The New ‘Saved by the Bell’ is Culturally Significant and a Masterful Love Letter to the Original Series

I know what you’re thinking. Another revival? And this time it’s Saved by the Bell? That could never work. 

Wrong.

The new Saved by the Bell coming to Peacock this week, which has been deemed a “reimagining,” is a masterful love letter to the original series while presenting a more meaningful, relevant story that holds up all on its own.

Really, it falls somewhere along the lines of a sequel series and revival. And as the best revivals have done, the new Saved by the Bell is acutely aware of its original, not only by offering plenty of fun callbacks for diehard fans, but by nodding to things like the studio audience reactions to romantic moments and students that were way too old to really be in high school.

Some of the funniest moments are the callbacks and self-referential jokes. Jessie is still talking about that time she got addicted to caffeine pills, Max is still doing Magic at the Max (and hasn’t aged, apparently), and Slater is more than happy to show off his dance moves. 

John Michael Riggins is also great as Bayside’s current principal, Ronald Toddman, who has Mr. Belding vibes in spades while embodying a character all his own. 

The series leans heavily into nostalgia and includes several other fun details I won’t spoil. But those details are largely in the background of a brand new story. The focus, after all, is on a new generation of Bayside students.

It’s established that Bayside is full of privileged kids, including Zack and Kelly’s son Mac (Mitchell Hoog) and Jessie’s son Jamie (Belmont Cameli). Also in their group of friends is Lexi (Josie Totah), one of the most popular girls in school who we learn early on is transgender — a detail that is introduced as simply that, a detail, which in itself earns points for the way this story is being told.

Their group of friends expands when another high school is forced to shut down thanks to Zack Morris, who is now governor and clearly isn’t great at the job. The students at Douglas High are displaced after budget cuts and are then sent to Bayside High — a culture shock for everyone involved.

We see Bayside through the eyes of Daisy (Haskiri Velazquez), Aisha (Alycia Pascual-Pena), and Devante (Dexter Darden), who can’t believe how fancy their new school is, how often the students eat at the Max (I’ve been wondering that for years), and how much the students there are able to get away with.

Their integration into the new school and the issues they face there are at the heart of the series. Assumptions are made about them based on their race and social status that allow for more compelling storytelling than the original series was ever able to offer.

That’s not to say the original didn’t tackle topical issues, but for the time period, it was certainly limited. The new Saved by the Bell tackles issues like racism and bias in a more thoughtful way, due in large part to the fact that it’s made for a somewhat older audience. Tonally, this won’t work for the same age group that watched the original series.

Speaking of the tone, another thing that makes this all work so well is the way the series sort of artfully shifts its tone from the one we know from the 90s to one that’s current. It’s a move between camera angles, lighting, and music that’s just subtle enough to work. 

This story isn’t just about the students or about the fun details from the original cast members. It allows for focus on Slater and Jessie in particular, actually showing how their characters have grown and developed over the years, and giving them their own lessons to learn now.

Each of them has work they need to do on themselves which feels exactly right considering their original characters.   

For Zack and Kelly though, the same isn’t true, which is unfortunate. It’s Zack’s voice we hear on the series first, and it’s funny the way he’s portrayed — still a prankster who makes a lot of bad choices.

But the more you see Zack and Kelly, the more both characters feel like caricatures of their original selves, and that’s disappointing. It’s almost as if both characters went backward a bit in development.

They are both over the top versions of the kids we knew 30 years ago, and not in a cute way. Perhaps that’s part of why this revival is being called a “re-imagining,” but it’s one of the weakest parts of the series.

It’s disappointing, too, that even though we do get a chance to see what Lisa Turtle is up to, it’s not that much. No one is surprised that Screech isn’t there, but the good news is, there’s a pretty great explanation given as to why. Just wait for that little detail.

Overall, this is truly a much more substantial story than I expected as a viewer. The sheer idea of a new Saved by the Bell was going to draw me in — I’m one of those die-hard fans who watched the series on repeat throughout my childhood and even into my adult years at times.

The payoff for that type of fan is definitely there — if you know the series backward and forwards, you’re going to appreciate even the smallest of details, not to mention, it’s just a lot of fun to see these characters brought to life again.

But once that novelty wears off, what’s there is a story with new characters that I’m already invested in and thoroughly enjoy watching. 

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Will you be watching the new Saved by the Bell? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Saved by the Bell premieres this Wednesday on Peacock.

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