Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.23 “The D Stands For Dropout”

Posted on October 20, 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, the Gang learns a lesson about not dropping out of school.

Episode 2.23 “The D Stands For Dropout”

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

Oh no! Tommy wants to drop out of high school and work full time as an auto mechanic!

Actually …. that might be for the best.

Since the very first episode, Saved By The Bell: The New Class has portrayed Tommy as being an amiable but dumb guy who just happens to have a savant-like ability for fixing cars. It’s been established, in several episodes, that there’s nothing Tommy can’t do with a car. Since Tommy apparently know everything that there is to know about cars and cars are literally the only thing that he cares about and he always seems to be flunking every class that he takes, why shouldn’t Tommy drop out? What’s he going to do in high school or college? He’s already learned everything that there is no to know about how to fix a car and a good auto mechanic will always be in demand. Plus, Tommy’s cute enough that, if he needs to, he can probably find a rich widow in Beverly Hills to pay his bills.

Drop out, Tommy! Drop out!

Still, Mr. Belding and everyone else insists that Tommy is making a mistake when he drops out of school. Belding tells Tommy’s father (Nick Angotti) that he needs to show some tough love so Tommy realizes how difficult it is in the real world. Tommy is kicked out of his house and has to move in with Screech. Tommy is no longer allowed to help his friends with their science project. Tommy has one of those Saved By The Bell fantasy sequences where Screech refuses to hire him because he doesn’t have a high school diploma….

And really, this is when Tommy should say, “But I’m actually already getting paid good money to do the only thing that I care about and the only thing that I’m actually good at so who cares?”

Instead, Tommy reenrolls in high school and helps the Gang win the science fair by building a remote control car. The competition must have been really weak that year.

Poor Tommy. When he’s an adult, he’s going to look and realize he should have just dropped out when he had the chance.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.22 “To Cheat Or Not To Cheat”

Posted on October 13, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the Gang learns a pointless lesson about cheating.

Episode 2.22 “To Cheat Or Not To Cheat”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on December 3rd, 1994)

When I was in high school, my best subjects were always things like History, English, Drama, and Creative Writing. I excelled at classes that involved creativity, writing, and research. I absolutely sucked at any class the involved numbers.

In fact, during my senior year, I nearly flunked Algebra II. It just wasn’t my thing. I could usually get the right answer. Indeed, a lot of the time, I would look at a equation and solve it in my head within seconds. The problem was that I had to “show my work” and my work was always sloppy. Whenever I had to actually write out the numbers and the steps, I would end up either making a careless mistake or I would double guess myself.

Fortunately, Erin has taken Algebra II the year before me and she had saved all of her tests. An exam day, I would just wear a short skirt and write all the answers on my inner thigh before going to class. That was how I passed Algebra II. If I hadn’t done that, I would have flunked Algebra II and I would have graduated with a normal diploma instead of my neat advanced diploma.

In short, I cheated and I’ve never really regretted or felt bad about it. I did what I had to do so that I could enjoy the classes that I liked as opposed to spending all year stressing about the one that I struggled with.

This episode of Saved By The Bell: The New Class also deals with cheating though I’m not sure that what happens in the episode actually counts. A school dance is approaching and Brian wants to take Rachel. But unless Rachel gets a B on her History midterm, she’s not going to be allowed to go. When Brian happens to come across a copy of the midterm, he tells Rachel what she should study. Rachel does so and scores an A.

The show calls this cheating but is it? Brain doesn’t tell Rachel the answers. Instead, he simply tells her what to study. Rachel studies and she passes the exam. To me, the important thing is that Rachel studied. To be honest, I don’t see what the big deal is.

The show argues that, since Rachel didn’t know that Brian had seen the exam and didn’t realize that she had “cheated” (instead, she just assumed that Brian had good instincts), Rachel will now think that all she has to do is cram the night before a test and she’ll do well. But again, so what? That’s what most people do. That’s what I did and I had a great time in college. Seriously, when you’re in school, you shouldn’t be worried about grades. You should be worried about having the fun that you’re no longer going to be allowed to have after you graduate.

In the end, a guilt-stricken Brian confesses to Mr. Belding and he gets suspended for two days. As for Rachel, she’s told that she can take a makeup exam. But why should Rachel be punished when she actually did study the first time and she didn’t know that Brian had seen the test?

