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| History |
| Beginning In 1987 Saved by the Bell began as Good Morning Miss Bliss on NBC. It was placed in the Facts Of Life time slot. Due to low ratings, NBC took a pass on the show. The Disney Channel however saw potential and decided to air Good Morning Miss Bliss on their channel for 13 episodes. In 1988 the show began for a winter/spring run. In the pilot episode Miss Bliss was a newly wed but on The Disney channel Miss Bliss was a widow. Another change was the cast. Brian Austin Green, Jaleel White were just some of the few cast members to be dropped and replaced by Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Lark Voorhies and Dustin Diamond. Good Morning Miss Bliss The setting for Good Morning Miss Bliss was at JFK Junior High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. The faculty included Mr. Richard Belding, his assistant Milo, 8th grade geography teacher Miss Bliss and drama/art teacher Tina Palidrino. The students included Zack, Lisa, Screech, Mikey, and Nikki. In Good Morning Miss Bliss the teachers took their jobs seriously. Miss Bliss was very dedicated to her students. She was inventive and caring. Miss Bliss made sure that her students’ education always came first. Her best friend was fellow teacher Tina Palidrino. Tina was a goofy gal who was a bit of a drama queen. Mr. Belding was more of an authority figure whose interaction on the show consisted mainly with the teachers. With the help of Milo, his major concerns were making sure the school was run smoothly and responsibly. Milo was a rule keeper. With the help of his little white rule book he made sure Mr. Belding’s errands were carried out and that the students where were they should be, in class with Miss Bliss. The Decision About Saved by the Bell After Disney `s decision to not renew, a second look was taken at Good Morning Miss Bliss. Brandon Tartikoff (President of NBC) and crew decided the show could work but a few changes had to be made. They decided to place the show in its Saturday Morning Lineup making history as the first live action show to premiere in the weekend morning time slot geared toward kids. The changes began by re-naming the show Saved by the Bell. The location was also changed from Indiana to sunny Pacific Palisades, California (southwest of Los Angeles and Santa Monica). The transition was not originally intended to have so many changes. Two cast members from Good Morning Miss Bliss made demands for more money. This information comes from a Question and Answer session with Dennis Haskins (Mr. Belding) at the Saved by the Bell campus tour. In his question and answer session with fans, he revealed that The Max was originally planned to be called Milo’s. However, T.K. Carter demanded a raise in pay and as a result he was cut from the show. Ed Alonzo was cast as Max to replace him. Heather Hooper (Nikki) was another demand for higher pay casualty. She was originally intended to be Saved by the Bell’s version of Kelly but because her mother demanded she get paid more than Mark-Paul Gosselaar, she was released and replaced by Tiffani Thiessen. The absence of remaining cast members, Joan Ryan, Hayley Mills and Max Battimo is not known but with the knowledge of Heather Hooper and T.K. Carter, one can only come to the conclusion that it was due to the demands for more money. That however, is just my own personal guess. Making The Connection Saved by the Bell premiered August 20, 1989 in prime time before settling into its Saturday morning time slot on September 9,1989. Zack, Screech, Mr. Belding and Lisa were the only characters kept from the original show. The characters of Jesse Spano, Kelly Kapowski and A.C. Slater were added to the cast, all to attend Bayside High. Originally Elizabeth Berkely auditioned for Kelly Kapowski but the producers felt Tiffani Thiessen was better suited for the role. However, they loved Elizabeth so much they created the role of Jessie Spano just for her. With the absence of Miss Bliss, the shows focus to a 180 and focused more on Zack and his friends. The students were the main focus and the teachers took the back seat. To make the connection between Good Morning Miss Bliss and Saved by the Bell following the shows first season Good Morning Miss Bliss was aired during the summer. It’s original opening credit was changed to Saved by the Bell`s opening sequence and an introduction by Zack was added. Zack would introduce the show by stating the following scenes were what happened to him and his friends Screech and Lisa when they were in Junior High. The Tori Episodes In the shows senior year a casting change was made. Tiffani (Amber) Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley, both decided to leave the show. They opted to pursue other projects rather than renew their contracts. To replace the characters of Kelly and Jessie, Leanna Creel was brought in to portray Tori Scott a transfer student to Bayside. Tori was a leather wearing, motorcycle driving, mechanical inclined girl who also happened to be a very friendly girl. If you are wondering why in some of