The Failure of Saved By the Bell: The New Class

[TMC]

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.

There's this show on the Vice TV channel called 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.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by EccentricGenius

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.

[TMC]

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--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 was undoubtedly a big time victim of Flanderization. As TV Tropes perfectly lays it out, 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.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by EccentricGenius

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. 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.

[irehtman]

Originally Posted by TMC

There's this show on the Vice TV channel called 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.

[irehtman]

Originally Posted by TMC

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. 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.

[EccentricGenius]

Originally Posted by TMC

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. 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.

[irehtman]

Originally Posted by EccentricGenius

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?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by EccentricGenius

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.

[irehtman]

Originally Posted by TMC

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.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

Screech was undoubtedly a big time victim of Flanderization. As TV Tropes perfectly lays it out, 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!)

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.

[TMC]

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.

[TMC]

What are the biggest creative mistakes that were made during the production of Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993-2000)?