{"id":17721,"date":"2014-09-05T07:40:44","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T11:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=17721"},"modified":"2015-12-08T07:45:07","modified_gmt":"2015-12-08T12:45:07","slug":"our-top-5-saved-by-the-bell-episodes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/05\/our-top-5-saved-by-the-bell-episodes\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Top 5 “Saved by the Bell” Episodes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SAVED-BY-THE-BELL\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I used to watch \u201cSaved by the Bell\u201d religiously as a child, tuning in every afternoon after school, around five o\u2019clock to catch the syndicated repeats. I never missed an episode, and I pity the fool who\u2019d make me miss an installment. The show was true to the teenage experience in the 90\u2019s, as \u201cLeave It to Beaver\u201d was to the familial experience in the fifties, but who cared?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the 25th anniversary of \u201cSaved by the Bell\u201d apparently, so we took the time to compile a list of our top five episodes of \u201cSaved by the Bell.\u201d Mainly, because it\u2019s a childhood favorite. Aw, who are we kidding? It\u2019s still one of our favorite bits of television comfort food of all time. Whenever it\u2019s on, we can\u2019t help but watch, whether it\u2019s the bland early years with Ms. Bliss, or the odd episodes without Jessie or Kelly. It\u2019s up there with \u201cFull House,\u201d and \u201cFresh Prince\u201d as a series so silly, but so damn funny and charming, you can\u2019t help but be a fan.<\/p>\n

Plus, Tiffani Amber Thiessen is still so damn hot.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

5. The Fight<\/strong>
\nIf you\u2019ve ever wondered what it\u2019d be like if Zack and Slater ever fought, \u201cThe Fight\u201d answers it! After a new classmate arrives, Zack and Slater compete for her attention, prompting the two to sabotage each other\u2019s dates. When Slater confronts Zack about his underhanded antics, the two get in to a shoving match that turns in to fisticuffs and downright violent brawling in the school hallway. For once the rivalry between the two lady killers isn\u2019t so interesting, and they end up losing the girl, and everyone\u2019s respect. It\u2019s an unpleasant episode, but one that finally shows what happens when the guys get too competitive. And how utterly egomaniacal these two are. Let\u2019s face it, Zack started it.<\/p>\n

4. Rent-a-Pop<\/strong>
\nOne thing I love about this episode is that Zack\u2019s phone is so obscenely large and awkward that it\u2019s amazing he flaunted it around his classmates. Even watching in the early nineties as a child, I always marveled at how huge his cell phone was. One of the funniest episodes of the series involves Zack failing again in school, and being given the order to bring in his father for a conference by Mr. Belding. Not wanting to miss the school ski trip, Zack hires the new owner of the Max, James, to impersonate his father. For reasons never explained, Max is now gone, and in his place is James, an aspiring actor. Mark Blankfield is featured in one of two really hysterical guest spots, pulling double duty in Zack\u2019s scheme as his father, and as Mr. Belding.<\/p>\n

3. The Fabulous Belding Brothers<\/strong>
\n\u201cA building with two Beldings, one of whom is balding!\u201d One of the more iconic episodes of the series, we get to meet Mr. Belding\u2019s hipper cooler brother, who is assigned to substitute when a teacher falls ill. Unlike Mr. Belding, his brother Rod is a cool guy with a slick blond mullet, whose approach to teaching is lazy and very appealing. The studying for the annual mid-term held by dictatorial teacher Mr. Dickerson is undermined by Rod, who has a easier approach to learning the material, and prepares to take the class on their annual River rafting trip. Zack acts like a dick to Mr. Belding, but realizes the error of his ways when Rod dumps the class to hang out with a hot date. It\u2019s a fine slice of cheese, and one of the few explorations of Belding\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

2. Pipe Dreams<\/strong>
\nIf Zack Morris can stand up to the oil companies, why can\u2019t we? In either case, the episode is filled with laughable attempts at social commentary, and a tale about a duck named Becky. After a project about animals prompts the group to study swamp life, Zack gets attached to a duck he finds near the football field. The school strikes oil, prompting the PTA and the students to dream of a better school to go to, but it comes at a price. While drilling for oil, the swamp is drowned in oil, killing Zack\u2019s duck, prompting him to stand up against the oil company interested in drilling in the school. While the episode is one of the best of the series, it\u2019s also laughable that a public school would turn down potentially millions of dollars to help upgrade their educational facilities, because a student is pissed about a duck dying. I am a big animal lover, but even I\u2019d ask security to remove Zack as he moaned about his duck. We\u2019re talking millions of dollars to improve education, moron. But hey, at least we got to know Becky the Duck for a while.<\/p>\n

1. All in the Mall<\/strong>
\nOddly enough, the funniest episode of \u201cSaved by the Bell\u201d isn\u2019t set in the school, and doesn\u2019t even feature Mr. Belding, or Jessie, for that matter. We visit the gang trying to get U2 tickets at the local mall (a set piece that would become prominent in future episodes). When Screech camps overnight, he accidentally steps out of line prompting frustration from the group. When they try to get back in the running for the tickets, they discover a bag filled with thousands of dollars, and events spiral out of control. Now being stalked by two mysterious thugs, they run around the mall looking for a way to keep the money, and camp out together to garner a second chance at tickets to their favorite band. Some of the funniest bits involve the gang posing as mannequins inside a wedding store, Slater and Zack taunting Kelly and Lisa in a movie theater, and the group spending the night in a sports goods store. There\u2019s also a cameo from Zack\u2019s cell phone! You would think Jessie would have a Zeppo effect, balancing everyone out, but shockingly you barely notice she isn\u2019t in this one. There\u2019s not even a mention of her, and the episode is still hilarious, and my favorite of the series that I re-visit constantly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I used to watch \u201cSaved by the Bell\u201d religiously as a child, tuning in every afternoon after school, around five o\u2019clock to catch the syndicated repeats. I never missed an episode, and I pity the fool who\u2019d make me miss an installment. The show was true to the teenage experience in the 90\u2019s, as \u201cLeave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,17],"tags":[737,899,947,1033],"class_list":["post-17721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-list-junkies","category-tv-tomb","tag-nostalgia","tag-saved-by-the-bell","tag-sitcom","tag-teen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17721"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17723,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17721\/revisions\/17723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}