30 years ago today the television show Saved by the Bell aired its first episode [1. This does not include the original show Saved by the Bell was spun off from, Good Morning Miss Bliss, which aired in July of 1987]. This will come to no surprise from people that know me but I'm kind of obsessed with Saved by the Bell.
I was born in 1983, so I was six when the show first aired. A show revolving around High School kids doesn't seem like a show a six year old would be interested in, but I had two older sisters that also watched the show. That being said, I think I did most of my SBTB watching on weekday mornings and afternoons. In fact, I didn't watch SBTB in its normal time slot, on Saturday mornings, until the last season or two. Superstations TBS and WGN used to air back to back episodes before and after school. Local station, KPLR channel 11, also aired back to back episodes in the afternoon, so I could potentially watch six episodes in a single day. I was in heaven.
So what is it about the show? It's cheesy. The acting isn't the best. The storylines are completely unbelievable. I don't know what drew me to it. Perhaps I thought High School would really be that way. Zack was the definition of being cool. Kelly was a babe. Whatever it was, it had me hooked. I still watch the show to this day, though now it has been designated as the go-to show I drift in and out of consciousness to when I'm sick.
So now that you know (or have been reminded) of my obsession, let's take a look at posts from past years on the topic of Saved by the Bell.
The Lost Episode of Saved by the Bell- Come watch a promo video that follows the Bayside High gang travel through a world of Saturday Morning TV references. Includes appearances by John Candy, Marsha Warfield and Sherman Hemsley.
The other day I was browsing YouTube and a suggested video that came up dubbed itself a lot episode of Saved by the Bell. What? An episode of SBTB that I have not seen? How could this be? So, I watched it. All twenty minutes of it. It's not really an episode. It's a promo for the NBC Saturday morning lineup and it features Zack, Kelly, Lisa, Slater, Screech and Jessie. There is no Mr. Belding, and the whole premise is really weird.
Because it's a promo for Saturday morning, there are a lot of clips of cartoons. You have Alf (the puppet) interacting with the SBTB kids and talking about his cartoon. There's John Candy introducing Camp Candy, and appearances by Marsha Warfield and Sherman Hemsley. It was really weird. If you like SBTB or retro TV stuff in general, give it a watch below.
No, you are not dreaming. There really is a Saved by the Bell board game and it looks amazing. Well, it looks like it would be fun to play once or twice until your friends stop playing with you because you know way too much about the TV show and it is no longer fun for them. From the description on Pressman's website:
Your homework assignment: Be the first player to collect one of each Character Card, or 3 Character Cards of the same player. Once you spin “View a Scene,” you’ll have a few seconds to glance at snapshots of classic scenes from the show. Be prepared to answer random questions. So, study up and don’t flunk this memory test to win a Character Card!
If you spin a number, you must move your character that number of spaces on the board. You can land on “Time Out” and steal from your fellow players. You’ll even receive your own Yearbook to collect your Character Cards, but don’t doodle on Zack – you must be focused to get an A+! Once you’ve collected one card of each Character or three cards of a single Character, you’ve won the game and you’ve been… Saved by the Bell!
You can pick the game up from Target. If you're not sure if the game is for you, check out the instructional video on how to play.
The Max, the fictional diner from Saved by the Bell is coming to Chicago this summer. The popup restaurant will only be around for the summer, but is sure to be a popular destination for people my age who grew up on the Saturday morning television show.
The diner, called Saved by the Max, sold out reservations quickly, but travelers may still be able to walk-in for brunch and some late night grub. Visitors can order themed items from the menu, such as A.C. Sliders, Mac and Screech, Preppy BLT and the Bayside Burger (no green mystery meat here). According to Vogue, Ed Alonzo will reprise the role of namesake magician-owner of The Max and is set to perform magic tricks for the grand opening—just one in the series of late-night Bayside After Dark special events scheduled. Others include Tuesday Saved by the Bell trivia challenges and Sunday performances from the diner’s in-house band, The Zack Attack.
The decor looks great, but small. You can see photos at Vogue.
Unfortunately, I was not able to get a reservation. If anyone I know is going, please take pictures!
Today is the 25th anniversary of the airing of the first episode of Saved by the Bell (not Good Morning, Miss Bliss). In honor of this momentous occasion, I present to you a post I wrote in 2008.
