grown since the original show, and having Slater as a gym coach is an interesting concept. However, Bayside feels a bit crowded now with all these students having to transfer there, and the absence of a laugh track made it feel really off. Some sitcoms work better without a laugh track than others, but the Saved by the Bell reboot isn't one of them. The main student, Daisy, felt a bit bland too. Also, that new theme song is horrible.

So overall, this episode didn't give me a good first impression of the show. But I will check out more episodes at some point.

[Primal Slayer]

Watching the first 2 episodes and it isn't that bad. I think it is trying a little to hard to be self aware that the Bayside kids dont feel like actual people and are to hammy.

Jesses son....there is no way she would raise an airhead jock. That is just totally unrealistic.

Daisy is easily the best character and seems the realist.

Zach 2.0.....missing the charm of his father and definitely not being the audience surrogate hurts him.

[Keywestclubkid]

there was some good things in it but A lot of bad .. I only watched this first episode tho so

[JAYJAY1979]

Trying to put depth in a show that was fun and mindless is a sin.

[Kromm]

So Zack is still a piece of shit? Gasp!  And his son is a piece of shit?  Gasp! 

I'm really trying to decide if this bizarre mix of tongue in cheek self parody and modern messaging works.

I won't be totally satisfied if there isn't at least one Showgirls joke... eventually. Also, if they had any guts there'd be at least one teacher named Miss Bliss. 

Basically the approach is almost like Bayside was, and still is, inside some kind of Meta-Sitcom bubble, and the other students are presented as bursting it. That's the only way I'd be able to explain the relationship between the other show and this one.  Nah... that's not quite right either. The transferred kids get sitcom beats too. They're just 2020 sitcom beats, while the priviledged kids get the same 1990s beats at the original show, just super-exaggerated. 

Edited November 26, 2020 by Kromm

[Lili]

Mac is no Zack though. Zack had a charm to him, and with Mac, I don't really see that so far.

Of the new characters, my favorite is probably Mr. Toddman, to be honest. He was probably the best replacement for Mr. Belding you could ask for.

[Kromm]

4 hours ago, Lili said:

Mac is no Zack though. Zack had a charm to him, and with Mac, I don't really see that so far.

Of the new characters, my favorite is probably Mr. Toddman, to be honest. He was probably the best replacement for Mr. Belding you could ask for.

But Zack isn't Zack anymore either. The version of him on this show is grotesque.  A lot of stuff in this show gets much better after the first few episodes, but Zack doesn't.  The later view we get of him is still grotesque.  His son?  Not much better--he has some minor character growth but it's far less convincing than the growth of Lexi (who clearly benefitted a ton by the role clearly being created specifically for this actress--the co-producer credit kind of confirms that).

Frankly Slater is the only original character who's dealt a good hand by this show.  At least by the end of the season, although not surprisingly he's reverted back to a dumb ape whenever he's onscreen with Zack.

Agreed that Toddman is a great character. He's served really well over the course of the whole season. He's only played for comedy a few times, effectively when that happens, but also works as a serious character too.

Edited November 29, 2020 by Kromm

[Kel Varnsen]

On 11/25/2020 at 8:16 AM, absnow54 said:

You can tell this show came from a 30 Rock alum. 

Yea there was a lot of that Tina Fey humour style which I enjoy. Although if they had wanted to go full 30 Rock after that kid had finished singing you would have had someone burst in the door (like Tracy Jordan) and say something completely over the top ridiculous.

On 11/25/2020 at 1:34 PM, Primal Slayer said:

Jesses son....there is no way she would raise an airhead jock. That is just totally unrealistic.

Unless of course the kid is Slater's secret love child. Speaking of which, of all the returning characters Slater got the best bits (although Kelly in the commercial was funny too). The thing about it not being a white Savior thing because he was Mexican made me laugh.

On 11/26/2020 at 4:16 PM, Kromm said:

I won't be totally satisfied if there isn't at least one Showgirls joke... eventually. 

Not knowing what kind of Doctor Jessie is a line about how she did some stripping to pay for Grad School or med school would be really funny.

10 hours ago, Lili said:

Mac is no Zack though. Zack had a charm to him, and with Mac, I don't really see that so far.

Of the new characters, my favorite is probably Mr. Toddman, to be honest. He was probably the best replacement for Mr. Belding you could ask for.

John Michael Higgins is really talented so that helps. Plus he was awesome on Tracy Wingfield's previous show Great News so she obviously knows how to write things that work for him.

I do like how this show sort of has a Brady Bunch movie feel where to the people at Bayside there life is completely normal (even the stupid Max) but everyone else is like what the fuck is going on.

[Lili]

18 hours ago, Kromm said:

But Zack isn't Zack anymore either. The version of him on this show is grotesque.  A lot of stuff in this show gets much better after the first few episodes, but Zack doesn't.  The later view we get of him is still grotesque.  His son?  Not much better--he has some minor character growth but it's far less convincing than the growth of Lexi (who clearly benefitted a ton by the role clearly being created specifically for this actress--the co-producer credit kind of confirms that).

Frankly Slater is the only original character who's dealt a good hand by this show.  At least by the end of the season, although not surprisingly he's reverted back to a dumb ape whenever he's onscreen with Zack.

Agreed that Toddman is a great character. He's served really well over the course of the whole season. He's only played for comedy a few times, effectively when that happens, but also works as a serious character too.

True. I was more referring to Zack from the original series than here. I guess that's what you get when you hire the guy who did the Zack Morris is Trash YouTube series as a co-writer here.

[Kromm]

On 11/29/2020 at 12:38 AM, Kel Varnsen said:

Unless of course the kid is Slater's secret love child. Speaking of which, of all the returning characters Slater got the best bits (although Kelly in the commercial was funny too). The thing about it not being a white Savior thing because he was Mexican made me laugh.

Did we ever get a real origin of the kid?  His last name is the same as Jessie's, so presumably there's a story there.  One that if they mentioned in passing I missed, and which they certainly didn't go into detail about.

On 11/29/2020 at 1:12 PM, Lili said:

True. I was more referring to Zack from the original series than here. I guess that's what you get when you hire the guy who did the Zack Morris is Trash YouTube series as a co-writer here.

And man he really stays with that premise. I mention more about that (although not talking about that writer) in the Episode 8 thread.

[Harmony233]

Why are they acting like wayside was Beverly hills 90210 in the original they only one that seemed rich was Lisa and even that wasn't really focused on.Kelly was poor and although Zack and Jessie seemed comfortable Zack spent most of his time scheming to become rich with his money making schemes.

In the original the actors where teens it's pretty obvious these actors are not teens they look like there in there 20s.

Also the way they rush these relationships is dumb it took Zack and Kelly a season and half to actually get together.

I didn't think the pilot was that bad but I find daisy the most annoying actually she comes across as a Mary sue.I liked aisha and devante better.

[Sarah 103]

On 12/16/2020 at 10:10 AM, Harmony233 said:

Why are they acting like wayside was Beverly hills 90210 in the original they only one that seemed rich was Lisa and even that wasn't really focused on.Kelly was poor and although Zack and Jessie seemed comfortable Zack spent most of his time scheming to become rich with his money making schemes.

Zach had a cell-phone when almost no one had them so his family was more than comfortable. My guess was the get-rich-quick schemes was the result of his parents not giving him tons of money. His parents had access money, but he was not happy with his allowance.

My guess, and this is only a guess, is that maybe in the 30 years between shows property values skyrocketed and now the student body is far more affluent, and district boundaries were redrawn, but this is pure specultation.