Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.4 “Driver’s Education”

Posted on May 23, 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, it’s time to learn how to drive!

Episode 2.4 “Driver’s Education”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 29th, 1990)

Good Lord, Zack Morris is so insecure!

Even though Zack and Kelly have been dating since the prom, Zack still fears that Kelly will dump him when Slater turns 16 and gets his driver’s license. Slater’s already got a car. Sure, the car looks bad at first but Slater says he’s going to fix it up and, one jump cut later, he’s got a pretty badass red convertible.

Zack’s solution? If you thought Zack would respond by resolving to be such a great boyfriend that Kelly wouldn’t leave him, you don’t know Zack Morris! Instead, Zack comes up with a ludicrously complicated scheme to cause Slater to flunk driver’s education.

A few words about driver’s ed at Bayside:

First off, driver’s ed is one of the many classes that is taught by Mr. Tuttle (Jack Angeles). Last season, Mr. Tuttle inspired the creation of Buddy Bands. This season, he’s teaching the students how to drive and complaining that he should have been named principal instead of “Mr. Balding.” Mr. Tuttle was one of the few recurring teachers on Saved By The Bell and Jack Angeles, who was an attorney in real life, was a good comedic actor. It’s almost always a good sign when Tuttle shows up.

Secondly, at Bayside, students aren’t required to actually drive a car. Instead, they drive this thing:

Seriously, this thing has got three wheels and apparently, it’s not supposed to leave the classroom. How are you going to learn how to drive in this thing!? To his credit, Mr. Belding mentions that he’s often told Tuttle to get rid of this half-assed attempt at a car.

Zack’s plan is to take the driver’s ed car out of the classroom so that Slater can give him a private lesson. Slater will get caught in the faux car and somehow, this will lead to him getting kicked out of class. (Since it’s established that Slater already knows how to drive, couldn’t he just go down to the DMV and take the test regardless of the class?) However, Kelly asks Slater for a ride, Zack attempts to get Kelly out of the fake car, and the pretend car ends up crashing into a locker. Slater, Zack, and Kelly run for it.

In order to get Zack to confess, Kelly pretends to have amnesia. When Zack announces that he will not only confess but that he’ll also get Kelly the best medical care available (good luck doing with with no car, Zack!), Kelly says that she knew “Zack” would do the right thing. Hearing his name, Zack realizes that Kelly never had amnesia. Zack says that he’s not going to confess and it won’t matter because what’s Belding going to do? Flunk everyone?

The next day, at the start of class, Belding announces that he’s flunking everyone.

At first, Kelly stands up says that she’s to blame. Slater jumps up and accepts responsibility because Slater’s a soldier at heart. Realizing that Slater now looks a lot better than him, Zack finally admits that he’s the one who took the driver’s ed car out of the classroom. The end result is that Zack flunks, Slater gets two weeks of detention, and Kelly gets …. no punishment at all.

This was actually a pretty enjoyable episode. I mean, it was dumb but that’s par for the course when it comes to Saved By The Bell. This episode features a lot of Tuttle comedy and Mario Lopez once again outacting everyone else in the cast. That’s what Saved By The Bell is all about.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/17/26 — 5/23/26

Posted on May 23, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Bardo: A Night In The Life (YouTube)

This was a live music program that aired on certain PBS stations. On Friday night, I watched a concert given by Lake Street Drive. Musically, they were very talented but a little mellow for my tastes.

Burning Love (Prime)

I bought all three seasons of Burning Love this week. On Wednesday, I watched the first season. Ken Marino was Mark Orlando, a fireman looking for love on a reality dating show. “Will you accept my hose?” “Please put your hose in my hands.” I laughed and laughed. If nothing else, it made up for not having a new season of The Bachelorette.

The Cult Behind The Killer: The Andrea Yates Story (Hulu)

I watched this documentary on Wednesday and Thursday. Over three episode, it revisited the horrific crimes of Andrea Yates and suggested that she was brainwashed by a street preacher. It didn’t really convince me. Obviously, Yates claimed that she was driven to murder by her beliefs but I think that, even if she had never heard a sermon in her life, she would have eventually become a murderer. Some people are just evil and will use whatever they can as a justification.

This documentary featured interviews with two people who were former members of the preacher’s cult. Former cult members always make for terrible witnesses because it’s hard to have much respect for anyone who could get brainwashed in the first place.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

I watched an episode on Saturday about fighting in-laws. They should have just called off the wedding.

