Targeted at kids and teens, Saved by the Bell was broadcast in the United States on Saturday mornings, later as the flagship series in NBC's TNBC lineup.

The series starred Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, Lark Voorhies, Dennis Haskins, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, and Mario Lopez.

Engel's casting director, Shana Landsburg, finally happened across fourteen-year old Mark-Paul Gosselaar and was immediately struck by the teen's charisma, charm, and good looks.

[6] Lisa Turtle was originally conceived as a rich Jewish princess from Long Island, spoiled, materialistic, and obsessed with shopping.

[7][8] The school principal, Mr. Gerald Belding, as originally conceived on Good Morning, Miss Bliss, was an older, humorless man, and was played in the 1987 pilot by character actor Oliver Clark.

[8][9] After the show was retooled for Disney Channel, the character's first name was changed to Richard and he was recast, with Dennis Haskins ultimately winning the role.

[10] For Kelly Kapowski, the love interest of both Zack and Slater, producers were able to narrow the field down to three actresses: Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, and Jennie Garth.

They were not having much luck in casting the third new character, Jessie Spano, who was conceived as a strong, feminist activist and a straight-A student, so Engel suggested offering the role to Berkley, who gladly accepted it.

A new character, Tori Scott, was created as a cool but pretty biker girl who would also serve as a love interest for Zack and also act as a nemesis for him initially.

[13] In 1986, Brandon Tartikoff, then-president of NBC, asked Peter Engel to develop the pilot for a new prime time series, Good Morning, Miss Bliss.

The series would focus on Miss Carrie Bliss, a recently married sixth grade teacher at the fictional John F. Kennedy Junior High School in Indianapolis.

Though Sandy Duncan was originally considered for the titular role, the series ultimately became a vehicle for British former child star Hayley Mills.

Veteran writer Sam Bobrick was brought on to write the episode and the cast included future stars Jonathan Brandis, Brian Austin Green, and Jaleel White.

Tartikoff did not want to give up on the show, though, and made a deal with the Disney Channel to air thirteen episodes of the series in prime time.

The elements featuring the kids had been well-received, so Tartikoff wanted to drop Miss Bliss from the show altogether and focus entirely on the teens.

[15] Engel felt, however, that Indianapolis was not exciting as a location, and moved the show to a fictionalized version of a Los Angeles neighborhood, "the Palisades."

He gave explicit orders to his team of composers that he would not accept any theme that referenced the title, and the group agreed to leave out the phrase.

Titled Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style, the film followed the six teenagers from the show as they vacationed in Hawaii with Kelly's grandfather, Harry Bannister (Dean Jones).

[22] On March 13, 2012, Lionsgate (distributed by Alliance Films) released Saved by the Bell: The Complete Collection on DVD in Canada.

Bonus features include selected episodes commentaries by pop culture historian Russell Dyball, executive producer Peter Engel, and cast members Dustin Diamond, Dennis Haskins, and Lark Voorhies.

[8][32] Although the premiere garnered decent viewership, ratings quickly declined against the competition of Full House and Rescue 911, two well-established, popular shows in prime time.

Following the cancellation of Saved by the Bell: The College Years in 1994, Peter Engel asked Dustin Diamond to reprise his role as Samuel "Screech" Powers, who was returning to Bayside on a work-study program as Mr. Belding's administrative assistant.

[35] On March 27, 2009, NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon launched a campaign to get the cast on board for a Saved by the Bell reunion.

[36][37] Gosselaar reprised his role as Zack Morris in a skit on Late Night on June 8, 2009, while promoting his then current TNT drama, Raising the Bar.

Tiffani Thiessen posted a parody video to the website Funny or Die, where she claimed she was too busy to join the reunion.

[41] On September 17, 2019, it was announced that a single-camera revival of the series was in development for NBC's planned streaming service, Peacock, with Tracey Wigfield serving as showrunner.

Set initially during the gang's freshman year of high school, the comic serves as a modern update to the classic series.

[51][52] In 2009, Dustin Diamond published an inside story of the show's cast and crew from his point of view, entitled Behind the Bell.

[54] Diamond also alleges in the book that he had sex with 2,000 women, one of them being NBC's Vice President of children's programming, Linda Mancuso, who was 18 years his senior.

Electric Screechio[61] The show then took several years off, reopening in 2012 at NYC's Kraine Theatre with a revamped script and new cast[62] Following the success of Showgirls!