These are several reasons that may direct to the ultimate failure of this show in spite of the fact that it actually ran longer than Saved By the Bell:
-The frequent cast changes throughout the show's run made things very hard from the standpoint of establishing all out familiarity. It's a bit difficult to be interested in seeing the characters grow if we're seriously expecting them to leave pretty soon afterwards. This sort of thing just became a predictable, tiresome, and repetitious process that showed some signs of a certain lack of faith from the producers.

-The absolutely lazy and lame writing seemed to always have a major presence on the show. We often got uninspired and flat punch-lines (the jokes seemed to tend to come too far in-between by the way) and predictable slapstick. This stuff was supplied with little else than the artificial laugh track behind it.

-The characters from the original Saved By the Bell that were on Saved By the Bell: The New Class seemed to be reduced to being essentially charactures of themselves. In the process, they were just placed in a bunch of absolutely meaningless and almost pointless subplots.

-The ever growing belief from certain viewers that there have been episodes that came off like virtual carbon-copies of episodes from the original Saved By the Bell.

-The repeated talking down (in an almost shallow and/or unrelatable manner) that surrounded episodes as the wrapped themselves up. The episodes would toss in a ton of contrived, corny, and artificial moral and ethicial aspects. It simply felt like episodes tended to grow uneven and/or lack in a strong sense of flow and momentum.

The "New Class" was Ok for a while, but there were so many cast changes, I got tired of it by 1998. Every season for the first few years, 3 cast members were dropped and then 3 new people were brought in. It is lame how they tried to make it look like they all knew each other since the 4th grade.

And another thing, I absolutely hate how Screech's voice changes in the 4th season of the new class. That was truly aggravating.

Originally posted by ThomasE:
And another thing, I absolutely hate how Screech's voice changes in the 4th season of the new class. That was truly aggravating.

That's absolutely true when it comes to the voice change. It simply felt extremely pathetic and brutal to be relagated to seeing Dustin Diamond be reduced to some highly one-note cartoon character. You can clearly sense that the show was running low on ideas so they simply opted to force the comedy instead.

Zack, Kelly, Jesse, Slater, and Lisa all looked mature for their ages even though they were teenagers. So watching SBTB was like watching an actual adult sitcom. "The New Class" looked younger and smaller than the original cast, even though they were teens as well, alebit five years later. Watching them made it feel like you were watching a show for little kids, not one that could be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. It's interesting to note though that Screech was closer in age to many of the "New Class" members than he was to the original group.

I think the New Class is considered reasonable but the setting should never be in both Bayside and Valley areas. Bayside and Valley are both considered ableist and ageist public co-ed high schools permanently.

There should be a new public co-ed high school which is neither ableist nor ageist and is not like either Bayside or Valley types for the entire new class series to be in for all new class students to learn and also Screech to work in. Belding would not a correct choice to work for this new public co-ed high school, along the way.

Zack, Kelly, Jesse, Slater, and Lisa all looked mature for their ages even though they were teenagers.
I second this. To me, Slater looked way older when he said during the drivers ed episode that he was going to hit 16 the following week.

God bless you always!!! :) :) :)

Holly

Zack, Kelly, Jesse, Slater, and Lisa all looked mature for their ages even though they were teenagers. So watching SBTB was like watching an actual adult sitcom. "The New Class" looked younger and smaller than the original cast, even though they were teens as well, alebit five years later. Watching them made it feel like you were watching a show for little kids, not one that could be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. It's interesting to note though that Screech was closer in age to many of the "New Class" members than he was to the original group.

Don't forget about Belding, he also looked mature for their ages, even though he was an adult. I think Screech and "The New Class" should be in a different public co-ed high school rather than both Bayside and Valley because this type of different public co-ed high school should be neither ableist nor ageist and without absolute power. Not only that, both Bayside and Valley are considered both ableist and ageist types of public co-ed high schools with too much absolute power for both Screech and "The new class", IMO.

I think "The New Class" would've worked had it not been for the frequent cast changes. Having Dustin Diamond reprise his role as the bumbling (and hopelessly inept) Samuel "Screech" Powers beginning in the second season until its cancellation five years later always seemed like a desperate ploy (not to mention a cop out) by the producers--and NBC--to hang on to their ever-aging tween and teen audience.

To this day, I'm still boggled by the fact that "The New Class" aired for seven interminable seasons; hell, the original "SBTB" lasted four years and there were no cast changes throughout its run (with the exception of Leanna Creel as the leather-clad, Harley-riding iconoclast Tori Scott in season four).

I think the producers of "The New Class" should've stuck with only one cast from its debut; that way, the characters would've had a chance to mature from precocious teens into responsible adults. In my opinion, the season two (1994-95) cast--Christian Oliver, Sarah Lancaster, Spankee Rodgers, Jonathan Angel, Bianca Lawson, and Natalia Cigliuti--was the best "New Class" cast. Had the cast lineup of Oliver, Lancaster, Rodgers, Angel, Lawson, and Cigliuti remained intact for the next four years, "The New Class" might've had a chance to stand on its own as a genuine continuation of the original "SBTB" and not a full-blown carbon copy of it (reminiscent of "The New Class'" infamous first season).

Enjoy your evening, everyone!

I think "The New Class" would've worked had it not been for the frequent cast changes. Having Dustin Diamond reprise his role as the bumbling (and hopelessly inept) Samuel "Screech" Powers beginning in the second season until its cancellation five years later always seemed like a desperate ploy (not to mention a cop out) by the producers--and NBC--to hang on to their ever-aging tween and teen audience.

To this day, I'm still boggled by the fact that "The New Class" aired for seven interminable seasons; hell, the original "SBTB" lasted four years and there were no cast changes throughout its run (with the exception of Leanna Creel as the leather-clad, Harley-riding iconoclast Tori Scott in season four).

I think the producers of "The New Class" should've stuck with only one cast from its debut; that way, the characters would've had a chance to mature from precocious teens into responsible adults. In my opinion, the season two (1994-95) cast--Christian Oliver, Sarah Lancaster, Spankee Rodgers, Jonathan Angel, Bianca Lawson, and Natalia Cigliuti--was the best "New Class" cast. Had the cast lineup of Oliver, Lancaster, Rodgers, Angel, Lawson, and Cigliuti remained intact for the next four years, "The New Class" might've had a chance to stand on its own as a genuine continuation of the original "SBTB" and not a full-blown carbon copy of it (reminiscent of "The New Class'" infamous first season).

Enjoy your evening, everyone!
No matter how good or bad Dustin/Screech was in the New Class 2nd season, he got along with Oliver, Lancaster, Rodgers, Angel, Lawson and Cigliuti well and these six didn't find him that quite annoying at all. Also, even if he annoyed Dennis/Belding along the way, that I'm not concerned at all. But on the bottom line, both Bayside and Valley are not the best fits for both Dustin/Screech and these six because it has been revealed both public high schools are considered both ableists and ageists, even Dennis/Belding is also considered both ableist and ageist along the way, TBH, IMO.

If they reboot the original class without having problematic incidents on both ableisms and ageisms revealed, then there's no need to reboot nor bring up the new class ever again, IMO.

-The absolutely lazy and lame writing seemed to always have a major presence on the show. We often got uninspired and flat punch-lines (the jokes seemed to tend to come too far in-between by the way) and predictable slapstick. This stuff was supplied with little else than the artificial laugh track behind it.