Election Coverage (Tuesday)

As someone who pretends not to follow politics, I made sure to pretend that I wasn’t glued to Tuesday’s election coverage. I did a little cheering, I’ll admit it.

Family Lockup (Disney+)

I watched the first episode of this true crime show on Wednesday. The father of a prisoner spent 72 hours in jail so he could talk to his son and see what it was like to be on the inside. At the end of the episode, the son was released and his father was waiting for him. Awww!

George Gently (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this British detective show on Tuesday. It was depressing, as most British detective shows tend to be.

Good Times (Tubi)

In this 70s sitcom, the Evans family was divided over who to support in the next election, Alderman Fred C. Davis or Jimmy Pearson, who was well-educated but refused to play the dozens. Jeff and I watched this episode on Sunday night. Jimmy lost his election but swore that he would run again and this time, he would play the dozens. Good for you, Jimmy. Get out there and sell out.

Hollywood Demons (HBOMax)

This week’s episode took a look at 16 and Pregnant. I guess it’s good that this episode exists because, in the future, historians will probably try to deny that 16 and Pregnant ever existed.

Homicide: Life On The Street (Peacock TV)

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

Hulk Hogan: Real American (Netflix)

I watched this docudrama on Thursday. It told the story of Hulk Hogan, from his early days to his death. The weird thing about this documentary was that it acknowledged that wrestling was fake but still tried to pretend like it wasn’t. (I have to admit that I’ve never been a big wrestling fan.) The documentary featured extensive interviews with sickly looking Hogan. He passed away shortly after filming wrapped. Hulk Hogan took down Gawker and he’ll always be remembered for that.

Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Shout Factory TV)

I watched two episodes of this weird Japanese series on Saturday morning. Monsters were everywhere but luckily, so were some people who were apparently descended from dinosaurs. I really couldn’t follow the plot but the saber-tooth tiger was cute.

The PGA Championship (Sunday, CBS)

Congratulation to Aaron Rai! I loved looking at the golf course. It looked so relaxing.

Saved By The Bell (Tubi)

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

Watched and Reviewed:

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.3 “Let the Games Begin”

Posted on May 19, 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’re back at the country club.

Episode 2.3 “Let the Games Begin”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 17th, 1994)

At Pacific Palisades Country Club, it’s time for the annual competition between the members of the club and the staff. If the staff wins, the members will wait on them for a week!

Really? I mean, is this a real thing? Why would any club member agree to that? If I’m paying good money to belong to a country club, the last thing that I’m ever going to do is wait on the staff. I don’t care who wins the stupid competition.

It turns out that Screech is a very good golf player, which becomes an important plot point when the games end in a tie. The tie-breaker is a golf game between country club owner Big Ed and Screech. Big Ed tells Screech to either take a dive or stop dating his daughter, Allison. In the end, Screech can’t betray his fellow workers but Allison doesn’t care. She decides who she dates, not Big Ed.

Also, Tommy D learns how to swim (yay, good for him!) and Rachel says she’s going to quit her job when she learns her boyfriend won’t be coming home for the summer. (Her boyfriend was a member of the club and Rachel only took the job so she could spend time with him.) Brian, not wanting Rachel to quit, starts to send her poems that she believes are being written by her boyfriend. Rachel eventually learns the truth but she’s not offended at all. Of course, she isn’t. Just look at Brian’s apologetic smile!

This episode …. listen, let’s give credit where credit is due. Christian Oliver and Sarah Lancaster? They were cute together. As far as fake Zacks go, Christian Oliver was one of the better ones. And Jonathan Angel gave a likably earnest performance in the scenes where Tommy learned to swim. Unfortunately, this episode featured way too much Screech. Though Dustin Diamond is nowhere near as bad during season 2 as he would be in later seasons, he’s still way too cartoonish to be taken seriously as anyone’s boyfriend.

Seriously, can you imagine buying a country club membership and then having to wait on Screech?

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.3 “Save The Max”

Posted on May 16, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Bayside Radio is on the air!

Episode 2.3 “Save The Max”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 22nd, 1990)

Uh-oh! Max is about to lose The Max! The land that the Max is sitting on belongs to the school board and, if Max the owner can’t come up with $10,000 in back rent, he’s going to lose the restaurant. As Jessie puts it, “our favorite hang-out is going to become a parking lot!”

