Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 3.1 “Welcome to Bayside”

Posted on November 10, 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 third season.

Episode 3.1 “Welcome to Bayside”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 9th, 1995)

It’s time to start another school year at Bayside High School. Screech is back as Mr. Belding’s assistant, and the first thing you might notice is that, between the end of the second season and the start of the third, Dustin Diamond became an even worse actor than he was before. Screech now literally screeches when he speaks and, whenever he’s upset, he takes on a falsetto voice and starts to cry. Mr. Belding is starting a diet and Screech is determined to keep him from eating candy and junk food and, in real life, Mr. Belding probably would have shot Screech in the head.

The second thing you might notice is that only Tommy D, Rachel, and Lindsay are back for the third season. Bobby, Megan, and Brian are all gone and are not even mentioned in this episode. Instead, a group of students have transferred from Valley High to Bayside. And luckily, three of them seem like they can perfectly step into the shoes left behind by Brian, Megan, and Bobby.

Ryan Parker (Richard Lee Jackson) is a blonde con artist who always has a scheme going. Hey, that’s just like Zack, Scott, and Brian! When Ryan went to Valley, he was infamous for TPing the halls of Bayside. He swears that he’s a Bayside Tiger now. He also has a rush on Lindsay, despite the fact that Tommy D has already told Rachel that he hopes to get another chance to be her boyfriend. Wow, that’s pretty much the same thing that happened when Scott was at the school. Whatever happened to Scott?

Maria Lopez (Samantha Becker) was the head cheerleader at Valley and now she wants to be the head cheerleader at Bayside! Maria is tough and outspoken, and obviously she was named after Mario Lopez. Maria is unique in that, unlike her season 3 classmates, she will actually end up sticking with the show until the final episode. No escape for Maria.

R.J. Collins (Salim Grant) likes to DJ and everyone calls him “Hollywood” because this is a Peter Engel sitcom.

Tommy D and Rachel don’t want a bunch of Valley kids going to their school. However, Ryan, Maria, and RJ have schemes of their own. For instance, Ryan and Hollywood give a copy of Rachel’s diary to Screech and Belding and they are shocked to discover that Rachel wrote about how much she disliked Bayside. When it comes time to pick a new head cheerleader, they pick Maria because at least Maria cares about her school! However, what Belding and Screech are too dumb to figure out is that the diary was a forgery!

(Why are Screech and Belding judging the cheerleader tryouts? Where is the cheerleading coach?)

Tommy D retaliates by TPing the halls and framing Ryan. With a fight brewing in the hallway, Ryan finally admits to forging the diary and Tommy admits to framing Ryan. Belding and Screech cancel the results of the cheerleader tryouts. But how can Belding and Screech bring the school together?

At the welcome back dance, Belding divides the gym in half. Valley transfers are confined to one side and the Bayside regulars are confined to the other. This causes everyone to magically see how foolish they’ve been. Unity rules! Yay!

This episode was dumb but important. It was important because Ryan Parker and Maria Lopez are destined to become the two most important characters on the show. Richard Lee Jackson will stick around for three seasons and, of the various Zack Morris clones who wandered through Saved by the Bell: The New Class, he’ll come the closest to actually capturing that old Gosselaar magic. Samantha Becker will stay with the show until the end. She’ll give the series the continuity that it’s been lacking.

The third season is the season in which The New Class finally came into its own. Let’s see how things play out.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/1/26 — 11/7/26

Posted on November 7, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

With Horrorthon completed, I spent a lot of time watching reality shows and true crime docudramas this week. Here’s a few thoughts on what I watched:

1st & Ten (Prime)

I reviewed 1st & Ten here!

The Amazing Race (CBS, Wednesday Night)

I wrote about The Amazing Race here. I’m totally rooting for Matt & Michelle and I will miss Doug & Dylan. I’m a bit tired of Anne-Marie & Riley and their self-righteous attitude.

Bar Rescue (Weekdays, Paramount)

I watched quite a few episodes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. As I’ve mentioned before, Bar Rescue helps me to relax. I’m not sure why.

Baywatch (Tubi)

I reviewed Baywatch here!

CHiPs (Prime)

I reviewed CHiPs here!

Crime Story (Prime)

I wrote about Crime Story here!

Dragnet (Prime)

I purchased and watched my two favorite episodes on Wednesday, the talk show episode and the night school episode. After sitting through the results of the midterms, it was fun to watch Jack Webb put those hippies in their place.

The Greatest Event In Television History (Prime)

I needed a laugh so I watched all four episodes of this on Thursday night. The Simon & Simon episode is my favorite.

Hunter (Prime)

I watched and reviewed this week’s episode here!

ID Special Report: The Long Island Serial Killer (HBOMax)

I watched this special on the Long Island Serial Killer on Sunday. It didn’t really provide much new information but, then again, I think it was also a few years old. I’d forgotten how obnoxious Nancy Grace could be.