This is a dumb episode. I haven’t even talked about Screech asking Tommy, Bobby, and Lindsay to fake school emergencies so that Screech can “solve” them and hopefully get a good evaluation from Mr. Belding. (Screech is cheating too! But the show seems to think it’s only bad when Rachel gets an A.) If you’re in high school and you’re reading this, go ahead and cheat. Your teachers are too burned out to care and won’t even remember you were in their class after the school year ends. Enjoy your life.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.21 “Feuding Friends”

Posted on October 6, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

We’re back at the ski lodge!

Episode 2.21 “Feuding Friends”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 26th, 1994)

At the ski lodge, Mr. Belding’s sprained ankle appears to have healed. However, Tommy still has a broken leg and it’s strange to me that he’s still even at the ski lodge. I mean, this is a school trip and a broken leg is not a minor injury. It seems like most school trips would be abruptly cancelled if a student got drunk and suffered a serious injury as a result. Has anyone called Tommy’s parents?

While everyone else is enjoying the slopes, Megan stays behind and keeps Tommy company. Soon, Megan and Tommy realize that they like each other and they decide to have dinner together. Lindsay freaks out. How dare Megan date her ex-boyfriend!? Bobby gets mad too. How dare Tommy go out with the girl that Bobby likes!? At first, Rachel is neutral but then Lindsay suggests that Megan would date Brian if he ever broke up with Rachel. Rachel gets mad at Megan for something she hasn’t done yet. Brian tries to remain neutral (“I’m swiss,” he says) and Rachel calls him a wimp.

Meanwhile, a snooty fashion photographer sees Screech on the slope and takes a lot of pictures of him. How will Screech take it when he discovers that the photographer is planning to use him as an example of how not to look?

This episode …. actually, I enjoyed this episode. Yes, the whole thing with the photographer and Screech was pretty stupid. But, when it came to everyone getting mad at each other, I could actually relate to that. When Rachel got mad over something that hadn’t happened but which could happen, I felt very seen. In its undeniably Saved By The Bell way, this episode captured the dynamic of what often happens with people who have been friends forever. You fight over stupid stuff but, in the end, you always make up.

This was a good episode. I’m as shocked as anyone.

That said, I’ll be even more shocked if the Tommy/Megan romance is ever mentioned again. Saved By The Bell always has a way of creating couples and then forgetting about them one episode later.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.20 “Drinking 101”

Posted on September 29, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s time for the Bayside Gang to learn a lesson!

Episode 2.20 “Drinking 101”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 19th, 1994)

It’s school trip time! Mr. Belding, Screech, the Gang, and a bunch of anonymous Bayside students are spending a week at a ski lodge!

Rachel thinks the ski lodge is romantic but Brian doesn’t care about any of that. He just wants to ski. (“I have not skied since I lived in Switzerland,” he says and, for not the first time, I find myself wondering if the show is ever going to explain why he no longer lives in Switzerland.) Lindsay wants to go to a frat party, even if it means lying and saying that she’s a college student. And Mr. Belding …. he just wants to survive.

It won’t be easy because Belding sprains his ankle as soon as he arrives at the ski lodge. “My chief!” Screech yells in an early use of the falsetto that will define his character in later seasons. Belding is supposed to stay off his ankle so, of course, Screech keeps tripping over him and dragging him up the slopes. As a dancer, I more than know the pain of a sprained ankle and the scenes of Screech reinjuring Belding’s ankle did not make me smile.

While Screech throws a party for Mr. Belding, Lindsay, Rachel, and Megan sneak into a frat party so they can meet some boys. (Yes, Rachel is dating Brian but she’s mad because all he wants to do is ski.) Tommy, Bobby, and Brian soon end up at the same party. Lindsay gets drunk. Tommy gets drunk. Tommy rides off on a skimobile and later has an accident.

Lesson learned!

Tommy has a broken leg. His parents could totally sue the school district for not keeping an eye on him during a school trip. Screech trips over Tommy’s cast, causing Tommy incredible pain. Belding tells Lindsay and Tommy that they shouldn’t have been drinking and then he tells Rachel, Brian, Megan, and Bobby that they shouldn’t have let Lindsay and Tommy drink. Hey, Belding, maybe you should have brought along more adults so they could keep an eye on the students.