Here’s the thing — so what? I mean, seriously, is it that hard to find a place to get a hamburger in California? For the most part, the Max has always come across as being a fairly tacky place. It’s hard for me to imagine anyone over the age of eleven thinking that Max’s magic tricks were worth watching. Even more importantly, why didn’t Max pay his rent? Max is an adult. He’s a grown man. Why does it fallon a group of teenagers to take care of Max’s problems? Pay your own damn bills, Max!

Fortunately (I guess), Zack has recently re-launched the school radio station. This is the episode where Zack and Screech discover the radio station in the school basement and Mr. Belding appears in a flashback as a 40 year-old hippie high school student with a thick mustache. I’m not really sure to whom the radio station is supposed to appeal. Zack pretending to be “Wolfman Zack” is cringe city. Screech’s mystery theater is embarrassing. Lisa’s gossip show would probably lead to multiple lawsuits today. Aren’t these people supposed to be in class? Are the other students actually okay with Zack and his friends being the only ones who actually get to do anything interesting at school?

The best thing about this episode is that it gives Slater a showcase. This is the first episode to feature Slater as a guy who is always confident until he’s either talking into a microphone or looking at video camera. Whenever he knows he’s being recorded, Slater suddenly freezes up. Slater’s awkwardness is actually pretty endearing and it makes him a more compelling character than Zack. With Zack automatically being good at everything, it’s actually kind of nice to get to watch Slater conquer his doubts and prove himself.

Do the kids — and Mr. Belding — go on the air for 24 hours in an attempt raise enough money to save the Max? You bet they do! But it’s not until Slater grabs the microphone and talks about how the Max was the first place that he ever felt as if he really belonged that the money starts to come in. I think one reason that the Gang was having trouble raising money is that all of the Bayside students were at the Max for the telethon. Seriously, I’m really not sure who was donating all that money at the end of this episode. I guess Slater has groupies. Hey, why not? He’s earned them.

Seriously, though — couldn’t Max have just paid his rent!? What a deadbeat!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/10/26 — 5/16/26

Posted on May 16, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hollywood Demons (HBOMax)

This week’s episode took a look at prescription drug abuse in Hollywood. It really didn’t have anything new to say about the subject.

Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Shout TV)

I watched three more episodes of this odd series on Friday night. The monsters were even more trippy than usual!

The N.Y. Friars Club Roast of Chevy Chase (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched this infamous roast from 2003. Chevy Chase was roasted by a few people who knew him and by a lot of people who didn’t. Stephen Colbert made an early name for himself with his no-holds barred set. I knew this is something that we’re not supposed to admit nowadays but, as I watched the roast, I actually found myself feeling a little sorry for Chase. It’s one thing to be insulted by your friends. It’s another thing to be insulted by strangers who genuinely seem to despise you. At least Paul Shaffer appeared to be having fun as Chevy’s roast master.

Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano (Netflix)

17 seconds? After all the hype, it’s impossible not to be disappointed with the actual fight. That said, I’ve always felt that Gina Carano was not treated fairly by Disney so I’m glad she appears to be making a comeback of sorts.

Saved By The Bell (Tubi)

My review of Saved By The Bell will be dropping soon, assuming I don’t fall asleep before I can write it.

Watched and Reviewed:

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.2 “All Work No Play”

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the Gang gets a summer job! Why would anyone want to work during the summer? What a bunch of losers.

Episode 2.2 “All Work And No Play”

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

It’s summer time! (During its second season, Saved By The Bell: The New Class aired two episodes each Saturday morning. One episode would be a high school episode while the other would feature the Gang off-campus.) Mr. Belding has been hired to manage the Palisade Hills Country Club. The first mistake that Belding makes is that he hires Screech to be his assistant. Then he allows Screech to hire Brian, Bobby, Tommy, Rachel, Megan, and Lindsay as his staff.

Thinks quickly go downhill.