It's probably fault of the entire Saved By The Bell New Class crewmember group who caused absolutely lazy and lame writing in the New Class. Although, I might be concerned that the entire Saved By The Bell New Class crewmember might be badly drugged too, even if they didn't know about it at all, TBH, IMO.

if you are beating your head against the wall trying to come up with reasons why SBTB: The New Class failed, then you probably don't have very good grasp of spatial reasoning and could never have graduated from Bayside High to begin with.

if you are beating your head against the wall trying to come up with reasons why SBTB: The New Class failed, then you probably don't have very good grasp of spatial reasoning and could never have graduated from Bayside High to begin with.

Hold it right there, robyrob, I'm not completely beating my head yet, but I do have a really very good grasp of spatial reasoning and there's no time to mention about "Bayside High to begin with".

The New Class should never be in both Bayside and Valley High Schools at all because they're both considered permanent ableist and ageist types of public high schools, plain and simple.

I was reading the Saved by the Bell subreddit since the reboot is now out, and the subject came about why The New Class changed its cast so frequently (https://www.reddit.com/r/SavedByTheBell/comments/jnmf6b/what_was_the_reason_the_new_class_changed_the/gb4f4dr/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). According to Dennis Haskins, the main reason was the lack of chemistry and acting ability with a lot of the kids. Recycling scripts in Season One didn't help them get off to a great start either. He also said that out of all the kids he worked with in seven seasons of The New Class, the only one he kept in contact with was Jonathan Angel (Tommy D).

I was reading the Saved by the Bell subreddit since the reboot is now out, and the subject came about why The New Class changed its cast so frequently (https://www.reddit.com/r/SavedByTheBell/comments/jnmf6b/what_was_the_reason_the_new_class_changed_the/gb4f4dr/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). According to Dennis Haskins, the main reason was the lack of chemistry and acting ability with a lot of the kids. Recycling scripts in Season One didn't help them get off to a great start either. He also said that out of all the kids he worked with in seven seasons of The New Class, the only one he kept in contact with was Jonathan Angel (Tommy D).

Yeah, even if the New Class should never have been created or should have been alternatively, then the New Class should have a different public high school setting that should have never have been taking place in either Bayside type or Valley type or similar at all, TBH, IMO.

If Wigfield cannot let go of both that Screech character and that New Class sitcom situation, then this what should been as proposed:

1.) The New Class should have a new public high school setting, which is never a Bayside nor Valley nor similar types.

2.) The six first-season New Class clones of the first original-run class should be rebooted without problems on continuances each.

3.) The new principal of this new setting type has to be a new clone type from Belding, but no discrimination incident type.

4.) If necessary, the Screech will be rebooted and then added along the way as an non-annoying assistant, but it has to be played by a new actor than Dustin Diamond, TBH, IMO.

It went for 7 years, I would not call it a failure

I mean it ran for 7 seasons and something like 140 plus episodes, I wouldn't call it a failure. But I will agree that it did suffer from lazy writing, poor casting and generally is not well-regarded, and has mostly been forgotten.

I was never meant to be anything more than a money grab from NBC/Peter Engel Productions. It was meant to extend the SBTB franchise, but ultimately is a blemish on the franchise.

I mean it ran for 7 seasons and something like 140 plus episodes, I wouldn't call it a failure. But I will agree that it did suffer from lazy writing, poor casting and generally is not well-regarded, and has mostly been forgotten.

I was never meant to be anything more than a money grab from NBC/Peter Engel Productions. It was meant to extend the SBTB franchise, but ultimately is a blemish on the franchise.

I agree with that, it should have never been made

It has to do with abused real-life of SBTB creator Sam Bobrick more often and what makes new class suffer in lazy writing, poor casting and not generally well-regarded has to do with it entire new class crewmember group being completely drugged along the way.

It wouldn't be considered never-made if the new class setting is neither in Bayside nor Valley or similar which should have also resulted on getting Belding clone included, TBH, IMO.

I agree with that, it should have never been made

I too wouldn't necessarily consider the series an out and out "failure" if it ran for 140 odd episodes over the course of seven seasons. And the person behind the old Saved by the Bell Reviewed (https://web.archive.org/web/20200126210127/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/01/09/saved-by-the-bell-the-new-class-reviewed/) blog would have a better perspective for why it may have been looked at as a failure than I do.

I think that people look at The New Class is that even though it lasted longer than any other SBTB incarnation (not counting of course, 2020 revival) it's considered the "black sheep" of the franchise. Even Good Morning, Miss Bliss is held in greater reverence by fans since it's retroactively, a prequel of sorts (since it had Zack, Lisa, Screech, and Mr. Belding) to the main series.

Also, I suspect that The New Class was merely viewed as a means for NBC to milk the Saved by the Bell franchise as far as they could, since at the time the main series went off the air in 1993, it was still hugely successful. It didn't seem to come out as a genuine creative endeavor or as a way to bring a different perspective to the franchise (like The College Years attempted to do). It just felt like they were doing the old show all over again, but with less talented and/or charismatic actors or engaging characters.

I agree with that, it should have never been made

There really wasn't any point for The New Class (https://web.archive.org/web/20200126210127/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/01/09/saved-by-the-bell-the-new-class-reviewed/) to be made now that I think about it. It wasn't like it had anything new (no pun intended) to say since Mr. Belding was still the principal at Bayside and Screech come Season 2, was back there also.

It just felt to a lot of people (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/SavedByTheBellTheNewClass), like a watered down, Diet Coke version the original SBTB. The New Class (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/SavedByTheBellTheNewClass) if I'm not mistaken, was often criticized for recycling plots from the original series and having characters (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SavedByTheBellTheNewClass) who were not too far removed from their predecessors.

Maybe in hindsight, Peter Engel and his crew shouldn't have done The New Class. NBC probably should've brought in some fresh blood, so that the franchise wouldn't have felt like it was merely repeating itself.

It clearly wasn't a "failure", since it ran for seven seasons. But I don't think I ever watched a full episode, and it just felt like a cheap knock-off of a show that itself was kind of a knock-off of better shows.

Yeah, even if the New Class should never have been created or should have been alternatively, then the New Class should have a different public high school setting that should have never have been taking place in either Bayside type or Valley type or similar at all, TBH, IMO.

If Wigfield cannot let go of both that Screech character and that New Class sitcom situation, then this what should been as proposed:

1.) The New Class should have a new public high school setting, which is never a Bayside nor Valley nor similar types.

2.) The six first-season New Class clones of the first original-run class should be rebooted without problems on continuances each.

3.) The new principal of this new setting type has to be a new clone type from Belding, but no discrimination incident type.

4.) If necessary, the Screech will be rebooted and then added along the way as an non-annoying assistant, but it has to be played by a new actor than Dustin Diamond, TBH, IMO.

Somebody on the old Saved by the Bell Reviewed blog presented (https://web.archive.org/web/20200126210127/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/01/09/saved-by-the-bell-the-new-class-reviewed/#comment-4257) an actually seriously plausible theory for why people kept coming and going on The New Class:

Season 1: Vickie, Scott and Weasel are fired since Peter Engel didn’t like them. Rachel signs a contract to be s full time cast member.

Season 2: Christian Oliver is let out of his contract to go shoot Babysitters Club. Bianca Lawson doesn’t resign and Spankee is let go for stinking. Tommy and Lindsay sign a year contract extension.

Season 3: Lindsay and Tommy move on and don’t resign RJ is released for sucking.

Season 5: Rachel doesn’t resign after her initial three year contract is up.

