'Saved By The Bell': Did Peacock's revival ruin iconic characters? Here's why show will make '90s kids weep
Spoilers for 'Saved By The Bell'
If you watched the original 'Saved By The Bell' (1989-1993), you must have been really excited for Peacock's revival that promised the return of the iconic characters from the '90s. Unfortunately, while the revival is aware of its social constructs when it comes to representation, inclusion and relatability — it's quite a regurgitation of expectations when it comes to highschool sitcoms in recent years.
The comedic value, in our opinion, was low and while you can say we are biased since we so loved the original, we want to simply put this in one sentence - it shouldn't have been a revival, it should have been an entirely different show. The original series of course was made for a different era, and while that it is understood that recent shows are made for today's perspectives, Peacock's 'Saved By The Bell' tried too hard to speak to its target audiences.
In the mindset of giving us an expected loud-mouthed mean cheerleader in Lexi (Josie Totah), an almost maniacally reserved musical genius in DeVante (Dexter Darden), a spoiled and babied man-child in Jamie (Belmont Cameli), a talented footballer tomboy in Aisha (Alycia Pascual-Pena), a rich "preppy" prankster in Mac (Mitchell Hoog) and a don't-tell-me-what-I'm-capable-of high achiever in Daisy (Haskiri Velazquez), the series idolized the "one in many" concept in what could have been a wholesome new group.
It was as though the new Bayside Squad was given a stage to set another iconic series, but only fell short of what was supposed to be a "revival." Mario Lopez's AC Slater will make you wonder how he's an actor as he poses as Bayside's gym teacher who's apparently "sexist for a good reason", Elizabeth Berkley's Dr Jessica Spano feeds right into the over-protective mom suit as she coddles son Jaime, Mark-Paul Gosselaar's Zack Morris is as cringy as cringy can get, and Tiffani Thiessen's Kelly Kapowski is NOT a return and could barely be called a cameo.
The series superficially checks a lot of boxes because of themes such as racism, romance, pranks, inside jokes, sexism, LGBTQIA+ awareness, financial and systemic inequality, underfunded schools and nepotism. However, we have to say adding a few sharp comments with poorly delivered jokes, returning characters, and easter eggs from the original series don't make a revival.
To be honest, had there not been an original series, there wouldn't be much to diss about the "revival", but to those that have watched the original series, it felt like a bit of a slap in the face. The premise runs as such: Zac Morris, now the governor of California cuts $10 billion from the state’s education budget which results in the closing of underfunded schools.
In order to calm the crowd of reporters who wondered where the displaced kids would attend school, he agreed to send them to other state schools that were well funded. This is how we end up with Aisha, Daisy, and DeVante meeting Jamie, Mac, and Lexi — the latter were made the former's "Bayside Buddies".
Maybe it's because we were expecting more (or an actual revival) were we disappointed in the resulted "revival". The truth is that the show lacks the nostalgia needed for iconic characters to have any sort of "oompf" when they return — the pop culture of the '90s era fades desperately waits for an actual return.
It's a series that will remind you of Disney's 'That's So Raven' minus the visions, or 'Phil of the Future' minus the time travel and so has the gist of being a lighthearted series meant for woke kids of this age. Kudos to the series for bringing to surfaces issues that many kids/teens find relatable today — we give credit where credit is due. As for the '90s kids, we'd suggest you rewatch the original series to fill the 'Saved By The Bell' hole in your heart — Bayside isn't "magic" in the revival.
'Saved By The Bell' is now available to stream on Peacock.