Myself, I rarely drink because my tolerance for alcohol is pathetically low. Still, I have to say that I found it funny that Lindsay woke up with the “worst hangover ever!” even though she only had two beers. Even with my low tolerance, I’ve never had a hang over. From my experience, it would have been more realistic for Lindsay to throw up and then fall asleep on a yoga mat.

Anyway, this episode ends with Belding and Tommy recovering from their injuries, the rest of the Gang “grounded for the weekend,” and Screech skiing. I was kind of hoping the episode would end with the ski lodge being revealed to be the one that Lorena’s father owned on California Dreams. That would have been a cross-over to remember!

The big problem with this episode — and really, this is something that seem to happen in every Peter Engel-produced teen sitcom — is that the actors were obviously having way too much fun pretending to be drunk. I mean, hangover or not, Lindsay seemed to be having a good time.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.19 “The Class of 2020”

Posted on September 22, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“One thing I’ll never forget is when the writers were too lazy to come up with a new episode so we just did a clip show instead….”

Episode 2.19 “The Class of 2020”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 19th, 1994)

Screech and Belding are making a documentary to put in the time capsule for the class of 2020. Wow, those 2020 graduates will be amazed to see what the world was like before they were born!

Megan and Bobby are interviewed. Lindsay and Tommy are interviewed. Rachel and Brian are interviewed. There’s a lot of dialogue like “Remember that time we thought we got Mr. Belding fired?” and “I’ll never forget the time my friends helped me out.” Yep, it’s a clip show. One of the clips comes from the previous week’s episode.

Two things of note:

One of Lindsay and Tommy’s clips features Weasel and Scott from the previous season. That makes this episode the only time that anyone during the second season actually acknowledged that Scott, Weasel, and Vicki used to go to Bayside.

Secondly, Rachel and Brian talk about falling in love over the summer at the country club. But this episode ends with Screech and Belding talking about how Screech’s first year as Belding’s administrative assistant is coming to an end. None of the students met Screech until he started working as Belding’s administrative assistant, as the start of the school year. But they all know Screech in the country club episodes. In fact, Screech is the one who hired them. So, the country club episodes have to have taken place during the summer after Screech’s first year as Belding’s academic assistant. So, this clip show apparently includes clips from the future. Maybe Brian and Rachel are time travelers.

Anyway, it’s a clip show. Who cares?

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.18 “Breaking Up”

Posted on September 15, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s Tommy D’s birthday!

Episode 2.18 “Breaking Up”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 12th, 1994)

Lindsay wants to buy Tommy a great birthday present but, unfortunately, she’s broke. All of her friends are broke. It looks like they’re going to have to cancel Tommy’s birthday this year. But then Brian comes up with a plan. What if they convince Belding to let Brian and Bobby be in charge of the video yearbook and then the use the camera to shoot a birthday video Tommy while, at the same time, screwing over all of the students who actually want a yearbook?

It’s a great idea! Bobby films Linsday talking about how much she dislikes everything that Tommy is really into, like cars. Bobby also films Tommy growing close to Katie Keller (Kim Baranof), Brian’s never before-mentioned sister who does not appear to be from Switzerland. (In all fairness, she could be a stepsister. The show has never really made it clear just why exactly Brian left Switzerland for Bayside so maybe his mother married an American or something.) Katie likes cars and videogames, just like Tommy!

Realizing that Tommy and Lindsay’s relationship is in trouble, Brian pays off a lot of other students to tell Tommy that Katie’s been coming onto them. Wow, way to slutshame you own sister, Brian. What a jerk. Anyway, Tommy puts the kibosh on his growing attraction to Katie but, at his birthday party, Lindsay learns about how Brian spread rumors about Katie to save Lindsay’s relationship with Tommy. Lindsay and Tommy admit to not having much in common and Saved By The Bell: The New Class’s longest relationship comes to an end….

And that’s not really a good thing for either Lindsay or Tommy D. This isn’t like when Slater and Jessie used to break up. Slater and Jessie actually had personalities that went beyond who they were dating. The same can’t really be said about Tommy and Lindsay. It’s not the fault of the actors, as Jonathan Angel and Natalia Cigliuti were actually two of the more likable members of the ensemble. It’s just that Saved By The Bell: The New Class was never about complex characters.

