Saved by the Bell
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A popular teen sitcom which ran from 1989 to 1993, Saved by the Bell built a large, loyal fanbase. Its original incarnation, Good Morning, Miss Bliss (1987), starred Hayley Mills as the goodnatured Miss Carrie Bliss who oversaw later Saved by the Bell cast Lark Voorhies, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, and Dustin Diamond as well as other students.
Saved by the Bell brought fame to Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Lark Voorhies, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Dustin Diamond, Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopez and Dennis Haskins. Gosselaar became a teen idol, making the cover of Tiger Beat and a number of other teen publications. While there were many different actors and seasons, and there was even a different cast once the characters of these actors graduated Bayside High, these actors were the stars of the show during its heyday.
Saved by the Bell may be most remarkable among its genre for having two actors, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley, go on to enjoy greater success as older actors, though Berkley's career in particular declined, never recovering from Showgirls.
Characters
- Zachary "Zack" Morris, played by Gosselaar, the charming con artist with a golden heart, Zack always managed his way into the principal's office.
- Kelly Kapowski, played by Thiessen, the cheerleader of the group who was always Zack's romantic interest. She was a good girl who rarely used profanity. When someone wronged her, she would call them "Un-nice girl!" or "You're something really really bad!" Kelly loved Zack but many times felt cheated by him so she'd pay attention to other guys every once in a while too. She worked at "The Max" as a waitress.
- Albert Clifford "A.C." Slater, played by Lopez, the "jock" type who was one of Zack's best friends. He was a football team player and originally had a crush on Kelly, but settled for Jessie instead. His father was a major in the army who wanted to send him to Military school in Hawaii
- Jessica "Jessie" Myrtle Spano, played by Berkley, the girl who had to study hard all the time to keep her high grades. She was very smart, but also felt her parent's pressure to keep up the good grades. Her main interest was beef boy Slater, but was also a moderate feminist, which shone through when Slater called her "babe" or "mama".
- Samuel "Screech" Powers, played by Diamond, Zack's other best friend, an aspiring scientist and all around geek who was in love with Lisa. Considered the "coolest nerd" at Bayside, his popularity was nevertheless limited to the geek girls in school and members of the chess club.
- Lisa Marie Turtle, played by Voorhies, a beautiful African American girl who was the fashion expert and wanted nothing to do with the guy who wanted to go out with her, Screech. Lisa wanted to be a fashion designer. Her interests included clothing and boys.
- Mr. Richard Belding, played by Dennis Haskins, was known for being part nerd part cool guy, who was notoriously out-of-touch with his students. He was often frustrated by Zack's antics, yet was occasionally a friend of the gang. Was known on the show as the "Big Bopper".
In season three, Saved by the Bell had the characters work at a resort by the beach. Characters in these episodes were:
- Leon Carosi, played by Ernie Sabella
- Stacey Carosi, played by Leah Remini
During season four, Kelly (Thiessen) and Jessie (Berkley) walked off the show due to casting issues, only to come back at the end for graduation. No explanation for why they left was offered during the show's run, and they were "replaced" with a transfer student Tory Scott, played by teen actress Leanna Creel (a triplet). Tory was tough and semi-masculine like, but was the love interests of both Zack and Slater at one point or another.
When the actors got too old to be playing higschool students, a new series was created, entitled Saved by the Bell: The College Years which showed the cast dealing with college life (needless to say, they all shared a dorm). College Years only lasted one season before the actors moved on to other projects.
In 1993 a spin-off series was created entitled Saved by the Bell: The New Class which although set at Bayside High, featured an entirely different cast of teens. Mr. Belding remained the principal, and an adult Screech joined him as administrative assistant. Belding later worked as a mall security guard.
The name Saved by the Bell was taken after the boxing jargon term saved by the bell, used when the bell rings after a fighter has been hurt, therefore, that fighter was saved by the bell.
An urban legend circulated that actor Dustin Diamond was closely related to the Beastie Boys' Mike D, but there was no truth to it.
