The last few years have seen reboots and continuations of TV shows that have been laying dormant since the 90s, and the results have generally been surprisingly good compared to its movie counterparts.
I don’t think anyone would’ve pegged shows like Twin Peaks, Will & Grace, The X-Files, and Roseanne would remain relevant in 2018, let alone still being good. Except Roseanne Barr, she still sucks.
Seeing as how the reboot hammer is still swinging strongly, I think it is the perfect time for the return of a quintessential high school sitcom that basiscally defined the 90’s: Saved by the Bell.
During the recent 2018 Television Critic Association’s Summer Press Tour, Mark-Paul Gosselaar – aka Zack Morris – expressed interest behind doing a reboot of Saved By The Bell.
I’d like to see a version that was worth everyone’s time. There’s a lot of versions that we see that don’t do it justice. But I’d like to see a version, yeah, I’d like to see a version that we’d all agree on.
Hell. Yes.
However, don’t expect a Saved By The Bell reboot to happen anytime soon despite Gosselaar’s interest (and my unwavering enthusiasm) he has no idea what the show would even be in 2018, other than doing something tonally similar to Cobra Kai, the 2018 continuation of the 1984 classic film The Karate Kid.
I do like what Cobra Kai has done. I think that that’s a very interesting way of doing a reboot. I don’t know if whether or not we could do that with our show, but I’d be interested in something that was along the lines of that.
And you know what? I think Gosselaar is right on the money in regards to using Cobra Kai as a model for what a Saved by the Bell reboot could be.
Rather than redo the story all over again, Cobra Kai continues the story from the old Karate Kid movies and features the original characters returning as older versions of themselves alongside a new cast. Tonally, the show is also darker and more in line with 2018 sensibilities than the 1980s campiness of the movies.
This is exactly the right approach for a Saved by the Bell reboot could be.
Plus, this approach worked well for Girl Meets World, the modern day continuation to another quintessential 90s high school sitcom Boy Meets World, so why wouldn’t it work for Saved by the Bell?
High school life in America has changed a LOT over the past 25 years and there’s nothing more fitting than an iconic 90’s high school sitcom coming back with a contemporary perspective on things.
And besides, Gosselaar looks almost exactly the same as he did 25 years ago, so you might as well take advantage of his sorcery-enhanced eternal youth and bring Zack Morris back to offer up some of his trademark fourth wall breaking thoughts on what’s happening in the world today.