Saved By the Bell - Original Series General Discussion

[David T. Cole]

Discuss Here!

[DkNNy79]

One of my favorite shows growing up.  I had the hugest crush on Mark-Paul Gosselar. Zack & Kelly were my favorite couple and I loved watching him pursue her from the beginning and eventually getting her.  Even though Zack was an ass, I really felt for him when Kelly cheated on him with Patrick Muldoon's character (Jeff?).

[Athena]

Even though Zack was an ass, I really felt for him when Kelly cheated on him with Patrick Muldoon's character (Jeff?).

 

Yes, MPG showed some range in that moment. This show was never seriously dramatic, but when Kelly cheated with Jeff, it was awful feeling. When I watched it back then, it was unfair because Zack was very dedicated to Kelly when they were together. In general, he was a decent boyfriend, but a terrible friend to the group at various times during the show's run. Actually, his actions are a bit sociopathic upon rewatch.

[Sun-Bun]

I so wanted to *be* Kelly Kopowski back when these shows aired: she was so gorgeous, sweet, popular, captain of the cheerleading squad, wanted by every hot guy in town, PT model/singer, cool bedroom, cute clothes, etc....

Then she got all grungey when she went to college with Zach and AC and then married Zach and I no longer wanted to be Kelly.

But she was a fun part of my wistfully awkward tween years, as was this entire goofy show.

I think this show is an example of how the charisma of a cast, a'la "Friends" can totally make a lame show far more watchable.

[ShadowSixx]

The only character I liked was Lisa and hated how they basically made her love life extinct. I really couldn't stand anyone else in the group. The one guy she liked was a jackass, they didn't do anything with the Zack/Lisa pairing.

 

Kelly I don't have much a problem with her, she's just a little too preppy and perfect for my liking. I saw spark in her during the movie when she was getting married to Zack. I also didn't like when she pimped out Zack to that homeless girl in that Christmas episode. Never meant someone who would do that to their ex-boyfriend. She didn't have a problem with Lisa & Zack kissing but had a problem with Zack & Jessie kissing.

 

Zack was like the worst friend ever, dated all the girls, pimped them out, horrible to Screech, made everyone believe Slater had some deadly disease. There was nothing to like about Zack.

 

For someone so chauvinistic Slater sure did do things that would question whether or not he was really chauvinistic like dancing, Glee club, baking, plus his clothes didn't help him either.

 

Screech was a borderline stalker, stalking Lisa at every chance he gets. So I had no problem with Lisa being flat out mean to him.

 

Jessie, "I'm So Excited" enough said.

[Runningwild]

Zack may have been a jerk and unlikeable, but MPG had so much charm, I loved Zack.

[DkNNy79]

Zack may have been a jerk and unlikeable, but MPG had so much charm, I loved Zack.

This!  Zack did some pretty crappy things, but I always rooted for him.  You just couldn't stay mad at him for long.

[Artsda]

Reunion on Jimmy Fallon. It was great!

 

https://t.co/CZjN316Yf2

[CaughtOnTape]

Reunion on Jimmy Fallon. It was great!

 

https://t.co/CZjN316Yf2

 

The

"That's like Jessie becoming a stripper!"

thing made me cry laughing.  Her face.

[Sun-Bun]

Good lord, WTF happened to Dennis Haskings aka Mr. Belding?!!

That dude blew up into Porky Pig---I thought it was Louie Anderson, at first! I know it's easy to gain weight as you age, but damnnnn...he's huge and barely recognizable now.

Couldn't get over how great the rest of the cast looks now though---Mario Lopez is truly ageless!

Damned shame Lark Voorhees and Dustin Diamond couldn't crawl out of their own respective holes to make it.

[magicdog]

Good lord, WTF happened to Dennis Haskings aka Mr. Belding?!!

That dude blew up into Porky Pig

 

 

 

I wondered about that too.  I think it may be steroids (for a medical issue).  He resembles Jerry Lewis back in the 90s who had the same issue. 

 

Loved that he did the giggle!

 

Damned shame Lark Voorhees and Dustin Diamond couldn't crawl out of their own respective holes to make it.

 

Dustin I understand.  Lark's people claimed she was too busy to make an appearance.

 

Still, it was a great sketch!

[TeeVee329]

She [Kelly] didn't have a problem with Lisa & Zack kissing but had a problem with Zack & Jessie kissing.

 

Are you talking about when Zack and Jessie were in the "Snow White" play?  In that case, I think Kelly and Zack were still dating (as were Slater and Jessie) so I can't blame her for being annoyed.

[Petunia13]

I always wished Lark Vorhees had more of a career. I loved Tiffani Amber Theisen on 90210. This was a pretty good cast. I haaaaaaaated Screech on the show I wish he was left out completely. The actor is a creepy asshole dick in RL too.

[VCRTracking]

The 25th anniversary of Jessie Spano’s breakdown is so exciting, so scary

[allicatexp]

Can Sarah, Tara and Dave PLEASE do a podcast on the Zack Attach episode??? It is on right now and I did not remember how cringe worthy it was! How on earth did they get Casey Kasem on this show?

[ShadowSixx]

That Zack Attack episode was horrible. They were trying to do some E! Behind the Music or something like that but it just didn't work for what SBTB is about.

The pretend marriage episode was badly written. Lisa didn't want to be married to Screech and wondered why she was paired with him and Mr. Belding said that the couples were paired in alphabetical order and since that was the case there was no way Lisa would have been paired with Screech whether they were paired by first name or last name. First name: Alfred (Slater) & Jessie would be paired, Samuel (Screech) & Kelly would be paired and Lisa & Zack by last name it would Zack Morris & Kelly Kapowski, Samuel Powers & Jessie Spano,  Slater & Lisa Turtle. 

