Peacock's 2-Part '90s Throwback Series Deserved At Least One More Season
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Published Apr 2, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT
Zach Moser is a Philadelphia native who loves films, television, books, and any and all media he can get his hands on. Zach has had articles published on satirical sites such as Points In Case, Slackjaw, and McSweeney's.
Peacock brought back a '90s classic in 2020 and gave it two seasons, but the show deserved more than that. When it was announced that Peacock would be reviving the original NBC series, Saved by the Bell, '90s kids rejoiced. Season 1 of the show debuted in 2020, bringing back nearly everyone from the original cast.
Peacock's Saved By The Bell Reboot Deserved A Third Season
Peacock's Saved by the Bell takes the original formula for the show and thrusts it into the modern era. It's an idea that could have gone very wrong but ended up working much better than anyone would have guessed. The series finds Zack Morris now serving as the Governor of California.
In his role as governor, he shuts down low-income schools in his impoverished districts and sends students from those schools to higher performing institutions in wealthier zip codes. One of these high-performing schools is Bayside High, which suddenly sees an influx of new students who don't always get along with the legacy ones there.
The show ran for two seasons, encompassing 20 episodes, and season 1 ended with a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, while season 2 jumped to a 100%. The series was clearly finding an audience, and it was telling a story that could have kept going. Sadly, it wasn't enough to get the show a third season.
The Saved By The Bell Reboot Found A Strong Blend Of Old & New
Saved by the Bell did something few reboots or revivals ever do. Many revivals try to distance themselves as much as possible from their source, to the point that you have to wonder why they even bothered calling the show a reboot in the first place. Bel-Air, MacGyver, and the latest The Twilight Zone fall in this category.
Saved By the Bell is one of the most memorable early '90s high school shows, but how old were the actors compared to their teenage counterparts?
Then there are the far more numerous reboots that adhere way too closely to the past show. These shows offer up nothing new or interesting on an old formula, so you may as well just watch the original series. These are shows like And Just Like That, Gossip Girl, and Charmed.
Saved by the Bell threads the needle. It has novel ideas and interesting evolutions of characters, but it doesn't completely do away with the things that made the original series great. It's self-aware and smart, but not precocious. It's funny and satirical but never obnoxious. It's a good show, and one that can be picked up again any day now.
Release Date
2020 - 2021-00-00
Network
Peacock
Directors
Trent O'Donnell, Kabir Akhtar, Claire Scanlon, Katie Locke O'Brien, Matthew A. Cherry, Daniella Eisman, Jamie Sheridan, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Maureen Bharoocha, Heather Jack
Writers
Dylan Morgan, Josh Siegal, Yamara Taylor, Matt Warburton, Chris Schleicher, Ben Steiner, Aaron Geary, Amy-Jo Perry, Yedoye Travis, Victoria González
English (US) ·