Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.9 “Belding’s Prank”

Posted on July 14, 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 have an episode that you should watch at your own risk.

Episode 2.9 “Belding’s Prank”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 8th, 1994)

This is one of those episodes where the plot just gives you a headache.

It’s Prank Week at Bayside and Mr. Belding is all in. He thinks that Prank Week is a great way to build school spirit. When Screech informs Belding that the new superintendent is coming to inspect the school, Belding assumes that it’s a prank. Meanwhile, Brian, Tommy, and Bobby are trying to prank Rachel, Lindsay, and Megan and vice versa. Brian, Tommy, and Bobby sabotage a sink in the girls locker room. Rachel, Lindsay, and Megan put a live chicken in the boys locker room.

Finally, Screech is able to convince Belding that the superintendent is coming. Belding suspends prank week. However, when a plumber (Ken Thorley) shows up to look at the sink, the girls tell Screech that he’s the superintendent. (The plumber was at the Plumber Awards Banquet and is wearing a suit.) Belding and Screech give the plumber a tour of the school. Belding take him to the Max for lunch.

The real superintendent (Raye Birk) shows up but Screech thinks he’s the plumber. (Oh my God, this hurts my head just to write.) Screech tells the superintendent to fix the sink. The superintendent gets sprayed with black sludge. Screech takes the superintendent to the boys locker room to wash up. The superintendent runs into the chickens and ends up covered in feathers.

The superintendent demands to speak to Belding in his office. Our core group of students — who apparently don’t have any classes to go to — wait outside. Belding steps out of the office and announces, “I’ve been fired.”

Well, yeah, I should say so. There’s absolutely no reason for Belding not to be fired. He obviously can’t control his school. Hell, he can’t even get his students to go to class.

The next day, the superintendent returns and, at a school assembly, says he’s going to introduce the new principal.

“We want Mr. Belding back!” Brian cries out.

“Then you should have appreciated him when he was here,” the superintendent replies.

The superintendent then introduces the new principal — “Mr. Richard Belding!”

Belding steps out on stage, disappointing Screech who thought he was going to be the new principal. “Got ya!” Belding says to the students. Hey, it was all a prank! Belding mentions that it’s a good thing that the superintendent had a sense of humor.

WHAT!?

I’ve seen this episode a few times. Dennis Haskins actually gives one of his better performances as Belding in this episode. You really do believe him when he says, “I’ve been fired,” which makes it all the more strange when it turns out it was all just an elaborate prank.

Overall, though, this is one of those episodes that gives me a headache in that every problem could have been resolved by everyone not acting like an idiot. This is migraine television. And that’s no prank!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.9 “Jessie’s Song”

Posted on July 11, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, Jessie’s so excited!

Episode 2.9 “Jessie’s Song”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 3rd, 1990)

This is it. This is the episode of Saved By The Bell that everyone knows.

Jessie gets hooked on caffeine pills!

“I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so …. SCARED!”

Along with Running Zack, this is the episode that the show will never live down. In a 2o16 interview, Peter Engel stated that the script originally had Jessie getting hooked on amphetamines but NBC said they wouldn’t air the show if there were any references to “hard drugs.” The script was changed to have Jessie get hooked on over-the-counter caffeine pills.

I’m not sure the episode would have played any better if it had featured amphetamines. When I was younger, there were times when I accidentally took more of my ADHD meds than I should have and my behavior was nothing like Jessie’s in this episode. The scene where Jessie starts yelling in the Maxx about how she and Kelly and the show’s Lisa are going to beat out their competition for a record contract can only lead me to conclude that absolutely no one on the show had ever taken speed at any point in their life.

That’s the thing that makes this episode so memorable, though. Everyone remembers Zack waking up Jessie and Jessie screaming, “I’m so excited!” It’s a cringey moment but, honestly, the entire episode is a cringey moment. The only thing about his episode that feels in any way authentic is Mario Lopez’s performance as Slater.

