A reboot of this series would be interesting twist in this generation!
[dropcap size=small]W[/dropcap]hile most reboots that we have seen have come in the form of movies, TV shows have started getting reboots as well. Netflix has helped a few shows come back, such as Full House and Gilmore Girls. Within the last week, there’s been talk about another old classic coming back for a reboot: Saved by the Bell.
Peter Engel, the executive producer of Save by the Bell, told Polygon that “Those were simpler times.” “They were gentler times. The ‘90s were a more peaceful time than what we have right now, and I’m not sure those characters could exist today.”
“I mean, I personally wouldn’t try to do anything with the series.”
When you think about the amount of technology, a reboot of Save by the Bell sounds like a pretty good idea. Even though he wouldn’t try anything with the series, Engel knows that a reboot of this successful show would bring plenty of attention from fans of the show. Shows that have had an audience in the past, such as Lethal Weapon, already have an audience, so bringing it back as a reboot will already get attention from the start.
When asked about a possible reboot of Saved by the Bell coming to a streaming service like Netflix or Hulu, Engel made the following comment:
“It could happen on something like Netflix, I don’t think it’ll happen with the original cast like the Full House thing, but a reboot? It’s a possibility.”
While most of us would complain because of the amount of reboots (or sequels delayed by at least a decade), there is a certain comfort zone that people have with certain shows and when they are remade again, that audience will return to watch that show. Engel understands that these shows have hit home for a lot of fans and reboots can hit that spot for some people.
“There’s a certain appeal at looking back to a gentler time where things seemed less complicated,” he said. “It’s why, even now, we watch the shows we grew up with. They were on during a very special time in our lives, our formative years, and it’s why we remember those shows as fondly as we do.”
Saved by the Bell was first aired in 1989 and revolves around a group of teenagers and their experiences in high school. It mostly related to Boy Meets World (which got a reboot called Girl Meets World in 2014.) These two shows helped kick off a flurry of comedies, such as One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl and Dawson’s Creek.
In this day of age, teenagers are focused on technology to communicate and entertain themselves. In Engel’s Saved by the Bell, the characters’ were in each other’s lives. Engel said that “they were doing everything, involved in everything,” while shooting the show.
“Those characters that we wrote, the way that they behaved, I don’t think you could have that on television right now,” Engel said. “But I think that’s why people keep coming back to watch it, because they’re not getting that but they want it.”
A great example of people coming back to watch a show that appeals to a variety of age groups is Friends. Netflix released all 10 seasons for subscribers to watch back at the start of 2015. Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman told Vulture that she believes the reason the show was still popular with teens is because it features friends actually getting together and hanging out, not distracted by the phone sitting in their lap.
“And another part of it is because they’re on social media all the time, so I believe they crave human contact,” Kauffman said. “They crave intimacy, and intimate relationships. They’re looking at screens all the time.”
Engel agreed with Kauffman’s statement and elaborated on that by reminding everyone that he presented the idea of giving Zack Morris a cellphone for the show.
“We were one of the first TV shows to use a cellphone,” Engel said. “That was a big deal back then! We gave Zack a phone and I remember people talking about that for a long time. Now, it seems like everything is changing. Technology just exists, so of course it would be incorporated.”
Despite his feelings about how much technology is used, Engel believes that if Saved by the Bell were to get a reboot, it would have success because of the fanbase that it already has and the story that it brings to it’s audience.
“Saved by the Bell was fantastic, it really was, and I’m not just saying that because I was a part of it. We did something that very few were doing. And there are people doing that today, on regular networks, through Netflix and even YouTube.
“If you have a great show, no matter where it is, people will find it and they will watch it. That’s never going to change.”
Would you want Saved by the Bell rebooted and aired again? Let us know in the comments below!
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