After the first season premiered, producers determined Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993) came across as just a watered-down remake of the original Saved by the Bell (1989) series. However, to make it more of a stand-alone series, the characters of Scott Erickson, Barton "Weasel" Wysell, and Vicki Needleman leave because they copied the original's respective characters of Zack Morris, Samuel 'Screech' Powers, and Jessie Spano too closely. They recast new characters, Bobby Wilson and Brian Keller while Sarah Lancaster's guest appearance as Rachel Meyers expanded to a full-time starring role for season 2. Dustin Diamond's return as Screech Powers was also included for the series season 2 revampment not only due to the failure of the Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993) series, but also to help bridge the gap between the two high school classes.
Season 6 was originally stated to be the final season at 26 episodes. It was eventually decided to air only the first 13 episodes as season 6 and then air the final 13 episodes as a seventh season in an effort to prolong the series.
Dennis Haskins (Principal Richard Belding) and Dustin Diamond (Samuel 'Screech' Powers) was the only regular cast member to remain with the series under the save by bell title. Both actors were not in the Pilot (1987) episode of Good Morning, Miss Bliss (1987) that aired on NBC.
Apart from Dustin Diamond and Dennis Haskins, Samantha Esteban (Maria Lopez) has the most extended character run as a student while not appearing in any other incarnation of the Saved by the Bell (1989) franchise.
On the show, Screech is older than the students, however in real life, Dustin Diamond was the same age as Jonathan Angel, Salim Grant, Anthony Harrell and Tom Huntington and Christian Oliver was five years older than him.