Season 6: Ryan’s contract is up and knowing it’s the last season he probably requests more money and is told to pound sand. Maria doesn’t ask for one and stays on or is given a small incentive raise to stay on.


Basically, the original cast likely only had two year contracts each, since it was only slated to run for two years at first. After that, it was probably three years since no one save Maria (Samantha Becker Esteban) was on past three.

There really wasn't any point for The New Class (https://web.archive.org/web/20200126210127/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/01/09/saved-by-the-bell-the-new-class-reviewed/) to be made now that I think about it. It wasn't like it had anything new (no pun intended) to say since Mr. Belding was still the principal at Bayside and Screech come Season 2, was back there also.

It just felt to a lot of people (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/SavedByTheBellTheNewClass), like a watered down, Diet Coke version the original SBTB. The New Class (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/SavedByTheBellTheNewClass) if I'm not mistaken, was often criticized for recycling plots from the original series and having characters (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SavedByTheBellTheNewClass) who were not too far removed from their predecessors.

Maybe in hindsight, Peter Engel and his crew shouldn't have done The New Class. NBC probably should've brought in some fresh blood, so that the franchise wouldn't have felt like it was merely repeating itself.

It should not have been a failure yet, but it's already been reasonable about the way the New Class sitcom was created. Although, the new class crewmember should have been drugged resulting in bad lines, but the problem is The New Class sitcom setting should've never been taking place in either Bayside or Valley or similar high school types at all, TBH, IMO.

It clearly wasn't a "failure", since it ran for seven seasons. But I don't think I ever watched a full episode, and it just felt like a cheap knock-off of a show that itself was kind of a knock-off of better shows.

Again to take what the Saved by the Bell Reviewed blog said (https://web.archive.org/web/20200126210127/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/01/09/saved-by-the-bell-the-new-class-reviewed/), while The New Class did run for seven seasons and was the flagship show for NBC's TNBC block, it otherwise has virtually no staying power (https://randomevolved.com/2021/03/why-saved-by-the-bell-the-new-class-is-forgotten/).

It hasn't been syndicated in (at the time when that was written) over a decade. The last time that I recall or was aware of The New Class airing on TV somewhere other than NBC, was when it aired on the USA Network around the time that they had USA High. And that was I want to say at the latest, in 2001. To add insult to injury, the DVDs are said to be out of print now.

It clearly wasn't a "failure", since it ran for seven seasons. But I don't think I ever watched a full episode, and it just felt like a cheap knock-off of a show that itself was kind of a knock-off of better shows.

It has to do with real-life antisemitic-abuse of original SBTB creator Sam Bobrick. It would have been proved not to be a failure if the new class setting would neither be a Bayside nor Valley nor similar type of public high school types.

Season 1: Vickie, Scott and Weasel are fired since Peter Engel didn’t like them. Rachel signs a contract to be s full time cast member.

Season 2: Christian Oliver is let out of his contract to go shoot Babysitters Club. Bianca Lawson doesn’t resign and Spankee is let go for stinking. Tommy and Lindsay sign a year contract extension.

Season 3: Lindsay and Tommy move on and don’t resign RJ is released for sucking.

Season 5: Rachel doesn’t resign after her initial three year contract is up.

Season 6: Ryan’s contract is up and knowing it’s the last season he probably requests more money and is told to pound sand. Maria doesn’t ask for one and stays on or is given a small incentive raise to stay on.


Basically, the original cast likely only had two year contracts each, since it was only slated to run for two years at first. After that, it was probably three years since no one save Maria (Samantha Becker Esteban) was on past three.

If Engel would have liked Vicki, Weasel and Scott altogether alternatively, then that new class setting should neither have been in Bayside nor Valley nor similar public high school types, plus none of these replacements, except for Maria, would have existed.

If Engel would have liked Vicki, Weasel and Scott altogether alternatively, then that new class setting should neither have been in Bayside nor Valley nor similar public high school types, plus none of these replacements, except for Maria, would have existed.

According to Dustin Diamond's book (https://web.archive.org/web/20190124161410/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/01/23/behind-the-bell/), Behind the Bell, Robert Sutherland Telfer (Scott) was let go after the first season because he had very conservative beliefs. The writer behind the Saved by the Bell Reviewed (https://web.archive.org/web/20190124151326/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/category/all-the-new-class-episodes/the-new-class-recaps/) blog finds that claim to be bizarre because Peter Engel once served as dean of Pat Robertson’s Regent University. Not to get too political, but you can't get much more conservative than Pat Robertson.

Peter Engel himself would write (https://web.archive.org/web/20190124161410/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/03/06/i-was-saved-by-the-bell/) that he was rushed to find a cast (https://web.archive.org/web/20190124161410/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/01/03/whos-useless-a-ranking-of-the-new-classs-characters/) for the first season (https://web.archive.org/web/20190124151326/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2014/07/09/the-new-class-season-1-recap/) because of a deal to have them on Kellogg’s cereal boxes. So Engel went with a group of actors he wasn’t completely confident in.

According to Dustin Diamond's book (https://web.archive.org/web/20190124161410/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/01/23/behind-the-bell/), Behind the Bell, Robert Sutherland Telfer (Scott) was let go after the first season because he had very conservative beliefs. The writer behind the Saved by the Bell Reviewed (https://web.archive.org/web/20190124151326/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/category/all-the-new-class-episodes/the-new-class-recaps/) blog finds that claim to be bizarre because Peter Engel once served as dean of Pat Robertson’s Regent University. Not to get too political, but you can't get much more conservative than Pat Robertson.

Peter Engel himself would write (https://web.archive.org/web/20190124161410/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/03/06/i-was-saved-by-the-bell/) that he was rushed to find a cast (https://web.archive.org/web/20190124161410/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/01/03/whos-useless-a-ranking-of-the-new-classs-characters/) for the first season (https://web.archive.org/web/20190124151326/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2014/07/09/the-new-class-season-1-recap/) because of a deal to have them on Kellogg’s cereal boxes. So Engel went with a group of actors he wasn’t completely confident in.

That might be a seriously severe case that Tefler was too closely to SBTB creator Sam Bobrick, TBH, IMO...

I also suspect that one big reason why Peter Engel's shows may have been derivative and interchangeable (https://web.archive.org/web/20190520064414/http://www.californiadreamsreviewed.com/2017/04/05/season-3-recap/) of one another is that Engel was spreading himself too thin. There was a time in which, almost the entire Saturday morning block on NBC was made up of his shows. Besides the original Saved by the Bell, he was doing California Dreams, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Hang Time (come the second season), City Guys, One World, as well as his non-NBC shows like USA High and Malibu, CA. Engel himself said in his book that around the time of California Dreams' fourth season (https://web.archive.org/web/20190520064414/http://www.californiadreamsreviewed.com/2017/07/19/season-4-recap/), he was overstretched and going for quantity over quality.

I didn't like the fact that the first season cast were basically clones of the old Bayside gang, I knew of the many cast changes later seasons but I was getting burned out with SBTB by then

I didn't like the fact that the first season cast were basically clones of the old Bayside gang, I knew of the many cast changes later seasons but I was getting burned out with SBTB by then

The setting of the new class sitcom should neither be in Bayside nor Valley nor similar type of public high school, that's why, Mace.

I think "The New Class" would've worked had it not been for the frequent cast changes. Having Dustin Diamond reprise his role as the bumbling (and hopelessly inept) Samuel "Screech" Powers beginning in the second season until its cancellation five years later always seemed like a desperate ploy (not to mention a cop out) by the producers--and NBC--to hang on to their ever-aging tween and teen audience.