The world is a large and frightening place filled with many bad things: Global warming, terrorism, racism, health issues, drugs, poverty, etc. You should not be afraid though. I can help you. The answer to all your fears is four simple little words: Saved by the Bell.
Yes, if everyone in the world watched this show the world would be a much better place. Just think about it for a second. SBTB addresses every major concern that plagues this world. Let's examine how SBTB could help make the world a better place. The gang, consisting of Zack, Kelly, Lisa, Slater, Jessie, Screech, and for half a season, Tori, faced all these harsh world realities and survived. Let's see how.
SBTB and the Environment
SBTB was thinking green long before it was the in thing to do. Thanks to Jessica Spano, the resident over achiever and environmental activist, we become aware of the major environmental concerns that plague the world. Whether she's saving the whales, suggesting alternatives to styrofoam cups, or preventing Bayside High from becoming an oil field, Ms. Spano is a great crusader in the cause for Mother Earth. In fact, it is in episode number 45 "Pipe Dreams" that we learn how destructive drilling for oil can actually be. The gang's beloved science class pets were all killed in the pond after oil spilled. Oil drilling is dangerous and we should be looking for alternatives to build a better future. As the gang states, we need to look for alternative energy so ducks like Becky don't die anymore. If only we would have listened to SBTB back in 1991. Also check out the episode "Skip Day" for the harsh reality of styrofoam cups. They are not biodegradable and are ruing the planet. Thank you Jessie and Graham.
SBTB and Terrorism
SBTB was dealing with terrorism long before 9/11. Way back in 1989 the gang at Bayside High had to deal with those nasty terrorist from Valley. Stan and Dan Clegg wreak havoc on the halls of Bayside when they start the annual Prank War. Just as Bush responded to 9/11 attacks, Zack and Slater respond and kidnap Valley's mascot, then the Bayside Tiger (Screech) is kidnapped. Of course, Bush attacked the wrong country whereas the gang at Bayside actually did target the right school. Of course, the lesson we can all learn from this whole mess is that if we all come together and talk at the end, like both schools and their respected principals do, we can live in a peaceful place and settle our differences. We just have to talk, and as we see in "The Wicked Stepbrother" we cannot negotiate with terrorists. If we do, they'll take everything we have, including that awesome ball we caught at the Dodgers game.
SBTB and Racism
Bayside High was not the most diverse school. In fact, we barely even know that Lisa Turtle is African-American and Slater is Hispanic. Race was never brought up on the show, until the kids expanded their horizons and went off to college. When Slater finally realizes he has a Hispanic background he becomes interested. He learns about his Chicano background there are confrontations between him and Zack. Slater didn't believe Zack was respecting his heritage. In the end, they worked things out and the race issues disappeared! Again, we just need to come together and talk and we will all get along! Respect each other's differences, backgrounds, heritages and we can come together as people and live in harmony. If Zack and Slater can do it, we all can.
SBTB and Health Issues
SBTB didn't deal with health that often. The kids never got sick in sunny California. However, there were a couple of episodes that did pop up that dealt with health. In the episode "From Nurse to Worse" we see macho man Slater afraid to get a flue shot. He cons Zack into taking it for him, but he learns his lesson at the end. Missing your shots is no laughing matter. If you want to stay strong and healthy, you must take care of yourself. If somehow you do wind up in the hospital, have no fear, because you will get the best healthcare possible, just ask Zack in "Operation Zack" when he has to go under the knife. He didn't have to sign countless insurance forms and fill out tons of paperwork, he got in, got fixed, and left. Even the homeless guy in "Home for Christmas" received health care when he passed out in the mall.
SBTB and Drugs
Two of SBTB's most famous episodes deal with drugs. If the world could watch these episodes and see how bad drugs really are, then no one would use them. In the "No Hope with Dope" episode, we see how drugs ruin a lot of lives. Not only is the image of their hero Johnny Dakota shattered when he starts smoking pot, but we learn about other people who have had their lives ruined by drugs, like John Belushi and another student's older brother (who she has to drive to the beach now because he got high and drove and had an accident). The message is, drugs ruin a lot of lives. We also get reminded of Jessie's stint with drugs, which brings us to the other episode that deals with drugs, "Jessie's Song." In this episode Jessie was addicted to caffeine pills, letting the world know that over the counter drugs can be bad for you too. Jessie screams at the end, mixed with the lyrics of her girl band, Hot Sundae, that she's "so excited. So excited. So scared," reminding us that the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. If we all could see what Jessie went through in that episode, none of us would ever use drugs.
