Saved by the Bell returned back in 2020 with a revival that centered on a new cast of Bayside High students, with enough appearances from original series stars and ‘90s references to deliver all the nostalgia that millennials could want, even though one notable character never appeared for a sad reason. Now, shortly following the series winning its first award, it has been cancelled after running for two seasons on Peacock, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar wasted no time in sharing his feelings after the news broke.
In the Saved by the Bell revival, Mark-Paul Gosselaar reprised his iconic role of Zack Morris, who became governor of California as an adult and sent the son he shares with longtime love Kelly Kapowski to – where else? – Bayside High. He didn’t appear in every episode, but Zack was still a key element to the very premise of the Peacock series, and the actor's disappointment with the cancellation undoubtedly carries a lot of weight with fans. The actor took to Twitter to share his feelings about the end of the show, posting:
So disappointed by this news. So many talented individuals in all departments creating something original from a reboot. Respect and admiration to everyone involved and thanks to the viewers.
Although there is no sign that Saved by the Bell could follow in the footsteps of shows like Manifest and Lucifer and get a second life on another platform, fans can at least take some comfort in seeing that Mark-Paul Gosselaar is also disappointed and has so much respect for the people involved in making the show at Peacock. Deadline, which broke the bad news, reports that the cast and crew learned about the cancellation on May 3 before it was announced publicly on May 4.
The revival featured almost the entire original cast at some point or other as adults, although Dustin Diamond didn’t appear before he passed away in early 2021. The second season did find the opportunity to pay tribute to Screech and delivered some fun reunions, even though the focus on this version of Saved by the Bell was on the kids. There are no details currently available about why Peacock decided to cancel Saved by the Bell, as the first season reportedly did well, but a spokeswoman for the streamer said:
We are so proud to have been the home of the next iteration of Saved by the Bell for both new and OG fans. Saved by the Bell has been a cultural mainstay for more than 30 years and the new series, led by Tracey Wigfield’s superfan enthusiasm and signature witty humor, seamlessly continued the show’s legacy, all while allowing more audiences to feel seen. We’re grateful to Tracey, Franco Bario, our partners at UTV, the beloved cast, and the fans who have continued to champion one of the most iconic shows of all time.
A silver lining is that at least Saved by the Bell wasn’t the kind of show that ended its seasons on life-or-death cliffhangers, so Season 2 didn’t close on anybody’s life in jeopardy. If you want to revisit the first and now only two seasons, you can find them streaming with a Peacock subscription. The NBC Universal streamer is also the home of the original SBTB, The College Years, and both TV movies.
For some viewing options that you can look forward to in the coming weeks and months, be sure to check out our 2022 TV premiere schedule, and don’t forget to swing by our rundown of important TV finale dates for when the biggest shows still on television will end for the 2021-2022 TV season.
