Okay, this has been bugging me for a long time. Where do the Tori episodes fit into the SBTB timeline? I saw the episode where the original crew graduates, and then I see them back at Bayside with Tori and minus Jesse and Kelly...so when the heck was this supposed to be? And why did they add Tori?

My understanding is that Kelly & Jessie wanted to leave the show halfway through the Senior Year season, so they only filmed half a season's worth of episodes (including graduation). However, the producers wanted to continue the series, so they added the Tori character as a replacement.

The Tori episodes are also supposed to take place during Senior Year, and they were originally mixed in with the Kelly/Jessie episodes to give that impression. However, they're probably shown separately in syndication because they were filmed much later.

That makes sense. I've only seen the episodes in syndication, where they usually play all the Tori episodes in a block.

Thanks for the explanation!

Tiffani and Elizabeth had filmed the graduation episode along with the regular cast with the impression that it was going be the final episode. However, out of nowhere NBC ordered more episodes for the final season, and when the producers asked the actors to come back, Tiffani and Elizabeth had already become involved with other projects and couldn't film the extra eps. the network wanted.

Because the two actresses couldn't return, the producers decided to find a replacement for the last few episodes, and Leanna Creel was the girl. And like Michael said, the "Tori" episodes actually aired mixed with the "Kelly" and "Jessie" ones during the original run.