Guilty Pleasure: Saved By the Bell

[Ash]

Yes, you read correctly...Saved By the Bell has always been a guilty pleasure TV show for me.
I've watched this show since I was a teen and even now as a 30 year old man, I still never get tired of watching the cheese that is SBTB!
I work the late shift now at a new job and SBTB is on right when I get home at 6AM on TBS.
TBS shows a double shot of it every morning from 6 to 7AM.
I get off work, cook something good to eat and sit down to watch it EVERY morning.



I could never put my finger on why I've always liked it.
I guess one of the main reasons is that almost all of the actors in it like Mark Paul Gosselar, Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen, Dustin Diamond & Lark Vorhees were all pretty much the same age as I was when the show was being produced in the early 90's.
I could always relate to them in that aspect.
I always thought it a little cruel that out of all the kids at Bayside, only they mattered.
Everyone else was a nobody or a nerd but even despite that, I still like the cast and show.

It also has pretty good production values and decent acting.
Speaking of the acting in it, some of the scenes that all those guys had to shoot in it must have been INCREDIBLY EMBARRASING!
Especially when they break out into that early 90's rap in a few episodes.

I'm not the only one who likes it...both of my roommates who are also in their late 20's and early 30's watch it with me if they're up that early. They love it too.

Do any of you have a soft spot for this show?
Why do you think it still holds up so well in syndication after all these years?



Post Edited (09-24-04 21:19)

[dean]

Its a shame they don't show that here lately; everynow and then Saved By the Bell, and it's derivatives pop up, but it's few and far between.

There's something about early 90's tv that is just hilarious, shows like this, and Fresh prince of Bel Air among others, have just fascinated me.

Maybe it's the bad movie fan in me tuning to bad tv.

But then again, you really must feel sorry for Screech.   Very Sorry...

[Yaddo42]

Eye candy.

My favorite dig at "Saved by the Bell" was after Elizabeth Berkley had gone on to do "Showgirls". There was a running joke on "NewsRadio" that the station owner, Jimmie James, had a list of potential brides that he was narrowing down to find his ideal wife. They would occasionally mention famous women who were supposedly on the list, and the list got smaller over the course of several episodes. Once Dave, the news director, asked him how "the great list of 21" was going. Jimmie corrected him that it was down to 20 now, he had to disqualify one of them:

"You remember that sweet little girl from "Saved by the Bell"? She made a dirty movie!"

[onionhead]

My own younger brother was a Gosselar-wannabe, dressed, coiffured, even had the smirk down.  I must admit it has been one of my guilty pleasures too, although I recently slammed the show to my wife, who claims to hate Screech.  I actually thought he was a highlight of the series.  Of note, Dustin Diamond and Dennis Haskins, as Mr. Belding, were the only original casts members to join the SBTB-The New Class from 1993-2000.
Sometimes it isn't a good thing to have a mind for trivia  .. .. ... . . . . . .   .. . . . . .

[Mr. Hockstatter]

I've always liked that show.  Kelly was sooooooo awesome!  And Zack was always trying to get her via some dishonest means.  Classic.  I think the show holds up well because it had a nice mix of comedians and straight men.  There was great chemistry between the characters.  Never cared for that season they were working at some beach club though.  That was lame.

I actually thought The College Years was a really excellent show.  Extremely funny.  Too bad it didn't last too long.

[Dunners]

yeah I have to say..this show really did suck.it had it smoments but it was like happy days in the 80's...with out the talent and humor.

[saintmort]

Yes, I am a care bears fan and I am a guy. lol. The other day I got extremely excited when a friend of mine bought me the DVD of Care Bears 2: A New Generation. I watched it twice in one night.

[JohnL]

Dumb show, but I was an instant fan after seeing the first aired episode where Zack held an aution at school and Tiffani Thiessen came down the stairs in a swimsuit. I even watched the later series and the very similar Hang Time and USA High. I didn't watch The College Years show though.

[Declan]

My guilty pleasure? Degrassi Junior High! Watched it, lived it, loved it!! Of course, that was when I was a lame ass teen. Now, I'm a lame ass thirty-something, and my new guilty pleasure is Degrassi: The Next Generation. It features many of the cast members of the original, like myself, older and balder, as tackling the social issues of the day. I pretend I watch it to spend quality time with my son, I don't thing I'm fooling anyone though.

[Prophet Tenebrae]

Were you reading sore thumbs today Ash? (it's a webcomic www.sorethumbsonline.com )

Let's see... Shockingly, I will have Friends on in the background to make sure my ears still work.

[JohnL]

>My guilty pleasure? Degrassi Junior High!

I watched that and Degrassi High when Showtime aired them several years ago. I don't have any channels that get the new show.

[Neville]

How I hated this TV series!!! It was the dumbest thing I've ever seen really, and they started showing it all day in a new TV channel some years ago. ASH, thank you very much for the memories...

Not that I haven't my own guilty pleasures myself, of course. One is a rather dumb "Baywatch" knock off starring cops on bikes instead of baywatchers called "Pacific Blue". It just popped out in my mind because Mario Lopez, the actor who played Slater on SBTB is on it as well.

[Kory]

Isn't Dustin Diamond (Screech) the son of Neil Diamond and the brother of Beastie Boys' Mike Diamond (Mike D)?

I haven't taken the time to look it up to see if it's true. Just throwing it out there.

[Dave Munger]

As long as we're getting confessional... (Mexican region I won't even attempt to spell) H.E.A.T.  It stands for Hemisphere Emergency Action Team. Made me too jaded to appreciate Baywatch, they didn't fire machine guns in slow motion on Baywatch. This is the show that had Fabio in the credits as... Credits Guy. The credits were the only part of the show he was in.

[AD]

Hmm, maybe your guilty pleasure can extend to this online comic;

Mr T vs Saved by the Bell;
http://www.geocities.com/zmt98/MrT/t_vs_sbtb/Page1.html