(Seriously, Lopez was this show’s secret weapon. Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, and Lark Voorhies eventually developed into good actors towards the end of the show. Out of respect for the deceased, I won’t comment on Dustin Diamond’s talents. But Mario Lopez was strong and believable from the start of the series.)

How cringey is this episode?

Screech puts on a dress and a wig and speaks with a bad Irish accent and all of the girls in the locker room believe him when he says that he’s related to Sinead O’Connor. “You taught her everything she knows!?” the show’s Lisa exclaims.

Zack is somehow able to produce, in just one day, a professional music video for Jessie, Kelly, and Lisa’s group, Hot Sundae.

That music video — oh God, the music video! It couldn’t be more 80s if it tried. The girls dance while wearing workout outfits and singing. Who wrote the song that they’re singing? Did Zack come up with it? To be honest, the video’s not that bad. It just feels extremely …. suburban. Would there have been room for Hot Sundae in 1990? Probably not. I doubt MTV was going to switch to a grunge, rap, and Hot Sundae format.

What about Jessie’s fantasy about having to go to a party school? Actually, that made me laugh. I went to a party school and I had fun. Plus, Mr. Dewey says “Cowabunga.” Still, as a general rule, any Saved By The Bell fantasy sequence automatically qualifies as cringe.

But, in the end, this will always be the “I’m so excited!” episode. Poor Elizabeth Berkley is probably so sick of people quoting that line to her. In his dubious autobiography, Dustin Diamond poked fun at his co-stars for thinking they were all giving great performances in this episode. As was often the case with Diamond, this judgment says more about his flaws than those of his co-stars. Of course the actors though they were all giving great performances. They were teenagers! They had an excuse for not knowing better. The adults, however….

In the end, Hot Sundae misses its chance for stardom because of Jessie’s freakout. It’s a good thing they’ve all got Zack Attack to fall back on.

I love this episode.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 7/5/26 — 7/11/26

Posted on July 11, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Big Brother 28 (24/7, CBS, Paramount+, Pluto TV)

Originally, I wasn’t going to watch Big Brother this season but I gave in. Watching this show and getting annoyed is pretty much a tradition around these parts and you know me. I’m all about tradition. You can read my thoughts (and Erin’s thoughts!) about the show over at RealityTVChatBlog.

The Contender (Prime)

I watched two episodes of this old reality show on Tuesday. A group of boxers competed to be …. THE CONTENDER! They weren’t bad. I actually remember when this show aired way back in the aughts. Sylvester Stallone was the host for the first two seasons. The episodes I watched were hosted by Sugar Ray Leonard.

Homicide: Life On The Street (Peacock)

My review of Homicide will drop tomorrow.

Saved By The Bell (Tubi)

My review of Saved By The Bell will drop later tonight.

Sledgehammer! (Prime)

I watched an episode of this 80s comedy show on Friday. A contract was put out on Sledgehammer’s life so he hid with with Amish. It was a funny episode.

Watched and Reviewed

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.8 “Rachel’s Choice”

Posted on July 7, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Rachel’s boyfriend returns.

Episode 2.8 “Rachel’s Choice”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 1st, 1994)

Oh, Hell, we’re back at the country club.

Rachel and Brian are now dating but Rachel still hasn’t told her long-distance boyfriend, football star David Conrad (Kevin Bell). In this episode, it’s mentioned that Rachel has been dating David for two years (so why was she going on out on a date with Scott during season one?) and that David is the “local boy made good.” Mr. Belding acts as if David is the only good football player that Bayside ever had, which is definitely A.C. Slater erasure.

(It’s weird how Bayside went from being the most exclusive school in Los Angeles during the first series to apparently just some throw-away slum school in the New Class.)

