Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 3.6 “Operation Zack”

Posted on September 19, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

Zack injures his knee and has to go to the hospital! Hilarity ensues!

Episode 3.6 “Operation Zack”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 28th, 1991)

Along with being a track star, a radio announcer, a member of the student council, and the leader of Zack Attack, Zack Morris is also a star basketball player. Bayside’s basketball team has a big game coming up. They’re coached by a short person. That’s the joke. While rushing out of the dressing room for lay-up drills, Zack collides with Mr. Belding and somehow injures his knee. Screech rushes him to the hospital and, in a preview of what he would do to Mr. Belding on countless episodes of The New Class, Screech continually pushes the wheelchair-bound Zack into walls and desks, causing him to reinjure his knee. The show thinks it’s hilarious but I’ve injured my knee and my ankle before and I know how painful it is. Screech is a moron.

Lisa’s mother, Dr. Turtle (Susan Beaubian), says that Zack’s knee is going to require surgery. She says that it’s no big deal but everyone else acts as if Zack has been given a death sentence. “They’re going to hack Zack!” Zack says. He has a dream where he sees his own funeral. (Screech appears as his guardian angel.) Zack disguises himself as a doctor and tries to sneak out of the hospital. Dr. Turtle catches him. Lisa, who is volunteering as a candy striper, tells Zack that everything is going to be okay.

And everything is! The surgery is a success. Zack even survives Screech trying to turn on the television by using the bed’s remote control. And Mr. Belding does Zack’s homework for him. That makes no sense. How is that even allowed?

This episode was pretty dumb. That said, I did once watch it while I was actually in the hospital because I was recovering from an asthma attack and, at that time, it did cheer me up. Dumb as it is, the episode does get at a universal truth. Everyone hates going to the hospital.

Finally, this episode features one of Dustin Diamond’s worst performances. Screech is especially annoying here because, for once, his stupidity actually does hurt someone. Zack doesn’t need some doofus clumsily pushing his wheelchair while shouting, “Lady with a baby!” Whenever Screech caused Zack to bump into something, I felt shooting sympathy pains. Mark-Paul Gosselaar looked fairly annoyed whenever he had to share a scene with Dustin Diamond. In this case, I don’t blame him.

Next week, Screech plays chess and loses his lucky beret. What a dummy.

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

Posted on September 15, 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.

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.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 3.4 “The Last Dance”

Posted on September 5, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This is the episode that has traumatized thousands of viewers.

(I should note that the IMDb and Wikipedia list this as being this first episode of season 3. Amazon, Tubi, and just about every other streaming site that I’ve seen lists it as being 3.4. In order to keep things simple and to not trigger my ADD, I’m following what the streaming sites say.)

Episode 3.4 “The Last Dance”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired September 14th, 1991)

Where were you the first time you watched Kelly break up with Zack?

This is the episode. Kelly applies for a waitressing job at The Max and is hired by the new manager, handsome college guy Jeff (Patrick Muldoon). Zack is excited because Kelly will be able to afford a costume for Bayside’s costume dance. Plus, Zack Attack is going to perform. Zack is looking forward to being named king of the dance with Kelly as his queen. Kelly is feeling guilty because she has a huge crush on Jeff. While they’re dancing, she accidentally calls him “Jeff.” Everyone remembers Zack and Kelly talking outside the school, Kelly crying as she asks if they can still be friends.

In my experience, most people blame Jeff for breaking up Zack and Kelly. Jeff is actually pretty sympathetic in this episode and the next. Yes, he kisses and then dates Kelly while also being her boss. That’s a problem. But he doesn’t set out to break them up. For most of this episode he’s polite and professional. Zack, meanwhile, is possessive and fairly immature. When Kelly says she has to get a job because her family is poor, Zack acts as if she’s suddenly speaking a foreign language. Kelly is worried about helping her family. Zack is worried about the school dance. On top of that, he’s the one who decides they should go as Romeo and Juliet, and he doesn’t even help her pay for the costume.

Then there’s Jeff. Yes, he will eventually cheat on Kelly and try to convince her it’s no big deal. That’s later. In this episode he really does seem like a catch. He’s older, but not so much older that it would be a real issue. He’s responsible enough to manage The Max even though he hasn’t graduated from college. Like Kelly, he actually has to work for a living. He stands up for her when customers are rude. He goes out of his way to accommodate her so she can go to the dance. And, on top of all that, he looks like Patrick Muldoon.

I don’t blame Kelly for dumping Zack at all. You can date a hot guy who will stand up for you, or you can date the cute guy who still spends all his spare time with Screech. Who are you going to pick? Be honest.

It’s still hard to watch them break up. Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s most serious SBTB relationship was reportedly with Lark Voorhies, but he and Tiffani Thiessen did date at one point, and there does seem to be genuine emotion in that scene outside the high school. This is one of those rare SBTB moments that actually feels real. The emotions feel earned. I support Kelly’s decision, but if this episode traumatized you, I understand why.

