Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 1.7 “Homecoming King”

Posted on March 3, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Saved By The Bell: The New Class, which ran on NBC from 1993 to 2o00. The show is currently on Prime.

I’m saved by the bell! …. but for how long?

Episode 1.7 “Homecoming King”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 23rd, 1993)

The big Homecoming dance is coming up and Lindsay has been nominated for Homecoming Queen, just as her mom (Diane Sainte-Marie) was years ago. Lindsay should be excited but her mom has made it clear that she doesn’t want Lindsay going to the dance with Tommy D. In fact, her mom doesn’t want Lindsay dating Tommy D at all. Tommy D is a troublemaker! Lindsay gets so angry that she decides not to go to the dance at all but instead, Tommy D tells her that she has to go to the dance so that she can be crowned as Homecoming Queen. Tommy says that he does screw up a lot. Maybe they should see other people.

Scott, who just a few episodes ago was trying to break Tommy and Lindsay up, announces that “Tommy D stands for Decent Dude.”

(Then his name would be Tommy DD. I swear, does anyone even go to class at this school?)

Uh-oh. It looks like smarmy Chad Westerfield (Jimmy Mardsen) is planning on asking Lindsay to the dance. Scott’s going to have to come up with a scheme to make sure that Chad doesn’t win Homecoming King and that Tommy and Lindsay get back together….

Wait a minute …. who is that playing Chad Westerfield? THAT’S A YOUNG JAMES MARSDEN! Lindsay should definitely go to the dance with Chad Westerfield! Screw Tommy D! Lindsay, your date is here!

This was one of James Marsden’s earliest roles but he already had the looks and the charisma that would make him one of my favorite actors. Even though we’re supposed to hate Chad and there’s a scene where he reveals that he’s just pretending to be nice so that he’ll win the Homecoming King election, James Marsden is still so innately likable that it’s hard not to be disappointed when Scott rigs the election so that Tommy wins as a write-in candidate. (Homecoming Queen is won by Megan, also a write-in candidate. The “nerds” voted for her because she came to the dance with Weasel after Chad ghosted her once he found out Lindsay was available.) Jonathan Angel was likably earnest as Tommy D but sorry, he just can’t compete with James Marsden.

(What type of school allows write-in votes in an election?)

Beyond featuring James Marsden in an early role, this episode is notable as a good example of Saved By The Bell at its most hypocritical. Lindsay’s mother is portrayed as being wrong-headed because she judges Tommy D on his appearance. And yet, we’re supposed to howl with laughter when Scott asks one of the nerdy girls to the dance. (Scott is trying to get the school’s nerds to vote for Tommy.) Saved By The Bell was always been quick to preach tolerance while also encouraging its audience to laugh at anyone who didn’t have the right look. That was especially true during New Class.

Sad to say, this was the only appearance that James Marsden made on Saved By The Bell: The New Class. He was smart enough not to stick around.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 1.14 “The Election”

Posted on February 28, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 Prime and Tubi!

This week, Zack and Jessie fight over a pointless, ceremonial title.

Episode 1.14 “The Election”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on November 18th, 1989)

This is the episode where Jessie is running unopposed for student body president. When Zack overhears Belding and Mr. Dewey (Patrick Thomas O’Brien) discussing how the new president will win a week-long trip to Washington, D.C., he decides to enter the race. Because, seriously, what California kid doesn’t want to spend a week in one of the most humid cities in America?

Back when reruns of Saved By The Bell were running on every basic cable station, this episode seemed to show up a lot. Rewatching it for this review, the first thing I noticed was that the cast all looked quite a bit younger than they did in last week’s episode. Zack’s voice still hadn’t cracked and Mark-Paul Gosselaar was still overacting in much the same way as he did during Good Morning Miss Bliss. I also noticed that none of the relationships between the characters felt correct. Neither Zack nor Slater appeared to have a crush on Kelly. When Lisa volunteers to be Jessie’s campaign manager, Jessie acts as if she barely knows Lisa. Just as in the Dancing to the Max episode, a lot of emphasis is put on the idea of Zack and Jessie being lifelong friends. I’ve always suspected that the showrunners originally meant for Zack and Jessie to become a couple and this episode seems to lean in that direction. As for this episode, it feels like it was meant to be the first or second episode of the show but, for whatever reason, it didn’t air until halfway through the first season.

Episodes like this always amuse me because, seriously …. it’s just the Student Council! The Student Council has no real power. No one cares about the Student Council or, at least, they didn’t when I went to high school. It’s a ceremonial position. When Jessie talks about wanting to make real change, I was on Zack’s rather cynical side. The Student Council President can’t change anything, Jessie! When Kelly said that she needed time to think about her vote because the winner would “be in charge of the whole school,” I really wanted someone to explain to Kelly that no, the principal and the school board and the school superintendent are in charge of the whole school.

Despite trying to sabotage his own campaign after Belding tells him that the trip has been canceled, Zack is elected by one vote. (Jessie gives Kelly the glare of death because Kelly earlier switched her vote from Jessie to Zack. “I voted for Gilligan,” Kelly assures her.) It turns out that Belding was lying about the trip being canceled but Zack now feels so guilty that he decides to resign as student council president so that Jessie can have the job. Jessie would be student council president for the entirety of her time at Bayside but let’s never forget that she owed it all to Zack.

This episode was dumb but I have to admit that I enjoyed watching it. I guess that’s the power of nostalgia. As soon as I saw Jessie putting up her campaign poster, I felt like I was back in college, looking for an excuse not to study.

One final note: In later episodes, the show’s hairstylists and costuming supervisors sometimes seemed to have it out for Elizabeth Berkley. I assume that was because it was eventually decided that Kelly would be the “pretty one.” Jessie’s hair looks really good in this episode. Good for her.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 1.6 “George Washington Kissed Here”

Posted on February 24, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Scott ruins the school play.

Episode 1.6 “George Washington Kissed Here”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 16th, 1993)

Mr. Belding is directing the school play, a tribute to the heroes of the American Revolution. When Scott sees that Lindsay in the play, he decides that he wants her to play Martha Washington while he plays George so that he can kiss her on stage. Scott goes as far as to convince that Mr. Belding that the play should be an “MTV version” of the American Revolution….

Sorry, I just rolled my eyes so hard that I passed out. Okay, I’m back.

Anyway, Tommy D gets so jealous that he takes a role as a messenger, despite feeling that acting is “for dweebs.” Megan is cast as Betsy Ross and Weasel is cast as Ben Franklin. Vicki is also in the cast because she wants to see Scott in tights.

(Audience: whoooo!)

Tommy D is jealous and tries to ruin the play but Megan calls him out backstage and says, “Tommy D stands for Doesn’t Have A Clue.” The audience cheers, even though Tommy D’s name should be Tommy DHAC. Tommy realizes that he’s being a jerk so he apologizes, which leads to Lindsay chasing after him despite the fact that her cue is coming up. So, Vicki steps in and plays Martha even though Lindsay was previously onstage as Martha. Vicki kisses Scott, Tommy D and Lindsay get back together, and everyone applauds Mr. Belding, even though the play sucked.

I hated this episode. As someone who has done high school and community theater, watching these idiots run around backstage ticked me off. Lindsay missed her cue and everyone acted like it was no big deal. No, it’s a huge deal. It was totally unprofessional. Lindsay should have been expelled.

Watching this episode, it occurred to me that Zack Morris could have pulled it off but Scott’s obsession with Lindsay just comes across as being creepy. Zack may have been fixated on Kelly and jealous of Slater but at least Kelly was actually single and interested in him. Lindsay is dating Tommy D and seems pretty happy with him. Scott needs to move on. In fact, wasn’t the audience going “whooooo!” about Scott and Megan just two episodes ago?

I hope Mr. Belding never directed another play.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 1.13 “The Babysitters”

Posted on February 21, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Kelly is irresponsible.

Episode 1.13 “The Babysitters”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on December 1st, 1990)

This episode stresses me out.

Kelly’s parents go off on a ski vacation and leave Kelly with the responsibility of taking care of her infant brother. (Really?) When they get stranded at the lodge, Kelly has to bring the baby to school. She asks her idiot friends to help look after him.

Of course, Zack loses the baby. Fortunately, Mr. Belding finds him but still…

Seriously, I hate this episode. I hate that Kelly’s parents are irresponsible enough to abandon their baby so that they can go skiing. I hate that Kelly has to find someone to take care of the baby while she goes to cheerleader practice. I hate that Zack is dumb enough to lose the baby. I hate that no one ever says, “Wow, this whole situation is really messed up.” This is the one episode that I always turned off whenever I came across it on TV.

This episode, I just can’t take it.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 1.5 “Love Is On The Air”

Posted on February 17, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Scott takes over Bayside Radio. Hey, Zack did that too!

Episode 1.5 “Love Is On The Air”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 9th, 1993)

The school board is threatening to close down Bayside’s radio station!

Really? Didn’t we already do this story on the original Saved By The Bell? For that matter, wasn’t this exact same plot used on California Dreams, City Guys, Malibu CA, and Hang Time? Why was Peter Engel so obsessed with high school radio stations?

Scott, of course, talks Mr. Belding into letting him run the station. Scott wants Lindsay to do an advice show but, right before the show starts, Lindsay has a fight with Tommy D and runs out of the studio. While Scott is trying to get Lindsay to come back, Weasel goes on the air as “Dr, Love.” Weasel’s gives relationship advice to anyone who calls in. No one realizes that they’re actually talking to Weasel. “Dr. Love” becomes extremely popular while Weasel remains unpopular, despite the fact that he was the most popular kid in school just two episodes ago.

This was a dumb episode. It perhaps would have been worse if it had aired during the original run of Saved By The Bell, just because Screech would have been Dr. Love. Isaac Lidsky, who is today a respected businessman, was a considerably better actor than Dustin Diamond and Weasel was easier to take than Screech. That said, Scott’s sociopathic behavior in this episode was considerably less charming than Zack’s. Every episode seems to feature Scott trying to break up Lindsay and Tommy D but Lindsay and Tommy seem pretty happy together. Zack may have competed with Slater for Kelly’s attention but Kelly was single at the time and clearly interested in him. Lindsay seems to be totally into Tommy. Scott’s pathological obsession with breaking up a happy couple doesn’t make Scott a particularly likable protagonist

Go back to Valley, Scott! Bayside doesn’t need you.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 1.4 “Home Shopping”

Posted on February 10, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, an old friend makes an appearance.

Episode 1.4 “Home Shopping”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 2nd, 1993)

With the entire school freaking out about midterms and Scott and Lindsay working in the school store (which apparently is just a cardboard sign set up next to a trashcan in the hall), Scott comes up with a brilliant idea. Why not start a home shopping network on Baywatch’s TV station? And why not sell a special memory tonic that is basically just chocolate syrup and fish oil?

Soon, the entire school is drinking Chocolate Memory. Evil old Dr. Hammersmith (David Byrd) announces that he’s going to make his midterm even more difficult as a way to combat the use of Chocolate Memory. Scott recruits James the Actor (Mark Blankfield) to pretend to be a Harvard professor who is willing to offer Dr. Hammersmith a job but only if Dr. Hammersmith gives an easy midterm.

James the Actor, I should mention, appeared in a handful of episodes of the original Saved By The Bell. He was a waiter at the Maxx and an actor who would happily put on a fake beard whenever Zack needed to fool someone. It’s not a surprise that he would come back for Saved By The Bell: The New Class. What is a surprise is that Scott — a transfer student from another school — somehow knows who James is. In fact, how do any of the members of the new cast know James as well as they do? James was Zack’s friend and now, suddenly, he’s Scott’s friend. It seems like James, a grown man approaching 50, just liked hanging out with high school students and helping them with their zany schemes. Red flag! Red flag!

