The Failure of Saved By the Bell: The New Class

[Mace Dolex]

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

[irehtman]

Originally Posted by Mace Dolex

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.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by EccentricGenius

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 about teenagers like the original Saved by the Bell was.

Mr. Belding and Screech were the only two consistent 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 its predecessor.

[irehtman]

Originally Posted by TMC

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 about teenagers like the original Saved by the Bell was.

Mr. Belding and Screech were the only two consistent 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 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.

[Clayton Endicott III]

Originally Posted by TMC

I also suspect that one big reason why Peter Engel's shows may have been derivative and interchangeable 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, he was overstretched and going for quantity over quality.

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

[EccentricGenius]

Originally Posted by Clayton Endicott III

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.

[EccentricGenius]

Originally Posted by Mace Dolex

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.

[irehtman]

Originally Posted by EccentricGenius

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.

[EccentricGenius]

Originally Posted by irehtman

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.

[irehtman]

Originally Posted by EccentricGenius

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.

[EccentricGenius]

Originally Posted by irehtman

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.

[irehtman]

Originally Posted by EccentricGenius

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.

[EccentricGenius]

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.

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.

[EccentricGenius]

Originally Posted by TMC

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.

[irehtman]

Originally Posted by EccentricGenius

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.