Characters' Habits

[Fangirl-Spano]

These, in my humble opinion, were really amusing. Seeing as I probably pay the most attention to Jessie and Slater on the show I'll say a few things things they used to do quite a lot.

Slater ALWAYS turned his chair backwards before he sat on it. This brought to mind mental images of him getting one of those humungous armchairs and trying to do that.

The other habit Slater had was the I'm Gonna Get Me Some Of That smile. The IGGMSOT smile- watch the graduation episode. You know the bit where Slater is pushed onstage in his tights and then he sees the girls up the other end of the stage? He does the IGGMSOT and it's RATHER funny.

Jessie did this scary thing with her eyes that I like to call The Glare. What, you might ask, was The Glare? The Glare was that thing she used to do to Slater or Zack or any male members of the Bayside alumni who happened to be pissing her off. It was incredible. She looked so evil and murderous whenever she did The Glare. It varied too. Sometimes it was just a "Care to repeat that before I rip your head off?" Glare, other times it was a "I am going to KICK YOUR ASS!" Glare. I actually saw a screencap of Elizabeth Berkley on a talk show and she did The Glare. I'm not sure why as there was no transcript, but... yes.

[SBTB Geek]

Kelly always made a "annoyed" expression.

[Fangirl-Spano]

Originally posted by SBTB Geek
Kelly always made a "annoyed" expression.

Oh, yeah, I forgot that! Usually around Screech...

[SBTBGoddess]

This is interesting...
I also notice that when Jessie is stressed out about something she has a habit of eating. (even though she isn't hungry too) LOL
Lisa also had this habit, but we only see it in one episode which was when they had to pass Mr.Testaverde's midterm....

Erika

[Fangirl-Spano]

Hi, Erika. I'm assuming you're the SBTB:Now! Erika...? If you are, I'm loving the site at the moment.

Oh, yes, I forgot the nervous eating the girls did. I actually mentioned that in a piss-takey sort of essay that I wrote titled something along the lines of WHY THE KIDS FROM 'Saved By The Bell' WERE ALL INCREDIBLY DISTURBED. I was actually rather proud of it... does anyone mind if I post it here?

[SBTBGoddess]

Yes! I am the webmistress Erika for SBTB:NOW! LOL Thanks! I am glad you like it!

Sure! I would like to read it....I would love to know what you mean by "disturbed" LOL

Erika

[SBTB Geek]

I know that Zack tends to lie very often!


It's so cool to have you here SBTBGoddess. www.savedbythebellnow.com is the best fan-website.

[Fangirl-Spano]

Well, since Erika asked... if you like it, Erika, consider it dedicated to you and your site. If not, completely disregard everything I just said!

WHY THE STUDENTS FROM 'SAVED BY THE BELL' WERE ALL SERIOUSLY DISTURBED

OK, now you wonder why I'm writing this. After all, it seems to the blind fangirl/boy that apart from the occasional outburst by one of the girls or a not-so-explainable remark from one of the boys, these kids seemed to be in more or less good mental health. This is the part where SBTB-haters sniff, "Yeah, right!" so if we can leave our cynical unforgivers at the door, we can move on and explore further the psychosis of these teens.

Let's start with the all-American Zack Morris, the centre of the SBTB universe. You'd think he'd be in the best of spirits. After all,
Zachary `Preppie' Morris was on the track and basketball teams, dated a different girl every episode, STILL managed to marry his high school sweetheart Kelly Kapowski and did remarkably well in school for someone who never did homework in his life.

But if I'd been one of the others, I would've been seriously
concerned for young Master Morris. You cannot tell me he didn't have something wrong with him- how do you explain the fact he would constantly turn away from the general conversation to chat animatedly with the nearest wall? Paired with his creepy supernatural ability to freeze time- whoa. I suppose you can't really ponder your friends' mental health when you're thinking, "Um, why am I not breathing?"

Then there's Kelly. Sweet, perky, a little old-fashioned (and I
quote, "... I'm an old-fashioned girl..."). Kelly was charming, never
cursed in her life and was like the show's Angel in Disguise- I
refuse to let go of the symbolism of her dressing up as a nun in the episode 'Rockumentary'. Ever wonder why she was so happy all of the time? Simple. Kelly Kapowski drew joy out of EVERYTHING- even other people's suffering. Think that's preposterous? Watch her face carefully in a scene in the episode 'Operation Zack'. When she says the line, "... but why did it have to happen to Zack?" Kelly has this HUGE CREEPY SMILE on her face. It was frightening.