Another thing that bugged is how Zack was part of any after school sports and clubs with the grades he got throughout the years. Those bad grades and he was on student council, track team, basketball, yearbook staff. My days in school if your grades are bad they put you on probation and if grades still don't improve you're kicked out of the club or sport.

The episodes with them at the beach with Leah Remini was boring and any episodes where they were on location were boring too.

[VCRTracking]

From the AV Club:

Somebody wrote a hilarious, pitch-black Saved By The Bell script that unravels the Tori Paradox
 

Quote

Chuck Klosterman’s 2003 book Sex, Drugs And Cocoa Puffs caused millennials everywhere to revisit the latter-day episodes of Saved By The Bell, when a leather-clad Tori Scott stepped in for Kelly Kapowski and Jessie Spano for 10 confusing episodes. Klosterman argues that the “Tori Paradox” isn’t so much confusing as it is realistic, as, for many teens, social circles are a fluid thing that see personalities come and go for extended periods of time. A logical explanation, sure, but the generation who grew up on the show have persisted in their desire for concrete answers. Where did Kelly and Jessie go? And why didn’t Tori graduate?

Here with an answer is Dashiell Driscoll, who you may know as the writer and narrator of Funny Or Die’s Zack Morris Is Trash. Drawing upon his deep, abiding love (and hate) of the teen sitcom, Driscoll’s written a Saved By The Bell script that offers a definitive exit for Tori while also explaining Kelly and Jessie’s whereabouts. Moreover, though, the script serves as a hilarious (and incredibly dark) bit of commentary about how its characters remained so aggressively virginal despite being horny all the time.

Called “The Contest,” Driscoll’s script reimagines the classic Seinfeld conceit—who can go the longest without masturbating—as it would exist among the denizens of Bayside High. Balancing gags from the Seinfeld episode it references with a keen understanding of the dorky, era-specific humor upon which Saved By The Bell operated—“I’m still the M.C. of my Hammer,” Slater cracks—Driscoll’s script is satisfying both as parody and satire. Longtime fans will be happy to see pitch-perfect appearances from teachers like Mr. Tuttle and Mrs. Simpson, as well as magical waiter Max and Zack’s gigantic cell phone.

Give yourself a “time-out” and read it here.

[Lazlo]

I have a confession to make: I didn't entirely hate The New Class. I'm not going to say it was ever as good as the original (or California Dreams or Hang Time) and Screech got very tiresome as Mr Belding's aasssistant but some of the cast and stories were fun.

I guess age helps - I was born in 1981 so was still the 'right age' demographic when The New Class started. In fact I can even remember having early teen crushes on Lindsay and Rachel.

I'm sorry it seems to have vanished so completely.

[Was-MArsenault]

Here's an interesting fact.

Nancy Valen actually wasn't the first choice to play Nurse Jennifer on the Season 2 episode of Saved by the Bell, "From Nurse to Worse". Kathy Ireland was initially tapped to play her but she was dismissed due to the producers not being satisfied with her high voice and lackluster table-reading.

[BradyBunchFan]

Sundance TV and IFC are showing this for  two weeks, but this week is the last for Sundance though.

What's odd is that IFC won’t be showing The Election episode the second week that it’s on.

[Waterston Fan]

I was looking for this thread but didn't think of it as a kids show but I guess it is. I used to like this show and kinda liked Zack the most. I liked Mr. Belding too, especially with this.... hey, hey, hey, what is going on here? and this laugh. 

I liked the school song episode,  I like that song that Screech wrote.  Its so strange to have Tori there for a few episodes then you see Kelly and Jessie back for the last few episodes. 

I didn't care for 'The New Class' much though. 

[Avabelle]

Anyone listening to the Zack to the Future podcast? 

[ClassicShowsFan]

I wonder why IFC never shows Season 1 of the show and they always skip right to Season 2 when Season 4 is done.

[Crisfield3]

Have you guys ever seen “Zack Morris is Trash” on YouTube? It’s amazing. This is the one with Jessie and caffeine pills. Hilarious 

https://shrinke.me/6CabH

[paulvdb]

We have a new forum for the new series. This topic can be used for discussion of the original series. I moved posts about the new series to the anticipation topic.

[Lili]

On 9/30/2020 at 8:39 AM, ClassicShowsFan said:

I wonder why IFC never shows Season 1 of the show and they always skip right to Season 2 when Season 4 is done.

I've been wondering the same thing. MeTV doesn't air Season 1 either, for that matter. Season 1 is actually Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which did used to air TBS, and it still seems to be part of the syndication package, going by Peacock and everything, so I have no idea.

[Lili]

Oh hey, IFC has been showing Season 1 now. So has E! during the currently ongoing 3-day marathon. Has anyone here been catching any episode during that marathon, by the way? I've been watching a few.

[Harmony233]

Been watching these episodes and it's weird how the reboot has this school has the richest school because in these episodes the school never had any money for anything they couldn't even have a real senior prom lol.

[RealHousewife]

On 1/25/2020 at 10:36 AM, Was-MArsenault said:

Here's an interesting fact.

Nancy Valen actually wasn't the first choice to play Nurse Jennifer on the Season 2 episode of Saved by the Bell, "From Nurse to Worse". Kathy Ireland was initially tapped to play her but she was dismissed due to the producers not being satisfied with her high voice and lackluster table-reading.

I'm surprised Nancy didn't become a bigger star. She is such a pretty lady. 

[JAYJAY1979]

I watched the Snow White rap episode..and Jessie thinking Snow white doing the house work was sexist made me want to ask her what she expected.  The 7 dwarfs were in the mines all day while Snow White was home all day.  

She was a pampered princess that did work to keep a roof over her head...you know a job.