The bell that changed TV and childhood

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

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