Why the “Saved by the Bell” Revival Deserves to be Saved
Earlier this month, Peacock unceremoniously canceled the revival of iconic teen sitcom Saved by the Bell following its brilliant 10-episode second season. Here’s why the series is worth saving.
The Background
Saved by the Bell is a series with a remarkably complex history. It originated as an Indiana-set series entitled Good Morning, Miss Bliss that aired on the Disney Channel from 1987–1989. The majority of the cast was then sacked and a retooled version of the show set in Southern California and retitled Saved by the Bell premiered on NBC the following fall. That show was an enormous success on Saturday mornings, airing 86 episodes from 1989–1993 and spawning merchandise, books, and even a primetime movie. The series was followed by two spin-offs, a short-lived primetime series called Saved by the Bell: The College Years (which aired 19 episodes and a television movie from 1993–1994) and a long-running Saturday morning series called Saved by the Bell: The New Class (which aired 143 episodes over 7 seasons from 1993–2000).
Interest in the series remained strong over the next two decades for a number of reasons. First, the cast remained fairly recognizable with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Mario Lopez, and Elizabeth Berkeley all sustaining showbiz careers into adulthood. Second…