The breakup is such a big deal that it’s easy to overlook that this episode also introduced Zack Attack. It always cracks me up when Zack says the band will play for free and everyone acts so excited. It’s a school dance, and Zack has basically decided all of his friends are working for nothing that night. When Slater steps out from behind the drum set and duets with Jessie, he’s replaced on drums by Ollie, the nerd with the froggy voice. It’s a shame Ollie wasn’t included in the rockumentary.

Well, Zack is single again. How will he handle it? We’ll find out next week.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/30/26 — 9/5/26

Posted on September 5, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone!

As is the tradition here at the TSL Bunker, this month has been all about getting ready for the annual October Horrorthon! As a result, I’ve spent the previous few days watching a lot of horror movie and not a lot of television. Here’s a few thoughts on what little I did watch.

I am still watching and occasionally writing about Big Brother 28. I say that I’m “occasionally” writing about it because, even though I have a whole other blog devoted to the show, I have to admit that I’m kind of over this season of Big Brother. The houseguests are not particularly likable. The twists are even lamer than usual. I’m still not sure why Julie Chen Moonves is still the host. This show has been on the air for 26 years and Julie still seems to struggle with the basics. I was happy that Devens survived this week. Go Devens! You can read my thoughts on Big Brother at Reality TV Chat Blog.

Along with Big Brother, I watched an episode of Big Brother Unlocked, which is the companion series that also airs on CBS. It’s not much of a show but it’s still obvious that co-host Jerry O’Connell is being groomed to take over the main show when and if Julie ever quits. This week, Jay Mohr was a special guest. Jay said he was a Big Brother superfan but he did not sound very convincing. The other guest was Zingbot. I have no idea what Zingbot had to say about the show. I can never understand a word that stupid robot is saying.

Why do I still watch Big Brother if I hate it so much? It’s a case of nostalgia. When I was growing up, I watched Big Brother with my mom. It was our little tradition. When I watch the show today, it brings back a lot of memories. Plus, I’m pretty sure mom would have hated this season as well. This was our favorite show to complain about.

On Thursday, I watched a Rangers game with my sister, the dazzling Erin, The Rangers won! Yay! I’m not a big baseball fan but, as all of our regular readers should know by now, my sister is. When the Rangers win, that makes her happy and it makes me happy for her.

On Wednesday, as I watched for Big Brother to start, I watched episodes of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. I took some pride in the fact that I was apparently smarter than the contestants on Jeopardy. As for Wheel of Fortune, it just didn’t feel right for the show to be hosted by anyone other than Pat Sajak. The day after I watched, I read that the Wheel of Fortune announcer was kicked off a plane for looking at an inappropriate site. Yikes!

On Friday night, Jeff and I joined our friend Pat in watching three episodes of a British sitcom called Robin’s Nest. It was a show about a swinging guy in London who ended up living in a tiny flat with two single women. The landlord thought he was gay and I thought he needed a haircut. The show was later adapted for American audiences as Three’s Company. I’ve only seen a few episodes of Three’s Company and I have to admit that I’ve never really cared much for it, if just because the constant misunderstandings were a bit stressful to watch and gave me a headache.

After Robin’s Nest, we watched a show called called Midnight Rider on Night Flight Plus. It was a deliberately surreal sketch comedy show that was obviously designed to be a “cult” hit. We all agreed never to watch the show again. It was annoying.

SCTV, a Canadian comedy show from the late 70s and early 80s, is now available on Netflix! I watched a few episodes on Friday and Saturday and, despite being 50 years old, the show is still very funny. My favorite character was Count Floyd. I had to force myself to stop watching because it was distracting me from doing my Horrorthon reviews. However, I look forward to returning to SCTV in November!

As for my Retro Television reviews, I watched episodes of Degrassi, CHiPs, Pacific Blue, 1st & Ten, Hunter, Sledge Hammer, and Saved By The Bell this week! I’m trying to get all of my Retro Television Reviews for October written in September so I can devote October solely to horror. Wish me luck!

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.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 3.3 “The Glee Club”

Posted on August 29, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the gang joins the Glee Club!

Episode 3.3 “The Glee Club”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on December 23rd, 1990)

When Zack learns that the winners of a nationwide glee competition will get a trip to Hawaii, he demands that all of his friends join the Bayside Glee Club. The only problem is that Jessie is the only one who can sing, and she refuses to take off her face mask because she thinks she’ll catch ~~COVID~~ Lisa’s cold.

Luckily, Screech’s girlfriend Violet (Tori Spelling) can sing, but she can only do it if Screech is present and supporting her. After Screech acts like an idiot meeting her parents (he mentions that Violet’s mother looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger), Violet is told she’s no longer allowed to spend time around him. Violet will have to quit the Glee Club. Good thing Jessie can sing! Oh no! Jessie took off her face mask and caught Lisa’s cold.