SBTB and Poverty
Poverty is a huge problem in the world today. If we could all just watch the episodes "Home for Christmas" we would see how big a problem poverty is. One of the biggest problems with poverty is people aren't aware of it. SBTB made us aware. It showed us that homeless people aren't lazy drunks, but out of work computer programmers with hot daughters who just need a break in life. If we all pitch in, like Zack's family does, we can help eradicate the homeless problem in our country, and the world. Just open up your doors and let the homeless in, and if you can, give them a job like Zack's dad does. With a little awareness and a little help, there will be no poverty or homelessness. Let all the out of work programmers into your home... and your heart.
Saved by the Bell doesn't stop there though. No, those were just some of the major problems that are addressed in the episodes. There are smaller problems that we see solved, such as heartbreak (Kelly dumping Zack for the college creepy guy Jeff), drinking and driving, natural disaster readiness (the earthquake episode), sexism (the episode when a woman wants to wrestle), and many other important life lessons. Thank you Saved by the Bell. We will continue to learn from your greatness for years and years to come.
This is hilarious... and makes me feel old. Also, is it just me or are the clothes that these kids are wearing just as bad, if not worse, than the styles in the '90s?
Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge Saved by the Bell fan. I could go toe-to-toe with anyone on SBTB trivia (impressive, I know), that's why it was a big shock that there was a podcast about Saved by the Bell that I didn't know about. Imagine that, two of my favorite things joined together, podcasts and SBTB. The result is the awesome Go Bayside.
If you're not familiar with the podcast, it was started by comedian April Richardson and each episode is an in-depth discussion on an episode of SBTB (done in order of air date). About 2 years ago I had an idea to do a SBTB podcast but 1. I don't have the time or know-how to do a podcast and 2. I would be hard-pressed to find someone that loves SBTB as much as me.
Anyway, the podcast, which is nearing the end of its run, features guest appearances by other comedians and actors, such as Chris Hardwick, Paul F. Tompkins, and Entourage's Jerry Ferrara (Turtle), among others. Some of the guests are fans of the show and others never really watched it. Ferrara may even give me a run at super fan status. The discussions are hilarious and really shed light on how ridiculous the show actually was. If you ever watched the show and love podcasts, you should definitely check it out. It may bring back some good memories of the Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons that you spent with Zack and the gang.
Mark Paul Gosselaar went on Late Night With Jimmy Fallonlast night to promote the season premier of his TNT drama Raising the Bar, only he didn't exactly go as himself. He went as his most famous character, Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell. He dressed in "Zack-style" clothes, made inside jokes about SBTB moving from Indiana to California and Kelly moving to a different zip code (90210), and even pulled out his classic cell phone, all before playing "Friends Forever" by his band Zack Attack. It's nice to see him embrace a character he will forever be known as, which a lot of actors hate doing. He even agreed to the SBTB reunion that Jimmy Fallon has been trying to set up for months. Watch the interview below, it's awesome.
I'm going to geek out hardcore right now. I just found out that there was a Saved by the Bell comic book published in the 1990's. There weren't many published in the series, but enough to make this SBTB geek want them. The stories are probably more lame than the stories of the TV show (which I still contend are not lame at all and can help save the world). The drawing looks very Archie-ish. Look, they even drew Slater's mullet. There are two issues that feature a photo of the SBTB cast instead of a drawing. One is a special collector's #1 issue, the other is a special Christmas issue. The photos on the covers of both are essentially the same and from what I've read on the internet, the stories in both comics are the same.
Besides those two issues, it looks like there are 5 additional issues of the hand drawn cover variety. I can't seem to figure out which were published first, but I would guess the ones with the real cast on the cover were published first to get people interested and then they switched to the illustrated covers. It must not have sold well if only a total of 7 issues were made. Then again, it looks like these were published near the end of the SBTB series so the popularity of the comic book could have died out when the series went off the air.
