Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell is an American television teen sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in prime time, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday night. Targeted at kids and teens, Saved by the Bell was broadcast in the United States on Saturday mornings, later as the flagship series in NBC's TNBC lineup.[1] A spin-off of the Disney Channel series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, the show follows a group of high school friends and their principal at the fictional Bayside High School in Los Angeles. Primarily focusing on lighthearted comedic situations, it occasionally touches on serious social issues, such as drug use, driving under the influence, homelessness, remarriage, death, women's rights, and environmental issues. The series starred Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, Lark Voorhies, Dennis Haskins, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, and Mario Lopez. The series ran for four seasons, airing its final episode, again in primetime, on May 22, 1993, a Saturday night.
For the Robin Gibb song, see Saved by the Bell (song). For the revival series, see Saved by the Bell (2020 TV series). For the figure of speech, see List of sports idioms § saved by the bell.Saved by the Bell
Scott Gale
United States
English
4
86 (list of episodes)
22–24 minutes
- Peter Engel Productions
- NBC Productions
August 20, 1989 –
May 22, 1993
The show spawned two spin-off series: Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993–1994), a primetime series that follows several of the characters to college, and Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993–2000), a Saturday morning series that follows a new group of students at Bayside High School.[2] The series also spawned two TV movies, Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style in 1992 and Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas in 1994.
In later years, Saved by the Bell has been classified as educational and informational.[3] The show was named one of the "20 Best School Shows of all Time" by AOL TV.[4]
Theme song[edit]
The theme song for Saved by the Bell was written by composer Scott Gayle against the implicit instructions of Engel. Though Engel had not been able to keep the show from being named Saved by the Bell, he was determined to prevent the phrase from showing up in the theme. He gave explicit orders to his team of composers that he would not accept any theme that referenced the title, and the group agreed to leave out the phrase.[8][17]
A week later, Engel listened to the first four composers and, though they followed his instructions, the songs were flat and nothing special. Gayle played his song next and, though he explicitly violated Engel's instructions, Engel couldn't help but admit it was the best and perfect for the show. Engel would later comment that he was glad Gayle had not followed his instructions.[8][17]
Films[edit]
Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style[edit]
In 1992, NBC approved the production of a feature-length made-for-television Saved by the Bell film to air in prime time. Titled Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style, the film followed the six teenagers from the show as they vacationed in Hawaii with Kelly's grandfather, Harry Bannister (Dean Jones). They soon discover Mr. Belding also happens to be there, and the seven are caught up in a plan to save Harry's resort from a greedy developer.[8][19]
The film was written by Bennet Tramer and directed by Don Barnhart. Due to budget constraints, much of the film was shot in Santa Monica, with only location shots that could not easily be faked shot in Hawaii. The shooting schedule in Hawaii turned out to be massive, even after Engel and Barnhart scouted the location. Real-life lifeguards were hired as extras during beach scenes to ensure the safety of the cast.[8][19]
Variety said, "The Clearasil demo will eat it up, older viewers may choke on the realization that Dean Jones is old enough to be a grandfather."[20] Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style was successful in the ratings, and paved the way for Saved by the Bell: The College Years airing in prime time.[19]
Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas[edit]
Following the cancellation of Saved by the Bell: The College Years on a cliffhanger in 1994, NBC President Warren Littlefield commissioned a second film to serve as a series finale for both Saved by the Bell: The College Years and the original show. The story features Zack, Kelly, Slater, Screech, and Lisa traveling to Las Vegas so Zack and Kelly can elope after their parents disapprove of their impending marriage.[8][21]
Reunions[edit]
On April 9, 2006, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim announced that Saved by the Bell would air at midnight as a two-week special starting April 17. On April 19, 2006, Adult Swim also posted on their website that Saved by the Bell was back in production. A week later, the announcement was exposed as a joke.[35]
On March 27, 2009, NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon launched a campaign to get the cast on board for a Saved by the Bell reunion. Fans signed an online petition and pledged their support for the cast to reunite on the show. Dennis Haskins, Lark Voorhies, Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar agreed to a reunion.[36][37] Gosselaar reprised his role as Zack Morris in a skit on Late Night on June 8, 2009, while promoting his then current TNT drama, Raising the Bar. The spoof interview closed with a performance of "Friends Forever," originally by Zack Attack, where Zack played guitar and sang with backing from Fallon's house band, The Roots. Tiffani Thiessen posted a parody video to the website Funny or Die, where she claimed she was too busy to join the reunion.[38]
The cast reunited in August 2009 for a photo shoot in People. Diamond was not invited to participate in the photo shoot because of poor relationships with the rest of the cast. Diamond's image was also edited out of the 1989 cast photo that was used on the cover inset of an issue of People to show how the cast looked 20 years later.[39][40]
The cast convened again when Haskins, Diamond, Gosselaar, Voorhies, and Lopez did their own voices in a Saved by the Bell Saw parody, called "Sawed by the Bell", on "Boo Cocky", a season three episode of Robot Chicken. Gosselaar also provided audio commentary for the episode on the DVD.
On February 4, 2015, the cast appeared on a skit on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Haskins, Gosselaar, Lopez, Berkley and Thiessen all participated, though Voorhies and Diamond did not, with Thiessen's real-life pregnancy, Lopez's involvement with Dancing with the Stars and Berkley's film Showgirls the targets of some of the humor.[41]
Saved by the Bell: Soundtrack to the Original Hit TV Series
April 11, 1995
1989–1992
Rock/Pop