Tuesday Top Ten: Saved By The Bell Inconsistencies

As you probably know, I love Saved By The Bell. I still watch it most mornings on TBS before work or when I'm working out. I like the way TBS does it because they just go start to finish, and then start all over again. Recently, they finished the Good Morning Miss Bliss episodes. Every time I watch those episodes, I notice the many blatant inconsistencies with the Bayside-era episodes.

I'm sure someone has already written about the gross inconsistencies between the Good Morning Miss Bliss era of Saved By The Bell and the Bayside era, as well as the final season's "Tori Conundrum." But I haven't. Thus, this post will contain ten (or maybe more) inconsistencies with Saved By The Bell.

For those of you who are not as versed in Saved By The Bell history as I am, here is some background. In 1988, the show that would eventually become Saved By The Bell first aired on The Disney Channel as Good Morning Miss Bliss ("GMMB"). It was set in Indianapolis, Indiana at JFK Junior High. GMMB spent an equal amount of time focusing on Carrie Bliss (played by Hayley Mills), an 8th grade teacher at JFK, as it did focusing on the students (who, of course, became the focus of the Bayside era). Richard Belding (played brilliantly by Dennis Haskins) is the principal of JFK. The main student characters are Zack Morris (a preppy, blond schemer), Samuel "Screech" Powers (a nerd), Lisa Turtle (a pretty, vain girl of African or possibly West African descent), Nikki Coleman (a tomboy with a round face), and Mikey Gonzalez (a dago with curly hair).

In 1989, the show returned as Saved By The Bell, airing on NBC. The setting was now Bayside High School in Palisades, California. There are four characters from the GMMB era who are also in the Bayside era: Mr. Belding, Zack, Screech, and Lisa. It is apparent (but never discussed) that, in between Zack, Screech, and Lisa's 8th and 9th grade years, all four moved from Indianapolis to Bayside, California. In what had to be seen as a ladder-climbing move, Mr. Belding became the principal of Bayside High. Remarkably, Zack, Lisa, and Screech all enrolled at Bayside upon their arrival in California. Nikki and Mikey did not make the move. They were replaced by Kelly Kapowski (a beautiful girl-next-door type), Jessie Spano (an intelligent feminist of apparent Greek descent), and Albert Clifford ("AC") Slater (a military brat of ambiguous ethnicity with curly hair who was new to Bayside).

Oddly, however, when NBC reran the GMMB episodes, (1) Zack appeared as Bayside-era Zack before each episode, sitting in a director's chair, and he introduced many of the episodes as if these events actually occurred. Notably, he did not discuss the following inconsistencies. (There may be more, and if I find more, I will update this post.)

(2) In the GMMB era, Zack's father's name is Peter Morris, and he is played by Robert Pine.
In the Bayside era, Zack's father's name is Derek Morris, and he is played by John Sanderford.

(3) In the GMMB era, Zack's parents are divorced, and we never see his mom.
In the Bayside era, Zack's parents are happily married throughout the show, and we see Zack's mother, Melanie Morris, on multiple occasions (including, but not limited to, that time she caught the guys dancing at The Attic).

(4) In the GMMB era, there is mention of Zack's little sister (although we never see her).
In the Bayside era, Zack is an only child, and there is no mention of his little sister's death or abduction.

(5) In the Bayside era, it is explicitly stated that Zack and Jessie have lived next door to each other and been friends since the early '80s (they saw ET together). However, in the early '80s, Zack lived in Indianapolis with his divorced, different-looking father and then-living sister.

(6) In the Bayside era, there is never any mention of Miss Bliss by any of the characters, even though Mr. Belding and Miss Bliss had a relatively close professional relationship, and Zack, Lisa, and Screech were all students in Miss Bliss's class. (7) Likewise, Nikki and Mikey are never mentioned during the Bayside era. This is a good thing, though, as they were replaced by more aesthetically pleasing characters.

This pattern would be repeated by NBC in the show's later years. During Season 4 -- the characters' senior year of high school -- the regular cast filmed 13 episodes. Then NBC ordered 13 more episodes. However, Tiffany Amber Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkeley (who played Kelly Kapowski and Jessie Spano, respectively) refused to sign new contracts. Thus, a new character was introduced -- Tori Scott, a motorcycle-driving tomboy, who transferred to Bayside. She appears in 13 episodes, in which her existence is never questioned, but actually acknowledged by all of the characters who encounter her. During those same episodes, (8) Kelly and Jessie are not mentioned or alluded to. Yet, in the other 13 episodes that season (as well as Saved By The Bell: Hawaiian Style -- a two-episode special that aired that season), Kelly and Jessie are on the show, and Tori, of course, is not. (9) Kelly and Jessie's absence is never explained or mentioned, and (10) Tori is never mentioned in the "Kelly and Jessie" episodes. When NBC aired that season, it actually alternated between "Tori" episodes and "Kelly and Jessie" episodes, further confusing the hell out of its audience. Also of note, (11) Lisa's hair is different in the "Tori" episodes than it is in the "Kelly and Jessie" episodes, and (12) Tori was not part of the Bayside graduation ceremony, but Kelly and Jessie were.

So there you have it. And despite these inconsistencies, I am physically and emotionally unable to stop watching this show, no matter how many times I've seen every episode.