the senior year episodes Jessie and Kelly are there and in others they are not it is because Saved by the Bell actually had two senior years. One was with Kelly and Jessie and the other was with Tori Scott. The two senior years were aired on the same day back to back. Many people wonder why in the graduation episode Tori was absent. The graduation episode was filmed before the "Tori episodes." The show would have ended when Tiffani and Elizabeth left the show but Saved by the Bell needed 100 episodes to air in syndication. The College Years The show was introduced with the second prime time airing of the Saved by the Bell. This time the graduation episode was aired to help introduce the newest SBTB spin-off. Lark Voorhies, Elizabeth Berkely and Tiffani Thiessen all declined to accept an offer to join the cast. Tiffani Thiessen was busy filming the movie "Son In Law". However, the pilot was filmed and her movie was completed, she agreed to join the cast. Her character, Kelly Kapowski replaced Danielle Marks portrayed Essence Atkins during the second episode “Guess Who`s Coming To College.” Another cast change included Roger Kabler. During the NBC Summer Press Tour on July 21, 1993, he was stated and interviewed as part of the cast. His role was meant to be that of Professor Jeremiah Lasky. But in the episodes following the pilot Patrick Fabian was the actor who we now know as Professor Jeremiah Lasky. Zack, A.C., Screech and Kelly were the only original characters to attend California University (Cal-U) Five new characters were added to help round out the cast. The first new character was resident advisor Mike Rodgers portrayed by former NFL star Bob Golic. Kiersten Warren was drama queen Alex Taber and Anne Tremeko played Leslie Burke the studious rich girl. Both Leslie and Alex were Kelly`s roommates. The show ran for 18 episodes. It ended with Zack and Kelly becoming engaged. When Peter Engel was asked about the shows demise he replied "They never officially cancelled it. Instead they picked up the Vegas wedding movie. We really had a killer time period and probably couldn't work on the NBC schedule." Wedding in Las Vegas featured the grand wedding of Zack and Kelly and all of the crazy events leading up to it. Wedding in Las Vegas may have ended The College Years but Saved by the Bell was not over yet. The New Class Recognizing Saved by the Bells popularity, the producers of the show decided to continue with a new set of students and renamed the show: Saved by the Bell: The New Class. This show started in 1993 and aired at the same time as The College Years. The show kept Mr. Belding as the schools principal but changed the inside looks of the school to a more modern setting. After the first seasons run it was decided to bring back Dustin Diamond as Screech to help boost ratings. With the end of The College Years, Dustin Diamond agreed to join the cast during the second season. This time instead of being the student nerd he became Mr. Belding’s assistant. The shows first cast were entirely different from its last. Many changes took place with The New Class. Its lack of consistency, reused plot lines and wannabe characters made the show unpopular with Saved by the Bell’s original fans but still managed to gain a fan base of its own. Despite the low ratings, The New Class stretched on for seven seasons till TNBC ended the series in early 1999. SBTB Lives On Even though Saved by the Bell is no longer on the air; fans can still get their Saved by the Bell fix in a lot of ways. TBS shows Saved by the Bell four times a day. Saved By the Bell merchandise can be purchased on e-Bay where you can find everything from videos to bath sets featuring Zack berry Body Wash. The most recent and exciting news since Saved by the Bell’s original run is the release of Saved by the Bell on DVD. Saved by the Bell on DVD is produced by Lions Gate Entertainment and Image Entertainment. Seasons One-Two, Three-Four and The College Years have all been released. The New Class and Season Five will all be released in early-mid 2005. The second set, seasons 3-4 features commentary from Peter Engel, Lark Voorhies and Dustin Diamond. Although SBTB on DVD is only available in Region 1 format, Wedding in Las Vegas, Hawaiian Style and The Classic Collection can all be found on DVD in Region 2 format. Reunion? Peter Engel who will always be the force behind Bell has unfortunately proclaimed in various interviews that he does not think the cast will get together in the near future for a reunion due to their busy life and career schedules. Dennis Haskins feels the same way. Dennis and Peter both hope that if the show does reunite, it will be in a discussion, round table, type of format. Sources Maria’s Saved by the Bell Site the Saved by the Bell Web Source NBC Summer Press Tour Press Release Saved by the Bell Campus Tour Interview w/ Dennis Haskins Written By: Carrie McCord |
Go Back This Page Was Last Updated // August 10, 2005 |
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Go Back This Page Was Last Updated // December 10, 2004 |
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