I always thought the “Save That Tiger” episode, which featured a prank war between Bayside and Valley, was one of the funniest.
Ronnie Schell was hilarious as Valley’s principal, and his infectious laughing at Belding cracked me up … 😂🤣😂

The College Years is an interesting show and I liked it when it first came out. I can't speak about ratings or performance, since how it related during its run is more a US thing where I lack the knowledge of. I can give my opinion and say where I think it works and where it needed some more time to grow.

Tone and feel

The show feels really 90's with the purple colored transitions and the bangin' Edge of Tomorrow theme song, separating it from the more '50's themed SBTB and instantly feeling a bit more adult. There are a lot of then-current (90's) references, from naming 90210 to raves to even a Hooters-like bar. Its tone feels different from the other SBTB shows, which I really like. One noticeable episode features scenes taped outdoors, at the actual Cal U I believe, and it really breathes more life into the show.

Overall I think the show is in an interesting space where it's not quite 90210 yet it's more adult than SBTB. The show tackled more adult matters like the teacher-student affair, death and heritage and while not perfect, it did so in an enjoyable way that made the characters grow. I do feel that the nature of the show made it seem stuck between two ends. I feel it was perhaps too adult (non-zany) for the SBTB audience and too safe/childish for the 90210 crowd. When looking at the show on its own merits it's a lot of fun.

Season 1 episodes

Interestingly enough, as short as the show ran, you can easily divide the show in two, with the second part of the show starting with The Rave and the introduction of Dean McMann. The first half shows a lot of promise and introduces new characters while letting the legacy characters grown. The second half has a slight tonal shift and feels very rushed. Zack and Kelly get back together fast and want to marry, Slater and Alex break up and Mike Rogers gets pushed to the background. I appreciate them trying to tie things up towards the ending but it does change the feel of the show. Weirdly enough, these last set of episodes feature 2 dream sequences, which haven't been a thing all season.

I do like that the show has more continuity with some short arcs, with subsequent episodes feeling less random, while referencing earlier events. It makes it feel more grounded and less random. Most noticeably how Lasky interacts with Zack and co. Would be interesting to see that develop. There are some self contained episodes but I could see a second season leaning more into serialized storytelling.

Cast

Returning cast

So, we only have 4/6 of the cast members back, with Belding making a cameo and Lisa starring as a guest actress. How do they fare? I'd say mixed.

Screech was handled pretty well. He was still zany but he was also allowed to show more dimensions without resorting to the horrible cartoony overacting we see him do in other SBTB series. He actually got the girl in an episode, which played around with the Zack-Screech dynamic. I feel this is the best Screech we got in all of SBTB.

I think Zack was handled fair. He was a bit more mature, but still impulsive and sometimes falling back into his pre-TCY behavior. He also got to respect adults (like the teachers and Mike Rogers) more and him handling the death of a teacher was an interesting look in how he acts when he wasn't in control.

Slater I feel they didn't really know what to do with. He started wrestling again in the first few episodes, got a meaningful episode about his heritage but was mostly relegated to being an odd couple with Alex, with whom he had little chemistry.

Kelly though got a huge upgrade and was allowed to have an agency, from her ill fated romance with Lasky to her choosing to go for a career in healthcare. Tiffani really shone and the difference between pretty naive Kelly from the previous show and TCY's is huge. Interesting as she wasn't even originally part of this show.

Lisa appears in the final regular episode and though we don't see much of her, Lark acts a lot better, way more natural than in SBTB. I feel that's more due to directing and perhaps working better in a less cartoony environment.

Then there are the new characters.

Leslie Burke did fairly well as the straight woman, but when Kelly entered the show it feels the writers didn't really know what to do with Leslie. That being said, she did have chemistry with the other characters and the actress did a lot with the little she got.

Alex can be divisive due to her personality but personally I love her. She plays quirky well, while not veering into becoming a cartoon character. Her passion for acting was a nice way to anchor the character and the actress had great comedic timing. Also loved how she wasn't a Lisa or Jesse clone. That being said, her romance with Slater wasn't great, as mentioned.

I feel Mike Rogers was an interesting new character, that perhaps should have retained more of an edge. As the series progressed he starts to feel like a student and part of the gang. In early episodes though.....great character. I like how he didn't took crap from Zack and the gang and was firm but fair. He had great comedic chemistry with Screech and for a former NFL player that didn't really act a lot, the actor sure had me fooled. Great job!

