| Saved by the Bell: The New Class | |
| Genre: | Teen sitcom |
| Creator: | Sam Bobrick |
| Developer: | Bennett Tramer |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 7 |
| Num Episodes: | 143 |
| List Episodes: | List of Saved by the Bell: The New Class episodes |
| Executive Producer: | Peter Engel |
| Camera: | Multi-camera |
| Runtime: | 22–24 minutes |
| Network: | NBC |
| Related: | Saved by the Bell (1989) |
Saved by the Bell: The New Class is an American teen sitcom television series and spinoff of Saved by the Bell. The New Class premiered on September 11, 1993. The series ran for seven seasons on NBC as a part of the network's TNBC Saturday morning line-up, airing its final episode on January 8, 2000.[1] At seven seasons, it was the longest-running incarnation of the franchise.[2]
The show had the same concept as the original series but featured a new group of students roaming the halls of the fictional Bayside High School. Mr. Belding, played by Dennis Haskins, remained as the in-show school's principal. Many of the stories were recycled plots of its parent series. The first-season cast included Robert Sutherland Telfer, Jonathan Angel, Isaac Lidsky, Natalia Cigliuti, Bianca Lawson, and Bonnie Russavage. Unlike the original series, which featured very few major cast changes throughout its run, The New Class regularly changed its core cast with Mr. Belding and Screech (from season 2 onward) being the only consistent characters.[3]
See main article: List of Saved by the Bell: The New Class episodes.
| Actor | Character | Seasons | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||
| Robert Sutherland Telfer | Scott Erickson | colspan="6" | ||||||
| Isaac Lidsky | Barton "Weasel" Wyzell | colspan="6" | ||||||
| Jonathan Angel | Tommy De Luca | colspan="4" | ||||||
| Bianca Lawson | Megan Jones | colspan="5" | ||||||
| Natalia Cigliuti | Lindsay Warner | colspan="4" | ||||||
| Bonnie Russavage | Vicki Needleman | colspan="6" | ||||||
| Dennis Haskins | Richard Belding | colspan="7" | ||||||
| Christian Oliver | Brian Keller | colspan="5" | ||||||
| Sarah Lancaster | Rachel Meyers | colspan="3" | ||||||
| Spankee Rogers | Bobby Wilson | colspan="5" | ||||||
| Dustin Diamond | Screech Powers | colspan="6" | ||||||
| Richard Lee Jackson | Ryan Parker | colspan="2" | ||||||
| Salim Grant | R.J. Collins | colspan="4" | ||||||
| Samantha Becker | Maria Lopez | colspan="5" | ||||||
| Ben Gould | Nicky Farina | colspan="4" | ||||||
| Lindsey McKeon | Katie Peterson | colspan="4" | ||||||
| Anthony Harrell | Eric Little | colspan="4" | ||||||
| Ashley Lyn Cafagna | Liz Miller | colspan="3" | ||||||
| Tom Wade Huntington | Tony Dillon | |||||||
During the August 1993 repeat airing of the television film, NBC ran promotions, set at Bayside High School and at The Max, where the cast of the original series and the cast of the first season of The New Class met and interacted with each other. These segments were a "passing of the torch" type of narrative. Also present were Dennis Haskins as Principal Richard Belding, and Bob Golic from as the resident advisor from Cal U. One segment involves Zack and Scott in the school hallway, where Zack gives Scott a list pertaining to Mr. Belding to cause trouble for him. Mr. Belding overhears this and takes the list away, joyfully triumphant at outsmarting Zack. After he walks away, Zack hands Scott "the real list".
The show was notable for its cast changes. Each season featured one to three cast changes. The constant changes made it confusing for new viewers who were not watching the show from the start as cast members would come and go without any real explanation, and presumably contributed to lower ratings as the seasons progressed.
After the initial criticism of the first season of The New Class as essentially being a poor copy of the original series, the producers changed a number of elements of the show for the second season. Robert Sutherland Telfer, Isaac Lidsky, and Bonnie Russavage were all fired. Three new characters were introduced for the 1994–95 season. Brian Keller (Christian Oliver) became the new transfer student from Switzerland, Bobby Wilson (Spankee Rodgers) was the newest cool kid, and Rachel Meyers (Sarah Lancaster) was the school's fashion expert and shopaholic. Lancaster had previously appeared as Rachel in a single episode of the first season of the series.