To this day, I'm still boggled by the fact that "The New Class" aired for seven interminable seasons; hell, the original "SBTB" lasted four years and there were no cast changes throughout its run (with the exception of Leanna Creel as the leather-clad, Harley-riding iconoclast Tori Scott in season four).

I think the producers of "The New Class" should've stuck with only one cast from its debut; that way, the characters would've had a chance to mature from precocious teens into responsible adults. In my opinion, the season two (1994-95) cast--Christian Oliver, Sarah Lancaster, Spankee Rodgers, Jonathan Angel, Bianca Lawson, and Natalia Cigliuti--was the best "New Class" cast. Had the cast lineup of Oliver, Lancaster, Rodgers, Angel, Lawson, and Cigliuti remained intact for the next four years, "The New Class" might've had a chance to stand on its own as a genuine continuation of the original "SBTB" and not a full-blown carbon copy of it (reminiscent of "The New Class'" infamous first season).

Enjoy your evening, everyone!

I want to believe that the biggest stumbling block if you will with The New Class is that at the end of the day, it really wasn't a show (https://web.archive.org/web/20200126210127/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/01/09/saved-by-the-bell-the-new-class-reviewed/) about teenagers like the original Saved by the Bell (https://www.reddit.com/r/SavedByTheBell/comments/cx10l6/already_almost_done_with_sbtb_and_i_wished_it_ran/) was.

Mr. Belding and Screech (https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/em87d/til_that_saved_by_the_bell_the_new_class_had_more/) were the only two consistent (https://www.reddit.com/r/SavedByTheBell/comments/jnmf6b/what_was_the_reason_the_new_class_changed_the/) characters during the show's entire run. And there always had to be some sort of subplot between the two no matter how contrived or ridiculous it may have been.

So as the SBTB Reviewed blog argues, it was a show that didn't have any real, discernable identity outside of always trying to imitate (https://forum.popjustice.com/threads/saved-by-the-bell.59742/#post-4316143) its predecessor.

I want to believe that the biggest stumbling block if you will with The New Class is that at the end of the day, it really wasn't a show (https://web.archive.org/web/20200126210127/http://www.savedbythebellreviewed.com/2017/01/09/saved-by-the-bell-the-new-class-reviewed/) about teenagers like the original Saved by the Bell (https://www.reddit.com/r/SavedByTheBell/comments/cx10l6/already_almost_done_with_sbtb_and_i_wished_it_ran/) was.

Mr. Belding and Screech (https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/em87d/til_that_saved_by_the_bell_the_new_class_had_more/) were the only two consistent (https://www.reddit.com/r/SavedByTheBell/comments/jnmf6b/what_was_the_reason_the_new_class_changed_the/) characters during the show's entire run. And there always had to be some sort of subplot between the two no matter how contrived or ridiculous it may have been.

So as the SBTB Reviewed blog argues, it was a show that didn't have any real, discernable identity outside of always trying to imitate (https://forum.popjustice.com/threads/saved-by-the-bell.59742/#post-4316143) its predecessor.

The new class was based on the abused real-life of former deceased original SBTB creator Sam Bobrick's, on the first place, although, secondly, the new class setting should neither be a Bayside or Valley types of public high schools at all, TBH, IMO.

I also suspect that one big reason why Peter Engel's shows may have been derivative and interchangeable (https://web.archive.org/web/20190520064414/http://www.californiadreamsreviewed.com/2017/04/05/season-3-recap/) of one another is that Engel was spreading himself too thin. There was a time in which, almost the entire Saturday morning block on NBC was made up of his shows. Besides the original Saved by the Bell, he was doing California Dreams, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Hang Time (come the second season), City Guys, One World, as well as his non-NBC shows like USA High and Malibu, CA. Engel himself said in his book that around the time of California Dreams' fourth season (https://web.archive.org/web/20190520064414/http://www.californiadreamsreviewed.com/2017/07/19/season-4-recap/), he was overstretched and going for quantity over quality.
Peter Engel was the J.J. Abrams of 90s teen shows!

Peter Engel was the J.J. Abrams of 90s teen shows!

More like the Chuck Lorre of nineties teen/tween television, if you ask me. To be perfectly honest (and completely blunt), Engel cranked out one teen sitcom after the next throughout the nineties, well into the new millennium...for better or for worse (and I'm definitely leaning towards "worse"), Engel truly had NBC by the balls--as well as an unbreakable stranglehold on live-action Saturday morning entertainment--way back in the day; Engel may have had the best intentions (and ambitions) back then, but Norman Lear he definitely wasn't.

I didn't like the fact that the first season cast were basically clones of the old Bayside gang, I knew of the many cast changes later seasons but I was getting burned out with SBTB by then

I enthusiastically concur. It was painfully obvious that all of the characters introduced during "Saved By The Bell: The New Class'" inaugural season in the autumn of '93 were direct--not to mention blatant--carbon copies of the original "SBTB" cast...case in point: Scott Erickson (Robert Sutherland Telfer) was essentially a poor man's Zack (much like his predecessor, he would even break the fourth wall on occasion during the episode and comment on the shenanigans going on); Isaac Lidsky's character, Barton "Weasel" Wyzell, was virtually a dead ringer for Screech; Megan Jones (Bianca Lawson) was an amalgam of both Lisa and Jessie; Jonathan Angel's character, leather jacket-wearing rebel Tommy "Tommy D" DeLuca, was clearly a stand-in for Slater; Lindsay Warner (Natalia Cigliuti) became a Kelly clone; and Vicki Noodleman (Bonnie Russavage) was nothing more than a far more neurotic (and far more annoying) Jessie wannabe.

I enthusiastically concur. It was painfully obvious that all of the characters introduced during "Saved By The Bell: The New Class'" inaugural season in the autumn of '93 were direct--not to mention blatant--carbon copies of the original "SBTB" cast...case in point: Scott Erickson (Robert Sutherland Telfer) was essentially a poor man's Zack (much like his predecessor, he would even break the fourth wall on occasion during the episode and comment on the shenanigans going on); Isaac Lidsky's character, Barton "Weasel" Wyzell, was virtually a dead ringer for Screech; Megan Jones (Bianca Lawson) was an amalgam of both Lisa and Jessie; Jonathan Angel's character, leather jacket-wearing rebel Tommy "Tommy D" DeLuca, was clearly a stand-in for Slater; Lindsay Warner (Natalia Cigliuti) became a Kelly clone; and Vicki Noodleman (Bonnie Russavage) was nothing more than a far more neurotic (and far more annoying) Jessie wannabe.

Also, first of all, the new class setting should never be a Bayside nor a Valley Public High School type. Next, there should have a cloned principal Belding type to support all the new class first season student characters along the way.

Also, first of all, the new class setting should never be a Bayside nor a Valley Public High School type. Next, there should have a cloned principal Belding type to support all the new class first season student characters along the way.

Interesting point, irehtman. Had Engel decided to give the SBTB franchise both a complete overhaul and wiped the slate clean by revamping the aging sitcom altogether and honoring its predecessor while starting over from scratch, The New Class might've stood on its own as a worthy successor to the original SBTB instead of a full-blown rehash of it. In my honest opinion, I would've eliminated the slowly middle-aging Belding (played, of course, by Dennis Haskins) from the franchise completely and replaced him with a by-the-book, Joe Clark-esque authority figure (inspired, obviously, by the Morgan Freeman film Lean On Me) and reduced the number of main characters from six to either four or even possibly three, while making them more realistic and not direct (not to mention overly blatant) copycats of Bayside's class of '93, thus avoiding the criticisms that continue to plague The New Class to this very day.

