HOME TRAILERS RELEASE DATES PODCASTS REVIEWS POSTERS INTERVIEWS BOB $TENCIL NEWS FEEDS ABOUT APPS

LATEST NEWS

Saved by the Bell Might Finally Get the Big Screen Treatment

by Ethan Anderton
December 18, 2009
Source: Pajiba

It's quite surprising that after turning older television shows like Charlie's Angels, Get Smart, The Addams Family into feature films, many of the sitcoms and series from the 90's have remained largely untouched by the property grabbing hands of Hollywood. That has the potential to change soon as Pajiba reports that a Saved by the Bell movie is in the works. And while there's certainly some interest in revisiting Bayside High School (especially from Jimmy Fallon), the film itself would more than likely have an all-new cast with the possibility of cameos from the original cast members. But does anyone want to see this show as a movie?

However, I'm not sure if an "all-new cast" means that it will simply have new actors playing Bayside High School's finest. If you're too young to remember the 90's series or just never cared enough to watch, the show aired between 1989 and 1993 and the series itself is a retooled version of another 1988 series Good Morning, Miss Bliss. Series followed the exploits of high school students like the scheming charmer Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), cheerleading hottie Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen), the gossip queen Lisa Marie Turtle (Lark Voorhies), the school nerd Samuel "Screech" Powers (Dustin Diamond), resident know-it-all Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley) and the jock "A.C' Slater (Mario Lopez) as well as a friendly yet authoritative Richard Belding (Dennis Haskins) as the school's principal.

While touching anything I hold dear to my heart from the 90's is usually immediate cause for backlash, I can see a somewhat successful and retro-style teenage film coming out of this, especially if it's loyal to the super cheesy style and tone of the series. More specifically, the cunning use of breaking the fourth wall would be a welcome callback to a high school flick, the likes of which haven't been successfully used for comedy and character development since John Hughes' 1986 classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

But on the other end of the spectrum, very few big screen bows of television series have actually been up to par. Recent cinematic incarnations of The Dukes of Hazard, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Bewitched have been agonizingly painful to watch. If Saved by the Bell is going to make it, then it needs to take cues from more successful jumps to the big screen like The Addams Family and stay away from a parody-like portrayal like The Brady Bunch Movie. This is only a rumor for now, but there is some potential, so we'll keep you updated. Do you want Saved by the Bell to head to theaters or should school be out forever?

Explore tags: Movie News, Opinions, Rumors

Ron

Good God, NO! What is going through these people's heads??!!
Cody

HAHHAHAHHAHAHA ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?!
Frame

I'd prefer something like a 'twenty years later' thing with the original actors playing their respective roles. They're all still friends so it's not impossible (well, except maybe Dustin, but they can just say Screech died.) Saved by the Bell's fans are pretty much grown up now... a comedy with an edgier tone than the show would be profitable but a high school based show with new actors?? Forget about it.
Shannon

No. "Saved By The Bell" is horrible & cheesy & absolutely sacred to television. It will NOT translate well to the big screen. STOP!
Blackstar

The only possible good that can come from this is if everyone in it dies. Horribly.
tazz

loved the show back in the days. anyway this should never be made into a film it wont work nowadays at all.
xan

only on 3 conditions... Skreech overdoses on crank after being brutally gang-raped in a truck stop bathroom at 3 am Zach and his latino lover go on a gay cruise in Alaska with Rosie and the ship strikes an iceberg and sinks ... leaving no survivors Most of the movie takes place in the girls locker room where the girls find themselves locked in and discover their sexuality amongst the steam and bubbles Then, and only then, would I watch a movie based on that steaming pile of dog-shit teen fag-fest pimple-cream commercial squeaky-clean over-privileged offspring from the union of Ferris Beuller and that douchier guy from Wham! television show. Of course I may be alone in my opinion... sure there are legions of fans out there waiting for this spectacle to be made.
Frightened Inmate #2

LINES AROUND THE BLOCK!!
Movietweeter

It's alright, cause Im saved by the....its alright, cause Im saved by the....it's alright cause Im saved by the bell! Zack, Kellly, Slater, Screech, Lisa, Jessie, and Mr. Belding Oh my!
mflauri

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Jont

god am i old
Greedo

The only way it would work is to have Will Ferrell as Mr. Belding, Vince Vaughn as Slater, Ben Stiller as Screech, etc.... Just playing up the fact that these guys are way too old to be playing high-schoolers. SBTB is a source of ridicule, and they've already had movies made (those lame 2-hour movies where they go to Hawaii). The only way it would work is if they went the Brady Bunch movies approach and lampoon the stupid shit that happened on the show. Nobody wants the original actors because they are old and sad. Mario Lopez and Zack Morris have careers, but some of them are just sad, mostly Dustin Diamond.
Dave Lister, J.M.C.

This needs to be passed like the steaming pile of shit that it is.
Rena

But WHY????
Mike

When are they going to turn 'Out of this World' into a movie?
dbamma

i like #7's idea best of all, zack and slater nude in the fridget cold. oh my
NadaNuff

No. Saved by the Bell was cheesy even when it was airing. Plus it was a sitcom with a laugh track--how often do those translate well? Even if this did get miraculously greenlit, what's the plot gonna be about? While your mind is reeling, lemme tell you--it's gonna be some ridiculous story that involves the cast going on some type of quest or something. Please, spare us.
clippers350

All I wanna see is if Slater will dawn his Z Cavaricci's with his mesh tank tops, Zach with his cuffed pants with the Cons with the big tongue and if screech will still be wearing his baggy pants with the elastic waste. Bring it on!
http://www.funfanfiction.com Ron Rad

If you like Saved by the Bell, why not read quality SBTB ebooks? Take a look what you will find on http://www.funfanfiction.com "Screech Tells All" Lisa Turtle, a beautiful African-American teen, loved good looking boys and expensive clothing, but she herself was not sure as to which one she preferred most. She was easily the wealthiest of all of her friends in Bayside High, but sometimes she did not feel as though she was reaping the rewards of her good fortune. It was Sunday afternoon, and all of her friends, although poorer than she, were at the beach soaking up some rays and drinking colas, while she was stuck in the hospital emptying foul smelling bedpans and handing out magazines. Lisa did not do this volunteer work out of any great sense of compassion, nor out of any need to feel that she was giving back to the community. Her parents' enthusiasm for that deftly made up for any lacking of hers in that department. How often they would grind in her ear about how fortunate they were, and how they should look for ways to help out the community that had been so good to them. It seemed to Lisa that they were feeling a little bit guilty about being relatively well-off. It is true that both of her parents had dreamed of becoming doctors when they grew up so that they could do some good in this world. It wasn't their fault that the price of that dream was to be plagued with a pretty nifty income