AC Slater, real name Albert Clifford ("That's why I shortened it to
AC," Slater utters in the episode 'Love Machine') was an athlete and a guy of many talents who dated resident militant feminist Jessie Spano for much of the show's years-long run. And everyone who watched even one episode of the show outside of the time in the first season when they completely ignored each other (like, Slater would walk over to the gang's booth in the Max and say to the assembled teens, "Hey, Zack, Lisa, Screech, Kelly." and sit down, and he wouldn't acknowledge Jessie for about four hours, and she didn't seem to care because she apparently had chosen that exact second to stare with fascination at the jukebox) would know of their infamous love-hate relationship. To the untrained eye, when they weren't being somewhat civil to each other, Slater loved to make Jessie's life hell.

And vice versa.

It seemed to me, though, that AC was more fond of Jessie than he would have us know. Which is sweet. But to the point of obsession? However happy Slater looked when separated from his beloved for long stretches of time, sooner or later he'd snap and become reduced to the emotional level of a small child. Remember in two episodes, ('Date Auction' and 'Breaking Up Is Hard To Undo') after not having seen her for a long while, Slater would start seeing Jessie EVERYWHERE. He even called Mr Belding Mr Jessie once. Brings a whole new meaning to the lyric, "You're like a drug, you got me wantin' more." Happily, he'd always go back to normal when reunited with her, but these times must have got to him. Why else was he so ecstatically
happy to break up with her in 'Cut Day', the most evil episode of the series in all of its history? Then again, he was equally happy to get back together at the Senior Prom... Although Jessie was quoted as saying she loved him, Slater couldn't live without her.

After that, we come to Lisa `The Galloping Gossip' Turtle, the
princess of Bayside High and the world`s biggest shopaholic (Lisa
explained, "I have an map of every mall from here to Tijuana."). She was already a medical miracle- she had the fastest metabolism I ever heard of, eating so much whenever she got nervous. Thinking about it, Jessie had a similar problem. You know how they say that when women live in close proximity with one another their periods coincide? It wasn't like that on 'Saved By The Bell'- when these girls stuck together, their mental conditions mirrored each other.

But back to Lisa. She was a pretty cool character- the only one to
ever utter any kind of profanity, ever ("Oh my GOD!" she screamed as Screech Powers, dressed like Michael Jackson, came dancing up to her in the hallway to `impress' her) and the one with the gaudiest outfits. Further contemplating Lisa the Medical Miracle, Lisa absolutely loathed Screech, not unlike most of the female population of both our world and theirs. But Lisa was the Supreme Screech-Hater. If they were a church she would have been at the head of it.

So, in a desperate attempt to forever sever her link with the boy,
she conceivably bowed before her ornate shrine to the great deity MC Hammer erected in her locker and prayed for a miracle. And he delivered. Oh yes, he delivered. He made Lisa ALLERGIC to Screech for an episode.

Unfortunately, the Medical Miracle, the Cult Leader herself must have sinned, because an episode later Screech could leap on her again without nearly killing her. Unfortunately, that in itself nearly
killed poor Lisa.

Jessica Myrtle ("Could you please just lean toward my first name?" Jessie asked quietly in the episode where she ran for student body president) Spano, the highly intelligent feminazi of the group (if you don't know what feminazi means you are no Spano fan), was seen as the one who was the most obviously messed up. Zack fangirls argued that his freaky powers and schizophrenia were endearing, and Kelly followers hotly said that Kelly was PERKY, not EVIL. We Jessie devotees didn't even try to explain away her faults. We revelled in them.

Let us examine.

Apart from her aforesaid copycat binge-eating whenever she was
nervous, Jessie was neurotic about her grades and what little power she could exert over the students. She would do anything for her GPA, even do flirty eyes at the History teacher. Jessie would do anything to keep her boyfriend Slater, even dress up as an old man or give a sweet new student at school a public dissing on her radio show. She loved to win. And although she'd take it like a woman and hold her head high when she didn't succeed, during the preparation time it would turn into a full-scale war for her. Cheerleading, modelling, winning a beauty contest and other such macho-pig led activities were below Jessie- unless, of course, she had a shot at winning.

