Peacock condemns Saved By The Bell
The streaming series has ended its revival of the TV classic after two seasons on the air
Aux News Saved By The Bell
Peacock revealed today that it won’t, in fact, be saving Saved By The Bell again; the NBC-affiliated streaming service announced this afternoon that it’s pulling the plug on its revival of the nostalgia-laden teen sitcom after two seasons on the streaming air, denying fans the final romantic resolution to decades of AC Slater/Jessie Spano flirtation that they’ve been oh so clearly pining for.
This is per Deadline, which reveals that the series won’t be moving forward with a third season. The show starred Haskiri Velazquez as Daisy Jiménez, a teenager who comes to Bayside High after her original high school has its funding destroyed by—who else?—California governor Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar, returning for a recurring role). The series focused on Daisy’s efforts to climb to the top of the Bayside hierarchy alongside (and, at times, against) Zack’s son Mac (Mitchell Hoog), Jessie’s son Jamie (Belmont Cameli), and a number of fellow students (Josie Totah, Alycia Pascual-Peña, and Dexter Darden) who were not spawned from the loins of the cast of the original show. John Michael Higgins, Rebecca Berkley Lauren, and Mario Lopez all starred as the adult components of the cast, the latter two reprising their roles from the parent show.
We were fairly warm on the SBtB revival, as it happened, which, in the words of reviewer Randall Colburn, was “able to resurrect the weird, reality-detached charm and aesthetic of the original while also using it to show the absurdity of wealth through the eyes of the lower-class.” The series was showrun by Tracey Wigfield, whose TV credits include both 30 Rock and The Mindy Project. Peacock released a boilerplate “We loved this show we’re killing” press statement today, praising both Wigfield and the show’s cast:
We are so proud to have been the home of the next iteration of Saved by the Bell for both new and OG fans. Saved By The Bell has been a cultural mainstay for more than 30 years and the new series, led by Tracey Wigfield’s superfan enthusiasm and signature witty humor, seamlessly continued the show’s legacy, all while allowing more audiences to feel seen. We’re grateful to Tracey, Franco Bario, our partners at UTV, the beloved cast, and the fans who have continued to champion one of the most iconic shows of all time.
75 Comments
This makes me sad.
“Saved by the bell” is a boxing idiom, so the headline should have been “Peacock KOs Saved By the Bell”. The “condemns” thing makes it sound like the idiom is about, like, executions.
Or a building. Does Hughes think “The Bell” was the name of the school or something?
It’s likely Hughes didn’t write the headline. Not that the AV Club could be generally accused of adhering to anything we might call “standard journalistic practice” but even here, I don’t think the article authors write the headlines.
but even here, I don’t think the article authors write the headlines
They barely write the articles…
I believe they write the initial headlines (i.e. the one used in the URL), but then it gets changed by someone else to drive clicks.At least it’s not as bad as Cracked, which changes headlines 4-5 times a day.
Cracked 15 years ago was one of the best sites on the web. Those were Better Days.
The question is: do the people who write the headlines read the articles?
It makes it sound like NBC not only canceled the show but disowned it as a moral abomination. Which…
Pft, please. nobody pays attention to conventional phrasemaking, syntax or metaphor anymore. This isn’t Chicago, fam.
Thank you for the side reference—these posts and supposed click-bait headlines are often clunky and not at all creative. “Third Round Knockout” is another possibility..
Saved by the bell specifically means you were saves from being knocked out, so “Peacock KOs Saved By the Bell” is worse, because it’s shoehorning in a boxing reference that doesn’t fit. Nevermind that the show isn’t about boxing in the first place.
Fuck. I really loved this show
“Rebecca Berkley Lauren”You almost got it.
Yeah, that really threw me for a loop. Should have just remembered that every third sentence in an AV Club article contains an error.
That’s a requirement for the site now. That way they can call the writers “interns” and not have to pay them as much or let them join the union 🙂
I mean, it’s not even from the same Testament, but close enough I guess
Fucking bullshit. This show was hilarious.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Goddammit, will Tracey Wigfield be forever condemned to two-and-done shows that I love?!
I’m still mourning Great News 😭
An utter shame. Saved by the Bell was a delight.“The series was showrun by Tracey Wigfield, whose TV credits include both 30 Rock and The Mindy Project.”Not to mention the creator and showrunner of Great News, which was the funniest show on TV in its time but none of you (glares and points at everyone else in the room) gave the time of day.
I watched Great News when it was on!
I watched a few episodes. It was just 30 Rock fanfic. Wigfield is certainly a good writer, but the show was sooooo beholden to 30 Rock in terms of style, tone, premise, characterizations, etc. etc. it was almost embarrassing. Literally the same show, plus a mom. Bleh.
Yeah, I’d care more about those criticisms if the show wasn’t also incredibly funny and often funnier than 30 Rock, which it was.
no it wasn’t but ok
Hmm, I’m pretty sure my subjective opinion is superior to yours.
You might be right. I can’t decide.
Funnily nough, I thought this new Saved by the Bell felt like 30 Rock set at Bayside High. While also leaning hard into those “Zack Morris is Trash” YouTube takes, I really couldn’t get into what they were doing with this.
Great News always struck me as funny, but quite derivative. Not to the same degree as something like Superstore, but it was not shy about its influences.
Don’t care if the show is good. I love Superstore as well.
You hit the nail on the head. I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t get into it. It was a bunch of people who couldn’t break out of the material. Usually with comedies the actors will pull the writing in certain directions, but the whole thing just stayed flat.