This episode firmly established that Zack is not only a liar but a terrible liar, one who succeeds only because of the exaggerated stupidity of everyone around him. When Mr. Belding demands that Mr. Tuttle whip the Glee Club into shape, Zack’s solution is to tape another glee club’s performance and have Bayside lip-sync to it. Somehow, neither Belding nor Tuttle notices. Later, when the Glee Club performs at the competition, Zack plays the tape again. This time it gets screwed up. At first everyone is singing too fast, then too slow. “That was our impression of a glee club tuning up!” Zack says, and everyone buys it. You can call Zack’s behavior borderline sociopathic and you’ll have a point. But seriously: how dumb is every adult in Zack’s life?

Violet does eventually sing. Screech steps up to support her when she falters. Bayside wins the competition, even though they really should have been disqualified for all of that “tuning up” nonsense. Violet’s parents are so impressed by Screech’s support that they decide he can date their daughter. If I remember correctly, Violet disappeared after one more episode.

This episode does have one truly funny moment. When Jessie says she caught Lisa’s cold, everyone glares at Lisa. “Sorry,” Lisa says, in a tone that suggests she’s not that sorry. Lark Voorhies delivers the line perfectly. Otherwise the episode suffers because it revolves around two of the worst actors to ever grace the halls of Bayside. Any episode that features Screech’s love life is destined for cringe.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/23/26 — 8/29/26

Posted on August 29, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I spent this week binging Crime Story, St. Elsewhere, and Baywatch. My goal here is to write up three months worth of Retro Television Reviews over the next week so that I can devote all of September and October to horrorthon.

I also watched Big Brother 28. Thursday was the 1,000th episode of Big Brother. Since I’ve see every episode, I did the math and discovered that I have spent the equivalent of 43 days just watching Big Brother. That left me feeling very depressed.

On Friday, my friend Pat McCurry put together a tribute for Tim Curry and Dolly Parton. First, we watched a thoroughly forgettable 2000 sitcom called Bette. As you can guess from the title, it starred Bette Midler as herself. The episode that we watched featured Bette appearing on Dolly Parton’s Halloween special. Dolly was charming. The rest of the sitcom was pretty forgettable. We followed this with an episode of a 90s crime show called Wiseguy. Tim Curry played a crooked music producer. The show was serialized so I really couldn’t follow the plot but Curry gave a typically magnetic preformance.

Along with my binging, I also watched and reviewed CHiPs, Pacific Blue, 1st & Ten, Hunter, Sledge Hammer, and Saved By The Bell.

And I also watched a Republican Presidential Primary Debate from 1996! It was on YouTube. I liked that Lamar Alexander. Did he win?

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.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 3.2

Posted on August 22, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Mr. Belding takes his job too seriously.

Episode 3.2 “Breaking Up is Hard To Undo”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on December 16th, 1990)

Slater and Jessie make it official! They’re now a couple. Slater wants to celebrate by going to a football game. Jessie wants to celebrate by going to the ballet. Suddenly, Slater and Jessie are no longer a couple.

Zack is looking forward to celebrating his anniversary with Kelly. However, Kelly is planning on having dinner with her ex-boyfriend, Todd. Todd is rich and “looks like Mel Gibson.” Zack forbids Kelly to see Todd. Kelly and Zack break up.

When a student council meeting falls apart due to Jessie and Kelly’s attempts to defund the football team and start a dance department at the school, Mr. Belding ends up breaking his gavel. (“I broke my gavel” is the funniest line in the episode but nobody laughs.) When Mr. Belding and his wife get into an argument over her mother-in-law staying with the Beldings and Mr. Belding ends up getting kicked out of his house, Mr. Belding decides to hang out with Zack, Slater, and Screech. Zack comes home and discovers Belding hanging out in his bedroom….

Uhmm, what?

This is a weird episode. The break-ups are one thing. I could believe that part of the episode. But why are Zack’s parents allowing his principal to live in Zack’s bedroom? In the real world, principals and teachers get fired and worse for that sort of thing. Seeing as how this episode also features a moment in which Zack stops time so that he can order some flowers for Mr. Belding “from Mrs. Belding,” I’m going to assume that this is a dream episode.

The dream comes to a conclusion at the Max, in which Slater and Zack before demonstrate how they should have reacted to Jessie and Kelly. Slater announces that doesn’t care about football, strips down to a skintight leotard, and dances around the Max with Lisa (who is wearing a Jessie wig). Screech then dressed up like a cheerleader so Zack can tell Screech that he trusts him and it’s okay if Screech wants to have dinner with Todd.

This was a weird episode. Slater dancing was a great moment but Mr. Belding moving in with Zack asked for a little too much suspension of disbelief, even by the standards of Saved By The Bell. Couldn’t Mr. Belding have moved in with Rod instead?