Questions
Who created Saved by the Bell and what network aired it?
Sam Bobrick created the teen sitcom for NBC. It ran from August 20, 1989 to May 22, 1993.
Did the show start as something else?
Yes. It evolved from Good Morning, Miss Bliss, a Disney Channel series that premiered in 1988, before NBC reworked it into Saved by the Bell.
Who played Miss Bliss in the original show?
Hayley Mills played the title role of Miss Bliss in Good Morning, Miss Bliss.
Which characters carried over from Good Morning, Miss Bliss?
Four made the jump: Zack (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Screech (Dustin Diamond), Lisa (Lark Voorhies), and Mr. Belding (Dennis Haskins).
Why did they drop the teacher and focus on the kids?
NBC President Brandon Tartikoff reportedly wanted to drop Miss Bliss from the show altogether and focus entirely on the teens, shifting the setting from Indianapolis to a fictional Los Angeles neighborhood called the Palisades.
Who were the main cast members?
Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack Morris), Mario Lopez (A.C. Slater), Dustin Diamond (Screech), Tiffani-Amber Thiessen (Kelly Kapowski), Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie Spano), Lark Voorhies (Lisa Turtle), and Dennis Haskins (Principal Belding).
How old was Mark-Paul Gosselaar when he was cast as Zack?
He was only 14 years old when he landed the role of Zack Morris.
Was A.C. Slater originally written differently?
Yes. Slater was originally conceived as Italian-American, but Mario Lopez was cast after being judged the best actor who auditioned.
Is there a story behind the theme song?
Reportedly, composer Scott Gale deliberately worked the title phrase into the song despite creator Peter Engel explicitly ordering him not to, and Engel later admitted he was glad Gale had not followed his instructions.
Where did the gang always hang out?
At The Max, the fictional eatery the Bayside crew frequented.
Who did Kelly Kapowski date on the show?
Kelly was the love interest of both Zack and Slater.
Was there really a band called Zack Attack?
Yes, the gang formed the fictional band Zack Attack, credited with the song Friends Forever.
Were there any spin-offs?
Two launched in 1993: The College Years, a primetime run of 19 episodes, and The New Class, a Saturday morning series that lasted 143 episodes across seven seasons. Two TV movies also aired, Hawaiian Style (1992) and Wedding in Las Vegas (1994).
Did the original cast ever come back?
Mark-Paul Gosselaar reprised Zack Morris in the 2020 Peacock streaming reboot, appearing in three episodes.
Is the show considered a classic?
It was named one of the 20 Best School Shows of All Time by AOL TV and was later classified as educational and informational programming.