David told Rachel that he would be spending the summer in Europe but — surprise! — he comes home early for Rachel’s birthday. (David immediately recognizes Screech as someone he went to school with so David is at least 20. Rachel appeared in the first 4 seasons of The New Class and, when she left, it was because she transferred to another school. So, Rachel is around 14 or 15 here and has been dating David for two years, which means that David should probably be in jail.) Rachel has to make a choice between David and Brian. Now, that could make for some serious drama if both Brian and David were portrayed as being two nice guys who both liked Rachel. Instead, David is portrayed as being such a soulless snob that there’s absolutely no doubt who Rachel will eventually pick. Indeed, the whole episode makes Rachel seem shallow and stupid for going out with David in the first place.

Meanwhile, Mr. Belding is concerned that some of the members are joining a different country clubs. Why does Belding care? This is just a summer job for him. Belding assigns Screech to make a video about the club. Shouldn’t Belding have run that past the actual owner of the club?

These country club episodes are stupid. By running them concurrently with the high school episodes, NBC created a situation where one episode would feature Brian and Rachel as a couple and the next episode would feature Brian still trying to work up the courage to ask her out. It’s as if no one at NBC cared. That’s a shame because the late Christian Oliver was a likable actor and Brian and Rachel were a cute couple. (In real life, when this episode aired, 22 year-old Christian Oliver was about 8 years older than Sarah Lancaster but let’s try not to think about that.)

Anyway, the country club sucks. I hope everyone gets a better job next summer.

Lisa’s Week In Television: 6/28/26 — 7/4/26

Posted on July 4, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Election Coverage

Tuesday’s election coverage was boring. Only Colorado voted this week and who cares?

Family Ties (Paramount Plus)

I watched an episode of this old 80s sitcom on Saturday morning. Michael J. Fox dreamt that he had to help Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence.

Full House (Disney+)

I watched four episodes of this infamous 90s sitcom on Saturday. In one episode, Jesse was fired from his band and replaced by Barry Williams. (That was actually funny.) In another episode, Stephanie was tempted to start smoking. Then, I watched an episode in which Uncle Jesse was revealed to be a high school drop out. (Loser!) And finally, I watched a truly terrible episode in which Jesse dressed his baby sons up as Elvis so that they could win a Cutest Twins contest. Seriously, this was a terrible show but I have a feeling I’m going to end up watching a few more episodes tomorrow. It’s strangely addictive.

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Hulu)

I watched four episodes on Saturday. The Gang went on Family Fight. The Gang went to the water park. Wolf Cola turned into a marketing disaster. And, Mac and Dennis battled the recession by giving out totally worthless Paddy Dollars. I still crack up at the idea of Frank selling knives door-to-door.

King of the Hill (Hulu)

There aren’t many classic 4th of July episodes out there. Back in the day of traditional network schedules, most TV shows were on hiatus during the summer and, as a result, Independence Day never got as much attention in TV Land as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. That said, there are a few good episodes out there. On Saturday, I watched the “Born Again On The 4th Of July” episode of King of the Hill. From the show’s 13th season, it featured Bobby going through a religious phase and trying to stop the Independence Day rivalry between Hank and his neighbors. It wasn’t the strongest episode of King of The Hill — for one thing, Bobby had already gone through a religious phase a few seasons earlier — but no matter. Even the weaker episodes of King of the Hill are better than the best episodes of many sitcoms.

The Office (Peacock)

The Client, an episode from the second season, is not a 4th of July episode. It’s the episode where Michael and Jan have a lunch meeting with a client that ends up going late into the night. Meanwhile, at the office, Pam discover Michael’s screenplay for Threat Level Midnight and Jim organizes a dramatic reading. Dwight announces that he has some left-over fireworks, which he and Kevin proceed to set off outside of the office. That was enough for me to justify watching it on July 3rd.

Portlandia (Netflix)

This morning, I watched the 4th of July BBQs episode of Portlandia. The Mayor had to find fireworks for the city’s celebration. A couple tried to cycle through every barbecue in town. A punk rock barbecue led to chaos. I enjoyed it! It was nice to see Kyle MacLachlan as the mayor.

