I mean, if we are gonna get more of these unnecessary reboots, at least we can see how good our old faves are doing.
The Saved By The Bell sequel that is a … Peacock original streaming series looks par for the course of every single one of these types of shows.
From what we know about the series, it will center around a new group of Bayside High students and this time it is class warfare, baby. Part of the cast will be made up of “overprivileged” families and the other from working-class families. The latter of which were transferred to the school as part of a plan by California Governor Zack Morris, whose administration gets into some controversy for closing too many low-income high schools, to send lower-income students to the highest-performing schools in the state.
That never ends up being a problem in the long run.
On the one hand, this sounds really interesting, especially because those issues of class have been something shows like Beverly Hills, 90210 touched on, and they’re part of the fabric of most teen television. At the same time is also sounds exactly like the plot of Elite and well, we saw how that ended.
There is weirdness about seeing this series just return, because Saved by the Bell already had its moment to be the supreme teen show and it remains iconic both for how popular it was and the post-fame choices of some of the cast members. Does there really need to be another sequel?
Also, who keeps forcing Mark-Paul Gosselaar to be a blond? Let our half-Asian king have dark hair, because otherwise, to quote io9’s Charles Pulliam-Moore, it makes him look like Highlander and that is not exactly the comparison you want to have. Especially when he is apparently being terrible at protecting lower-income schools. Not a good look, Zack.
Overall, I don’t know why we keep making content like this. Is it great to see queen Elizabeth Berkley looking like an absolute star? Yes, but I’d rather she be getting fun new projects that get her to expand on her immense talent. Why are we going backward? If this is for the generation who grew up with the show … sure? Well, let’s hope they care to watch Peacock, because with Elite, Euphoria, Sex Education, and others, I’m not sure what teens of today would gain from a new incarnation in Saved by the Bell.
Also, until Lisa Turtle makes a return to the series, it won’t be the same anyway. Y’all can keep Dustin Diamond, tho.
(Yes, I know he is the thumbnail for this video and it irritates me every time.)
(image: Peacock)
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