Yes, I am a huge geek for wanting these. The only thing I can say is I love SBTB. It was a fantastic show. You can find a few of the issues online at various online comic shops and ebay and they are cheap. I guess they are not a huge collector's item for the comic geeks out there. That's a shame, they don't know what they are missing. Anything SBTB related is pure gold.
Everyone knows what a Saved by the Bell geek I am. If you didn't know that then did you really know me? I mean, come on. As much as I love the show there are a few things that bug me. The biggest thing is when the tough biker chick Tori came on the show and Kelly and Jessie disappeared. Now, the story behind the switch is that NBC wanted more episodes after the final season was filmed. Tiffany Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley, who played Kelly and Jessie, already committed to other things and didn't want to film any more episodes. So what did the network do? They filmed additional episodes with a new girl, Tori, didn't explain what happened to Jessie or Kelly, and stuck them in the middle of the last season. So in the last season we see Jessie and Kelly, then Tori, then Jessie and Kelly are back in time for graduation. This bugs me because there was no explanation and these episodes were clearly inferior. Then I started thinking, is an explanation really necessary?
I think back at my life. There are definitely times in my life when the friends I hung out with every day suddenly disappeared and I was no longer with them. Then all of the sudden, they'd be back in my life. This happened a lot in college, with both college friends and high school friends. The people I met while I was in college never knew my high school friends and I rarely, if ever, talked about my high school friends, just as the gang never talked about Jessie and Kelly when Tori came around. Then after college I started hanging out with some of my high school friends and some of my college friends disappeared. True, they were still in the same school on Saved by the Bell, but think about high school for a minute. It wasn't that long ago. Weren't there times when you stopped hanging with particular people, for no particular reason, then started hanging with them again? Maybe it was a busy semester for them, or you. Think about the people you've lost contact with and then later became best friends again. They are your Tori. Or you are theirs. Either way, while completely inferior to previous and later episodes, the Tori episodes actually do make sense. Even though Saved by the Bell is nowhere near real, that's one part that is. Everyone has been a Tori or had Tori friends. You can sit there and watch episodes with Tori and not wonder where Kelly and Jessie are, just as you don't always wonder where your lost friends went. So, no longer will I judge these episodes for the wool that NBC tried to pull over my eyes. I will judge them based on how good they actually were, which, except for the school song episode, they pretty much sucked.
The world is a large and frightening place filled with many bad things: Global warming, terrorism, racism, health issues, drugs, poverty, etc. You should not be afraid though. I can help you. The answer to all your fears is four simple little words: Saved by the Bell.
Yes, if everyone in the world watched this show the world would be a much better place. Just think about it for a second. SBTB addresses every major concern that plagues this world. Let's examine how SBTB could help make the world a better place. The gang, consisting of Zack, Kelly, Lisa, Slater, Jessie, Screech, and for half a season, Tori, faced all these harsh world realities and survived. Let's see how.
SBTB and the Environment
SBTB was thinking green long before it was the in thing to do. Thanks to Jessica Spano, the resident over achiever and environmental activist, we become aware of the major environmental concerns that plague the world. Whether she's saving the whales, suggesting alternatives to styrofoam cups, or preventing Bayside High from becoming an oil field, Ms. Spano is a great crusader in the cause for Mother Earth. In fact, it is in episode number 45 "Pipe Dreams" that we learn how destructive drilling for oil can actually be. The gang's beloved science class pets were all killed in the pond after oil spilled. Oil drilling is dangerous and we should be looking for alternatives to build a better future. As the gang states, we need to look for alternative energy so ducks like Becky don't die anymore. If only we would have listened to SBTB back in 1991. Also check out the episode "Skip Day" for the harsh reality of styrofoam cups. They are not biodegradable and are ruing the planet. Thank you Jessie and Graham.
SBTB and Terrorism
SBTB was dealing with terrorism long before 9/11. Way back in 1989 the gang at Bayside High had to deal with those nasty terrorist from Valley. Stan and Dan Clegg wreak havoc on the halls of Bayside when they start the annual Prank War. Just as Bush responded to 9/11 attacks, Zack and Slater respond and kidnap Valley's mascot, then the Bayside Tiger (Screech) is kidnapped. Of course, Bush attacked the wrong country whereas the gang at Bayside actually did target the right school. Of course, the lesson we can all learn from this whole mess is that if we all come together and talk at the end, like both schools and their respected principals do, we can live in a peaceful place and settle our differences. We just have to talk, and as we see in "The Wicked Stepbrother" we cannot negotiate with terrorists. If we do, they'll take everything we have, including that awesome ball we caught at the Dodgers game.