I've actually watched quite a few scattered episodes of The New Class from its interminable seven-season, 143 episode run, and I'm still quite baffled--not to mention flabbergasted and even appalled--by the frequent (and totally unnecessary) cast changes that occurred throughout its entire existence on NBC's TNBC block on Saturday mornings. To this day, I still don't understand why most of the replacement characters from season three onward--namely Maria Lopez (Samantha Esteban), Ryan Parker (Richard Lee Jackson), R.J. "Hollywood" Collins (Salim Grant), and Tony Dillon (Tom Wade Huntington)--were transfer students from Bayside's "friendly" crosstown rival Valley...surely Engel could've been a little bit more clever than that.

Interesting point, irehtman. Had Engel decided to give the SBTB franchise both a complete overhaul and wiped the slate clean by revamping the aging sitcom altogether and honoring its predecessor while starting over from scratch, The New Class might've stood on its own as a worthy successor to the original SBTB instead of a full-blown rehash of it. In my honest opinion, I would've eliminated the slowly middle-aging Belding (played, of course, by Dennis Haskins) from the franchise completely and replaced him with a by-the-book, Joe Clark-esque authority figure (inspired, obviously, by the Morgan Freeman film Lean On Me) and reduced the number of main characters from six to either four or even possibly three, while making them more realistic and not direct (not to mention overly blatant) copycats of Bayside's class of '93, thus avoiding the criticisms that continue to plague The New Class to this very day.

That's true, but that new class setting of this entire new class sitcom, along the way, should also still be a different public high school type, which is still neither a Bayside nor a Valley high school type, EccentricGenius;6102171.

That's true, but that new class setting of this entire new class sitcom, along the way, should also still be a different public high school type, which is still neither a Bayside nor a Valley high school type, EccentricGenius;6102171.

Good point, irehtman. I completely overlooked that error. SBTB: The New Class should've been set in an inner city high school right shack in the middle of L.A. without any connection whatsoever to either Bayside or Valley.

Thanks for commenting. Enjoy your day, as well as your weekend.

Good point, irehtman. I completely overlooked that error. SBTB: The New Class should've been set in an inner city high school right shack in the middle of L.A. without any connection whatsoever to either Bayside or Valley.

Thanks for commenting. Enjoy your day, as well as your weekend.

Plus, that SBTB: The New Class should also have their principal Belding clone included with the original clones in that inner city high school right shack in the middle of L.A. still without any connection to either Bayside or Valley. But you're welcome, EccentricGenius;6102311 and enjoy your own day, as well as your own weekend too.

And another thing, I absolutely hate how Screech's voice changes in the 4th season of the new class. That was truly aggravating.

I know, right? Screech's altered voice in later episodes of The New Class (from midway through season four until the finale) was truly an abomination; it sounded like a combination of Steve Urkel, Inspector Gadget, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Gilbert Gottfried. I actually preferred Dustin's natural voice as it was...I have no idea why Dustin abruptly decided to tweak his voice during The New Class' fourth season; my theory is that Engel suggested (or demanded) that Dustin be more outrageous and Jim Carrey-esque than he had been previously, even more so than both its predecessor and The College Years.

That's absolutely true when it comes to the voice change. It simply felt extremely pathetic and brutal to be relegated to seeing Dustin Diamond be reduced to some highly one-note cartoon character. You can clearly sense that the show was running low on ideas so they simply opted to force the comedy instead.

I enthusiastically concur, TMC. As I had mentioned to one of the posters (ThomasE) a few minutes ago while responding to his initial post in this thread pertaining to the late Dustin Diamond's abrupt--and completely unnecessary--alteration of his otherwise natural voice during The New Class' fourth season, I theorized that Engel suggested (or demanded) Dustin be more outrageous and Jim Carrey-esque than he had been previously on both its predecessor and even The College Years. Dustin's altered voice from midway through season four until the finale reminded me of a four-way amalgam between Steve Urkel, Inspector Gadget, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Gilbert Gottfried.

It was indeed pathetic--and sad--to see Dustin (and Screech) reduced to nothing more than a live-action cartoon character, complete with a horrible, screechy (no pun intended) voice, in later episodes of The New Class...clearly Engel was ordering the writing staff to incorporate vaudeville-era slapstick comedy--largely performed, obviously, by both Dustin and his longtime co-star Dennis Haskins--into the increasingly mundane and pedestrian scripts to hang on to its rapidly-aging teen/tween audience as The New Class sputtered along on NBC's Saturday morning TNBC block.

I enthusiastically concur, TMC. As I had mentioned to one of the posters (ThomasE) a few minutes ago while responding to his initial post in this thread pertaining to the late Dustin Diamond's abrupt--and completely unnecessary--alteration of his otherwise natural voice during The New Class' fourth season, I theorized that Engel suggested (or demanded) Dustin be more outrageous and Jim Carrey-esque than he had been previously on both its predecessor and even The College Years. Dustin's altered voice from midway through season four until the finale reminded me of a three-way amalgam between Steve Urkel, Inspector Gadget, and Gilbert Gottfried.

It was indeed pathetic--and sad--to see Dustin (and Screech) reduced to nothing more than a live-action cartoon character, complete with a horrible, screechy (no pun intended) voice, in later episodes of The New Class...clearly Engel was ordering the writing staff to incorporate vaudeville-era slapstick comedy--obviously performed by both Dustin and his longtime co-star Dennis Haskins--into the increasingly mundane and pedestrian scripts to hang on to its ever-aging teen audience as The New Class sputtered along on NBC's TNBC block on Saturday mornings.

But there can be a case that the entire New Class crewmember group got unexpectedly drugged through mentality sometime between seasons 3 and 4, which led to ending up:

* Drugging Dustin's screech voice by accident, which should not have.
* Creating wrong lines that cannot be tolerable by too much publicity.

TBH, IMO.

I enthusiastically concur, TMC. As I had mentioned to one of the posters (ThomasE) a few minutes ago while responding to his initial post in this thread pertaining to the late Dustin Diamond's abrupt--and completely unnecessary--alteration of his otherwise natural voice during The New Class' fourth season, I theorized that Engel suggested (or demanded) Dustin be more outrageous and Jim Carrey-esque than he had been previously on both its predecessor and even The College Years. Dustin's altered voice from midway through season four until the finale reminded me of a three-way amalgam between Steve Urkel, Inspector Gadget, and Gilbert Gottfried.

It was indeed pathetic--and sad--to see Dustin (and Screech) reduced to nothing more than a live-action cartoon character, complete with a horrible, screechy (no pun intended) voice, in later episodes of The New Class...clearly Engel was ordering the writing staff to incorporate vaudeville-era slapstick comedy--obviously performed by both Dustin and his longtime co-star Dennis Haskins--into the increasingly mundane and pedestrian scripts to hang on to its ever-aging teen audience as The New Class sputtered along on NBC's TNBC block on Saturday mornings.

There's this show on the Vice TV (https://www.vicetv.com/en_us/show/dark-side-of-comedy) channel called Dark Side of Comedy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Side_of_Comedy). One of the episodes profiled Dustin Diamond. Ron Solomon, who was one of the writers for Saved by the Bell, said that Dustin as an actor, really wanted to evolve Screech as a character. But Dustin according to Ron, didn't know how to do it. And in most cases, a sitcom unfortunately, doesn't allow or permit a character to evolve.

