Saved by the Bell: The New Class Information

Saved by the Bell: The New Class is a spin-off of the Saved by the Bell series which ran from September 11, 1993 to January 8, 2000. The series lasted for seven seasons on NBC as a part of the network's TNBC Saturday morning line-up. It was the fourth incarnation of the franchise.

The show had the same concept as the original series but featured a new group of students now roaming the halls of the fictional Bayside High School. Mr. Belding, played by Dennis Haskins, remained as the 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 being the only constant factor.

The series was universally panned by critics and most fans of the original series and is one of the worst reviewed teen shows, but had a positive reception to new fans of the franchise.

Cast

• Dennis Haskins as Principal Richard Belding.
• Robert Sutherland Telfer as Scott Erickson (season 1)
• Isaac Lidsky as Barton 'Weasel' Wyzell (season 1)
• Bonnie Russavage as Vicki Needleman (season 1)
• Bianca Lawson as Megan Jones (seasons 1-2)
• Natalia Cigliuti as Lindsay Warner (seasons 1-3)
• Jonathan Angel as Thomas 'Tommy D' De Luca (seasons 1-3)
• Dustin Diamond as Samuel "Screech" Powers (seasons 2-7)
• Christian Oliver as Brian Keller (season 2)
• Spankee Rogers as Bobby Wilson (season 2)
• Sarah Lancaster as Rachel Meyers (guest star season 1, seasons 2-4)
• Salim Grant as R.J. "Hollywood" Collins (season 3)
• Richard Lee Jackson as Ryan Parker (seasons 3-5)
• Samantha Esteban as Maria Lopez (seasons 3-7)
• Anthony Harrell as Eric Little (seasons 4-7)
• Ben Gould as Nicky Farina (seasons 4-7)
• Lindsey McKeon as Katie Peterson (seasons 4-7)
• Ashley Lyn Cafagna as Liz Miller (seasons 5-7)
• Tom Wade Huntington as Tony Dillon (seasons 6-7)

Characters

Scott Erickson, played by Robert Sutherland Telfer, is the school's schemer in the mold of his predecessor, Zack Morris. He is also a transfer student from rival Valley High School. As Zack had done in the original series, Scott broke the "fourth wall" by addressing the audience. Early episodes featured Scott vying for the affection of Lindsay, the girlfriend of the school's jock, "Tommy D" in a manner very similar to the original series' early rivalry between Zack and Slater for the affections of Kelly. (Season 1)

Thomas "Tommy D" De Luca, played by Jonathan Angel, is the jock of the gang, and was similar to A.C. Slater. He is the star quarterback for Bayside High's football team. He and Lindsay are a stable couple despite Lindsay being involved in every school organization and Tommy's macho behavior towards Scott. (Seasons 1-3)

Barton "Weasel" Wyzell, played by Isaac Lidsky, is the nerdiest kid in school. Weasel befriends Scott from the start and even tags along when Scott devises many of his schemes. He tends to be the successor of the original series' Screech. He and Lindsay have been best friends since pre-school and he has a huge crush on Megan, which much like Screech's crush on Lisa, was not reciprocated. (Season 1)

Lindsay Warner, played by Natalia Cigliuti, is the most popular girl at Bayside High. She is essentially a successor to Kelly Kapowski. She is involved in every school organization. She is also the love interest for Tommy D. She's bubbly and cheery, and usually hangs with her best friends Megan and Vicki. (Seasons 1-3)

Megan Jones, played by Bianca Lawson, is the show's "brain" or over-achiever. She is one of the smartest students in school and doesn't let anyone forget it either. Like Weasel and Lindsay, Megan is Vicki's best friend and is usually the voice of reason to the neurotic Vicki. A recurring gag in the series is her many attempts to avoid Weasel's unrequited love for her. Her character is a combination of original series characters Lisa Turtle and Jessie Spano. (Seasons 1-2)

Vicki Needleman, played by Bonnie Russavage, is the neurotic best friend of Megan. She is a cheerleader and develops a crush on Scott. The character was supposed to be a successor to the original series' "Jessie" but has no precedent in the original series. (Season 1)

Rachel Meyers, played by Sarah Lancaster, is the school's fashion expert and shop-a-holic. (Guest Star Season 1, Seasons 2-4)

Brian Keller, played by Christian Oliver, is a new transfer student from Switzerland. (Season 2)

Bobby Wilson, played by Spankee Rogers, is a bit of a goofball. (Season 2)

Ryan Parker, played by Richard Lee Jackson, is transfer from Bayside's arch-rival Valley High. (Seasons 3-5)

Maria Lopez, played by Samantha Esteban, is an outspoken cheerleader. (Seasons 3-7)

R.J. "Hollywood" Collins, played by Salim Grant, is also a transfer from Valley High and is a fashion expert. (Season 3)

Nicky Farina, played by Ben Gould, is Ryan's stepbrother from New York. He's the love interest of Maria. (Seasons 4-7)

Katie Peterson, played by Lindsey McKeon, is a Bayside swimmer. She's the love interest of Nicky. (Seasons 4-7)

Cornelius "Eric" Little, played by Anthony Harrell, is Bayside's star Football player, and musician. (Seasons 4-7)

Liz Miller, played by Ashley Lyn Cafagna, Liz was a new girl to Bayside after Rachel Meyers left and moved to Boston. She is a sheltered star of the Bayside's swim team, she's the love interest of Ryan Parker. (Seasons 5-7)

Tony Dillon, played by Tom Wade Huntington, Tony transferred from Valley to Bayside after Ryan Parker left. Like Eric & Nicky, Tony is also a football player. He's the love interest of Maria Lopez. (Seasons 6-7)

Samuel "Screech" Powers, played by Dustin Diamond, is a former Bayside student. He returns to Bayside High as Mr. Belding's assistant. Like his high school friend, Zack Morris, Screech schemes to pull things off when things go wrong, and he gets a little carried away on what he's doing. (Seasons 2-7)

During an NBC repeat of Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (August 7-September 11), the commercial breaks featured original segments, set in Bayside High School and The Max, where the cast of the original series and the cast of the first season of The New Class met and talked with each other. These segments were a "passing of the torch" type of story. Also present were Dennis Haskins as Principal Richard Belding and Bob Golic as the resident advisor from Cal-U. One segment involved 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."

Cast changes

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 Rogers) was the newest cool kid, and Rachel Meyers (Sarah Lancaster) was the school's fashion expert and shop-a-holic. Lancaster also appeared in a single episode as Rachel in the first season.

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 Saved by the Bell: The College Years. 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 Rogers left the show, and three new characters were brought on. Schemer Ryan Parker (Richard Lee Jackson), lively and outspoken cheerleader Maria Lopez (Samantha Esteban), 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). While no mention of Screech's future is made whatsoever, many do assume that Screech is made principal of Bayside High.

Trivia

• Did you know that Mario Lopez and Anthony Harrell both appeared on the syndicated/Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated before joining the Saved by the Bell franchise?

Episode list

DVD releases

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	Ep #	Release Date
Season 1	13	January 25, 2005
Season 2	26	March 8, 2005
Season 3	26	June 14, 2005
Season 4	26	August 16, 2005
Season 5	26	October 18, 2005
Seasons 6 & 7	26	December 6, 2005