Saved By The Bell (Tubi)

On Saturday morning, I watched the 4th of July “Miss Liberty” episode. (There really aren’t that many good 4th of July episodes out there.) The Malibu Sands episodes are always strange to me. Why would Zack work a summer job? Zack’s rich!

What I Like About You (Tubi)

Tubi has the first two seasons of What I Like About You! The only problem is that they’ve replaced the cover of What I Like About You that originally played over the opening credits with his blandly generic, early aughts, girl group pop song. Bleh. The only reason I ever watched that show was because I liked that cover of What I Like About You. Anyway, I watched an episode where Amanda Bynes wanted to have a party at the loft and Jennie Garth didn’t want her to. All of the squeaky voices hurt my ears.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.8 “Miss Bayside”

Posted on June 27, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Screech is a pawn yet again.

Episode 2.8 “Miss Bayside”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 27th, 1990)

It’s time for the annnual Miss Bayside pageant!

Jessie considers Miss Bayside to be sexist and she tries to organize a boycott. Lisa says “No way.” She wants to be Miss Bayside. Lisa enters and so does Kelly because Kelly’s family is poor and she could really use the extra money that comes from being a beauty queen. Finally, Jessie goes against her pledge not to compete and enters because she wants to teach everyone about inner beauty.

Zack bets Slater that he can make anyone into the next Miss Bayside. Slater takes the bet on the condition that he get to pick the person. And, of course, Slater picks Screech….

Oh, this episode. When I talk about Dustin Diamond being too young to be on this show, this is the sort of epiosde that I’m talking about. While Lisa, Jessie, Kelly, and eventually Slater all come across as being confident and happy while competing for the title of Miss Bayside, Screech looks awkward, embarrassed, and almost troll-like. I’m not even a Screech fan (or a Dustin Diamond fan for that matter, God rest his soul) but even I felt bad for him when he walked out on stage in a 1920s-style bathing suit. While everyone else on the episode was obviously closer to adulthood than childhood (i.e. Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tiffani Thiessen were both 16, and Elizabeth Berkley and Mario Lopez were both 17), Dustin Diamond was 13 and looked even younger. That gives this entire episode a bit of an icky feel.

Screech does win the pageant. He wins because his robot, Kevin, accidentally gives him a black eye and Zack tells everyone that Slater did it. Screech gets the sympathy vote. Sorry, Lisa. Your dreams don’t matter. Sorry, Kelly. I guess you’re never going to be able to afford college. The importnat thing is that Screech won something that is definitely not going to lead to him being taunted later in life.

Other than Screech’s victory, this episode is remembered for two things. First, Slater absolutely kills it when he plays the drums during the talent competition. Secondly, Mr. Belding sings the Miss Bayside song. Isn’t she he lovely/not even a girl…. It must be said that, judging from this episode, Belding has a terrible singing voice but at least he tries.

Slater should have been Miss Bayside. We all know it.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/21/26 — 6/27/28

Posted on June 27, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Bands of Enchantment (PBS)

On Friday night, I watched a performance by the band Pacifica. They were okay. I prefer louder music.

Bring Me The Beauties: The Model Cult (HBOMax)

I watched this 3-part docuseries on Monday. It was yet another cult documentary. This time, only good-looking people could join the cult. That actually made sense to me. If you’re a cult leader, why would you want to be surrounded by ugly people?

Degrassi: The Next Generation (Tubi)

My review of this week’s episode will drop tomorrow.

