Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 3.13 “S.A.T.s”

Posted on November 7, 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 can be purchased on Prime!

This week, Jessie has yet another breakdown.

Episode 3.13 “S.A.T.s”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 16th, 1991)

Everyone takes the “most important test of your lives!” Yes, it’s time for the S.A.T. Slater scores a 1050. Kelly scores an 1100. Lisa Turtle scores an 1120. Screech gets a 1220. Zack scores a 1502, somehow. (“The test measures how much you know,” Kelly says, “not how much you study.” Ummm .… yeah, that’s kind of true, and that’s actually the reason why I did well on the S.A.T.s when I took them, but it doesn’t explain a score that high.) Jessie, thinking that if Zack got a 1502 then she must have gotten a 1600, is shocked to discover that she only scored a 1205. Wow, that’s less than Screech! Jessie, you never should have stopped taking those pills!

When Stansbury, Jessie’s dream school, tries to recruit Zack and offers Slater a football scholarship, Jessie has a breakdown. The Gang decides that the best way to help Jessie is to get James the Actor (Mark Blankfield) to pretend to be a recruiter from Harvard who has come to the school specifically to meet with Jessie. The Stansbury recruiter is impressed, but Jessie is offended when she realizes that Stansbury only wants her because it thinks Harvard wants her. Jessie announces that she no longer wants to go to Stansbury, and Slater turns down the football scholarship… which makes absolutely no sense. Seriously, Stansbury is probably a pretty big deal. If you can get in, do it. That’s especially true in Slater’s case. He’s only scored a 1050 on his SAT.

Meanwhile, James the Actor then meets with Belding and, while pretending to be a representative of the College Board, tells him to stop giving Zack so much homework. Belding does not recognize James as being the guy who, just a year ago, pretended to be Zack’s father.

This episode is yet another that seems to be about punishing Jessie for having ambition. I mean, personally, I think she’s going to regret spending her high school years studying and worrying about her grades. Have fun and go to a party school. That’s what I did, and my life turned out fine. That said, it’s always a little weird to me how much joy Saved By The Bell sometimes took in destroying Jessie’s dreams.

I believe that was Mark Blankfield’s final time to play James the Actor on Saved By The Bell. He did return for two episodes of The New Class. Belding never did figure out who he was. Belding definitely did not go to Stansbury.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.24 “Belding’s Prize”

Posted on October 27, 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.

This week, Screech screws up again.

Episode 2.24 “Belding’s Prize”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on December 24th, 1997)

Mr. Belding is super excited about joining the National Society of Principals! Except — uh-oh! — Screech forgot to mail in the application. What an idiot. Actually, what a pair of idiots. Screech may have screwed up but Belding shouldn’t have been depending on him in the first place. Mail your own application, Belding!

Screech could tell Belding the truth or he could lie and hire James The Actor (Mark Blankfield) to pretend to be the Grand Master of the Society and they could have a big fake ceremony at the school. Screech goes with the latter. It never seems to occur to Screech that, when he gave Belding a fake letter telling him that his application had been accepted, he could have just left it that. Instead, he decides to do a fake ceremony at the school. And he decides to hire James the Actor, despite the fact that Belding has met James in three other episodes.

This was the final time that Mark Blankfield plays James the Actor on Saved By The Bell. This is also his weakest outing as James, largely because the character is totally different here than he was in his previous appearances. Previously, James was quirky but good-hearted and determined to help the Bayside Gang out, whether the gang was led by Zack or Scott. This time, James is portrayed as being so self-absorbed and stupid that he literally leaves the fake ceremony after he gets a call telling him that he’s been hired for Broadway Show. He accidentally pulls off his fake beard. He accidentally pulls off the fake label that Tommy put on the trophy that James presented to Belding. James screws everything up and Mark Blanfield plays the role as if James acquired a cocaine addiction between appearances.

In the end, Belding forgives Screech. I have no idea why.

Meanwhile, the Gang wants to order the millionth burger at the Max so they’ll win tickets to the MTV Music Video Awards. Unfortunately, other students are ordering burgers too so the Gang spreads a rumor that Max burgers are actually bad for your stomach. That’s a great way to support your favorite hangout. Spread a food poisoning rumor and get the place shut down. Way to go, Gang, ya mooks!

When Tommy buys 200 burgers but still fails to order the millionth one, the Gang sells the burgers back to their fellow students and then use the money to buy more Max burgers. Eventually, the grill gets shut down and Mr. Belding ends up winning the contest.

This episode featured Dustin Diamond at his worse. He was never particularly good but at least he seemed to be trying for the first half of the second season. But, in this episode, he speaks in his falsetto voice, he’s cartoonishly broad in his movements, and he goes all wide-eyed whenever he pretends to be sad or serious. This is the Screech who showed up for the rest of Saved By The Bell: The New Class.

This wasn’t a great episode but it did remind me that the MTV Music Video Awards used to be a big deal. It’s amazing how things change.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.7 “Rent-A-Pop”

Posted on June 20, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

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.

Jury Duty (1990, directed by Michael Schultz)

Posted on January 6, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

Meek-looking accountant Sanford Lagelfost (Bronson Pinchot) is on trial for embezzlement. It’s supposed to be a simple, up-and-shut case but when the beautiful star witness (Tracy Scoggins) testifies that Sanford is an amazing lover, it becomes a tabloid sensation and the jurors are sequestered in a hotel, where they have to deal with their own restlessness and several distractions, the majority of whom are also played by Bronson Pinchot. Pinchot plays a total of four characters but it’s not like he’s Peter Sellers or even Eddie Murphy. He looks and sounds like Bronson Pinchot in every role.

The jurors are played by a bunch of a familiar television actors. Alan Thicke plays a yuppie named Phil and Lynn Redgrave plays a hippie named Abby and they end up getting married. Stephen Baldwin is the waiter who falls for Heather Locklear, an actress who is a former call girl who is being threatened by her pimp. Madchen Amick is the spoiled rich girl. Television mainstays Mark Blankfield, Ilene Graf, William G. Schilling, Danny Pintauro, and Bill Kirchenbauer are all present and accounted for. Adding to the overall sitcom feel of the movie is the presence of Reginald VelJohnson as the judge. No one in the cast tries very hard, though I do think a case can be made that Madchen Amick was the most beautiful woman on television in 1990.

With the film failing to achieve either a consistent tone or a single laugh, the best thing that I can say about Jury Duty is that it didn’t feature Pauly Shore. Instead it featured Alan Thicke driving a BMW with a license plate that read, “BMW4Phil.” It’s hard to believe that this film was directed by Michael Schultz, who was responsible for movies like Car Wash, Cooley High, and Greased Lightning in the 70s and Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon in the 80s.

I wish I had watched The Last Dragon instead.