Oh, this episode was dumb. Presumably, everyone flunked their midterms, except for Megan who was so worried about fooling Mr. Hammersmith that she actually studied for them. What’s funny is that the “difficult” questions that Mr. Hammersmith asked weren’t that difficult. I mean, if you can’t remember the year that the Boston Tea Party occurred, maybe you should be held back a grade or two. (1773, by the way.)

One of the more familiar complaints about the first season of Saved By The Bell: The New Class is that it didn’t do much to differentiate itself from the original series. It just brought in a bunch of new people and had them act like Zack, Slater, Kelly, and Weasel. That’s certainly true in this case. As I watched Scott go through the motions with his wacky scheme, I found myself suspecting that the episode’s script probably just had a line marked through “Zack” and “Scott” added in pencil.

At the end of the episode, Megan and Scott share a smile and agree that they make a great team. “Whooooo!” the audience shouts. I guess they make an okay team. I mean, they managed to get everyone in the school to drink a potentially lethal combination of fish oil and chocolate syrup. If Megan wants to become a professional con artist, I guess she’s found her man.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 1.11 “The Friendship Business”

Posted on February 7, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Zack and Jessie battle for business supremacy.

Episode 1.11 “The Friendship Business”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 4th, 1989)

Hey, it’s the Buddy Bands episode!

One of the things about Saved By The Bell is that, if you’re a certain age, all you have to hear is one term — like “Buddy Band” or “I’m so excited” or “Zack Attack” — and you automatically know what episode is being referred to. If you were in high school or college in the days when Saved By The Bell reruns were playing endlessly in syndication, you know what I’m talking about.

That’s changing, of course. Saved By The Bell is no longer the ubiquitous cultural touchstone that it once was. That’s a polite way of saying that those of us who grew up with it on television are getting older and, for the generation replacing us, Saved By The Bell is just one of the many old shows that they probably skip over while looking at whatever’s streaming online. It’s sad to say but, in another few decades, all of the Saved By The Bell talk will be limited to assisted living facilities and to grandchildren saying, “Was Zack Morris a friend of yours, grandma?”

For now, though, I’m just happy that I can say “Buddy Bands” and everyone remembers that this episode featured Zack and Jessie leading rival companies that both got involved in the cut-throat world of friendship bracelets. Zack thinks that he has the inside track because he’s got Lisa and the fashion club working for him but he eventually demands too much from her so Lisa defects over to Jessie’s company. But then Jessie proves to be just as demanding as Zack. Meanwhile, Zack convinces Belding to wear a Buddy Band. Belding walks around the school saying, “Hello, fellow Buddy Bander!” and everyone demands their money back. Jessie asks someone if their Buddy Band is defective. “Belding’s wearing one! It doesn’t get more defective than that!”

Among other things, this episode features the classic Buddy Bands commercial:

Seriously, why was everyone fighting over Zack when A.C. Slater — handsome, mysterious, ageless, and a great dancer! — was right there?

Along with the oddly overproduced Buddy Band commercial, this episode featured one of those weird Zack Morris fantasies, where he imagine being so rich that Screech — as Robin Screech — interviews him. Zack imagines owning the school, being married to Kelly, and forcing Jessie, Slater, Lisa, and Mr. Belding to work for him. It’s a chilling look inside Zack’s mind.

Indeed, this episode is also a good early example of Zack getting away with essentially being a sociopath. Given $100 to start a company by teacher Mr. Tuttle (Jack Angeles, making his first welcome appearance on the show), Zack proceeds to steal Lisa’s idea of making friendship bracelets, tries to overthrow Jessie as company president (leading to Jessie forming her own company and going into the Buddy Band business), and then mercilessly exploits Screech and Lisa while doing very little work himself. After this backfires on him, he sabotages Jessie’s company and drives her out of business. Then, at the Max, everyone just decides to be friends again. In fact, Zack doesn’t even flunk his business class because he learned an important lesson. I mean, as much as I disliked Ms. Bliss, at least she actually got mad (albeit briefly) when Zack stole her money and invested in potatoes!

Anyway, this episode? Classic! Buddy Bands!

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 1.3 “A Kicking Weasel”

Posted on February 3, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Scott and Tommy D attempt to exploit Weasel’s happiness for their own monetary gain. Ah, that’s classic Bayside!

Episode 1.3 “A Kicking Weasel”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 25th, 1993)

It’s been ten years since Bayside had a good football team!

That’s what Scott tell us at the start of this episode. Scott explains that the Bayside student body has no enthusiasm for football. No one cares because the team always loses and, as such, even Mr. Belding is more concerned with the school’s ping pong team.

To which I say, “What?”

Seriously, every Saved By The Bell fan knows that A.C. Slater led the Bayside Tigers to victory after victory. With the help of Ox and all the other players, Slater made Bayside into a football powerhouse.

This can only mean one of two things. Saved By The Bell: The New Class is either taking place ten years after Saved By The Bell (possible but I doubt it due to the fact that Screech is coming back next season) or that the writers just didn’t care about continuity. I’ll go with the latter.

Things are looking up for the football team, though. It turns out that Weasel can actually kick the ball! He goes from being the waterboy to the cornerstone of the team’s offense. But Weasel can only kick well when he’s angry. When he’s not angry, he’s too mellow. When he become a football star, he’s happy. He mellows out.

That’s bad news for Scott and Tommy D, who are looking to make a fortune by selling Weasel t-shirts! Tommy D agreed to embezzle the seed money from the print shop fund. (Hey, that’s a crime!) In return, Scott fixed the varsity cheerleader tryouts so that Lindsay beat out both Megan and Vicki. When Linsday finds out that the tryouts were fixed, she refuses to cheer. That makes Weasel mad and he ends up winning the game with 11 field goals. Lindsay, meanwhile. gets her revenge by telling Belding that Scott and Tommy D will be donating all of the t-shirt profits to the ping pong team.

This episode …. actually, I’m going to surprise myself by saying that it wasn’t that bad. Yes, the plot was way too busy for its own good and Scott’s constant scheming feels like what it was, a bad imitation of Zack Morris. But, in the role of Weasel, Isaac Lidsky actually gave a pretty good sympathetic performance. (Weasel was never as annoying as Screech, largely due to Lidsky.) Jonathan Angel delivered his dialogue with the right amount of dumb earnestness and it was nice to see the Bayside nerds end up winning for once. All in all, this one really wasn’t bad.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 1.6 “Aloha Slater”

Posted on December 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Zack has a chance to get ride of his main frenemy!

Episode 1.6 “Aloha Slater”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 23rd, 1989)

Zack Morris used to be the “top dog” at Bayside but now that Slater has arrived, no one cares about Zack’s pathetic little third place ribbon that he got at a track meet. Instead, they care about the giant trophy that Slater won at his latest wrestling match.

However, there may be hope on the horizon! Slater’s father, Major Martin Slater (Gerald Castillo), has been offered a transfer to Hawaii. When Major Slater tells Belding that he will be removing AC from school, Screech listens from inside a filing cabinet. Major Slater can’t wait to go to Hawaii but AC isn’t so sure. He’s finally got friends and he’s winning trophies! Major Slater leaves it up to his son. If AC Slater wants to go to Hawaii, the family will transfer. If AC wants to stay in California, they will.

Zack decides that AC has to go to Hawaii. He convinces Lisa, Kelly, and Jessie that AC is dying of a mysterious disease and that his only hope for survival is moving to Hawaii. Zack sprinkles fire ants on AC’s back to make AC herk and jerk, as if he’s having a spasm. “This is study hall, not soul train!” the teacher announces. That teacher, by the way, was played by Dustin Diamond’s father.