Election Coverage

I watched this latest primary results on Tuesday. Ugh, the DSA in New York. Never has a group of activist been both so charmless and so successful at the same time. A lot of people are panicking about that but, honestly, if the DSA was going to win anywhere, it was going to be in New York. I imagine they’ll do well in Denver next week as well. DSA appeals to gentrifiers. (I also remember that the DSA insurgency was declared dead after the primaries in Illinois so perhaps we should be careful about reading too much into any one night.) It seems like after every “wave election,” there’s a few new congresspeople (and even senators) who end up self-destructing during their first or second term, people like Katie Hill, George Santos, Madison Cawthorn, Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman. This year, I’m putting my money on Dairaliza Avila Chevalier and, if he wins, Graham Platner as being the most likely to fall apart as soon as they arrive in Washington.

Homicide: Life On The Street (Peacock)

My review of this week’s episode will drop tomorrow.

Saved By The Bell (Tubi)

My review of this weeks episode will drop later tonight.

Watched and Reviewed:

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.7 “The People’s Choice”

Posted on June 23, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Screech becomes a crusading editor.

Episode 2.7 “The People’s Choice”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 1st, 1994)

Feeling underappreciated at the high school, Screech asks to be made faculty advisor of the school paper. With a staff made up of the Gang, Screech rejuvenates the paper. Soon, he is directing an investigation into why there’s no money in the school’s athletic budget for the girl’s swim team to go to state. Could it be because the misogynistic football coach (Brian Reddy) is a embezzling the money so the football team can go on a trip?

Unfortunately, everyone gets so involved in pursuing the story that they neglect their studies and they skip Mr. Belding’s college entrance exam review session! Honestly, college entrance exams are incredibly easy and anyone who needs a review session to do well on them wasn’t going to get into a decent college anyways. Seriously, just blow all that off and go to a party school like I did. GO MEAN GREEN!

Anyway, Screech realizes the error of his ways and puts the newspaper staff through a grueling review session. Everyone does well on their exam. And Screech disguises himself as an old man and tricks the coach into confessing his embezzlement! The coach presumably works with Screech every day so how did he fall for a wig and a fake mustache? Seriously, what is the deal with this show and disguises?

Despite the rather stupid plot, this episode wasn’t that bad. Dustin Diamond actually gave a fairly believable performance as Screech and the ensemble had a good chemistry. I’ll admit that I laughed at Tommy D’s attempts to be a food critic. I bet we never hear about the newspaper again.

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.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/14/26 — 6/20/26

Posted on June 20, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Buskers (PBS)

This documentary was about …. well, it’s right there in the title. One man performed card tricks. A woman played a saw like a violin. Another woman wrote poems on a typewriter in the park. A man danced on a subway train. The documentary was an interesting look at a group of unique Americans. Unfortunately, I watched it rather late at night so my eyelids were heavy during the majority of the show.

Degrassi: The Next Generation (Tubi)

My review will drop tomorrow.

Homicide: Life on the Street (Peacock TV)

My review will drop tomorrow.

Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Shout TV)

There’s just no stopping those dinosaurs!

The Larry Sanders Show (HBOMax)

Hank’s Sex Tape! Oh my God, what a cringey episode. When a sex tape featuring Hank Kingsley starts to circulate in Hollywood, it threatens Hank’s new job as an orange juice commercial spokesman. Henry Winkler and Norm MacDonald appear as themselves and have a classic conversation about Hank and …. well, you can watch the episode and see for yourself. Why is this episode so funny and so cringey? Hank is played by Jeffrey Tambor. “Wash your mouth out with Hank.” AGCK!

Saved By The Bell (Tubi)

My review of this week’s episode will drop in about 90 minutes.

UFC Freedom 250 (Paramount Plus)

I’ll just go ahead and tick everyone off by admitting that I enjoyed the spectacle and the unique silliness of UFC on the White House lawn. Yes, there were some regrettable moments. If you were annoyed by the comment about a certain former first lady, you had every right to be. It was a stupid thing to yell and unnecessarily divisive. But, at its heart, the event itself was pure Americana. Abraham Lincoln’s favorite sport was wrestling. Teddy Roosevelt loved boxing. Richard Nixon was a bowler. There’s actually a long history of this sort of thing.

Watched and Reviewed: