Saved by the Bell: The New Class

Each Character in the first season of "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" was a parody of an original character as the original "Saved by the Bell". Scott Erikson was a parody of Zach. Barton "Weasel" Wyzell was a parody of Samuel "Screech" Powers, and so on. When Screech returned to the series, things started to go down, and so did ratings, until it became a complete waste of time. I like the original "Saved by the bell" better, even though it is not airing on Canadian Television, because nothing can be better than the original!

I would consider the material on Saved by the Bell: The New Class to be in the sub-par range. Granted the original Saved by the Bell (or what can by called Saved by the Bell: The Old Class) wasn't close to being a masterpiece on its own terms as it was filled with cheap jokes, stereotypes, and some outlandish storytelling even for a high school farce. But at the same time the cartoonish qualities that surrounded Saved by the Bell made the show appealing in the first place. In contrast, there's really nothing appealing about the New Class. The humor is bland, the writing is pretty lazy, and it the show can often be uneven. When I use the word "uneven" I'm directing this towards the fact that the show carries a rule (otherwise known as E/I) handed down by the Federal Communications Commission the there has to be certain ethics and/or morals in the stories. Because of the New Class' relatively lame writing (i.e. in the comedy department), we get a feeling that we are being throughly talked down to. Granted other sitcoms that have aired on NBC on Saturday mornings carry this rule also, but in contrast, those shows have better writing and are more entertaining. Another problem is that the New Class can't really distinguish itself. Some people have considered the stories from the first few seasons of this show to be exact duplicates of episodes from Saved by the Bell: The Old Class. Not to mention that this show has gone through numerous cast changes which somewhat creates a problem because it's harder to get used to things.

I liked this one better myself. First of all Screech and Belding made a great comedic duo. They were two of the only people doing modern slapstick and they did it well. Granted Screech's fake voice in later seasons was not needed but they were very funny. The kids were also a little nicer to Screech. OK so he is older, but the kindness they showed him was so much better then the nasty put downs from the original. I mean it just made Lisa, Jessie etc. look bad. Natalia and Sarah are two of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. The guys who played Ryan, R.J, and Tommy were all funny and the only real drawback was the changing cast. I think season 2 and 3 are the best cast wise because of Natalia and Sarah but all were decent. It is just that even if these were more likable characters, you hardly got to know them. I did not mind the life lesson part. I was pretty innocent when the show first aired and these (along with City Guys, and Hang Time) were the only T.V. kids my age I related too. I was nothing like the people on 90210, and was not ready for sex or drugs. The New Class was a clean cut alternative that made me feel good watching it.

I was in the Thanksgiving episode and that one was the best. It was my first network job and I want to say thanks to Robbin Lippin for the chance. The cast and crew were wonderful to work with. It turns out the Screech guy is very smart instead of the dummy he played.

This was a good show, with great characters. I especially liked Katie (red hair, dates Nicky in the final season, played by Lindsey McKeon?). There were only a few characters that got on my nerves, they were Maria Lopez, RJ Collins, and Vicki Needleman. And another thing that bothered me was that there were so many recycled stories - e.g. Lindsey and Ryan's break-up was pure Kelly-and-Zack of the original series, when Maria started smoking pot it was another Jessie-and-painkillers thing, when Lindsey thought Ryan was going out with Rachel it was just like Snow White and the Eight Dorks from the original series. Oh, and just one more thing that bothered EVERYONE - changes! There were SIXTEEN main students in total! They only explained about two - Lindsey and Tommy. And they only explained a few new people! I got used to watching Lindsey, Ryan, Tommy, Rachel, RJ, and Maria, but then they suddenly disappeared. But it was a great show apart from all those things, and I love the episode where Lisa, Zack, and Slater come back. I give this a B+.