Saved by the Bell: The New Class is an American teen sitcom television series and spinoff of Saved by the Bell. The New Class premiered on September 11, 1993. The series ran for seven seasons on NBC as a part of the network's TNBC Saturday morning line-up, airing its final episode on January 8, 2000. At seven seasons, it was the longest-running incarnation of the franchise.
The show had the same concept as the original series but featured a new group of students roaming the halls of the fictional Bayside High School. Mr. Belding, played by Dennis Haskins, remained as the in-show 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 and Screech (from season 2 onward) being the only consistent characters.
Contents
Cast and characters
Main
Robert Sutherland Telfer as Scott Erickson (season 1)
Isaac Lidsky as Barton "Weasel" Wyzell (season 1)
Jonathan Angel as Tommy "Tommy D" De Luca (seasons 1–3)
Bianca Lawson as Megan Jones (seasons 1–2)
Natalia Cigliuti as Lindsay Warner (seasons 1–3)
Bonnie Russavage as Vicki Needleman (season 1)
Dennis Haskins as Principal Richard Belding
Christian Oliver as Brian Keller (season 2)
Sarah Lancaster as Rachel Meyers (guest star, season 1; main, seasons 2–4)
Spankee Rodgers as Bobby Wilson (season 2)
Dustin Diamond as Samuel "Screech" Powers (seasons 2–7)
Richard Lee Jackson as Ryan Parker (seasons 3–5)
Salim Grant as Robert Joseph "R.J." Collins (season 3)
Samantha Becker as Maria Lopez (seasons 3–7) – Maria is a transfer from Valley High and an outspoken cheerleader. She is reunited with her ex, Tony in season 6.
Ben Gould as Nicky Farina (seasons 4–7)
Lindsey McKeon as Katie Peterson (seasons 4–7)
Anthony Harrell as Eric Little (seasons 4–7)
Production
Linkage to the original series
During the August 1993 repeat airing of the Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style television film, NBC ran promotions, set at Bayside High School and at The Max, where the cast of the original series and the cast of the first season of The New Class met and interacted with each other. These segments were a "passing of the torch" type of narrative. Also present were Dennis Haskins as Principal Richard Belding, and Bob Golic from Saved by the Bell: The College Years as the resident advisor from Cal U. One segment involves 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.
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 Rodgers) was the newest cool kid, and Rachel Meyers (Sarah Lancaster) was the school's fashion expert and shopaholic. Lancaster had previously appeared as Rachel in a single episode of the first season of the series.
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 Rodgers left the show, and three new characters were brought on. Schemer Ryan Parker (Richard Lee Jackson), lively and outspoken cheerleader Maria Lopez (Samantha Esteban, then credited as Samantha Becker), 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.
Home media
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.
Saved by the Bell: The New Class novels
There have been 10 novelizations based on the show, released by the publishers Boxtree Ltd and Aladdin Paperbacks, all written by Beth Cruise. The books all feature the main cast, and have the same storylines that relate to the main-plots in the TV spin-off. The first five books in the series focus on the first-season cast, and the last five books in the series feature the second-season cast.