The show then makes note that Dustin became increasingly frustrated on set and started to rebel. And then, Ron explains that at the beginning when Dustin would make that goofy facial expression (where he would almost look towards the camera with his eyes all buggy and wide and his lips would get really tight and crooked) it would be a funny little punchline on something. But as he got older (especially by the time of The New Class), it became more forced and Dustin would gesticulate his neck even more. In Ron's words, it just wasn't funny.

More like the Chuck Lorre of nineties teen/tween television, if you ask me. To be perfectly honest (and completely blunt), Engel cranked out one teen sitcom after the next throughout the nineties, well into the new millennium...for better or for worse (and I'm definitely leaning towards "worse"), Engel truly had NBC by the balls--as well as an unbreakable stranglehold on live-action Saturday morning entertainment--way back in the day; Engel may have had the best intentions (and ambitions) back then, but Norman Lear he definitely wasn't.

I said elsewhere that Peter Engel may have also been a forerunner to Dan Schneider. They both specialized in producing manufactured sitcoms for and about tweens/teens that may or may not have prioritized the marketing aspect over actual storytelling and/or character development.

I enthusiastically concur, TMC. As I had mentioned to one of the posters (ThomasE) a few minutes ago while responding to his initial post in this thread pertaining to the late Dustin Diamond's abrupt--and completely unnecessary--alteration of his otherwise natural voice during The New Class' fourth season, I theorized that Engel suggested (or demanded) Dustin be more outrageous and Jim Carrey-esque than he had been previously on both its predecessor and even The College Years. Dustin's altered voice from midway through season four until the finale reminded me of a three-way amalgam between Steve Urkel, Inspector Gadget, and Gilbert Gottfried.

It was indeed pathetic--and sad--to see Dustin (and Screech) reduced to nothing more than a live-action cartoon character, complete with a horrible, screechy (no pun intended) voice, in later episodes of The New Class...clearly Engel was ordering the writing staff to incorporate vaudeville-era slapstick comedy--largely performed, obviously, by both Dustin and his longtime co-star Dennis Haskins--into the increasingly mundane and pedestrian scripts to hang on to its rapidly-aging teen/tween audience as The New Class sputtered along on NBC's Saturday morning TNBC block.

Screech (https://loathsomecharacters.miraheze.org/wiki/Screech_Powers_(The_College_Years)) was undoubtedly a big time victim of Flanderization (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Flanderization). As TV Tropes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Flanderization/LiveActionTV) perfectly lays it out (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SavedByTheBell), his quirkiness is exaggerated in later seasons of Saved by the Bell to the point where it becomes blatant stupidity. The New Class takes this even farther.

I know, right? Screech's altered voice in later episodes of The New Class (from midway through season four until the finale) was truly an abomination; it sounded like an three-way amalgam of Steve Urkel, Inspector Gadget, and the late Gilbert Gottfried. I actually preferred Dustin's natural voice as it was...I have no idea why Dustin abruptly decided to tweak his voice during The New Class' fourth season; my theory is that Engel suggested (or demanded) that Dustin be more outrageous and Jim Carrey-esque than he had been previously, even more so than both its predecessor and The College Years.

Also, Dustin Diamond simply played the Screech character way too long. He had pretty much done Screech from 1988, when Good Morning, Miss Bliss debuted to the year 2000, when Saved by the Bell: The New Class ended. That's at least, a good 12 years of playing the same person nonstop. Dustin in hindsight, probably should've moved on after The College Years was canceled in 1994.

There really wasn't any real justifiable reason for Screech's continued presence at Bayside other than to remind viewers of the old show. I mean, if Screech is working for Mr. Belding, then does that mean that Screech dropped out of college? And on The New Class, he for all intent and purposes, became the show's Scrappy (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheScrappy). Screech on The New Class was no longer charming or endearing like he was on the original Saved by the Bell series or Good Morning, Miss Bliss.

Screech on The New Class just felt like the weird and creepy guy who keeps hanging out at his old high school even though he's already a grown up and should just move on with his life already. But as the Dark Side of Comedy program explained it, Dustin didn't want to give up an easy paycheck rather than seeking out new challenges. Unfortunately, by the time that The New Class ended, he had become severely typecast as Screech.

There's this show on the Vice TV (https://www.vicetv.com/en_us/show/dark-side-of-comedy) channel called Dark Side of Comedy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Side_of_Comedy). One of the episodes profiled Dustin Diamond. Ron Solomon, who was one of the writers for Saved by the Bell, said that Dustin as an actor, really wanted to evolve Screech as a character. But Dustin according to Ron, didn't know how to do it. And in most cases, a sitcom unfortunately, doesn't allow or permit a character to evolve.

The show then makes note that Dustin became increasingly frustrated on set and started to rebel. And then, Ron explains that at the beginning when Dustin would make that goofy facial expression (where he would almost look towards the camera with his eyes all buggy and wide and his lips would get really tight and crooked) it would be a funny little punchline on something. But as he got older (especially by the time of The New Class), it became more forced and Dustin would gesticulate his neck even more. In Ron's words, it just wasn't funny.

Well, Ron might be either the only one or one of the few members of the New Class crew group that didn't get drugged. But Ron didn't notice that the rest of most the New Class crew group got unexpectedly drugged along the way, back then. Drugs did mess their minds up, especially when they cannot right the correct lines and didn't help Dustin's both real-life mentality and screech character to evolve at the same time in the New Class, TBH, IMO.

Also, Dustin Diamond simply played the Screech character way too long. He had pretty much done Screech from 1988, when Good Morning, Miss Bliss debuted to the year 2000, when Saved by the Bell: The New Class ended. That's at least, a good 12 years of playing the same person nonstop. Dustin in hindsight, probably should've moved on after The College Years was canceled in 1994.

There really wasn't any real justifiable reason for Screech's continued presence at Bayside other than to remind viewers of the old show. I mean, if Screech is working for Mr. Belding, then does that mean that Screech dropped out of college? And on The New Class, he for all intents and purposes, became the show's Scrappy (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheScrappy). Screech on The New Class was no longer charming or endearing like he was on the original Saved by the Bell series or Good Morning, Miss Bliss.

Screech on The New Class just felt like the weird and creepy guy who keeps hanging out at his old high school even though he's already a grown up and should just move on with is life already. But I as the Dark Side of Comedy program explained it, Dustin didn't want to give up an easy paycheck rather than seeking out new challenges. Unfortunately, by the time that The New Class ended had become severely typecast as Screech.

But you didn't noticed that Screech character was based on original SBTB creator Sam Bobrick's antisemitic-abused real-life completely. Dustin was permanently connected to Bobrick rather than his castmates, although Bobrick died in 2019, before Dustin died in 2021.

Also, Dustin Diamond simply played the Screech character way too long. He had pretty much done Screech from 1988, when Good Morning, Miss Bliss debuted to the year 2000, when Saved by the Bell: The New Class ended. That's at least, a good 12 years of playing the same person nonstop. Dustin in hindsight, probably should've moved on after The College Years was canceled in 1994.

There really wasn't any real justifiable reason for Screech's continued presence at Bayside other than to remind viewers of the old show. I mean, if Screech is working for Mr. Belding, then does that mean that Screech dropped out of college? And on The New Class, he for all intents and purposes, became the show's Scrappy (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheScrappy). Screech on The New Class was no longer charming or endearing like he was on the original Saved by the Bell series or Good Morning, Miss Bliss.