Johnny Garage (YouTube)

I reviewed this unsold pilot here!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I reviewed this week’s episode here!

Maury (Weekday Afternoons, The CW)

It’s amazing to me that Maury is no longer in production but the reruns live on. How would you feel if you turned on the TV and saw yourself from ten years ago, sitting on Muary’s stage? Anyway, on Tuesday, I watched an episode of Maury and killed a few brain cells. Hopefully, I won’t need them for anything.

Night Flight (NightFlight+)

On Friday night, I watched an episode about some Los Angeles-based bands about which I had previously never heard.

No Big Deal (YouTube)

This is a British sitcom that was made entirely with AI. The only thing that was not done by AI was the script but it was so predictable and the jokes fell so flat that it might as well have been. The whole thing played out like a very stiff and rather soulless cartoon. The AI actors looked like talking mannequins.

Pacific Blue (Prime)

I reviewed Pacific Blue here!

Private Eyes West Coast (Monday Night, The CW)

I watched an episode of this show because I was genuinely curious as to what actually airs on the CW nowadays. Private Eyes West Coast is a Canadian show. It stars Jason Priestly and Cindy Sampson as two private detectives. It was actually a pretty cute show. Priestly and Sampson had a really likable chemistry. I might to start setting the DVR.

St. Elsewhere (YouTube)

I wrote about St. Elsewhere here!

Saved By The Bell (Prime)

My review of this week’s episode will be dropping in about 30 minutes.

Saved By The Bell: The New Class

I reviewed this week’s episode here!

Sledge Hammer! (Prime)

I wrote about Sledge Hammer here!

The Steve Wilkos Show (Weekday Afternoons, The CW)

I watched an episode on Tuesday, largely because I was surprised to discover that the CW was still a thing. Steve’s guest took a lie detector test. The results were inconclusive. The guest agreed to take another test in the future but then ghosted the show and Steve’s crew.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about Survivor here.

The Synanon Fix (HBOMax)

This Rory Kennedy-directed docuseries took a look at how Synanon went from being a trendy drug rehab program to becoming a dangerous cult. As I mentioned further down in my review of The Way Down, I usually have mixed feelings about cult docudramas but The Synanon Fix was fascinating.

Taken: Natalee Holloway (Netflix)

The latest Netflix true crime docudrama featured a lot of interviews but not much new information. Each episode was only 30 minutes long so I have to wonder why they divided this into multiple episodes instead of just turning it into a two-hour documentary.

The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin (HBOMax)

This was a cult docudrama. Cult docudramas are very popular right now. They all tend to argue that anyone — even an intelligent person — can become a member of a cult. Personally, I have to disagree. I think cults mostly appeal to stupid people who don’t have the confidence necessary to believe in themselves so, instead, they just believe in everything else. Anyway, I watched this docuseries on Sunday and had absolutely no respect for the majority of the people interviewed.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.25 and 2.26 “Goodbye Bayside”

Posted on November 3, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, season 2 comes to a close with a two-part epiosde!

Episode 2.25 and 2.26 “Goodbye Bayside”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on December 31st, 1994)

“Kids can make a difference!” is the message of the second season finale of Saved by the Bell: The New Class, and technically that is true. Right now, as I write this, a bunch of young people in Michigan are casting their first-ever vote for a 4’8″ anti-Semitic weasel. The kids can make a difference, but maybe they shouldn’t, because kids are stupid.

Luckily, the kids attending Bayside in 1994 weren’t spending all of their time listening to Nazi-adjacent Twitch streamers. When they said they wanted to make a difference, all they meant was that they wanted to save their school from J. Walter McMillan (Victor Brandt), the real estate tycoon who spent five million dollars to purchase the school from the school board. McMillan is planning on having the school torn down, and he’s even planning on doing it before prom! Mr. Belding is losing his job. Screech is going to have to do his work-study at another school. Megan will be going to private school, which would actually probably increase her chances of getting into a good college — so yay, Megan! Meanwhile, Bobby, Brian, and Lindsay will be transferring to Lincoln High. (Given that Brian is supposedly a foreign-exchange student, shouldn’t he be going back to Switzerland at some point?) Rachel and Tommy D are going to Valley. “I don’t talk to people from Valley!” Tommy says. “Now I can’t even talk to myself!”

(Oh, Jonathan Angel. So often your performance as Tommy D was the sole pleasure to be found on this show.)