It’s also not about continuity. Lindsay and Tommy D are still dating in the country club episodes. Because all of the members of the Gang already knew Screech in the country club episodes, that means that they had to have taken place in the summer after the school episodes. Plus, in this episode, Brian is not dating Rachel and that again means that the country club episodes had to happen after this episode. So, Lindsay and Tommy D are either going to get back together or the show’s writers just didn’t care.

What a mess!

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.17 “Wanna Bet?”

Posted on September 8, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, we’re back at the ranch.

Episode 2.17 “Wanna Bet?”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 5th, 1994)

Uncle Lester and Cousin Clint are out-of-town for some reason and Screech has been left in charge of the dude ranch.

This is already the stupidest episode of Saved By The Bell: The New Class yet.

It’s up to Screech to set up the end-of-the-week square dance but when he gets to be too bossy, Mr. Belding refuses to work with him. Screech tells Lindsay to tell Belding that he’s no longer speaking to him. Lucky Mr. Belding.

Less lucky are the members of the Gang, who are hustled by two con artists and lose all of their summer earnings in a crooked poker game. Megan has a crush on one of the con artists but she changes her mind when he refuses to give back the money. Luckily, the sheriff is looking for the con artists so all Screech and Belding have to do is keep them from leaving the ranch, which they do by challenging the con artists to a poker game. Screech is such a bad poker player that the sheriff arrives before the first hand has even been successful dealt.

Belding hopes that the Gang has learned an important lesson about gambling. Tommy D swears that he’s never going to gamble again.

“You can bet on it!” Bobby says.

I think I lost brain cells watching this crap.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.16 “Back At The Ranch”

Posted on September 1, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s the summer that will never end!

Episode 2.16 “Back at the Ranch”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 29th, 1994)

Mr. Belding had so much fun working with the Gang at Palisades Country Club that he decides to take them on a week-long trip to a real-life, functioning “dude ranch” that is owned by Screech’s uncle, Lester (Lewis Arquette).

Uhmmm …. okay. Sure, that makes sense. Whatever.

Actually, it makes no sense. Do these kids not have families? It’s the summer so they all get jobs working for their principal and now they’re going to a ranch with him? And apparently, they’re going to be working as ranch hands or something? I mean, what the Hell? TAKE A REAL VACATION, KIDS!

Plus, since when has Screech had an Uncle Lester who owned a dude ranch? This has never been mentioned before. Screech apparently grew up around horses. Really? We’re talking about Screech here.

Anyway, Screech is excited to be at the ranch until he sees his cousin, Clint (Bart Johnson). Clint used to bully Screech when he was a kid and Clint still acts like he knows more about horse-riding and gold-prospecting than Screech. While Uncle Lester and Mr. Belding drive into town, Clint takes the Gang to search for gold in the hills. Screech stays at the ranch and has a dream where he’s in an old-timey western. Oh look! The townspeople are all played by members of the Gang! Tommy’s the blacksmith. Wow.

Screech wakes up and sees that the horses have returned but the gang hasn’t. That’s because Tommy didn’t adequately tie up the horses at the gold mine and they all ran off. Clint was heading back to the ranch when he got thrown from his horse. Now, he’s got a sprained ankle and there’s a rattlesnake nearby. It’s a good thing that Screech has got his bicycle so he can ride up into the hills and save everyone!

This was one of the stupidest things that I’ve ever seen in my life. And seriously, that’s all I’m going to say about it.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.15 “A Perfect Lindsay”

Posted on August 25, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, while everyone is dancing, Lindsay is starving.

Episode 2.15 “A Perfect Lindsay”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 29th, 1994)

TV’s “hottest show,” Club Jam, will be holding a dance contest at the school!

Brian asks Rachel to be his partner and is overjoyed when she says yes. (As I watched this episode, I had to remind myself that it was supposed to be taking place before the country club episodes, which explained why Rachel and Brian were not dating.) However, when Rachel sees that Megan is going to be dancing with some guy named Kent (Adam Bonfiant), she says that she and Brian don’t have a hope of winning.

