Saved by the Bell is an important transition between the '80s conception of teenage entertainment and the '90s conception of teenage entertainment. The show started in 1989, and most of the high school episodes scream 1990 or 1991 (we got tickets to the M.C. Hammer concert and he won't go with me!, etc.) the way that Fresh Prince of Bel-Air screams 1992 (genuinely '90s, but early '90s.) On one hand, the way in which the "nerds" are portrayed seems very mid-'80s, but on the other hand the interaction of the popular kids like Zack with Screech is sort of '90s, though the high school atmosphere overall seems '80s. However, the way in which the kids interact and the "diversity" of the cast isn't that different from later '90s teen sitcoms like Sabrina the Teenaged Witch. It seems sort of like a more simplified, naively '80s version of something that would arise in the later '90s.

The College Years episodes feel more genuinely '90s without the residual '80sness, like a dumbed-down collegiate Beverly Hills 90210 in some ways. With all the flannel shirts and references to Pearl Jam, etc.

Saved by the Bell is very 1990-ish.

Saved by the Bell is very 1990-ish.


Do you agree it's more of a "transition" show? Also, I think it shares with Sabrina the Teenaged Witch that the real target audience was a preteenager and not a teenager. It was on on Saturday mornings. I remember that at one point it could be found on some channel at any hour of the day, in like the mid-'90s. Now, it's just on TBS every morning, though I bet it'll be one of the first early '90s things to make a comeback in the early 2010s.

Do you agree it's more of a "transition" show? Also, I think it shares with Sabrina the Teenaged Witch that the real target audience was a preteenager and not a teenager. It was on on Saturday mornings. I remember that at one point it could be found on some channel at any hour of the day, in like the mid-'90s. Now, it's just on TBS every morning, though I bet it'll be one of the first early '90s things to make a comeback in the early 2010s.


It's definitely an '80s-'90s transition show, like "Married With Children".

It's definitely an '80s-'90s transition show, like "Married With Children".


Or Roseanne.

I don't know much about saved by the bell, but it seemed more late 80's than 90's. I never saw any grunge-ish fashions or attitudes on the show. It stayed bright, cheery, happy, and colorful.

Clarissa Explains It All however, premiered in 1991 and had absolutely zero remnants of the 80's, I've only seen bits and pieces of the Sabrina series. Was it like Clarissa only with magic?

I don't know much about saved by the bell, but it seemed more late 80's than 90's. I never saw any grunge-ish fashions or attitudes on the show. It stayed bright, cheery, happy, and colorful.

Clarissa Explains It All however, premiered in 1991 and had absolutely zero remnants of the 80's, I've only seen bits and pieces of the Sabrina series. Was it like Clarissa only with magic?


Clarissa Explains It All was sort of targeted to preteenagers and kids, and it was one of my favorite shows  in like 1994 and 1995 on its Nick reruns when I was a little kid. I aspired to be like them, they being "cool teenagers", and I had a crush on Sam, the kid who came through the window. The fashions and attitudes were very '90s, like Sam seemed like a little, mild grunger in some ways.

Clarissa Explains It All was sort of targeted to preteenagers and kids, and it was one of my favorite shows  in like 1994 and 1995 on its Nick reruns when I was a little kid. I aspired to be like them, they being "cool teenagers", and I had a crush on Sam, the kid who came through the window. The fashions and attitudes were very '90s, like Sam seemed like a little, mild grunger in some ways.


definitely, and 90's attitudes. Why go through the door when you could just prop your ladder up to her window?

I had a thing for Clarissa, the show premiered when I was 14 so I was pretty much distancing myself from nick, but Clarissa caught my eye! The show didn't put that much emphasis on sex and relationships (though there were some episodes that dealt with it, harmless crush types) very early 90's. She was just a very active, creative early 90's teen.

Can't say Saved By The Bell did much for me. That "Screech" guy was very annoying.  :o

They used to show old Saved by the Bell re-runs in the afternoon, but I can't remember getting really excited over them. Back then I thought it was just another crappy B-grade 80s American show. Never was a fan of shows like Cheers, but I liked Married with Children and Full House. It's been so long since I last watched them.

I never watched it much, heard about it a lot, but saw very little of it, re-runs definitely were on here until the late '90s probably. Clarissa I watched quite a bit though.

I never watched it much, heard about it a lot, but saw very little of it, re-runs definitely were on here until the late '90s probably. Clarissa I watched quite a bit though.


Yeah I watched Clarissa. Was Saved by the Bell a High school teen drama? Come to think I can't think of many sit-coms set in High Schools. What other shows would you compare it to? It's been so long I've totally forgotten.

Yeah I watched Clarissa. Was Saved by the Bell a High school teen drama? Come to think I can't think of many sit-coms set in High Schools. What other shows would you compare it to? It's been so long I've totally forgotten.


It was an early '90s high school teen sitcom, I don't think it was a drama. I guess you could compare it to something like Beverly Hills 90210.

It was an early '90s high school teen sitcom, I don't think it was a drama. I guess you could compare it to something like Beverly Hills 90210.


It's like a very, very light sort of thing like Beverly Hills 90210. Really, it's almost like a high school as opposed to family focused version of something like Family Ties, and it's pretty similar to a non-supernatural Sabrina the Teenage Witch in some ways. Personally, it doesn't do that much for me. It's still rerun on TBS on weekday and weekend mornings, and I watch it sometimes then when there's nothing else on.

It's definitely true that alot of shows that debuted in the late '80s are still thought of as "'80s shows", because they retained that style and sensibility (Full House, et. al.) even if most of their runtime was in the '90s.

Because saved by the bell had such a long run, it does get kind of line blurring in some aspects, but I consider it to be 80s and early 90s. The fact that its debut was, what, '88 or '89, makes it hard to say.

Because saved by the bell had such a long run, it does get kind of line blurring in some aspects, but I consider it to be 80s and early 90s. The fact that its debut was, what, '88 or '89, makes it hard to say.


1989.