Saved By The Bell Revival: Things To Know

Many beloved series have been rebooted and revived over the past few years, but ’90s kids should get ready for a big dose of nostalgia. In late 2019, rumors began to swirl that the iconic teen series Saved by the Bell was getting a reboot and it didn’t take long for the news to be confirmed! Better than just being a reboot, it was also soon revealed that original stars were taking part in the reboot — making it a revival. As fans get ready to roam the halls of Bayside High once again, here are all the things to know about the Saved by the Bell revival:

The Premise

Bringing back Saved by the Bell is quite the undertaking, and NBC knew that expectations would be very high from fans of the original. To keep the interest peaked, the premise seems to once again involve Zack Morris. The initial description for the series reads, “Zack Morris — who is now the governor of California — lands in hot water for closing too many low-income high schools. When he suggests sending the affected students to the highest-performing schools in the state, including Bayside High, the influx of new students ‘gives the overprivileged Bayside kids a much-needed and hilarious dose of reality.”

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Minds Behind

While the original series was created by Sam Bobrick and developed and executive produced by Peter Engel, the revival series is coming from Tracey Wigfield. Wigfield is best known as the creator behind the comedy Great News, which aired on NBC. The writers so far include Dashiell Driscoll, who worked on Funny or Die, and created Zack Morris Is Trash.  “I’m a huge fan of that series,” Mark-Paul Gosselaar told TVLine. “And some of that is in [the revival], which I absolutely love: Zack Morris being a little offensive and sort of not being on the right side of things.” Original producers Peter Engel and Franco Bario will serve as executive producers on the new series as well.

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Original Cast Involvement

Some revivals and reboots have made the poor decision to not include original cast or production members on the new series, but that isn’t the case for Saved by the Bell. As soon as the revival was announced, it was revealed that Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley who played A.C. Slater and Jessie Spano (as well as each other’s romantic interest in the show) would be serving as executive producers for the series. In even better news, they will be reprising their roles as series regulars! Originally, Mark-Paul Gosselaar disappointed fans when he said he had not been contacted about the revival, but luckily for fans, things changed! The actor has confirmed he will reprise his role as Zack Morris! Meanwhile, there has been no official word on Tiffani Thiessen’s involvement, but there have been rumors she will appear in “an episode or two” as Kelly Kapowski.

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Who Isn’t Returning?

Although a large portion of the original Bayside gang is returning, there are two major stars that don’t seem to be involved, at least not yet. Lark Voorhies, who starred as Lisa Turtle, has reportedly not been contacted to appear as the fashionista and trendsetter. The actress told Dr. Oz that she felt “slighted and hurt” about not being asked to reprise the role. It also seems as though Dustin Diamond, who played Samuel “Screech” Powers will not be in the revival. This news isn’t surprising for those who have followed the actor since his time on the show which has included jail stints and spreading a lot of rumors about the cast and their time together filming in the late ’80s and early ’90s. “Out of all the cast members, I was in… the most [episodes], and that’s not the case anymore if I’m not in the new one,” Diamond said in a recent interview. “And how do you have Saved by the Bell without Screech, right? … We should all be a part of this.”

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Zack Morris

There is absolutely no doubt that Saved by the Bell wouldn’t be the same without Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s Zack Morris! In January 2020, the actor revealed he would be reprising his role, but Zack Morris is no longer the good guy. Instead, he is now the Governor of California and finds himself in hot water after closing too many low-income high schools. The revival will see him “being a little offensive and sort of not being on the right side of things,” the actor told TV Line. Gosselaar is expected to appear in three episodes in the iconic role.

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The New Preppies

With the original cast all grown up, they will be taking a backseat to let the new cast shine, some of whom will be the original character’s kids! Mitchell Hoog has been confirmed to be playing Mac Morris, “the handsome, charming, privileged son” of Zack Morris and the first teaser trailer for the series confirmed Kelly Kapowski is his mom. Meanwhile, Belmont Cameli has been cast as Jamie Spano, captain of the Bayside football team and is also Jessie Spano’s “sensitive man-child son,” but it is not known if A.C. Slater is his dad.

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The Principal

Along with Lark Voorhies and Dustin Diamond, another familiar face in the Bayside High halls that hasn’t been mentioned is Dennis Haskins. Without Mr. Belding yelling “Hey! Hey! Hey! What is going on here?” the school is in need of new leadership. John Michael Higgins, known for his roles in projects such as Great News and Pitch Perfect, is playing Mr. Belding’s successor Principal Toddman “who is constantly being pranked by his privileged students and yelled at by their entitled parents.”

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New Students

Being as it is a brand-new series, the original characters’ children won’t be the only ones at Bayside! It has been confirmed that Josie Totah has been cast as Lexi, a gorgeous and witty cheerleader at Bayside who is “admired and feared” by the school’s students. Haskiri Velazquez will portray Daisy, a “smart and ambitious” sophomore who has to go to Bayside after her high school gets shut down by Governor Morris. Alycia Pascual-Pena will play Daisy’s “ultra-competitive” best friend who tries out for the football team. Dexter Darden will play DeVante, a “mysterious loner” who’s looking for a fresh start at Bayside.

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Things Are Different at Bayside

This time around, the new Saved by the Bell will be a single-camera comedy, and not in front of a live audience like the original. Additionally, the new series is going to push the envelope a little more than the ’90s series. “Script-wise, these aren’t the scripts we got [31 years ago],” Mark-Paul Gosselaar revealed. “I don’t think you could do that. That’s sort of just across the board with television: There’s a lot of things we did [then] that we’re not doing now… and I don’t know necessarily that it would be appropriate [to do things the same way].”

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Teaser Trailer

On Wednesday, April 15 Peacock released teaser trailers for some of its most anticipated upcoming shows, the biggest one is of course the new Saved by the Bell series. Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley star in the trailer as AC Slater and Jesse Spano, but this time around Slater is Bayside’s gym teacher and Jesse is the mom to Bayside student Jamie Spano (captain of the football team and “sensitive man-child.”) The trailer also introduces several of the new characters including the new principal and Zack’s son Mac Morris!