Oh, don’t worry, Rachel. Brian has a plan! Brian tells Kent that the way to win the contest is to offer Belding a bribe. Because Kent is apparently an idiot, he does just that. Mr. Belding gives Kent detention and Megan dumps Kent as her dance partner. Fortunately, Bobby needs a partner. Unfortunately, shortly after asking him to be her partner, Megan discovers that Bobby can’t dance.

Meanwhile, Screech shows up at the Max and demonstrates his dance moves. It’s extremely cringey but the audience goes nuts. Dustin Diamond is so spastic and uncoordinated that the whole thing just feels cruel. I really wanted to step into time machine so I could travel to 1994 and shout, “They’re not laughing with you!”

Lindsay, meanwhile, fears that she’s fat. When Megan and Rachel mention that the camera adds 40 pounds, Lindsay has a fantasy where she dances with Tommy while wearing a fat suit. The audience laughs but Lindsay not amused. She skips a meal, which leads to both Tommy and Rachel theorizing that she has anorexia. When Tommy says that the dance contest isn’t worth risking her health, Linday dumps Tommy as her partner and instead teams up with Kent.

During the dance contest, Lindsay suddenly starts to feel faint. She has to go to classroom to rest her head on a desk. Brian gives up his chance to dance with Rachel and goes with Tommy D to help out Lindsay. Lindsay says she’s fine and then she faints.

With everyone else in the classroom, Megan and Bobby win the dance contest! It turns out that Megan only needed a week to teach Bobby how to dance like a pro. After the contest, a smiling Lindsay apologizes to everyone. Bobby nods and says, “Go eat something.” Lindsay happily trots off to do just that….

,,,,which is actually not how anorexia works at all. I mean, I appreciate the fact that the show was trying to warn its viewers about eating disorders but suggesting that anorexia can be cured by simply telling someone to go eat is really kind of irresponsible. This episode focuses on Lindsay not eating while ignoring why she stopped in the first place. Including a fantasy sequence where the audience laughs at Lindsay wearing a fat suit probably did more to promote anorexia than Bobby saying, “Go eat something” did to prevent it.

Oh well. At least Lindsay didn’t sing I’m So Excited.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.14 “Farewell Dance”

Posted on August 18, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yay! It’s the final country club episode!

Episode 2.14 “Farewell Dance”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 22nd, 1994)

The summer is coming to an end and so is the gang’s indentured servitude at the Palisades Country Club. The farewell dance approaches and with it comes the hope of romance and the pain of the heartbreak.

For instance, Bobby pretends to be rich so that snobby club member Michele (Ebonie Smith) will go to the dance with him. Michele loves it when Bobby talks about how his father is a millionaire who owns a private jet and hangs out with the Queen of England. But when Lindsay points out that Michele isn’t falling for the real Bobby, Bobby decides to tell Michele the truth. Michele dumps Bobby and apparently, we’re meant to see Bobby as the victim here. Bobby shouts that he wouldn’t ever go on a date with a girl who refuses to date poor people. Uhmm, Bobby, have you considered that maybe she just refuses to date liars? Anyway, as often happened on any episode where Bobby or Megan even thought about dating anyone who wasn’t listed in the opening credits, Bobby and Megan ended up going to the dance together.

Meanwhile, Screech is upset because Allison is going to be moving to New York to attend Julliard. Screech announces that he’s going to go to New York with her, even though that means he won’t get his degree. (Can’t Screech just transfer to a school in New Yor?) Allison decides that she can’t go to Julliard because it would mean Screech giving up his dreams. (“You have a future with Mr. Belding and Bayside,” Allison tells him. Uhmm ….. what?) Screech realizes that Allison has to pursue her dreams so he tells her to go to New York without him. Allison plays Screech a really bland piano piece that she wrote for him and then they share a final dance.

The main problem with this episode …. oh Hell, you know what the main problem was. The main problem’s initials are D and D. Dustin Diamond gives such a cartoonish performance that it’s hard to believe that Allison would have ever fallen for him in the first place. There are no emotional stakes when it comes to any story involving Screech because there’s nothing real about Screech. As a character, he’s the equivalent of Bobby’s father’s private jet.

All that said, at least the county club episodes are over with! Yay! Always be thankful for the little things.