Screech on The New Class just felt like the weird and creepy guy who keeps hanging out at his old high school even though he's already a grown up and should just move on with is life already. But I as the Dark Side of Comedy program explained it, Dustin didn't want to give up an easy paycheck rather than seeking out new challenges. Unfortunately, by the time that The New Class ended had become severely typecast as Screech.

Good point, TMC. Had Engel not persuaded Dustin to reprise his most famous (or infamous) role beginning in the second season of Saved By The Bell: The New Class, Dustin would've finally had the opportunity to transition beyond SBTB into serious roles as well as to pursue more ambitious projects in his career (not unlike his former co-stars Mark-Paul Gossalaar, Tiffani Thiessen, Mario Lopez, Lark Voorhies, and Elizabeth Berkley).

There was absolutely no need whatsoever for Screech to return to Bayside (serving as, of course, Belding's bumbling administrative assistant) long after he had graduated the year before along with Zack, Kelly, Slater, Lisa, and Jessie. In fact, following The New Class' second season, Screech--or even Belding himself, for that matter--seldom mentions his continued enrollment as a full-time student at the fictitious California University (located in the Bay Area, just a stone's throw from both San Francisco and Oakland); it's almost as if Screech had never even attended "Cal U" in the first place, nor once was it even implied throughout the remainder of The New Class' seemingly interminable run on NBC's Saturday morning TNBC block (seven seasons overall--go figure) if Screech graduated from "Cal U" or simply flunked out due to lackluster grades or even due to his mediocre attendance record.

Enjoy your evening, and have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Good point, TMC. Had Engel not persuaded Dustin to reprise his most famous (or infamous) role beginning in the second season of Saved By The Bell: The New Class, Dustin would've finally had the opportunity to transition beyond SBTB into serious roles as well as to pursue more ambitious projects in his career (not unlike his former co-stars Mark-Paul Gossalaar, Tiffani Thiessen, Mario Lopez, Lark Voorhies, and Elizabeth Berkley).

There was absolutely no need whatsoever for Screech to return to Bayside (serving as, of course, Belding's bumbling administrative assistant) long after he had graduated the year before along with Zack, Kelly, Slater, Lisa, and Jessie. In fact, following The New Class' second season, Screech--or even Belding himself, for that matter--seldom mentions his continued enrollment as a full-time student at the fictitious California University (located in the Bay Area, just a stone's throw from both San Francisco and Oakland); it's almost as if Screech had never even attended "Cal U" in the first place, nor once was it even implied throughout the remainder of The New Class' seemingly interminable run on NBC's Saturday morning TNBC block (seven seasons overall--go figure) if Screech graduated from "Cal U" or simply flunked out due to lackluster grades or even due to his mediocre attendance record.

Enjoy your evening, and have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

But what about not persuading former original SBTB creator Sam Bobrick, since both Diamond and Bobrick are permanently connected to each other, especially Bobrick was abused by an antisemitic group during his own real-life teen years, at the same time, TBH, IMO?

Good point, TMC. Had Engel not persuaded Dustin to reprise his most famous (or infamous) role beginning in the second season of Saved By The Bell: The New Class, Dustin would've finally had the opportunity to transition beyond SBTB into serious roles as well as to pursue more ambitious projects in his career (not unlike his former co-stars Mark-Paul Gossalaar, Tiffani Thiessen, Mario Lopez, Lark Voorhies, and Elizabeth Berkley).

There was absolutely no need whatsoever for Screech to return to Bayside (serving as, of course, Belding's bumbling administrative assistant) long after he had graduated the year before along with Zack, Kelly, Slater, Lisa, and Jessie. In fact, following The New Class' second season, Screech--or even Belding himself, for that matter--seldom mentions his continued enrollment as a full-time student at the fictitious California University (located in the Bay Area, just a stone's throw from both San Francisco and Oakland); it's almost as if Screech had never even attended "Cal U" in the first place, nor once was it even implied throughout the remainder of The New Class' seemingly interminable run on NBC's Saturday morning TNBC block (seven seasons overall--go figure) if Screech graduated from "Cal U" or simply flunked out due to lackluster grades or even due to his mediocre attendance record.

Enjoy your evening, and have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

I in some respects, don't or can't completely or entirely blame Dustin for wanting to stick on the Saved by the Bell wagon for as long as he could since it was "easy money". Of course, it's completely speculative to say that had Dustin not done The New Class right after The College Years, he would've had a more substantial acting career.

But when compared to Mark-Paul Gossalaar or Mario Lopez, Dustin Diamond wasn't exactly looked at as being a conventionally handsome guy. I suppose that what I'm trying to say is that he was physically perfect for a scrawny, geeky, eccentric character like Screech. It would be extremely hard to buy him say as the lead of gritty cop show like NYPD Blue, which Mark-Paul was eventually on.

Admittedly, I don't know what other types of roles Dustin could've done that wasn't remotely like Screech.

I some respects, I don't or can't completely or entirely blame Dustin for wanting to stick on the Saved by the Bell wagon for as long as he could since it was "easy money".

But you should have known officially that the blame was on original SBTB creator Sam Bobrick, who was permanently connected to only Dustin Diamond, due to that Screech role connection incident, back when both were alive each in real life, TBH, IMO.

Screech (https://loathsomecharacters.miraheze.org/wiki/Screech_Powers_(The_College_Years)) was undoubtedly a big time victim of Flanderization (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Flanderization). As TV Tropes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Flanderization/LiveActionTV) perfectly lays it out (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SavedByTheBell), his quirkiness is exaggerated in later seasons of Saved by the Bell to the point where it becomes blatant stupidity. The New Class takes this even farther.

In-depth analysis of Saved by the Bell: The New Class (so you don't have to!) (https://www.reddit.com/r/SavedByTheBell/comments/14abyqj/indepth_analysis_of_saved_by_the_bell_the_new/)

Screech in Season 2 and 3

Before you even see Screech and Belding together I already knew it was going to be something like the old Police Academy movies with Captain Harris and his sidekick (you probably know who I'm talking about). The only difference here is that Belding is not a ruthless authoritarian so it plays out a little differently.

In season 2 Screech mostly reacts to what others are doing and takes Belding's lead (this changes in season 5). He's a bit less eccentric in these seasons but definitely on the way to becoming something different.

The reason season 2 and 3 are great to me is because it puts Screech in a lot of different situations. The episodes rarely take place at school (like the beach club episodes from the original). They're always going somewhere.

During seasons 2 and 3 you'll see Screech at a ski lodge (around 5 or 6 episodes as they go in both S2 and S3), back at Cal-U for a couple of episodes, a cowboy ranch, a country club in the summer with pool etc, a cruise ship (probably my favorite) and a ton of episodes at the mall.

As I was watching mostly for Screech it was fun seeing him in these various places with all these random students. Over time I did take some interest in some of the student's stories too like osmosis (if you watch with this perspective, you may like the series). You still have to ignore some cringe and BS moments, but it's definitely do-able.

As for the character himself, Dustin did try to introduce a few new "Screechisms".. his catch phrase becomes "WHAAT!?" loudly and it's said commonly throughout season 2 and 3. It's funny a few times, but not always, the delivery is a bit odd too, it seems a bit different each time. This goes away in season 5 (where he only says it two or three times).

In terms of Screech's character development, "College Years" does seem to be canon in the New Class universe as Screech arrives at Bayside as part of his work at Cal-U (they also go back to college in season 3 for awhile which is quite neat). He gets a girlfriend early on in season 2 and it's mentioned in season 3 again.