SBTB and Racism
Bayside High was not the most diverse school. In fact, we barely even know that Lisa Turtle is African-American and Slater is Hispanic. Race was never brought up on the show, until the kids expanded their horizons and went off to college. When Slater finally realizes he has a Hispanic background he becomes interested. He learns about his Chicano background there are confrontations between him and Zack. Slater didn't believe Zack was respecting his heritage. In the end, they worked things out and the race issues disappeared! Again, we just need to come together and talk and we will all get along! Respect each other's differences, backgrounds, heritages and we can come together as people and live in harmony. If Zack and Slater can do it, we all can.
SBTB and Health Issues
SBTB didn't deal with health that often. The kids never got sick in sunny California. However, there were a couple of episodes that did pop up that dealt with health. In the episode "From Nurse to Worse" we see macho man Slater afraid to get a flue shot. He cons Zack into taking it for him, but he learns his lesson at the end. Missing your shots is no laughing matter. If you want to stay strong and healthy, you must take care of yourself. If somehow you do wind up in the hospital, have no fear, because you will get the best healthcare possible, just ask Zack in "Operation Zack" when he has to go under the knife. He didn't have to sign countless insurance forms and fill out tons of paperwork, he got in, got fixed, and left. Even the homeless guy in "Home for Christmas" received health care when he passed out in the mall.
SBTB and Drugs
Two of SBTB's most famous episodes deal with drugs. If the world could watch these episodes and see how bad drugs really are, then no one would use them. In the "No Hope with Dope" episode, we see how drugs ruin a lot of lives. Not only is the image of their hero Johnny Dakota shattered when he starts smoking pot, but we learn about other people who have had their lives ruined by drugs, like John Belushi and another student's older brother (who she has to drive to the beach now because he got high and drove and had an accident). The message is, drugs ruin a lot of lives. We also get reminded of Jessie's stint with drugs, which brings us to the other episode that deals with drugs, "Jessie's Song." In this episode Jessie was addicted to caffeine pills, letting the world know that over the counter drugs can be bad for you too. Jessie screams at the end, mixed with the lyrics of her girl band, Hot Sundae, that she's "so excited. So excited. So scared," reminding us that the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. If we all could see what Jessie went through in that episode, none of us would ever use drugs.
SBTB and Poverty
Poverty is a huge problem in the world today. If we could all just watch the episodes "Home for Christmas" we would see how big a problem poverty is. One of the biggest problems with poverty is people aren't aware of it. SBTB made us aware. It showed us that homeless people aren't lazy drunks, but out of work computer programmers with hot daughters who just need a break in life. If we all pitch in, like Zack's family does, we can help eradicate the homeless problem in our country, and the world. Just open up your doors and let the homeless in, and if you can, give them a job like Zack's dad does. With a little awareness and a little help, there will be no poverty or homelessness. Let all the out of work programmers into your home... and your heart.
Saved by the Bell doesn't stop there though. No, those were just some of the major problems that are addressed in the episodes. There are smaller problems that we see solved, such as heartbreak (Kelly dumping Zack for the college creepy guy Jeff), drinking and driving, natural disaster readiness (the earthquake episode), sexism (the episode when a woman wants to wrestle), and many other important life lessons. Thank you Saved by the Bell. We will continue to learn from your greatness for years and years to come.
No, you are not dreaming. There really is a Saved by the Bell board game and it looks amazing. Well, it looks like it would be fun to play once or twice until your friends stop playing with you because you know way too much about the TV show and it is no longer fun for them. From the description on 
The world is a large and frightening place filled with many bad things: Global warming, terrorism, racism, health issues, drugs, poverty, etc. You should not be afraid though. I can help you. The answer to all your fears is four simple little words: Saved by the Bell.
The world is a large and frightening place filled with many bad things: Global warming, terrorism, racism, health issues, drugs, poverty, etc. You should not be afraid though. I can help you. The answer to all your fears is four simple little words: Saved by the Bell.