Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.1 “The Return of Screech”

Posted on May 5, 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, we start the 2nd season of Saved By The Bell: The New Class!

Episode 2.1 “The Return of Screech”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 10th, 1994)

After the disappointing reviews and ratings of the first season, Saved By The Bell: The New Class rebooted itself for the second season. Robert Sutherland Telfer, Isaac Lidsky, and Bonnie Russavage were all fired and the characters of Scott, Weasel, and Vicky were dropped from the show. (No mention was ever made of where they had gone. They just vanished.)

Suddenly, Megan and Lindsay’s best friend was Rachel Meyers (played by Sarah Lancaster, who appeared once during the first season). Meanwhile, Swiss exchange student Brian Keller (played by a German actor named Christian Oliver) became the new head schemer while Bobby Wilson (Spankee Rodgers) became the new annoying sidekick with a crush on Megan. From the start of the second season, everyone acted as if Brian and Bobby had always been there. As for Lindsay and Tommy D, they continued to date. And because Brian had a crush on Rachel, there was no longer anyone around trying to break the two of them up.

Mr. Belding was still the principal but now, he had a much bigger office with a window. He also got a new administrative assistant, an education major who was on a work/study program with Cal U. As you probably already guessed from this episode’s title, that administrative assistant turned out to be Screech Powers (Dustin Diamond).

Now, to give credit where credit is due, neither Screech nor Diamond are quite as annoying in this episode as they would eventually become. By the end of the series, Diamond was giving such a broad performance as Screech that it almost came across as being deliberately self-destructive. In this episode, though, Diamond just plays Screech as being overly earnest and too eager to please. He may get on everyone’s nerves but at least he’s not doing the weird voices or the twisted facial expressions that would later come to typify his performance.

As for the plot of this episode, it’s dumb. Rachel needs $700 so she can replace the jacket that she borrowed (without permission) from her mother. Brian throws a party and sells tickets to help her raise the cash but when it turns out that Bobby’s house is not available for the party, Brian tricks Screech into unlocking the gym and allowing the party to be held in there. When Belding shows up and demands to know what’s happening, Screech takes the blame and decides that he should return to Cal U. And, really, he probably should have. I mean, after all the years he spent with Zack, Screech should have been able to see that he was being manipulated. What a moron.

But Brian does the right thing and tells the truth to Belding. Brian and the Gang all get two-weeks detention. Belding tells Screech that the students respect him and that he taught them an important lesson about the telling the truth. I’m not sure how accurate any of that is but the important thing is that Screech stays at Bayside.

This episode was actually not as bad as I was expecting it to be. Brian is a bit more likable than the first season’s Scott and this episode didn’t feature any of the mean-spiritedness that seemed to typify so much of the first season. Even Screech was tolerable!

Don’t get used to it, though. The season’s just getting started.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 1.13 “Running the Max”

Posted on April 28, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, we finish up season one of Saved By The Bell: The New Class.

Episode 1.13 “Running The Max”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on December 4th, 1993)

The season one finale of Saved By The Bell: The New Class opens with Scott talking directly the audience. Hey, that’s something that Scott hasn’t done for a while….

When he goes into his Social Studies class (which is being taught by Mr. Belding because Mr. Tuttle is appearing on Oprah to discuss teachers who overeat), he has to pick a group to join. Lindsay says, “Hey, Scott, why don’t you join us?” She says it as if Scott is still a relatively new acquaintance as opposed to the friend who is always a part of the main group.

Despite having made up with each other several episodes ago, Scott and Tommy D suddenly don’t like each other again.

Vicki suddenly has a crush on Scott again, even though that plotline was abandoned episodes ago.

Weasel suddenly has a crush on Megan, despite the fact that plotline was also abandoned shortly after the first season started.

Oh, and Weasel is again making jokes that sound like they were originally written for Screech.