While trying to show-off for Rachel, Brian attempts to drive a golf cart with his feet. (“This is how I steered snowmobile in Switzerland,” Brian says.)
Assigned to wash and wax the car belonging to club owner Ed Harrington (Frank Bonner), Tommy D and Lindsay instead take the car for a joyride, which leads to Brian denting it with the golf cart.
The car has a dent and the paint job is scuffed. Tommy works out the dent and then repaints the car with Rachel’s nail polish. To help the polish dry, Tommy and Brian remove the car’s front panel, take it to the country’s club’s kitchen. and unplug the freezer so that they can instead plug in a huge fan.
Whoops! They forget to plug the freezer back in and $4,000 worth of food goes bad.
Bobby can’t drive but still tries to cover valet parking.
Screech is too busy falling in love with Ed’s daughter, Allison (Clare Slastrom), to be of any help.

Mr. Belding does the right thing and fires all of them. But then the Gang decides to throw a Luau for the club’s members (instead of the county and western barbecue that was originally planned) and it’s such a hit that Belding hires them back.

Seriously, what the Hell? Yes, the Gang saved the day but they only had to save it because they were so grotesquely immature and irresponsible in the first place. This was one of the worst recurring plotlines to appear on Saved By The Bell: The New Class. Someone would get a new job, they would totally screw it up, they would get fired, and then they would get rehired just because they felt bad after the fact. Personally, I think that if you steal a car, destroy a golf cart, and cause $4,000 worth of meat to go bad, you should be fired. I don’t care if you then put on a hula skirt and play a ukulele and and put on a little Hawaiian performance on a sweltering day in the middle of the desert. You’re fired.

GO HOME!

This episode annoyed the Hell out of me. I can accept a lot from this show but what I can’t accept is a plot where every complication could have been avoided by everyone not being a massive dumbass.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.2 “Zack’s War”

Posted on May 9, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Zack goes to war! Actually, now that I think about it, he really doesn’t. This title makes no sense.

Episode 2.2 “Zack’s War”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 15th, 1990)

Bayside High School is now home to a Cadet Corps program. Led by Lt. Chet Adams (Cylk Cozart), the Cadet Corps appears to be the same thing as the ROTC but it’s called the Cadet Corps and despite all of the attention that it receives here, it’s never mentioned again after this episode.

Slater’s dad is in the army so he can’t wait to join the Cadet Corps. Zack jokes about never joining the Cadet Corps so Belding gives him 30 Saturday detentions …. unless, Zack joins the Cadet Corps and talks all of his friends into joining. Soon, Zack, Slater, Kelly, Jessie, Lisa, Screech, Butch, and Louise are all members of the Cadet Corps. That’s …. 8 people. Wow, that’s a really weak turn-out. Zack has a lot more friends than that! Seriously, if only 8 people show up to one of my watch parties, I usually end up depressed for a week.

Anyway, you may notice some new names there. Louise is the unathletic belle of the school nerds. Butch is an apparently sociopathic bully who doesn’t want Screech talking to his girlfriend. For this episode, I guess we’re just supposed to forget that Screech has always, in the past, been in love with Lisa.

The second day of Cadet Corps, Lt. Adams announces that it’s time for an athletic competition. He allows Zack to pick the teams. Zack puts Screech, Lisa, and Louise on one team. The other team is made up of Butch, Kelly, and Jessie. Zack says Slater can lead the team with Screech, Lisa, and Louise. Lt. Adams says, “Nope,” and he puts Zack in charge of the unathletic team.

Zack gets mad at quits the Corps. Luckily, Screech visits Zack and shames him. (Zack should consider himself lucky that Screech didn’t pull a knife.) Zack rejoins the Corps and leads his team to victory, somehow!

That’s the short version of this dumb episode. This is another one of those weird episodes where an authority figure — in this case, Lt. Adams — tells Zack that, if he wins an arbitrary competition, he’ll be allowed to skip class for the rest of the year. Zack wins the competition but, when Adams says he won’t be seeing Zack anymore, Zack replies, “Why? Are you quitting?” No, Zack, you prick — you’re quitting! Except Zack doesn’t quit for some reason. He’s proud to be in the Cadet Corps.

Needless to say, the Cadet Corps are never mentioned again.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/3/26 — 5/9/26

Posted on May 9, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hollywood Demons: After the Bell (HBOMax)

The latest episode of Hollywood Demons took a rather superficial look at life behind the scenes at Saved By The Bell. The formerly reclusive Lark Voorhies was interviewed and it was good to see her looking healthy and happy. As well, Max Battimo, from Good Morning Miss Bliss, was also interviewed and talked about what it was like to not be invited to join the cast of Saved By The Bell.

