There have been three Saved by the Bell series to date — the original, Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Saved by the Bell: The New Class; there were also two made-for-TV movies, Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style and, my personal favorite, Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas — which is impressive longevity for a show that no one ever mistook for being “good.” Fun, sure. Goofy, obviously. Exciting but also scary, of course. But quality programming, not so much. Maybe Tracey Wigfield can change that.
The Emmy-winning 30 Rock writer and Great News creator has been tapped as the showrunner for a Saved by the Bell sequel series starring Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley, reprising their roles as A.C. Slater and Jessie Spano. What’s it about? Probably something simple, like A.C. and Jessie running a beachside hamburger joint, right?
The new, straight-to-series comedy [for NBCUniversal’s newly named streaming service, Peacock] explores what happens when California Gov. Zack Morris (Mark Paul Gosselaar’s role) gets into hot water for closing too many low-income high schools, he proposes they send the affected students to the highest-performing schools in the state — including Bayside High. The influx of new students gives the over-privileged Bayside kids a much-needed and hilarious dose of reality.
Two things:
1) I would not expect Saved by the Bell, of all things, to tackle a hot-button issue like school closures and income equality, but as Wikipedia points out, the original series “occasionally touches on serious social issues, such as drug use, driving under the influence, homelessness, remarriage, death, women’s rights, and environmental issues.”
Always tasteful.
2. “California Gov. Zack Morris.”
Zack Attack 2020.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)
