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“Saved by the Bell,” which became a Saturday morning staple in the 1990s, turned 37 on August 20. What you may not remember about the iconic teen sitcom is that it actually didn’t start as a Saturday morning show — NBC first aired “Saved by the Bell” on a Sunday night. The second episode aired on a Monday and the third one aired on a Friday. It wasn’t until the fourth episode, “Fatal Distraction,” that “Saved by the Bell” moved to the Saturday slot it would occupy for the majority of its successful four-season run.
Viewers were introduced to the halls of Bayside High in the pilot episode “Dancing to the Max,” which saw Casey Kasem emcee a dance competition at the diner The Max, a favorite hangout for Bayside students. NBC broadcast the debut episode after a rerun of “Family Ties,” and it was a resounding triumph. The live studio audience “went berserk” according to series creator Peter Engel, who went into detail about the reaction to the first episode during an interview with Today: “The first episode was crazy. It was nuts. It was like a Beatles concert.”
The fact that the show thrived after moving to Saturday mornings took everyone by surprise — this had long been cartoon territory, and slotting in a live-action show was new ground. Ed Alonzo, who played Max (owner of The Max), said that he was “shocked” by how quickly the show took off. “This was a first for Saturday morning TV,” Alonzo also told Today. “We would leave the studio after a Friday night taping with tons of fans wanting a closer look. I thought this was amazing.”
It was the cast that made Saved by the Bell a smash hit
Even as “Saved by the Bell” nears its 40th anniversary, its cultural influence hasn’t faded. The sitcom’s lighthearted, down-to-Earth portrayal of high school life struck a chord with teens at the time. Viewers would tune in religiously to watch Zack (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Kelly (Tiffani Thiessen), Slater (Mario Lopez), Jessie (Elizabeth Berkley), Lisa (Lark Voorhies), and Screech (Dustin Diamond) every week, with their escapades shaping the youth of the day.
The popularity of “Saved by the Bell” led to multiple movies and spin-off shows. “Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style” dropped in 1992 as the first TV movie, followed by 1993’s “Saved by the Bell: The College Years,” a sequel series that was cancelled after one season. The second TV movie, “Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas,” saw Zack and Kelly travel to the titular city to get hitched. Then, NBC made way for a new group of students in “Saved by the Bell: The New Class,” which ran from 1993 to 2000. A 2020 “Saved by the Bell” revival was canceled after two seasons on Peacock.
None of these projects achieved the success of the original “Saved by the Bell” series, which will always be remembered as one of the most beloved television shows of the 1990s. The reasons for its success are varied. NBC’s bold decision to move the show to a Saturday morning time slot certainly helped, however the cast of “Saved by the Bell” are the main reason it was such a smash hit. “These kids never missed in front of an audience,” creator Peter Engel told Today. “They were a unique group. It was all them.”