Not me. It’s all these losers on here that didn’t watch “Great News.”
I confess to not watching it when it was on, but I’ve gone through it several times on Netflix. It’s joined 30 Rock, The Office, Parks and Rec, Kimmy Schmidt, and now Girls5Eva as a comforting bedtime show in my house.
Only heard good things about it. Guess cancellation was inevitable (seriously wtf, producers)
This show was an incredible amount of fun and totally insane. Not at all surprised it was canceled.
Do you have to remember a lot about the original to get this show? Or is it like Cobra Kai, where they give you all the information you need to follow everything? I miss Great News and really want to support Tracey Wigfield, even though it’s over.
You would be very much good jumping in with absolutely no knowledge of the original show. There may be a few reference jokes that don’t hit as well for you, but it wouldn’t be confusing.
I liked the first season, but didn’t get around to the second season. It’s probably not worth it now. I don’t think any Peacock original has gotten a third season. AP Bio and Saved By The Bell were both canceled after two seasons, but a lot of their originals were canceled after just one season.
I thought ap bio was cancelled from NBC after two and got a third on peacock?
Yes, it got canceled after two seasons at NBC, picked up at Peacock and canceled after two seasons at Peacock. My initial comment was meant to convey that Peacock has had a hard time finding a breakout show though they claim Bel Air is their most watched show yet and Girls5Eva seems to be well liked.
Plus it’s not worth getting Peacock for it. It’s the worst of all the streaming apps. It constantly acts up and it doesn’t even have a way to contact customer service.
HBO Max is the absolute worst. If you ‘rewind’ 10 seconds too many times, the entire service closes down and you have to log-out/ login again.
I do notice sometimes a show I’m watching would freeze but going back and playing it again works. Another thing about Peacock that sucks is their selection. The only good thing is their sports selection but the way they choose to show it sucks.
When I watched Peacock it was still free. Are they charging subscriptions now?
If you want to watch everything you have to pay $5 with ads. Double that if you don’t want ads. I only got it for a month during the Olympics for skating. The replays really suck because their were so many ads. Also no commentators. A week later NBC posted everything on YouTube.
Thanks. I have never paid for a sub, so that desktop icon is going right into the Recycle Bin.
I do not have problems with Peacock. I also submit HBOMax is the worst interface (but great content)
We hired our friend’s kids to house sit for us a year ago and when we got back Peacock was on our amazon fire. It turns out this is the ideal way to have peacock. It’s not really worth the hassle of downloading and finding someone to share a passcode with you, but if it just sorta shows up one day, you can watch old episodes of SNL.
AP Bio wasn’t a Peacock original, it started on NBC, and in fact lasted 4 seasons total, but 2 of those seasons were the Peacock add ons, so I guess the 2-year rule still technically applies.
The 2nd season is absolutely worth watching
The second season is worth watching as the show gets more meta in some ways, especially the episode that repeatedly referenced Showgirls.
Dammit. Show was so great.
There’s a lot of criticism leveled at Netflix for cancelling shows after a few seasons. What if that’s just what the streaming media landscape is becoming? I’m unhappy to see these shows go, but maybe this means we’ll see more tightly constructed series and fewer things that meander on forever.But I wouldn’t have minded another season of Saved by the Bell and maybe a new stab at The College Years…
I think this is simply what’s going to happen now…and honestly, it makes me less likely to pick up a new series, because why should you pick up one and only have the narrative end on a cliff hanger after two seasons…
If creators are more aware of shortened lifespans, they can cap off seasons in a more satisfactory manner. Then again, I’m ok with them not trying. The art of crafting a series finale seems too difficult for most. I’m happy with a series leaving me wanting more rather than one that makes me ask, “Wait, that’s it?”I don’t know why this would dissuade you from getting into series, though. The journey is almost always more satisfying than the destination.
I think its a personal frustration of mine…I get frustrated when i get super invested in a series and the story is, effectively, incomplete.
Tracey Wigfield also created “Great News.” That might have been a more appropriate credit to list. (not that it was good or anything, but SATB wasn’t her first stab at creating/showrunning.)
Now I’m going to create a show called “SATB” about the hilarious trials and travails of a choir.
It was great.
Where’s the gritty Small Wonder reboot. That’s probably more of a Hulu thing tho.
In the Uk we’re still awaiting the gritty Metal Mickey reboot. That and the horror version of Rent-A-Ghost.
A Gritty Small Wonder reboot is going to go places I do not want to go. Its not a big leap to figure out why an adult man decided to use cutting age robot technology to build a little girl.
She already did a bunch of blow in the original series
What do you think about D.A.R.Y.L? Is the military also perverts?
Now THAT I would watch…
This show one of the best TV shows on tv. Peacock are stupid.
“We were fairly warm on the SBtB revival, as it happened, which, in the words of reviewer Randall Colburn, was ‘able to resurrect the weird, reality-detached charm and aesthetic of the original while also using it to show the absurdity of wealth through the eyes of the lower-class.'”I would hate to be the type of person who watches shows ONLY to audit the social commentary of them. ESPECIALLY when it’s a show like Saved by the Fucking Bell
Someone should call a time out…….
John Michael Higgins deserves a project that has long legs. He’s hilarious in everything.
would have gone with “expelled”
They should do a final episode to wrap up. The setup should be Jessie’s funeral after she od’s on energy drinks…
Alas, no Bell shall save them now…