Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, we meet two new characters.

Episode 2.7 “Rent-A-Pop”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 20th, 1990)

Remember how, in Junior High, Zack’s parents were divorced and his father was played by Robert Pine, the captain from CHiPs?  His father even dated Ms. Bliss at one point.  The relationship didn’t last because Zack, as usual, ruined everything by being a trouble maker.  Add to that, Ms. Bliss was her usual condescending self….

Well, forget about all that.

Zack lives in California now and his parents are still together.  His father, Derek Morris (John Sanderford), is now a computer salesman who played a little baseball in college and who is always on his big mobile phone.  When Zack tries to tell Derek about how he’s struggling in school, Derek waves him off so that he can take a business call.

Zack has a problem.  He wants to go on the class ski trip.  However, he’s failing all of his classes and Belding wants to see his father.  Luckily, the Max’s new waiter, James (Mark Blankfield), just happens to be an unemployed actor who has nothing better to do than help out a bunch of teenagers who are about 30 years younger than him.  Zack’s plan is for James to pretend to be Mr. Belding and to assure Zack’s father that Zack is doing well in school.  Then, James will switch and pretend to be Zack’s father for the official meeting with Belding.  Does all that sound way too complicated?  Well, it is.  Zack never came up with a plan that wasn’t ludicrously complicated.  In this case, it involves faking a Chess Club poisoning so that Belding won’t be in his office when Derek arrives.

Meanwhile, there’s a school carnival going on in the gym.  Oh no!  Look over at the dunk tank!  There’s the real Derek Morris getting ready to throw baseballs at the real Mr. Belding!

“Who is this jerk?” Derek asks after dunking Mr. Belding.

Mr. Belding introduces himself.  Derek learns the truth.  Zack is grounded but Derek learns an important lesson about spending too much time on the phone.

I have to admit that this episode is a favorite of mine.  That’s largely due to the performances of Mark Blankfield and John Sanderford, both of whom are now deceased.  (Sanderford passed in 2023 and Blankfield in 2024.)  Both actors bring some much needed new energy to the show.  Blankfield’s performance is broad but funny.  Sanderford’s performance, quite appropriately, is a bit more grounded in reality.  My favorite moment in this episode is when Derek Morris notices Mr. Belding’s computer and announces, “I sell these,” before then asking James a lot of questions about it.  James’s confusion was perfectly played by Mark Blankfield and it was impossible not to smile about how enthusiastic Derek got about potentially making a sale.  Even at a meeting to discuss his son’s academic record, Derek was always looking for an opportunity.  That’s the sign of a great salesman and a potentially lousy father.

Both Derek Morris and James the Actor would return and why not?  This episode provided them with a great introduction.