The kids decide it’s time to protest! It’s also apparently time for Screech to pretend to be an attorney so he can sabotage the deal. (I guess James the Actor finally realized it was kind of dumb to spend all of his time hanging out with a bunch of stupid high school kids.) This is what drives me crazy about Saved by the Bell: The New Class. There is no reason to believe that Screech could successfully pretend to be a lawyer. But that’s what the Gang goes with! Screech introduces himself to the School Board as “I.M. Slick, attorney,” and no one notices that he looks and sounds exactly like Belding’s assistant. Then Screech introduces himself to McMillan as “I.M. Slicker, attorney,” and it doesn’t occur to the very wealthy and very connected McMillan that he’s never heard of this guy before. Mr. Belding eventually discovers what Screech is up to and he puts a stop to it.

However, Mr. Belding doesn’t say anything when Rachel pretends to be the school nurse and tells McMillan that the entire school is under quarantine due to a measles outbreak. McMillan says that he’ll hold off on demolishing the school until the measles outbreak has ended. To me, it seems like the perfect time to demolish the school would be during a measles outbreak, but what do I know. Belding and the kids discover that McMillan went to Bayside in the ’50s, so they decide to throw a 1950s prom to try to convince McMillan to spare the school. Belding and Screech both dress up as Elvis.

McMillan comes to the prom but he’s not impressed — and really, why should he be? Slater (Mario Lopez) and Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies) both suddenly walk into the gym and demand that McMillan not tear down the school. The audience goes wild. Then Sandy Bennett (Aileen Fitzpatrick) shows up. Sandy was once the girl on whom teenage McMillan had a crush. Seeing Sandy is enough to get McMillan to change his mind about a five-million-dollar business deal. Sandy says that her nephew insisted that she had to save Bayside. Who is her nephew? A long-haired Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) steps into the gym and the audience goes wild again.

And it is nice to see Mario Lopez, Lark Voorhies, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar back at Bayside. It’s also interesting to note that none of them seem to be particularly enthused about seeing Dustin Diamond again. (Gosselaar has said that shooting this episode was the last time he ever saw Diamond.)

Bayside is saved! Season two comes to an end with a two-parter that was dumb but crowd-pleasing. (Slater will make at least one more New Class appearance. This episode was it for Zack and Lisa until the short-lived Peacock revival.) This episode was also the final episode for Christian Oliver, Spankee Rodgers, and Bianca Lawson. Next week, when we start season three, Brian, Bobby, and Megan will all be gone and they’ll never be mentioned again. We can assume Brian went back to Switzerland and Megan probably did go to that private school. As for Bobby, who knows? What I can tell you is that the season three cast will feature some of the actors and characters who are the most regularly associated with Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

For now, let’s just be happy that Bayside High School has been saved… again.

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

Posted on October 27, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

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

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.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 9/27/26 — 10/3/26

Posted on October 3, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

2026 Video Music Awards (Sunday Night, CBS)

I had them on but I also mostly had them on mute because I don’t feel like listening to any political speeches. My Sunday attention was divided by the Vide0 Music Awards and old TV shows on YouTube. That said, I definitely did notice Madonna. I know Madonna’s gotten a lot of criticism over her somewhat odd behavior at the VMAs but, to be honest, I thought it was kind of refreshing to just have someone who didn’t really care up on stage. With Madonna, you were never sure what she might say and that was quite a contrast to Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter.

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about The Amazing Race here! And then I wrote about it again!

Bar Rescue (Paramount+)

On Friday, I watched an episode that took place at a bar called Hogwash. The owner of the bar had a drinking problem. Jon Taffer yelled at him until he poured out his pitcher of beer. Whatever works, I suppose.

Big Brother (Sunday and Thursday Night, CBS)

It’s over! It’s finally over! I tried to cover this season of Big Brother over at Reality TV Chat Blog but I have to admit that I never really got into the latest installment. This was one of the blandest seasons that I can remember. That said, I was happy when Rick Devens won on Thursday. They may have hated him on Twitter (and I’m not sure why) but everyone else loved him enough to award him with the title of America’s Favorite Player.

On Monday, I rewatched the first season premiere of Big Brother. Originally airing way back in 2000, this was the very first episode of Big Brother, back when CBS was still pretending that it was a social experiment and Julie Chen was still trying to convince people that she was a serious journalist and not a game show host. As I watched the episode, memories came flooding back of watching the first season with my mom. We both liked Chicken George. We were happy Eddie won. We thought Brittany was annoying. And Curtis Chen was our favorite. I understand that Curtis is a judge now. As for the first episode, it was definitely humorous to watch Julie and special correspondent Ian O’Malley breathlessly talk about how Big Brother was doing something that had never been done before …. except, of course, Big Brother had been done before. Big Brother originated in the Netherlands and the first season of the UK version pretty much ran concurrently with the American version. From the start, Big Brother was pretty silly.

Blind Date (Nosey)

I watched a few episodes on Sunday night. I had totally forgotten about this silly show. Needless to say, I only cared about tracking down the episodes with bad blind dates. The good dates were always boring.