Jessie was psychotic when she couldn't win. Her favourite words in these situations seemed to be DEATH TO, as in DEATH TO SLATER when he hooked up with an old flame from Germany behind her back, or DEATH TO THE SATS when she somehow got a 1205 in the most important test of her life.

Finally, there was Samuel `Screech' Powers. Screech was constantly the butt of everyone's jokes He must have taken blows to the head more times than most professional boxers, which might account for, erm... Screech was loved by some. Some have said that, sure, he was dorky and, OK, he was stupid but he wasn't insane.

It would take a strong person to put up with what was inflicted on Screech every single episode, and he seemed to put up with it
reasonably well. I mean, he didn't exactly crack in his senior year
and go on a giant, Carrie-esque killing spree. But we lucky fans got but one true glance into what was REALLY going on in Screech's mind.

Think back to yesteryear, and the episode 'Fake ID's'. Remember how Zack told Screech to finish making fake IDs for Jessie and Lisa before leaving with his little entourage? Screech said, and I
quote, "`Finish making fake IDs for Jessie and Lisa.' They'll be
sorry when I'm gone."

This was clearly a cry for help that was never answered.

He did manage to get around, though, having briefly made a love
connection with Jessie and Kelly when he was taking a break from pursuing Lisa, and he did date Violet Bickerstaff, a cute geeky girl played by Tori Spelling, for at least three- count `em, THREE- episodes. Anyone who dated a SBTB character and wasn't featured in the opening credits was banished to a deep abyss at the conclusion of the episode. Such was poor Violet's fate, where she probably spent a few years playing Charades with all of Zack's eighty-six girlfriends. Happily, she managed to escape and eluded the guards by dyeing her hair, wearing contact lenses and hiding first among the cast of 'Beverly Hills 90120' with Kelly's estranged evil twin Valerie Malone and then of 'Scary Movie 2'. Alas, she never contacted Screech, and he remains alone to this day.

The essay you have just read can be received in a few ways. Many would deem it a massive piss-take, its primary intention. Others would identify it as a personal insult and hunt me down. But, really, is it me you've got to worry about? Watch an episode of this show, with paranormal Zack, evil Kelly, obsessed Slater, cult-leading Lisa, psychotic Jessie and despondent Screech. Those were the ones who were truly in need of help.

* * *

*BRIGHTLY* What did you think? *SHRIEKS AND DUCKS AS BOARD MEMBERS PELT HER WITH ROTTEN FRUIT AND VARIOUS ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES*

[SBTBGoddess]

I am very impressed by the way you have analyzed this! I loved it and I didn't find anything to hate about it....You explained everything in a tasteful manner and used many examples from the show to support your points! Loved it, and deep down inside I really agree with many of the things you said. Especially about Screech and Jessie...Actually, I loved every point you made. I couldn't put it better myself. But thats why I LOVE SAVED BY THE BELL SO MUCH! I even love it's downfalls....Very unique. Great job.
Erika

[SBTB Geek]

It was great. There was nothing offensive about it.

[Fangirl-Spano]

Thank you both very much! You're really kind.

By the way, SBTB Geek, that's a picture of TLC you've got, is it not? I saw their new video- it was really cool, but rather sad (not sad as in really bad, but sad as in... oh, you know what I mean!) without Lisa Lopes.

[SBTB Geek]

Originally posted by Fangirl-Spano
Thank you both very much! You're really kind.

By the way, SBTB Geek, that's a picture of TLC you've got, is it not? I saw their new video- it was really cool, but rather sad (not sad as in really bad, but sad as in... oh, you know what I mean!) without Lisa Lopes.

Yes it is TLC.

I've been a fan of theirs since the "Ooooooohhh... On The TLC Tip" days.

[Faith]

Fangirl you did a great job on that essay thing... I couldn't have put it better myself.

[Fangirl-Spano]

Yeah, on 'All That' (interestingly, a part of the Peter Engel empire), a girl has commented on how her brother went to a costume party or somethin' dressed as Screech.

On the 'Fresh Prince' thing, one time on SBTB (in the episode 'The Fabulous Belding Boys', I THINK) everyone is gathered in Zack's room and Lisa goes, "Yeah, let's watch 'Fresh Prince'!"

This is also interesting seeing as Lark Voorhies actually had a guest-starring role on 'Fresh Prince'. Heh.

[Fangirl-Spano]

Oh, CRAP! I'm so sorry, that last reply by moi was meant to be in the SBTB On Other Shows (or something like that) thread. Is there any way for me to delete this post?