The majority of the episode focused on Dustin Diamond and his years after Saved By The Bell. The episode tried to generate some sympathy for Diamond and I have to admit that I’ve always felt that it wasn’t right to cast him as a high school student when he was barely 12 and had so little in common with the rest of the cast. That said, in this documentary, Dustin Diamond also came across as being mentally unhinged. One crew member told a story about Diamond threatening a Saved By The Bell: The New Class actor with a knife. The name of the actor was not given, though from the details provided (the incident occurred while Diamond’s mother was dying of cancer and Diamond threatened to get the actor fired), it seems that the incident took place in 1996, during the film of the New Class‘s Fourth Season. Assuming Diamond didn’t pull the knife on any of the female cast members or Dennis Haskins, that leaves Richard Lee Jackson, Ben Gould, and Anthony Harrell. Jackson was in his second season on the show and was the lead actor so I don’t think Diamond would have threatened to get him fired. Gould and Harrell were new. On twitter, I found a tweet from 2014 of someone mentioning that they had been given a tour of Hollywood by someone who Dustin Diamond pulled a knife on. Since Harrell has been busy with his musical career, that would leave Gould as the probable target of Diamond’s abuse. Of course, that’s all speculation on my part. The important thing is that Dustin Diamond didn’t come across as being particularly sympathetic, despite the documentary’s best efforts.

Unfortunately, while Lark, Max, and Ed Alonzo were all interviewed, Mark-Paul, Mario, Tiffani, Elizabeth, and Dennis Haskins were not. I’m not surprised. When you’ve actually got a career going, you don’t want to taint it by being interviewed by a tabloid television show. Still, considering that they were the stars of the show, not interviewing them seemed like a missed opportunity.

Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Shout TV)

I watched three more episodes of this odd series on Friday night. The monsters were trippy!

Night Flight (NightFlight+)

I watched an episode on Friday night. John Cougar Mellencamp talked about his career.

Saved By The Bell (Tubi)

My review of Saved By The Bell will be dropping soon, assuming I don’t fall asleep before I can write it.

Watched and Reviewed:

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.1 “The Prom”

Posted on May 2, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, we begin season 2!

Episode 2.1 “The Prom”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 8th, 1990)

It’s time for the prom!

Wow, the second season really jumps into things, doesn’t it? Most high school shows tend to take the “each season is one school year approach” but the second season of Saved By The Bell opens with prom.

It’s time for Kelly to finally decide who is going to be prom date (and boyfriend), Slater or Zack. If the first season occasionally featured Kelly acting a bit flighty and, at times, self-centered, the second season introduces us to the new Kelly, who is in love with Zack but who also doesn’t want to hurt Slater’s feelings. This is also the Kelly who suddenly comes from a huge blue collar family. Kelly agrees to go to prom with Zack (and Slater, being awesome, accepts her decision with grace). But when her father is laid off from his job at the defense plant (“World peace has broken out,” he explains — and you can thank Ronald Reagan and the first George Bush for that! USA! USA! USA!), Kelly gives up going to prom because her family needs the money that she would have spent on the evening.

(Kelly, Zack’s superrich! Just have him pay for everything….)

Zack is upset, until Slater tells him that Kelly’s father lost his job.

“Poor Kelly,” Zack says.

“That’s right,” Slater replies. “Poor Kelly. Not poor Zacky.”

HELL YEAH! I LOVE SLATER!

Slater does go to prom, with Jessie. (This is an important episode for Slater and Jessie too.) Meanwhile, Screech asks Lisa to be his date. When Lisa turns him down, Screech begs her to just see a movie with him. It’s a zombie movie and Lisa loves it! But apparently, Screech has an issue with people who love movies because he gets mad at Lisa for talking too much and decides to go to prom alone. For some reason, Screech becomes the prom’s DJ. Meanwhile, Lisa bores her date by talking nonstop about the zombie movie ….. wow, this all feels very familiar to me.

As for Zack and Kelly, they do go to prom! They dance outside of the gym and it’s one of the few genuinely romantic moments to be found in Saved By The Bell. It’s also one of the few moments that captures the unique mix of melancholy and optimism that goes along with being a teenager.

The second season is off to a great start!

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

Posted on April 28, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

Episode 1.13 “Running The Max”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We’ll start season two next week!