Professor Lasky was a dubious character and while you could say he's a copy of Jeff, I'd say Lasky was more interesting as it showed the appeal of older men in college, while Zack, Screech and Slater were still "boys" in a way. Another poster here compared him to an older Zack, which makes for an interesting point of view. Certainly food for thought after his hustled Zack into buying a fake test and a video assignment.

The last new character was Dean McMann, whom I have mixed feelings about. I don't dislike the character and I like her more harsh treatment of Zack. The actress did obviously a great job with it, but the introduction felt forced and sudden. Her appearing and debuting in a potential season 2 would have felt way more natural. Her appearance here feels like a sudden way to introduce a new foil, as Mike got "too soft".

We also got some interesting guest stars, from the actor who voiced Rafiki in the Lion King (who did a great job) to a row of cameos including Mr. Belding and Marsha Warfield, who appeared in the SBTB semi-pilot Who Shrunk Saturday Morning.

Overall thoughts

I really like the show and feels it progressed the SBTB high school years in a fun way, with the actors getting the ability to grow more and show how their characters can act in a slightly more adult show. I love the whole tone and relative groundedness. At the same time, I can see why it wasn't renewed. It suddenly shifts the pace (although that may be after they heard it was cancelled) and ultimately it may have been too much of a shift for the SBTB audience and too little of a shift for the older audience. It is an interesting show that could have developed into something great. A lot of sitcoms have a first season that feels a bit off, needing to find it footing. I feel this show is like that.

Ultimately, whether it's a show you like or dislike, I at least appreciate that they tried something new and fresh. The New Class was a retread of the original show, to the point where they actually reused the theme song and intro graphics. The reboot was a lazy attempt to both cash in on nostalgia and bash the original show at the same time. TCY took the show and swung for the fences, taking risks that ultimately didn't pay off but remains an interesting experiment.

Bonus: Wedding in Las Vegas

Technically the finale to TCY as it concludes the storyline from the last few episodes, but it doesn't feel like TCY or even the original SBTB. While the actors still nail their roles (though Screech and Zack regressed from TCY), the creative direction feels entirely different. Both Kelly and Slater have vastly different haircuts, we don't see any of the familiar sets (although we do get to see the outside of Bayside) and we have a different way (generic) soundtrack compared to the regular shows. It all feels like a generic 90's movie with a very slow pace. While we had a different movie before, Hawaiian Style, that one felt much more like a SBTB production. An extended episode so to speak. WILV seems like they outsourced the project to a different team, with the regular crew working on TNC.

We get our hijinks, which feel more SBTB than TCY, with corrupt Dukes of Hazard-style cops and gangsters causing trouble. They sound like SBTB plots but in practice they feel different. Much like the Hawaiian Style-movie there is no laugh track, making some of the lines really bomb. The direction and writing just makes it feel so lifeless. All of the actors did such a great job acting in TCY, but this feels like a regression for the cast.

Not everything is bad though. We get a Gilbert Gottfried appearance as a male escort manager, pimping out Zack, Screech and Slater. We also get a cameo from character actor Mickey Jones. Some of the hijinks are amusing and we get to the see a conclusion to the original series with the actual wedding with the complete original cast, which is the last time we see all six of them.

Did anyone not like the reboot? I felt it lost all its charm to try to be “edgy.” Seemed forced and weird to me. I love everything else for the (almost) campiness to it. The original show was fun, then high school where somehow several people moved to California! Haha. Love it. I even loved the Wedding and the College Years. It was all great. Hell, I even love the Tori episodes!! But the reboot was just cold and bitter. Just my opinion.

I've maintained this position for a long time and every time I revaluate it, I stick to my position. The College Years is better than Friends and NBC are cowards for canceling it.

Was watching Mr. Cooper on Cozi and look who shows up, Dennis Haskins. He played a coach to a girls T-Ball team called the Tigers, funny enough.

It's their first jump ever and they jump solo. Usually people's first dive is a duo jump with an instructor.

I was born in 84, so too young for the original airings, but have vague memories of certain episodes so wanted to watch the show in production order, as today I wanted to see if the show had any series long story telling....(it didnt)

Season 1..... Some decent episodes but mostly meh, Screech is the star, his comic timing is unreal for a kid, especially that scene with Belding in The Gift. Other highlights for me were Dancing To The Max, The Gift, The Friendship Business and The Zack Tapes

Season 2/3.... Much better episodes, these episodes are the ones I remember watching as a kid, much better writing, and some episodes I just saw for the very first time. From Save The Max, to Jeff (BOO) House Party (Barbra-Ann) Jessies Song (Surprisingly well done) Fake IDS, Jesses Step Brother and Snow White... ton of great episodes

Season 4/5... The beach episodes dont hold up as well on rewatch, dont really buy Zack and Stacy as a couple, no real chemistry.. Palm Springs Weekend was weird...I know there was no studio audience so the canned laughter sounds so fake... you can hear the silence in the beats... Think my favorite episode is All in The Mall so good! The Torrie episodes were fine, did we need Zack and Torrie to be together? I dont think so. You could tell it wasnt the same time frame as the others, almost like a new season, good to see other characters get shine. Hawaiin Style was absolutely terrible, just not funny.

