Saved by the Bell: The College Years explained

Genre:Teen sitcom
Creator:Sam Bobrick
Developer:Elaine Aronson
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:19
Director:Jeff Melman
Executive Producer:Peter Engel
Runtime:22 minutes
Network:NBC
Related:Saved by the Bell

Saved by the Bell: The College Years is an American television sitcom, and sequel to Saved by the Bell. It is the third incarnation of the franchise, and ran on NBC for one season, premiering on May 22, 1993, and airing its final episode on February 8, 1994. It is the only series of the franchise to air on primetime television instead of Saturday mornings – most episodes aired on Tuesday evenings.[1] The series follows Zack, Screech and A.C. Slater, and their three female suitemates, including Kelly Kapowski, in the dorms at college. It was followed by a television film, Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, which aired in October 1994.

Premise

In the series pilot, six characters live in the dorms at the fictitious California University, or Cal U, under the watchful eye of Mike Rogers, their resident adviser. The first-year dorm residents include Zack Morris, Screech Powers, and A.C. Slater from the original Saved by the Bell, along with newcomers Leslie Burke, Alex Tabor, and Danielle Marks. After The College Years pilot, Danielle Marks, played by Essence Atkins was written out, and was replaced on the show with Zack's former Saved by the Bell girlfriend, Kelly Kapowski. The series revolves around the troubles each of the six characters gets into every week, as well as Zack's various schemes to try to get his suitemates, first Leslie, and then Kelly, to fall for him. Later in the series, Dean McMann, played by Holland Taylor, becomes involved with trying to rein in the first-years' antics.

Cast

Also Starring

Episodes

See also: List of Saved by the Bell episodes.

Home media

Saved by the Bell: The College Years was released on DVD in Region 1 by Image Entertainment on August 17, 2004.

Film

A 90-minute TV movie, Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, was produced to wrap up the series. The events of the final episode of the series lead directly into the film, which shows the characters on a road trip to Las Vegas for Zack and Kelly's impending wedding, and the comic misadventures they have along the way. Tom Jicha of the Sun-Sentinel said, "This movie would have been more appropriate for the time period in which all these stories began - Saturday morning."[2] The movie was later split into four individual episodes when the series entered syndication.

Saved By the Bell: The College Years novels

Five novelizations based on the show(four based on the main series and one based on the TV movie "Wedding in Las Vegas") were released in late 1994 and early 1995 by the publisher Aladdin Paperbacks, all written by Beth Cruise. The books all feature the main cast, and have similar storylines that relate to the main plots in the TV sequel.

TitleISBNRelease Date(s)
Freshman FrenzyAugust 1, 1994
Zack Zeroes InSeptember 1, 1994
Exit, Stage RightOctober 1, 1994
Mistletoe Magic December 1, 1994
To Have and To HoldMarch 31, 1995

Crossovers

Zack and Slater, and Lisa, who only appears in the follow up Wedding in Las Vegas film, all appear again on the , in its second season finale episode, "Goodbye Bayside: Part 2". Slater appears one additional time on The New Class, in the fourth season finale episode, "Fire at the Max: Part 2". Screech would return in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, coming on as Mr. Belding's administrative assistant on a work-study program from Cal U, starting with the series' second season, and continuing as a main character in The New Class for the rest of its run.

A.C. Slater, and Jessie Spano from the original series, became main characters in the 2020 Saved by the Bell sequel series, while Zack, Kelly, and Lisa all would make guest appearances on the show.[3] [4] [5] [6] The 2020 sequel series also revisited The College Years by creating a flashback scene with Jessie visiting Slater at his dorm.[7] [8]

Notes and References

  1. News: On View : Freshmen, Again : Can 'Saved By The Bell' and 'Beverly Hills, 90210' Pass The Test As They Head Off To College?. N.F. Mendoza. September 26, 1993. Los Angeles Times. 2016-02-06. March 5, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305070620/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-09-26/news/tv-39113_1_beverly-hills. live.
  2. News: Jicha . Tom . Zack and Kelly tie the knot in finale . 7 September 2022 . Sun-Sentinel . October 7, 1994.
  3. News: Time out! A 'Saved By the Bell' remake is coming to NBC's streaming service Peacock . Jensen. Erin. Levin. Gary . September 17, 2019 . . September 18, 2019 . November 15, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201115203648/https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2019/09/17/nbc-streaming-service-offer-saved-bell-remake-peacock/2349958001/ . live .
  4. Web site: September 29, 2020. The Saved By the Bell Revival Finally Has a Premiere Date. September 29, 2020. E! Online. November 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115203641/https://www.eonline.com/news/1192949/the-saved-by-the-bell-revival-finally-has-a-premiere-date. live.
  5. Web site: Saved by the Bell Revival: Zack and Kelly Will Appear 'In Some Capacity'. Swift. Andy. January 9, 2020. TVLine. January 9, 2020. November 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115203623/https://tvline.com/2020/01/09/saved-by-the-bell-revival-zack-kelly-returning/. live.
  6. Web site: October 29, 2020. Lark Voorhies Will Reprise 'Saved by the Bell' Role in Peacock Series. October 29, 2020. Variety. November 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115203636/https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/lark-voorhies-saved-by-the-bell-1234819012/. live.
  7. https://tvline.com/2021/11/26/saved-by-the-bell-the-college-years-reboot-kelly-zack-season-2-video/ Saved by the Bell EPs on Rethinking Kelly's College Years Arc, Revisiting Spinoff for New Slater/Jessie Scene
  8. https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/saved-by-the-bell-season-2-adds-new-character-to-college-years-series/ Saved By The Bell Season 2 Adds New Character to College Years Series