Thursday, November 26, 2020

A Classic Reborn (?): Saved by The Bell (2020)

 Welp, it's finally here.

Nearly 30 years after the original class of Saved by The Bell graduated from Bayside High, the series returns, now on Peacock, with a new generation of students, and addressing real world issues, such as racism.

The basic core plot: Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mixed-ish) is now the governor of California. There's also a reference to one of his earlier post-Bell entries, Franklin & Bash, in the opener, as narrated by Zack himself in the form of a campaign ad. Son Mac is a chip off the old block, a clear cut walking case of affluenza if there ever was one. A. C. Slater (Mario Lopez, Access Hollywood) is now a gym teacher and football coach, though we'd assume he'd also be coaching the wrestling team, too. Jessica "Jessie" Spano (Elizabeth Berkley-Lauren) is a counselor and best selling author. Surprisingly, she married someone other than Slater, who still has the hots for her after all these years.

Due to budget cuts, students from Douglas High, in a lower-income section, are being transferred to Bayside, where Jessie, along with Principal Toddman (John Michael Higgins, America Says), are working to get everyone acclimated, while at the same time dealing with stereotypical parental fears.

Keeping up with the times, Bayside has a transgender cheerleader, Lexi (Josie Totah), who is also one of the mean girls. That is destined to change.

Totah, Berkley-Lauren, Lopez, Gosselaar, & Tiffani Thiessen (Kelly) have all been given producer credits. As is the standard for online series, 10 episodes are already available, but only the opener is available for free, a means of motivating users to upgrade to premium service.

Peacock offers a trailer:


Apparently, on the heels of this reboot, the folks at WarnerMedia are dusting off a high school sitcom of theirs from the same era, Head of The Class. More on that another time.

Rating: B-.

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