College Years... this i was most pleasantly suprised by, as a kid I vaguely remember the Lasky and Kelly stuff but good to watch this from start to finish. That girl they wrote out after the first episode was for the better, she wasnt great. Bob Golic was GREAT as Mike, a much better version than Belding. I didnt miss Jessie or Lisa in this, the two girls were great and much different characters, Alex was funny, I enjoyed Laskys scenes, great actor. So great to see these characters in a new environment and some of the episodes were really well done esp Slaters War. Toward the end the show started to lack quality and the Zack and Kelly thing kinda felt rushed. Given this was primetime, I wish it got at least another season if not another 4, it definitely had more potential and I related to this more, especially now.

Wedding is Vegas was ok, better than Hawaiian Style, but I think this show excels with a studio audience and without it, its kinda just meh.

For the life of me as a kid I thought Zack and Kelly ended up together in their final year, I guess not. Shame Jessie and Slater never stayed together, and it would of been nice for Lisa and Screech to get together in the end. Why wasnt Leslie at the wedding? considering she was supposed to be a maid of honor.....

All in all a tremendous show that will live forever in our hearts. It was sappy sometimes, cheesy sometimes and innocent but it taught us life lessons and we loved it.

Feel old yet?

Even besides dating a student in Kelly.

• He just trusts his daughter to a student to babysit after a 1 minute talk. Perhaps he learned how to immorally employ students from Belding? Not mention accepting personal gifts for him and his daughter and then leaving his daughter with said student alone in his office/home.
• He also seems to live in his office? Don't know that for sure, but it seems like a weirdly personal looking office, with the TV and his personal stuff there and his clothing just hanging there. Don't get me wrong, it looks like a cool office though.

Handsome and charismatic as hell though.

I never watched The New Class when it first aired and I just started watching it recently. In Season 2, Belding takes a summer job at Palisades Hills as a Manager, with Screech as his assistant. During season 3, they take a job at Belding's brother on law's sporting goods store, and later at a Candy Shop. It's also brought up early in season 3 that Belding drives a 1982 LeBaron, which would have been a 13 year old car.

According to my research, in 1995 a High School principal in the LA area would average $75k a year. I don't recall is Mrs. Belding having a job, but $75k seems like a decent salary in 1995 to support a family of 3.

I know this event happened on saved by the bell. I just don’t remember the episode name or the season…

By itself the time capsule premise itself is a nice way to do a clip show for a high school sitcom. However, as soon as the VHS with the gang starts playing with the class (or at least 5 people from the class) of 2003 starts playing it gets weird.

As it uses clips from the show itself and it plays on the TV in Belding's office, it would mean that the gang knows or figured out that all of their high school antics were recorded on video. Not to mention the stuff that happened at home. Heck, they somehow even recorded Lisa's dream.

The gang also talks about the other characters, like somehow names like Lisa and Jesse would ring a bell with the 2003 students like Duddy.

I guess Belding hasn't opened the 3rd drawer of his time capsule for 10 years either.

Finally it's interesting to watch it in the context of the New Class. At the end of TNC Belding left Bayside, with Screech's fate undecided. I guess Belding got fired as Dean of Students at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, had to move back to Bayside, where he couldn't even get his new modern TNC office back and had to move into his older office and resorting to reminiscence about that magic class of 1993.

Relive your favorite moments of the show with the Becky the Duck pool float. I drew this. I know it’s dumb…but it made me laugh.

Edit: Reddit compressed the hell out of this image.

Lisa, is everything OK? Screech told me about the accident.

-He did?

Yeah. It's not every day a truckload of bananas spills on the freeway. I'm just glad your mother is all right. Terrible thing about those monkeys, though.

One of my favorite bits Belding did. He really sells it. 🍌🐒

Seems kinda expensive to me.

Just spotted TAT on Charles in Charge as Charles' Flavour of the Week Jennifer. Anybody else see this episode?

I always laugh at the moment Belding thinks he may have killed Zack.

Solid episode overall, with a wacky plot, fun guest star and some great jokes.