Skeptics say that our generation hasn’t made many
significant contributions to the American lexicon. I beg to
differ.
From 1989 to 1993, Zack, Kelly, Slater, Lisa, Screech and Jessie
ruled Saturday mornings. Even Bugs Bunny had no answer for the
“Saved by the Bell” juggernaut. While parents read the
first President Bush’s lips, prepubescent squirts watched the
revolutionary NBC sitcom.
I was one of them. Therefore, it goes without saying that last
Monday night’s “Saved by the Bell: The E! True
Hollywood Story” had me riveted from start to finish.
The documentary reminds us of “Bell’s” epic
impact. It told viewers that executive producer Peter Engel
pioneered the first live-action show on Saturday morning’s
cartoon-dominated programming. “Bell” was ruthlessly
picked apart by critics but proved that live-action shows could
work on Saturday mornings.
The show created indelible stock characters:
Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) was exactly what A.C. Slater
(Mario Lopez) called him: Preppie. However, Zack was also the
epitome of cool (the prototype for Pacey from “Dawson’s
Creek”).
Meanwhile, Slater was brawn to Zack’s brain. No teen show
nowadays can exist without a jock. (Although, a friend pointed out
that it was technically impossible for Slater to be a member of
Bayside High School’s football, soccer, basketball,
wrestling, baseball and track team).
Kelly Kapowski: The object of Zack’s, Slater’s and
every teenage boy’s desires. According to the documentary,
Tiffani-Amber Thiessen won the role of sunny cheerleader Kelly over
Jenni Garth, who would go on to play another famous Kelly-archetype
on “Beverly Hills, 90210.”
Known to many in the cult following as “Mama” or
“Legs,” Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley) was oddly the
intelligent feminist in the mold of Andrea on
“90210.”
Lark Voorhies, whose portrayal of Lisa Turtle was vastly
underrated, set the stage for all snobby, superficial vixens that
followed. Lisa was the progenitor of Cher from
“Clueless” and Hilary from “The Fresh Prince of
Bel-Air.”
Then we have Screech Powers played by the immortal Dustin
Diamond. I learned from the documentary that Diamond, at least
three years younger than the rest of the cast, was playing a high
school kid at the age of 12. Diamond said he was “too weird
for everyone” and “the odd man out.” Are you
kidding me? Writers across America are still using him as a comedic
resource.
Eventually the gang had to graduate. At its prime,
“Bell” aired in 65 countries and spawned a drinking
game where collegians took a shot every time Screech was in a
locker or Slater called Jessie “Mama.”
So here’s to you, Zack, Kelly, Slater, Lisa, Screech,
Jessie, Mr. Belding, Milo, Mikey, Ox, Ginger, Tori, Stacey Carosi,
Max and, of course, Miss Bliss.
E-mail Chang at dchang@media.ucla.edu