Today we’re here to celebrate one of the quintessential early ‘90s teen shows – Saved by the Bell. Like many kids back then, I only saw it when it was playing in reruns during the summer, rather than whenever it first aired. It used to play on two different stations right around the same time, and I’d switch back and forth. I was always highly disappointed whenever it was an old Good Morning, Miss Bliss episode, as obviously that’s not real Saved by the Bell. Let’s be honest, I didn’t really love the first regular Saved by the Bell season much either, but I could deal with it. I may or may not have also watched the same episode over again if it was on the other station right after it had just played. There was no Netflix back then, kids, it was all we had.
It didn’t much matter back then which episode aired in what order because it was all just reruns, but what’s really frustrating about watching the show today on DVD or streaming is that the episodes are not in order there, either. For some reason, they aired them out of order originally, so things are just all jumbled up when going by original air date. We’ll eventually go over the best order to watch the episodes, but that’s not what we’re here to do today. Instead, we’re going to highlight some of the best episodes.
Of course, “best” is pretty subjective. Your favorites might be completely different from the below episodes. Here we’re really just featuring the episodes that stand out as being particularly fun or interesting for the characters. But on one thing we can all agree – let’s not even talk about those Tori episodes.
THE BEST EPISODES
(In No Particular Order)
Mystery Weekend (3x26)
The gang participates in a murder mystery weekend. If you're a fan of Clue (and how could you not be?), then you'll certainly appreciate the hijinx in this episode, featuring in particular a wacky butler and a sexy maid, and that delightfully colorful '90s outfit from Lisa Turtle.
Jessie's Song (2x09)
No best-of list for Saved by the Bell is complete without Jessie's Song. Not only do you have an epic meltdown after a (very brief) downward spiral into caffeine pill addiction, you've also got the epic Hot Sundae girl group featuring Jessie, Kelly, and Lisa.
Malibu Sands episodes (Season 3)
Okay, this is technically cheating, because this is really a handful of episodes that take place during the summer at Malibu Sands Beach Club, where the gang all get jobs (except for Lisa, who's staying there). The episodes all kind of blend together, so we're just going to include them as a block here. They were a fun diversion from the typical high school episodes, and featured one of the only Zack romances that wasn't Kelly that was one you could root for.
The Prom (2x01)
One of the great romances of SBTB, Zack and Kelly first truly got together during the prom episode. Though Zack was generally a wise guy scheming for his own benefit, here he showed his more sensitive side and went all out to make sure Kelly got to enjoy prom despite not being able to afford a dress.
The Last Dance (3x01) & The Aftermath (3x03)
If we're going to feature about Zack and Kelly getting together, then we've got to also feature when they broke up. Kelly starts to develop feelings for her new boss at The Max, and ends up breaking up with Zack at a costume dance where they are crowned King and Queen. Zack, of course, pretends to be okay but is actually upset and retaliates in the follow-up episode. This breakup begins some back-and-forth, will-they, won't-they get back together that would continue throughout the rest of the series and into The College Years.
The Friendship Business (1x11)
One of the earlier episodes in the series compared to the rest spotlighted here, this episode featured an epic commercial and some major friend drama when Zack got too zealous for his own good. It was a toss-up whether to include this episode or The Election, but ultimately this one won out just because you never forget Buddy Bands.
Palm Springs Weekend Pts. 1 & 2 (3x18 & 3x19)
Jessie's dad is getting remarried, and the gang heads out to Palm Springs for the weekend to celebrate. This was a two-parter, but we're combining it into one because the story is really just one story. Jessie has a hard time accepting her dad's fiance since she's so much younger than him, while Zack and Kelly wonder if they should get back together, and Slater meets a pretty princess.
Rockumentary (3x22)
Throughout the series, we see small glimpses of the gang in a band together, but it was never really anything serious until this ONE episode where Zack has a dream about what would happen if the band made it big. Of course, the band is called Zack Attack because it's so inclusive of everyone, but that makes sense in the end as it was all about how fame would push them apart and make them hate each other. Life lessons, y'all. That's the SBTB way.
The SATs (3x17)
Jessie was always the over-achiever of the group, so when she discovered that Zack did substantially better than her on the SATs, it truly threw her for a loop. To make her feel better, he hires an actor to play one of the college recruiters. Oh, AND to also play the head of the SATs so Belding will let him go back to his easy classes rather than the hard ones he thinks he should really be in. It features a great moment where Mark-Paul Gosselaar almost breaks character because the audience is laughing so hard at the other actor's fake beard falling off, and you'll laugh too.
All in the Mall (3x16)
The gang wants to get tickets to an upcoming U2 concert, and ends up sleeping in the mall in order to make sure they are first in line the next morning. Things take a turn, however, when they find a bag of money. I'm sure most kids fantasized about what it would be like to spend the night in the mall without any supervision, and this episode delivered that and even more antics.
Did we include your favorites? Let us know in the comments if we missed any of your top episodes.
- Saved by the Bell was created by Sam Bobrick and developed by Peter Engel for NBC, and was a retooling of the Disney Channel series Good Morning, Miss Bliss.
- Zack, Screech, Lisa, and Mr. Belding were the only characters to crossover from Miss Bliss, with the new characters of Slater, Kelly, and Jessie added to replace the others.
- In 1992, the show received an unexpected pickup of 11 additional episodes, but Tiffani-Amber Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkeley could not return, so they cast Leanna Creel as Tori, a cool, biker girl to fill the void.
- The show led to two spin-offs, The College Years, following most of the cast as they went to college, and The New Class, which featured Screech and Mr. Belding among a rotating cast of newcomers, as well as a revival in 2020 for NBC’s streaming service Peacock featuring some of the original cast and their children.
- Mark-Paul Gosselaar had to dye his hair constantly to get the blonde look of Zack Morris – in reality he has dark brown locks.
- Saved by the Bell was created by Sam Bobrick and developed by Peter Engel for NBC, and was a retooling of the Disney Channel series Good Morning, Miss Bliss.
- Zack, Screech, Lisa, and Mr. Belding were the only characters to crossover from Miss Bliss, with the new characters of Slater, Kelly, and Jessie added to replace the others.
- In 1992, the show received an unexpected pickup of 11 additional episodes, but Tiffani-Amber Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkeley could not return, so they cast Leanna Creel as Tori, a cool, biker girl to fill the void.
- The show led to two spin-offs, The College Years, following most of the cast as they went to college, and The New Class, which featured Screech and Mr. Belding among a rotating cast of newcomers, as well as a revival in 2020 for NBC’s streaming service Peacock featuring some of the original cast and their children.
- Mark-Paul Gosselaar had to dye his hair constantly to get the blonde look of Zack Morris – in reality he has dark brown locks.
