‘Saved by the Bell’ 2020 premieres November 25 on Peacock

Saved by the Bell was a popular Saturday morning show on NBC during the 1990s. It followed the lives of 6 teenagers, Zack, Kelly, Lisa, Screech, Slater, and Jessie as they maneuvered their way through high school at Bayside high. Zack was the prankster, Slater the jock, and Screech was the nerd. Lisa was the fashionista, Kelly the popular girl, and Jessie was the smart one. There were two spinoff series as well as a television movie, where Zack and Kelly got married in Hawaii. The program ran from August 1989 until May 1993.

The 2020 series was initially supposed to debut during the summer but there was a delay. Filming of the final 3 episodes were delayed because of COVID restrictions which halted taping. Saved by the bell 2020 will now premiere on the NBC’s streaming network, Peacock on November 25. The show will revolve around Zack who is the Governor of California and his closing schools in low income neighborhoods. The students are sent to more affluent schools across the state and some of them end up at Bayside. Peacock says this gives the privileged students a reality check as well as “ much needed diversity.” This change should increase the appeal of the show to a broader range of viewers.

The original Saved by the Bell and Saved by the Bell college years can also be streamed on Peacock.The cast includes Elizabeth Berkeley who returns as Jessie Spano. She is now the mother of Jamie who is described as a mama’s boy. Berkeley’s character is now a guidance counselor and will talk to a student regarding caffeine addiction. Fans may remember that Jessie once had a problem with too much caffeine so this is a little inside joke. Mario Lopez is back as A.C. Slater, and naturally he is now a coach and physical education teacher at Bayside High. John Michael Higgins is Principal Toddman, who is the head Bayside principal who replaced Mr. Belding.

Mitchell Hoog will play Mac Morris the son of Kelly Kapowski and Zack Morris who are now the Governor and First Lady. Haskiri Velazquez is Daisy, a smart, ambitious sophomore, whose previous school is shut down because of the Governor Zack. Alycia Pascual-Pena is Daisy’s good friend, Aisha. Belmont Cameli is Jamie Spano the son of Jessie,, Dexter Darden is Devante and Josie Totah is Lexi. Mark-Paul Gosselaar will be in a recurring basis as Zack Morris, as will Ed Alonzo who portrays Max the owner of a business called The Max. Tiffani Thiessen will return as a guest star as Kelly Kapowski, the First Lady of the Sunshine State, Zack’s wife and Mac’s mother. Lark Vorhees will guest star, reprising her role as Lisa Turtle.

When the reboot was first announced, Vorhees said on Jimmy Kimmal Live that she was hurt because she was not asked to participate in the new series. Sometime later it was announced that Vorhees would indeed be a part of the program. The actress was let go from a role on the CBS daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful because she refused to do sex scenes based on her religion which is Jehova’s Witness. I Patrick Thomas O’Brien who portrayed Mr. Dewey a math teacher from the original series will also be the the 2020 spin-off. Missing from the new Saved by the Bell series is Dustin Diamond who portrayed the lovable nerd Samuel “Screech “ Powers. Diamond told TMZ that Saved by the Bell is not the same without his character Screech, and added that no one from the show reached out to him.

This is more than likely because of Diamond’s being incarcerated more than once and releasing a sex tape which he later said he regretted. Dustin Diamond told TMZ that he imagined that Screech would be dealing with children and the issues of life, at this point but alas we shall never know. The actor also pointed out that Screech is the only character to have appeared on the original show which was titled Good Morning Miss Bliss, Saved by the Bell, SBTB The College Years, and SNTB The New Class. Now that he is not a part of the new series his record is invalid.Longtime fans of the series will be elated to see the old gang back together but certainly will miss the presence of Screech.