Watching this episode, it quickly becomes apparent that it was meant to air much earlier in the season but it was instead used as the season finale. That says a lot about how shoddy the first season of Saved By The Bell: The New Class really was. The finale was an episode that was originally meant to air when everyone was still getting to know one another. Vicki’s crush on Scott is a major subplot in this episode, despite the fact that the writers eventually abandoned the idea. By moving this episode to the end, the show wrecks havoc on its continuity but then again, when has continuity ever mattered at Bayside?

On top of all that, this is a dumb episode. Three businesses agree to let the students run things for a week. Who would agree to such a stupid idea? Scott, Tommy, Megan, Weasel, Vicki, and Lindsay end up running the Max. The Max appears to be open 24 hours a day so I’d love to know how they’re running the Max and still going to class. For that matter, how are only six students going to run an entire restaurant? Anyway, long story short: Scott is a bad boss, everyone quits except for Weasel (so, do they all fail the class?), but then they change their mind after they hear that Scott feels bad about his behavior. The gang hosts a banquet for the football team. Tommy comes up with the idea of turning into a Country-and-Western-themed barbecue. Wait a minute — TOMMY’S ON THE FOOTBALL TEAM! Why isn’t he at the banquet?

This was a dumb ending to a dumb season. Half of the cast was fired at the end of season one. Robert Sutherland Telfer, Isaac Lidsky, and Bonnie Russavage would not return as Scott, Weasel, and Vicki for season two. (Indeed, none of their character would ever be mentioned again, despite Tommy D, Lindsay, and Megan still being around.) I can’t say that I disagree with the decision. Telfer was miscast as the new Zack Morris. Russavage never made much of an impression. (In all fairness, she wasn’t helped by the fact that the show’s writers didn’t really seem to know what to do with Vicki.) Lidsky probably did as well as anyone could with the role of Weasel but, from the second season onward, Saved By The Bell didn’t need a new Screech. New students would take their places and they would be joined by a familiar face.

We’ll start season two next week!

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 1.9 “Good-Bye, Megan”

Posted on March 31, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Can the gang convince Megan’s father not to improve her life?

Episode 1.9 “Good-Bye Megan”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 6th, 1993)

Megan is frustrated by the fact that, unlike her, the rest of the gang at Bayside has no plans for the future. She even imagines coming to the 20-year reunion in her medical scrubs (complete with facemask) and discovering that Tommy is a mechanic, Lindsay is a waitress, Vicki is still watching soap operas, Weasel plays video games for a living, and Scott is a lifeguard.

In other words, Megan is a snob. In her fantasy, it doesn’t matter that it’s been previously established that Tommy is actually a very good auto mechanic and that he could probably make a lot of money fixing other people’s cars. It doesn’t matter that Lindsay is married to Tommy and appears to be very happy. It doesn’t matter that Scott also appears to be good at his job (and the world does need lifeguards) and that Weasel is apparently now some sort of video game celebrity. All that matters is that Megan is a doctor and they’re …. not.

Like, seriously, what type of petty person even has a fantasy like that? Are all of her friends supposed to become doctors? The fantasy is inspired by her friends just wanting to enjoy their high school years so, to me, it seems like Megan is just jealous that other people are having a good time while she spends her nights studying. I certainly wouldn’t want Megan to be my doctor. She’d probably judge me for caring more about movies than lectures.

Megan’s father (Richard Lawson) is a judge who is able to pull some strings and get Megan accepted to exclusive Willowbrook Academy. Megan is superexcited about leaving her dumb friends behind but then she meets with two Willowbrook girls and discovers that they are too snobby for her–

Really? Because I think this episode already established that no one is a bigger snob than Megan.

Megan changes her mind about going to Willowbrook. She wants to stay at Bayside with her loser friends. When her father comes to Bayside to give a speech about his life as a judge, Megan’s friends try to convince him that Bayside is a wealthy school, just like Willowbrook. It’s pretty dumb — for one thing, it’s already been established that the judge knows all of Megan’s friends so why would he suddenly believe that Tommy D was a sophisticated entrepreneur-in-the-making — but it works. The judge is so moved by the gang’s attempts to lie to him that he allows Megan to stay at Bayside.