Cheaters (Tubi)

On Tuesday, I relaxed my racing mind by watching two episodes of this classic reality show. I cheered whenever I recognized any place that I had been in Dallas.

The Curse of Degrassi (YouTube)

As always, I started off my October by watching The Curse of Degrassi!

Doctor, Doctor (YouTube)

This was an old sitcom from the 80s, one that starred Matt Frewer as an annoyingly goofy doctor. Jeff, Brad, and I joined our friendly Patrick and Dani in watching an episode on Friday because it featured Dennis Haskins as a charlatan pushing a phony weight loss supplement.

E! True Hollywood Story — Eight Is Enough (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched this edition of the E! True Hollywood Story almost at random. Eight Is Enough is a show that I had previously never heard of but it did have an interesting story behind it, from Mark Hamill being cast shortly before the release of Star Wars to John Travolta’s much older girlfriend dying shortly after being cast as the mother of eight children. The show was big in the 70s and early 80s so, of course, the special was full of actors talking about getting famous and abusing drugs.

E! True Hollywood Story — Herve Villechaize (YouTube)

I watched this episode of the E! True Hollywood Story on Sunday. What a sad life Herve lived. The special covered both Herve’s time on and his exit from Fantasy Island and also the circumstances of his tragic death. It also took a look at how Herve became an advocate for abused children. Herve was definitely a complicated person but he definitely tried to do some good in this world of ours.

Fear Itself (YouTube)

I’ve been watching and sharing episodes of Fear Itself for this year’s horrorthon. Click here for the first episode and here for the second one, which stars Eric Roberts!

Football Game: Chiefs vs Dolphins (Sunday, Paramount+)

*Gasp* Taylor wasn’t at the game!

Football Game: Cowboys vs Ravens (Sunday, CBS)

They were playing in Brazil! I’m not sure why I watched. I don’t even like football. Maybe I just needed a distraction from the stress that I was under. I’m not surprised the Cowboys lost. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Cowboys win a game.

Lauren Lake’s Paternity Court (Tubi)

On Tuesday morning, as I scheduled and reviewed the posts for the first day of Horrorthon, I used Lauren Lake’s Paternity Court as background noise. I love the way the people in the courtroom always seems to resent having to say, “Good Day” to Judge Lake.

Saved By The Bell: The New Class (Prime)

Jeff, Pat, Dani, and I watched three episodes on Saturday morning in memory of Dennis Haskins. As the only one of us who had previously watched this series, I got to show off my encyclopedic New Class knowledge.

SCTV (Netflix)

I watched two early episodes on Monday. The one that I truly remember features John Candy and Dave Thomas playing the role of The Incredible Bulk and his human alter ego, Bill Brigsby.

The Steve Wilkos Show (Nosey)

I watched two episodes on Sunday. Steve was yelling at everyone. While none of the old daytime talk shows were particularly good, I have to say that Steve, at the very least, always came across as being more sincere in his emotions than either Maury or Jerry.

I also watched a few episodes on Monday, mostly as a way to distract myself from the stress of preparing for Horrorthon. (I love Horrorthon but it’s a lot work!) One absolutely terrifying episode featured one of the worst mothers I had ever seen. For 30 years, she kept her daughter in the dark about the identity of her biological father. When he turned out to be a decent guy who refused to be bitter about the way he was treated, she got even angrier. I felt so bad for her daughter.

I then went on t0 watch three episodes on Tuesday and ended up feeling like I was wasting my life. But they did provide good background noise for when I was working on this week’s Horrorthon posts. I needed something to keep me focused and Steve Wilkos throwing chairs at people was apparently just what the doctor ordered.

On Wednesday, I wasted yet another precious hour watching Steve Wilkos. An abusive man refused to get out of the chair on Steve’s stage so Steve shoved him to the floor and then threw the chair across the stage. That was satisfying to watch! Still, I have to wonder why Steve even had the chair out there if people weren’t allowed to sit in them.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I reviewed Survivor here!

Unsolved Mysteries (Tubi)

I watched two Robert Stack-hosted episodes on Thursday. Both were from 1995. The first one featured the rather sad case of Philip Taylor Kramer, a former bass player for the band Iron Butterfly who later went on to found a computer company before mysteriously disappearing in 1995. This story came with an update that said Kramer’s van and body were found in 1999 but authorities couldn’t say whether his death was suicide, homicide, or a tragic accident. The second episode featured an update on a woman whose husband mysterious vanished. After seeing a story about himself on Unsolved Mysteries, the husband called his wife. It turned out that he had been attacked during a business trip and had suffered from amnesia for two years. This was followed by a story about a shrine to the Virgin Mary in Kentucky where people claimed to have had religious visions. This was interesting to me because I’ve actually been to that shrine. When I was 10, I visited it with my mom and my sisters. I did not have any visions but I do remember my mom praying for us.

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?