Saved by the Bell Reboot: Everything We Know So Far

NBC has decided it’s time to revisit Bayside High. Back in September 2019, the network announced that it had plans to reboot Saved by the Bell, the beloved ’90s sitcom that followed characters Zack Morris, Kelly Kapowski, A.C. Slater, and Screech through high school (and, eventually, college and adult life). The series will air on NBCUniversal’s new streaming service, Peacock, which launched in July 2020.

We’re in an era of reboots—see Charmed, Gossip Girl, and Lizzie McGuire (maybe)—so it was only a matter of time before Saved by the Bell got a new version as well. And the first official full-length trailer, which Peacock dropped on October 27, promises lots of throwbacks to the original. Watch, below:

Here’s everything we know about the reboot:

Lisa Turtle is back!

On October 29, Peacock released a first-look photo of Lark Voorhies reprising her role as fashionista Lisa Turtle on the revival. Wearing a hot pink suit and sitting in what looks to be her own fashion design office, Lisa appears to have made quite a career for herself. We've reached out to Peacock to find out just how long Voorhies and her character will be sticking around and will update this post when more information becomes available. In the meantime, welcome back, Lark!

Your first look at the original cast together is here:

Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley Lauren), A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez), Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen), and Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) together again!

What’s the plot?

According to the show’s official synopsis, Zack Morris—now the governor of California—gets into hot water for closing too many low-income high schools. So he proposes a new plan to send affected students to higher-performing schools…which includes, you guessed it, Bayside High.

On April 16 the first trailer was released. While we don’t get to see Zack or Kelly, we do catch up with Slater and Jessie. Slater is teaching gym at Bayside, where Zack and Kelly’s son and Jessie’s son attend high school. There are some jokes about how long ago the original show aired. At one point Justin Bieber gets called “old.” Sigh.

Who’s in the cast?

The Hollywood Reporter announced on January 6 that Josie Totah would star. Totah will play Lexi, described by THR as “a beautiful, sharp-tongued cheerleader and the most popular girl at Bayside High, who is both admired and feared by her fellow students.” Totah, who came out as transgender in 2018, said at the TCAs that playing a transgender student on TV that wasn’t all about her identity was an incredible opportunity. “She’s in theater, she’s evil, and she just happens to be transgender…. I can’t wait for people to be able to see themselves onscreen in that way.”

Totah will be joined by a few original cast members, including Berkley and Mario Lopez. Berkley announced that they had signed on to the project back in September 2019.

“I’M SO EXCITED.... here we gooooo!!! @mariolopez.... are you ready for grownup Jessie?!” she wrote on Instagram. “Jessie and Slater are back for more fun. We are thrilled to have Emmy winning 30Rock writer @TraceyWigfield bring the sequel to life on NBC/Universal.”

Dexter Darden, Haskiri Velazquez, John Michael Higgins, Alycia Pascual-Pena, Mitchell Hoog, and Belmont Cameli also star in the reboot. It is Velazquez's character who will take on Zack Morris's penchant for talking straight to the camera and pausing the story in between scenes. Belmont Cameli plays Jessie Spano's son and says that you'll notice lots of familial ties immediately. John Michael Higgins is the new Mr. Belding type.

On January 9, 2020, the Hollywood Reporter reported that Mark-Paul Gosselaar would be back to reprise his role as Zack Morris and will appear in three episodes, along with a producer credit. The production team is also reportedly in talks with Tiffani-Amber Theissen to return as Kelly Kapowski.

On January 11, Lopez gave fans a glimpse into the new world of Saved by the Bell with a video that shows him on set with Berkley. They're in a familiar setting: the old diner—The Max—where Bayside students spent most of their free time on the show. A few characters clad in retro clothing are visible around them, but Lopez and Berkley joked that because of their history, they were able to "drop right in."

"Talk about being in a time machine," Berkley joked.

When does it premiere?

November 25 on Peacock.

Originally Appeared on Glamour