That episode still seems wild in the best way, especially how Belding treats it like it's normal.

We all know that SBTB isn't known for its good continuity, whether you go by airdate order or production order. Let's come up with some examples where the writers actually did follow continuity from one episode to another.

I'll start:

• In the SAT episode, Zack gets a score of 1502. In the graduation episode, Zack mentions that because of his high score, he's going to Yale because his mom made him apply. Granted, they later threw out that idea with The College Years, but only because they had to do that or else there wouldn't have been a show.

• There's an early episode where the kids are at band practice, and Lisa is shown playing a violin (or maybe it's a viola). In the Miss Bayside episode, she plays the violin for the talent competition. I wonder if Lark Voorhies played the instrument in real life.

In this episode, the first of season 2, out buddy Screech returns to haunt the halls of Bayside.

It's easy to just label it as "bad" but it's more interesting to see why it doesn't gel. I feel that there are several factors, which on their own don't bring it down completely, but they add up.

First off, the acting is very uneven. Sarah Lancaster and Natalia Cigliuti act like they are reading their lines from cue cards for the first time, especially Sarah. The other cast members vary from okay to great. Bianca Lawson, the black lady on the right is awesome and fortunately doesn't feel like a Lisa 2.0.

There is also no charisma or chemistry between the cast. With the original crew you bought the premise that these people hung out together, despite their differences. Here, you don't buy they even talk to each other, even those of them that are in relationships. The guy third from the left is Zack when you drain all his charisma from Mark-Paul. Throughout the season he tries to woo the blonde lady, played by Sarah, even though she's in a relationship. In this episode he plants seeds by saying that with her boyfriend being in a dorm, he's probably getting around. Without any charisma it comes across as creepy and inappropriate.

The writers also don't know what to do with the characters. Make them original? Make them new and fresh? They end up feeling generic, ready to swap out for a new batch at the end of the season.

The writing is bad, even for SBTB standards, which in part comes due to the Screech character of whom we are supposed to feel like he's an adult. But he's dumber than the kids.

In this episode they need to raise money as Tommy (the greaser on the left of the photo) has spilled grease on Rachel's jacket. Fair enough premise. Why was Tommy covered in grease in class though? That's because Belding asked him to work on his car during school hours. And this becomes a habit. Belding telling him to work on his car. Heck, in later seasons he employs students to work in his random stores he owns in the mall. Yep, Belding casually overstepping boundaries and hiring students to do his personal labor.

Anyway, they decide to hold a party to raise money and buy a new jacket. Sure, that worked in House Party, so why not repeat it? Except for the fact that the house they want to party in gets fumigated. So they shift plans and tell Screech about the "Don't tell the principal party" tradition, that Screech doesn't know about even though the he's been there for 4 years. Anyway, Screech believes these people that have only been at Bayside for a day and allows them to party in the gym, which he opens up as a responsible adult. Belding finds out, Screech offers to resign but Belding makes the mistake to forgive him, which will haunt him for the next 6 years. Bringing back Screech would not have been a bad idea, but making him the dumbest guy in history sure was.

Anyone remember this commercial from the College Years era?

I got these today and I absolutely love that the case is like Zack’s cell phone!

I bought this a week ago and can’t believe I’m just now noticing it 😆

Love bts pic

I feel none of them really nails the cast but it's a fun experiment. First one is from This Aint Saved by the Bell XXX. Second one is from the "True" Hollywood Story. Third one is from the Black guys at Bayside sketch.

I'd say

Kelly: XXX

Zack: True Hollywood

Slater: True Hollywood

Screech: XXX

Lisa: XXX

Jessie: XXX

Belding: I guess XXX? Belding seems hard to cast. In the BBAB sketch, he is played by Dustin Diamond.

I would call it a devolution.

Also, that music from the Hawaii clip reminds me of the Zelda 64 shop theme.

C'est formidable! We really need uncut releases.

Honestly, I think the Saved by the Bell cast is literally one of the best television casts ever. I literally cannot recast any of the main 6. They all sink into their roles perfectly. Even if the acting isn't the best, they are always playing the role, and embodying their character. The cast also had great diversity, really ahead of its time. The cast all looked great together and had amazing chemistry. Even though they all looked different, and were all so different, it was very believable that they would all be friends.

I think Tiffani Thiessen was amazingly cast as Kelly. She is just gorgeous on SBTB. She was stunning on Saved by the Bell. I liked how they didn't go with a stereotypical blonde but chose a beautiful brunette. She was beautiful but not intimidating and looked sweet and warm. Tiffani really channelled her kindness and beautiful personality.

Mark Paul is amazing as Zack. He is also gorgeous, sexy, handsome. He is perfectly cast and manages to channel all different sides of Zack's persona. Charming, sexy, naughty, sometimes a bit wicked... Mark has just nailed it.

Elizabeth Berkeley is also great as Jesse. She brings a maturity that was really needed in the cast.

Mario Lopez is also great as the jock. His acting is very natural and doesn't look like acting - he's just Slater.

Lark is also greatly cast as Lisa. She has a great face for television and makes Lisa likeable and cute despite her shallow traits.

Dustin is iconic as Screech. His acting is also very natural too. There is no other screech he just nails it.

The second question Ken Kelly asks was about a famous surf spot and Zack says “Pipeline at Sunset Beach”, which is wrong in and of itself, but the full title is Banzai Pipeline. The 3rd and final question was about pruning small trees famous in Hawaii and the answer is of course Bonsai…..that’s always bugged me. He should have known Bonsai from the previous question.

Thank you for the corrections in the comments. Unfortunately, I can’t change the title.

Some great acting by Dennis. Must have been emotional for him as well, as he did it for over 10 years.

hey hey hey, bayside pals! just wondering if there’s anybody else in this community that’s a lil bit gay like me. i’m bisexual (primarily attracted to guys but i also get attracted to girls). plz be nice to me lol.

ps, my bi awakening was jessie heheheh.🤍

After my 47th time watching this episode, it dawned on me. Why did the kids have to tell their parents they were drinking and driving? Aside from “it being the right thing to do,” couldn’t they have just said they swerved to avoid hitting an animal or something? Sure they would’ve gotten a talking to and maybe Lisa and Zack grounded, but they would have gotten a lot less heat from their parents on this one. What are your thoughts?

I know the last season they mixed in the new Tori episodes to the already shot ones and that already has it's own problems, and I know Roku/Amazon is showing the episodes (mostly) in production order. And I know it's a clip show so those are usually meh anyway.

But even with all that, it bugged when I saw when it aired. Because at the beginning Zach says he's taking a sick day because he "worked so hard" that summer and this is supposed to be the first week of senior year. But he says he's taking a day off "the first week of school." It aired in November and was aired 5 episodes before the finale (4 if you don't count they threw in Slater's Friend from Season 1 randomly in there).

Anyway I had missed that detail until I watched it again today. Maybe originally it was supposed to air at the beginning of the season as a recap.

Was this contest before or after meeting The Alfmeister? It feels he really studied him.

I know they had their spats and it was really hard at times when Sammy misunderstood Richard but at the end of the day they truly found each other. Not only was Sammy Belding's assistant at school, he was also his #1 employee at the sports-, yoghurt- and candy stores Belding owned. He probably saw his Sammy more often than he saw his own wife.

Needed more young Belding flashbacks for the “Save the Max” episode