Saved by the Bell

Name: Saved by the Bell
Genre: Family, Comedy
Rating: 7.1
Cast: Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario López, Dustin Diamond, Lark Voorhies, Dennis Haskins

Welcome to California's hippest high school

Saved by the Bell (1989-1993)

Seasons: 4, episodes: 86

Episode runtime: 23 min

Average rating: 7.1/10 40 938

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Everything about the series

Video 2

Photo 25

Actors and characters

Video for the series Saved by the Bell — Saved by the bell trailer

1:05

Photo 25

Premiere

1989-08-20

Last episode

1993-05-22

Status

Ended

Country

United States

Network

NBC

Production

NBC Productions, NBC Studios, Peter Engel Productions

Genre

Family, Comedy

Website

https://www.nbc.com/saved-by-the-bell

Creators

Sam Bobrick

Actors

Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario López, Dustin Diamond, Lark Voorhies, Dennis Haskins, Elizabeth Berkley, Tiffani Thiessen, Patrick Thomas O'Brien, Dehl Berti, Larry Cedar
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Brett Dewey, Ronald B. Solomon

Producer

Franco Bario, Peter Engel

Camera operator

Composer

Editing

Sheila Hall, Dick King
Whole Team (21)

Short description

Lovable schemer Zack Morris leads his pals on adventures at California's Bayside High School. The friends navigate relationships, final exams, school dances, breakups and more while frequently frustrating their principal, Mr. Richard Belding, who does his best to keep them in check.

Seasons

Season	Episodes	Release date	Rating
Season 1	16	1989-08-20	7.5
Season 2	18	1990-09-08	7.5
Season 3	26	1991-09-14	7.2
Season 4	26	1992-09-12	7.1

What's left behind the scenes

The filmmakers received an order for additional episodes after the 26th episode of the 4th season ("Graduation") had already been filmed. Since Tiffani Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley were scheduled to film other projects, the character of Tori Scott, played by Leanna Creel, was introduced to the script. To avoid inexplicable gaps in the plotlines, episodes featuring this character were filmed in the middle of the final season. It was intended that the characters played by Creel, Thiessen, and Berkley attended school at the same time but in different classes, and therefore did not cross paths.
Initially, it was intended that Zack and Slater (played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Mario Lopez) would compete for the affections of Kelly Kapowski, played by Tiffani Thiessen. However, it turned out that off-set, Gosselaar and Lopez were close friends. The writers changed the script to reflect their real-life relationship.
All the classroom scenes were filmed on the same set.
At one point, Dustin Diamond complained about being stalked by fans. Over time, the situation escalated to the point where Tiffani Thiessen and her family invited Diamond and his father to live with them for a while until things settled down. The Thiessens lived closest to the Diamonds.
According to executive producer Peter Engel, it was originally intended that the character played by Mario Lopez would be similar to John Travolta's roles. However, the filmmakers could not find any suitable white actors, so Engel suggested they look among Latino, Asian, and Black actors.
This project was a spin-off of the series 'Good Morning, Miss Bliss' (1987-1989), which took place at a school in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was cancelled after 14 episodes. NBC rebooted the series, moved the setting to California, and removed many characters from the plot. Only Dennis Haskins, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, and Lark Voorhies transitioned from the previous project to the new one. The creators never explained the move from Indiana to California, leading to a fan theory that it was all just a daydream or a dream of Gosselaar's character.
According to producer Peter Engel, the idea to include the word "bell" in the project's title came from the president of NBC (Brandon Tartikoff, who suggested something like "When the Bell Rings"). One of Engel's colleagues suggested the option "Saved by the Bell," which the NBC president liked. Engel held the opposite view but did not object, hoping that someone owned the rights to the phrase and it could not be used. However, he was mistaken.
Among the photographs in Principal Richard Belding's office (played by Dennis Haskins) were actual photos of the actor's father and brother.
Many characters who appear on screen suddenly vanish without explanation. Eric, Jessie's stepbrother, agrees to stay and try again, but simply disappears at the end of the episode. It remains unknown whether he returned to New York despite Jessie's promise or not. He is never mentioned again in the series. Similarly, Violet, Diamond's friend, disappears in the middle of the 3rd season.
During filming, Mark-Paul Gosselaar had to bleach his hair every two weeks.
Elizabeth Berkley originally auditioned for the role of Kelly, but the part went to another actress. The role of Jessie Spano was then written specifically for Berkley.
Dustin Diamond was only 12 years old when he was cast as Screech. The show's creator and producer, Peter Engel, later admitted that he would never have worked with Diamond had he known beforehand. During filming, he repeatedly highlighted Diamond's immaturity compared to the other actors.