Season 3 probably has my favorite episode - the cruise ship where the gang hype up Screech as an eccentric millionaire to attract the attention of a beautiful woman.

Season 5 Screech

I'll skip straight to season 5 now as I'll talk about season 4 later.

In season 5, Screech becomes what I call "eccentric Screech". He often takes the lead and does outlandish things first rather than just reacting to them. The style of humor is more physical and I actually think a lot of it is very funny.

I won't mention much from "Behind the Bell" for obvious reasons lol (actually there's very little about New Class in there), but one thing I will say is that Dustin seemed to look up to Rowan Atkinson a lot, so I get the sense he was probably trying to make Screech a more immortal character (a la Mr Bean).

Could it have worked? Hmm. I think it's doubtful without the prime time impact. But I guess in some ways, he already is from the original show.

There's also an interesting tidbit in Peter Engel's memoir about how he went to the Whitehouse with Dustin around the time of New Class and saw Screech behind the president's desk. He said he started thinking "Screech for President". It does make me think if they were trying this humor style as a sort of test run for a movie or something. Obviously it never happened but I think it could have been a good send off for the character.

I also enjoyed his performance as a security guard in the mall. It was a nice change up, despite making little sense.

Season 5 also has my funniest moment when Screech sees Belding in his underwear while learning how to do public speaking. I don't know why it's so funny but it just seems a perfect delivery of expression and noises. It's also funny how in the clip show of this season, Screech is still laughing to himself about that scene. It was a nice touch.

There's also another good relationship episode with Screech in this season - "Screech and the Substitute Teacher". This is also the last SBTB episode with Screech in the title.

By season 5 Screech's voice is quite different, much more nasally, it started to change during season 4. In the season 4 space camp episode Screech even mentions a nasal condition - perhaps this is the explanation they came up with for the character's voice change.

Though there's still a few moments when Dustin's real voice breaks through. I'm not sure on the exact reasons but I guess he was just getting older and needed to do it like this.

Do all these behavioral changes make Screech "less Screech"? I don't know, who is to say what a more adult Screech would actually be like? But this is one interpretation of that concept (and the only one we have, obviously).

Season 6/7 Screech

Mostly the same as 5 to be honest. The chess computer episode is really funny for me. This season had more duds than 5, but nowhere near as bad as 4.

There's also an episode where Screech is principal because Belding is sick. This was an interesting idea to watch, I think they could have developed that idea for another series possibly.

There's also a neat GMMB reference in this season, the plot is identical to the stock investment one. The graduation finale is also a strong episode and I like it a lot.

Remember That Show? Ep. 18: Saved By The Bell The New Class (https://rememberthatshow.transistor.fm/episodes/remember-that-show-ep-18-saved-by-the-bell-the-new-class)

In the third installment of our Saved By The Summer series, we journey through all 7 seasons of Saved By The Bell: The New Class. This TNBC series lasted longer than the original, enduring many cast changes and welcoming back Dustin Diamond as Screech. We also discuss the sitcom trope of adding a cute new kid to a long running series and more.

What are (https://poe.com/s/Qttl39ZwIdnGR3CwpwFG) the biggest creative mistakes (https://www.google.com/search?q=What+are+the+biggest+creative+mistakes+that+were+made+during+the+production+of+Saved+by+the+Bell%3A+The+New+Class+%281993-2000%29%3F&sca_esv=04a013b6530774b2&sxsrf=AE3TifPR4ciacaMB6zDfUPcU4-ipYTm3rg%3A1760504138542&udm=50&fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZ1Y6MJ25_tmWITc7uy4KIeoJTKjrFjVxydQWqI2NcOhZVmrJB8DQUK5IzxA2fZbQF4YL5sNSRJGgx0e9Z9AxExzjE4_ynshmXB4KOs3cwRUeWWsKhEolaqKblYfDXcX8o44lrMqH67kppK0pOExd7q2yJDRQQKlpEBHmw6_MVnVB63-D4QfZ_FNhtd2-sQaouA4jq5w&aep=1&ntc=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwizu7b-tKWQAxWWSjABHVLfCewQ2J8OegQIEhAE&biw=1600&bih=739&dpr=1&mstk=AUtExfA8yEjWx2u6_WWmUU7ZkLixBFrPD-HRviPgXy96cWbmTmYpQcBy3jnx36TJFzil3koJ55sHEHp8Ti3g6aqb-peNNsh5dN8b3thg-nZG6IR59eaFYVITUoonGdYgyJJWd6Enl4OMS7Veb_fB0aHaCPzo92Ya5cPpZeG9feSJVwJuVmiXHUQ1utyRwDpAhd_Hr5aoekbtq4z7uNikt3gEkq4syu8fRzYTI2Tz-P8ydRiYkVOeDHs8a1V7RqBTUQb8kJ6Pe4J3j6pviLy8fKmUkdgNSTK9hRqUkHthRkgESGgg-GMZqH14gGLhJLS1QLCj6Eqbfg8BOANFTQ&csuir=1&mtid=ayrvaNvYBcqGwbkPs92I2AU) that were made (https://www.perplexity.ai/search/what-are-the-biggest-creative-KSN4RzBUT4G96Mmf3QTdfQ#0) during the production (https://chatgpt.com/s/t_68ef2b602f4c8191895bcb151fbb82da) of (https://x.com/i/grok/share/JgK0WWOAvflPwREY9txKHFep1) Saved by the Bell: The New Class (https://www.google.com/search?q=What+are+the+biggest+creative+mistakes+that+were+made+during+the+production+of+Saved+by+the+Bell%3A+The+New+Class+%281993-2000%29%3F&sca_esv=04a013b6530774b2&sxsrf=AE3TifO3tDqC3mneHhAMWh2FMraju5QrqA%3A1760503209663&ei=qSXvaIWiKI3ep84PmPje0AE&ved=0ahUKEwjFmsDDsaWQAxUN78kDHRi8FxoQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=What+are+the+biggest+creative+mistakes+that+were+made+during+the+production+of+Saved+by+the+Bell%3A+The+New+Class+%281993-2000%29%3F&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAifFdoYXQgYXJlIHRoZSBiaWdnZXN0IGNyZWF0aXZlIG1pc3Rha2VzIHRoYXQgd2VyZSBtYWRlIGR1cmluZyB0aGUgcHJvZHVjdGlvbiBvZiBTYXZlZCBieSB0aGUgQmVsbDogVGhlIE5ldyBDbGFzcyAoMTk5My0yMDAwKT9Iid4BUOkcWOHYAXAHeACQAQGYAdADoAGqRKoBCzAuMTAuMTUuNi4zuAEDyAEA-AEBmAIhoALZPKgCEMICDRAjGPAFGCcY6gIYngbCAgcQIxgnGOoCwgIUEAAYgAQYkQIYtAIYigUY6gLYAQHCAgUQIRigAcICBRAhGKsCwgIEECMYJ8ICBxAjGPAFGCfCAgUQABjvBcICCBAAGIAEGKIEwgIIEAAYogQYiQXCAgoQIxjwBRgnGMkCwgIHECMYsAIYJ8ICDRAjGPAFGLACGCcYyQKYA64B8QXoSKs53EvioroGBggBEAEYAZIHCjUuNi4xNS4zLjSgB7i4ArIHCjAuNS4xNS4zLjS4B7g6wgcMMi0xLjIzLjYuMi4xyAfaBQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp) (1993-2000)?