Welcome to the 3rd installment of Remember That Show?‘s summer event – Saved By The Summer – where we finally turn our sights to Saved By The Bell: The New Class. In the words of Doctor Strange, “We’re in the endgame now”, as not only is this my favorite iteration of the franchise, but I also consider it the last *true* installment of the franchise. Most folks don’t realize that The New Class lasted almost twice as long as the mothership, and it accomplished this by constantly switching up the cast and character relationships.
Saved By The Bell: The New Class launched on September 11th, 1993, marking the first time this would be the most important date on America’s calendar. Kicking off the second season of TNBC – NBC’s teen-centric Saturday morning programming block – The New Class played “little brother” to the second season California Dreams, but ended up outlasting all of the Peter Engel-produced shows that would come after it.
When folks ask me why I feel Saved By The Bell was so iconic to my generation, I always say that it provided a preview of what we thought high school was going to be like. Once we actually got to high school, however, we found it was all Hollywood Lies! When I got to high school, The New Class was going on, so they felt more like contemporaries than “the older kids”. Plus, puberty had kicked in, and so did the crushes on the characters. Anyway, The New Class kicked off as a series where new characters were slotted into old tropes and scripts, but it eventually found its own identity over time.
Due to the fact that it lasted 7 seasons, with a cast that was constantly changing actors and personalities, Adam and I decided to tackle *each* season of the show, discussing both the highs and lows of the series. Oh, and I can’t finish this without mentioning the show featured the return of a character I consider to be the lynchpin of the franchise: Samuel “Screech” Powers. Showing up in a work-study capacity in the second season, he and Mr. Belding go on to establish a Bulk & Skull dynamic that takes the series across the finish line.
We had a great time with this episode, and I think you’ll enjoy it, too. You can find it here, or wherever fine podcasts are not sold!
