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“Good Morning Miss Bliss” class | Source: Disney

 

Miss Bliss

The show was originally “Good Morning, Miss Bliss” (1988), which was set in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hayley Mills starred as Miss Bliss. Disney cancelled the show, and NBC picked it up — reborn as “Saved by the Bell.” After the show was re-branded as “Saved by the Bell,” four characters Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies), Mr. Belding (Dennis Haskins) and Screech (Dustin Diamond) carried over. “Good Morning, Miss Bliss” episodes were re-edited as “Saved By the Bell” episodes — known as the junior high school years.

Source: NBC

 

Age Gap

The cast members were different ages at the start of the series. Elizabeth Berkley was 17. Dustin Diamond was only 12! The rest of the cast was 15. Creator Peter Engel pointed out Diamond’s immaturity. He wouldn’t have casted Diamond if had known he was only 12 at the time. But by the end of the series, Diamond was only 16 while the rest were not of high school age anymore.

Source: NBC

 

He Gets Around…

Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen) was Zack Morris’ (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) girlfriend onscreen, but according to Gosselaar, he dated Lark Voorhies in real life for three years. Voorhies later denied this claim in an interview. Hmm… Also, he allegedly dated Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley.

Image Source: WENN.com

 

Close Casting Calls

Jennie Garth, Jaleel White, Brian Austin Green and Jonathan Brandis all auditioned for different parts on the show. All of which (except Garth) had roles in the pilot episode of “Good Morning, Miss Bliss.” Although the characters Zack, Lisa and Screech weren’t featured on the pilot episode. They starred on the original series and went on to star on the revamped version of the show, the one we all know today.

 

Source: WENN

Love Connection

Mark-Paul Gosselaar revealed to Newsweek in 2009 that he met his wife (Lisa Ann Russell) on the set. He said, “I met my wife on Saved by the Bell: The College Years. She literally walked by in the hallway and said one word to Zack. Zack looks at her, and gives a look at the camera and winks. It was 16 years ago. We’ve been together ever since.” They divorced in 2011.

Source: NBC

 

Replacement Girl

The character Tori Scott (Leanna Creel) was named after Tori Spelling. She was added after Tiffani Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley decided not to sign on to do additional episodes during the show’s final season. However, Berkley and Thiessen shot the graduation episode prior to officially leaving the show. Creel was not featured on the graduation episode and her episodes (which didn’t feature Thiessen or Berkley) aired before the graduation episode.

Source: NBC

 

Run It Back

“Saved by the Bell” has been on TBS since 1992 in re-runs. The average re-runs of the show were more 4 million viewers per episode. This was the equivalent to 40 million viewers in cable television terms. “Saved by the Bell: The College Years” lasted one season and “Saved by the Bell: The New Class” was considered a failure — neither lived up to the original show’s success.