Yay, I guess.

This first season is pointless. There’s no continuity from one episode to the next. One episode ended with Megan and Scott walking off with each other while the audience went, “Wooooo!” Another episode has Scott trying to break up Lindsay and Tommy. Now, suddenly Tommy and Scott are best friends. Weasel had a crush on Megan but now he doesn’t. It’s a mess but, on the plus side, most of these people will be gone once season 2 begins.

As for season one, we’ve only got four more episodes to go!

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

Posted on March 3, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

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: Pacific Blue 1.11 “The Phoenix”

Posted on April 1, 2025 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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Pacific Blue, a cop show that aired from 1996 to 2000 on the USA Network! It’s currently streaming everywhere, though I’m watching it on Tubi.

A serial arsonist is setting Malibu on fire so, of course, the bike patrol is called in.

Episode 1.11 “The Phoenix”

(Dir by Charles Siebert, originally aired on May 11th, 1996)

Fires are breaking out all over Malibu. Whoever the arsonist is, he seems to be targeting a shady businessman named Curtis Bilson (Michael Cavanaugh). TC and Chris decide to start investigating the arsons themselves, even though neither one of them is in the arson division. “Bike patrol?” the arson detective asks, when he first meets them. However, because everyone respects Lt. Palermo, TC and Chris are allowed to investigate. Chris, being a former jet pilot, is naturally an expert on accelerants. “Smells like jet fuel.” Wow, really?

(Basically, this is the equivalent of allowing a school crossing guard to head up the search for a serial killer.)

A surfer named Suicide (Sam Hennings) insists that he saw the fire being set by The Phoenix, a legendary arsonist who the police consider to be dead. His real name was Willoughby (Tim DeZarn) and the official story is that he got caught in one of his own fires and his body was reduced to ash and that’s why he disappeared without leaving a trace behind. That seems awfully convenient and really doesn’t make much sense when you think about it but, then again, Malibu has their bike patrol investigating a serial arsonist. We’re through the looking glass here.

(Myself, I’m concerned by the fact that no one seems to find it weird that their source is nicknamed “Suicide.” I’m going to guess that’s a surfer thing but still, I cringed every time TC said, “My friend, Suicide….”)

TC and Chris’s investigation leads them to Dr. Anton (Dennis Christopher), an arsonist who is currently in a mental hospital. They try to do a Lecter/Clarice thing between Anton and Chris. Dennis Christopher is a good actor and it appears that he was having fun playing a thoroughly demented character. Jim Davidson and Darlene Vogel were very bad actors and it seems almost unfair to force them to share a scene like Dennis Christopher. It’s like giving me a chance to play tennis on national television and then telling me, right when the cameras start rolling, that I’m going to be playing against the Williams sisters. It’s just adding insult to injury.

Anyway, it turns out Willoughby is still alive and he’s targeting the businessman and he also kidnaps Lt. Palermo for some reason. Chris and TC are able to save Palermo and the crooked guy from the inferno and Willoughby once again vanishes. Because, of course, he does….

Meanwhile, Cory tries to catch a man who keeps bringing a snake to the boardwalk. At one point, she accidentally gets doused in a wet t-shirt contest. She’s win the trophy and then come back to the station without bothering to change shirts, which kind of goes against everything we’ve seen about Cory’s personality up until this point. For some reason, Palermo also puts Cory in charge of catch a mouse that’s running around the station. The snake, once captured, eats the mouse but then gets lost in the station. That made me laugh just because I like it whenever its acknowledged that the bike patrol is totally incompetent.

Next week …. Chris has a new boyfriend! Dr. Anton, maybe? We’ll find out!