A number of a long time after we final walked the halls of Bayside Excessive, teen prankster Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is now the governor of California — he solely ran within the first place to get out of parking tickets — and faces a severe funds crunch, with overcrowded faculties being pressured to close down. (“You’ll be able to be taught every little thing you want on the Web,” an outgoing instructor reassures his stranded college students.) Zack decides to ship these college students off to well-funded faculties… like his alma mater Bayside Excessive, the place Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley Lauren) is now the varsity counselor, and A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez) is the gymnasium instructor/soccer coach. (She’s married to another person, however he nonetheless tries to name her “mama.”)
The not-so-secret weapon right here is author/govt producer Tracey Wigfield, who gained a writing Emmy for 30 Rock earlier than creating the severely underrated Nice Information, which featured Higgins and lasted only a pair of seasons on NBC. She’s acquired an actual knack for rapid-fire punchlines, and she or he offers this revival a enjoyable, Brady Bunch Film vibe: goofy and self-deprecating, with a number of figuring out winks to followers. The teenagers’ hangout The Max is precisely like we keep in mind, to an unsettling diploma, full with pay cellphone and authentic proprietor Max nonetheless slinging burgers and shakes. (“You guys go to a sit-down restaurant day-after-day? Isn’t that costly?” “Yeah!”) It faucets into the identical retro vein as Netflix’s Cobra Kai, paying homage to a beloved traditional and likewise bringing it into the current; Slater clings to his quickly fading glory days in the identical unusually poignant method that Cobra Kai‘s Johnny Lawrence does.
However make no mistake: The brand new teenagers take heart stage right here. (Gosselaar solely makes a number of cameos, and Daisy handles the fourth-wall-breaking timeouts now.) The teenager dynamics are just a little acquainted at instances, however the revival dares to deal with class disparity and white privilege whereas playfully mocking the unique’s consequence-free antics. It nonetheless has heartfelt inspirational speeches… nevertheless it makes enjoyable of them on the identical time. Loads of longtime SBTB followers are sure to tune in simply to see their previous favorites collectively once more — and the revival does reward that intuition — however they may find yourself sticking round to see the place Bayside’s new class is headed, too.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: Get so excited, Saved by the Bell followers: Peacock’s revival is surprisingly good, placing a intelligent, self-referential spin on the beloved collection.