Zack convinces everyone to treat AC like crap. He also steals AC’s wrestling trophy. AC announces that he’s going to Hawaii. Kelly replies, “And I’m going with him!”

Zack is stunned. I’m stunned, as well. How exactly is Kelly going to go with him? Are her poor, salt-of-the-Earth parents okay with moving to one of the most expensive states to live in? At least the Slaters have a home and a good job waiting for them in the Aloha State.

(Actually, now that I think about it and I remember Saved By The Hell Hawaiian Style, Kelly did have that uncle who lived in Hawaii so I guess it’s not as out-there a development as I initially though.)

Kelly tells Slater that she knows he’s dying. Slater realizes that he’s been set up. It’s time for another prank! AC’s father turns out to be remarkably okay with staying in California. He’s also okay with pretending to be insane and throwing a grenade at Zack.

Watching this episode, it occurred to me that, during the first season at least, Mario Lopez was clearly the star of the show. While Mark-Paul Gosselaar was still trying a little bit too hard (and he wasn’t helped by some overwritten dialogue) and Dustin Diamond looked like he was about 10 years old, Mario Lopez gave a believable performance as a teenager who had finally found a home and didn’t want to leave it. Slater’s the compelling character, the one who actually gets to grow and deal with real problems. (Gosselaar, of course, has grown tremendously as an actor since the first season of SBTB.)

Fortunately, Slater stays in California. Yay! It’s hard to imagine Bayside without him.

This is my final Saved By The Bell review of 2025. Retro Television Reviews is taken a break for the holidays so that I can focus on Awards Season and Christmas movies! Saved By The Bell will return on January 10th, 2026.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 1.5 “Screech’s Woman”

Posted on November 29, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Zach becomes Bambi and …. oh, you know the story.

Episode 1.5 “Screech’s Woman”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on September 16th, 1989)

Screech isn’t working on Zach’s science project because he’s depressed about not having a girlfriend. Screech describes himself as being “snakespit.” That’s …. that’s really sad, to be honest. Zach attempts to teach Screech how to be cool. He attempts to get Jessie to go out with him. Finally, Zach….

Oh, you know what Zach does. If you’re reading this review, you’ve undoubtedly seen Saved By The Bell in syndication and you know that this is one of those episodes that seemed to air constantly. Zach calls up Screech and pretends to be Bambi. When Screech demands to meet Bambi personally, Zach puts on one of Jessie’s dresses, a wig, sunglasses, and he shaves his legs. Zach/Bambi shows up at the Max and tells Screech that, if they’re going to date, Screech is going to have to agree to no longer hang out with Zach. A despondent Screech says that he can’t betray his best friend.

Here’s the thing:

Even with the wig and the dress and the whispery voice, Zach is in no way convincing as Bambi. He’s obviously Zach, just wearing a wig and speaking in a slightly higher register. The fact that Screech, Kelly, and Slater are all fooled (albeit only temporarily in Slater’s case) can only lead me to suspect that everyone on this show is an idiot. Saved By The Bell always demands a certain suspension of disbelief but this episode really took it to the limit. (Or pushed it to the Max, if you want to show respect to that tacky place.)

This episode really made me feel sorry for both Screech and Dustin Diamond and that’s saying something how annoying I found both Screech and the actor playing him to be. Diamond was only 11 when he was cast on Good Morning Miss Bliss. In this episode, he’s 12 and he looks and comes across as being even younger. And yet, he’s acting opposite people who were a few years older and, by teen standards, considerably more mature. (In teen years, there’s a huge gulf between 12 and 15.) From the minute he shows up in this episode, Screech is out-of-place. That may have worked for Screech’s character but it also probably explains why Diamond himself never really seemed to grow up and never seemed to get over feeling like an outsider on the set.

Wow, this episode was depressing.