The writers also invited back original cast member Dustin Diamond as Screech for the show's second season, as he became available after the cancellation of . Providing continuity, Screech returned to Bayside High to work as Mr. Belding's assistant as part of a work/study program and also help build a bridge between the two series. Screech ended up remaining for the rest of the show's run, with very little mention being made throughout the story of his continued enrollment at California University. Further, the show's sets were redesigned to change the appearance of Bayside from that of the original series and Mr. Belding was given a new office.
Prior to Season 3 cast members Bianca Lawson, Christian Oliver and Spankee Rodgers left the show, and three new characters were brought on. Schemer Ryan Parker (Richard Lee Jackson), lively and outspoken cheerleader Maria Lopez (Samantha Esteban, then credited as Samantha Becker), and fashion-conscious R.J. "Hollywood" Collins (Salim Grant) were transfers from Valley High School.
At the end of the third season, original cast members Natalia Cigliuti and Jonathan Angel had decided to move on to other projects. Salim Grant was also let go and did not return for the new season, beginning in September 1996. New cast members Ben Gould (Nicky Farina), Lindsey McKeon (Katie Peterson), and Anthony Harrell (Eric Little) joined the show for its fourth season. Gould played Ryan's stepbrother from New York and was the love interest for Katie and later Maria. Katie was the newest "goody-goody" and Eric was the school's star football player.
Season 4 was Sarah Lancaster's final season and she was replaced in Season 5 by Ashley Lyn Cafagna as Liz Miller, a sheltered star of the school's swim team and is initially pursued by both stepbrothers, Ryan and Nicky. Also, the gang's original hangout, The Max, was renovated for the new season after the original burnt down in the fourth-season finale.
Season 6 followed and new cast member Tom Wade Huntington replaced Richard Lee Jackson as Tony Dillon, another Valley High transfer student and love interest for Maria. It was widely reported that Season 6 was in fact the final season for the series. In addition, NBC decided to prolong the series by splitting the number of episodes in half into another season (Season 7). These episodes had already been filmed at the same time as the sixth season and the cast remained the same.
Concluding the series in a similar fashion to the original, all characters go their separate ways into college. Eric is accepted into the Chicago School of the Arts to pursue his singing career and Liz is accepted into Stanford to pursue her Olympic aspirations (both constant themes throughout the series). Maria is accepted into UCLA and Tony is accepted into SDSU, prompting the two to end their relationship. Katie is accepted into Columbia, but is unable to go due to financial troubles. She instead plans to head for an unnamed Cal State University. Thus the series ends with Katie and Nicky's future in relative uncertainty, as he is accepted into NYU. Mr. Belding is offered the position of dean of students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (the alma mater of Dennis Haskins). It is unknown what happened to Screech.
Image Entertainment released all seven seasons of Saved by the Bell: The New Class on DVD in Region 1 in 2005. However, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print.
| DVD name | Episodes | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | DVD Special Features | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saved By The Bell: New Class Season 1 | 13 | January 25, 2005 | N/A | N/A | None | |
| Saved By The Bell: New Class Season 2 | 26 | March 8, 2005 | N/A | N/A | none | |
| Saved By The Bell: New Class Season 3 | 26 | June 14, 2005 | N/A | N/A | None | |
| Saved By The Bell: New Class Season 4 | 26 | August 16, 2005 | N/A | N/A | Unknown | |
| Saved By The Bell: New Class Season 5 | 26 | October 18, 2005 | N/A | N/A | Unknown | |
| Saved By The Bell: New Class Season 6 & 7 | 26 | December 6, 2005 | N/A | N/A | Saved By The Bell: The College Years DVD Promo. |
There have been 10 novelizations based on the show, released by the publishers Boxtree Ltd and Aladdin Paperbacks, all written by Beth Cruise. The books all feature the main cast, and have the same storylines that relate to the main-plots in the TV spin-off. The first five books in the series focus on the first-season cast, and the last five books in the series feature the second-season cast.
| Title | ISBN | Release Date(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trouble Ahead | 1 August 1994 | ||
| Spilling the Beans | 1 August 1994 | ||
| Going, Going, Gone! | 2 October 1994 | ||
| Breaking the Rules | 31 December 1994 | ||
| It's the Thought That Counts | 1 August 1995 | ||
| Finders, Keepers | 1 October 1995 | ||
| Franken-Bobby! | 1 December 1995 | ||
| Spreading the Word | 31 December 1995 | ||
| Lights, Camera, Action! | 31 December 1995 | ||
| May the Best Team Win | 31 December 1995 |