Okay, so I'm writing this 15 page paper on Saved by the Bell...because we can write about whatever we want and I have both box sets and love the show etc. My thesis is that SBTB was really the beginning of teen shows, and others that follow now deal with similar issues. So if anyone can help me with any history of how the show got started or was developed, any links, any themes you think I should mention...I plan on discussing miscommunication in relationships, equality of the sexes, unfaithfulness, money issues/job/gambling, school spirit/sports/ rivalry...and that's all I have so far. Anything that anyone could add would be extremely helpful. Thanks!

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Carrie has a lot of history information there for you to read. Another great topic you can discuss is the show's educational value outside the classroom. (drugs, drinking and driving, social issues, etc). If you need any insight on that I think I can help. Let me know by e-mailing me.

Great topic! There's actually a lot to discuss since it was a kid's show so they often tried to teach the kids lessons. Such as when Zack and them were drunk and they got in a car wreck and they had to deal with how they were going to tell their parents and fixing Lisa's mom's car. And Jessie taking the caffeine pills that she thought were helping her, but they were actually making matters worse.

But you don't want to make it too complex. That'd be a huge paper. I'd keep to talking about one category like life lessons or communication, not both.

yes it is a lot...my paper is supposed to be 15 to 20 pages though

Although, I think some of your topics will work, I am not quite sure how meaningful they can be to really convey the show's place in TV. But anyways, I was asked once for help for a paper, as well. And this person asked what I thought about the show "being educational". And here is what I wrote to her. I think that this topic in your paper can be a lot more meaningful and prove how SBTB has set it's place in pop culture for a very long time.

This is my take....

SBTB did tackle some occasional educational teenage issues that faced them outside the classroom. At first, it was your typical fun and quirky kind of Saturday Morning show. Of course, it was still this for the rest of its run, but Peter Engel and the other writers believed it was a good time to talk about the real issues that faced kids at that time. Being that it was so popular and many kids watched it, I think it was very important to tackle the occasional issues kids faced everyday. For example, it was the very first show on Saturday morning that tackled the issue of addiction ("Jessie's Song"), drinking and driving ("Drinking and Driving") and Marijuana ("No Hope with Dope"). It also tackled some social issues, like disabilities ("Teen-Line"), the importance of inner beauty ("Date Auction") and the reality of the homeless community (Home for Christmas 1 and 2). And it taught kids the importance of Education as we saw each of the characters struggle to make the grade persue college careers.

In all of these episodes, the outcomes were positive and taught the audience the right things to do. Let's face it, every kid and teenager gets influenced by what they see on TV. I think that during this time (the early 90's), so many teen advocates were out there to teach kids the right things to do. (For example, D.A.R.E, "The More You Know" commercials on NBC, Do the Right Thing program, etc.) I believe that SBTB was one of the first, if only, kids/tweens show that went ahead and made several episodes educational to get the word out. Of course, Peter Engel went on to create even more shows that tackled even more teen issues later on.

Now why didn't they tackle the issue of premarital sex? This is Peter Engel's response from an online interview a sister site of mine was able to do, "We never tackled sex because of the younger members of the audience. I didn't want the parents of those viewers to lose faith in us. We did some sexually related shows on Hang Time and All About Us."

Of course, SBTB isn't your typical PBS educational show that taught you how to count numbers and say the alphabet, if that is what the controversy is about. In this day in age, there is a lot more to educational TV than there was back in the early television days. But considering it was based on 6 high school students who, for example, didn't do drugs, didn't have premarital sex, or steal like we have grown to see on many other teenage shows currently, I think it has become a staple in teen TV programming today even considering it is so innocent, yet it can teach the average teenager some of the right things to do. Knowing that its probably airing in some country right now proves this show did something right.

Thanks a lot for all your help. This really gives me a more solid foundation to write my paper on. I do plan to discuss the educational ("real issues") aspect of the show, like the consistent theme of equality among the sexes and perserving our environment. I did want to compare it to other shows of the time, but it seems that this would be irrelevant, since there didn't seem to be any high school setting shows around. If there's anything else you could think of that'd be great.

Let us know what grade you get! And if you wouldn't mind to share, I would love to read your final thoughts. :)