Welcome back to Bayside High! Saved by the Bell delivered laughs, heart, friendship and plenty of teenage drama during its four-season run.
It comes as no surprise that the sitcom’s best episodes center around the close bond between Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez), Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen), Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley), Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies) and Screech Powers (Dustin Diamond). Whether their dynamics were platonic or romantic — as the characters often rotated between members of the group — relatability, humor and warmth kept fans coming back to the show decades after its end.
Saved by the Bell aired from August 1989 to May 1993. The series launched two spinoffs, Saved by the Bell: The College Years and Saved by the Bell: The New Class, as well as two TV movies titled Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style and Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas.
While longtime viewers consider it timeless, some of the cast’s own children are opposed. “They don’t like it. I tried to show them, but they weren’t trippin’ on it,” Lopez, 45, told Us Weekly exclusively in October 2018. “I don’t think they’re into it.” (The TV host shares daughter Gia, 8, son Dominic, 5, and son Santino, 1 month, with wife Courtney Mazza.)
Nevertheless, his kids’ lack of interest would not deter him from a revival. “I’ve got so much stuff going on,” he explained. “But if there is a clever way to pull it off, I’ve always got a hustler mentality. I’m willing to be open to it if it’s smart.”
Gosselaar, 45, seconded the idea. “I’d like to see a version that was worth everyone’s time. There’s a lot of versions that we see that don’t do it justice,” he noted at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in August 2018. “But I’d like to see a version … that we’d all agree on.”
Watch the video above to relive Saved by the Bell’s best episodes, from “I’m so excited … I’m so scared” to the rise of Zack Attack!
