This is where I solve a mystery that was plauging me for years and years…enjoy my rewind
So we all watched Saved by the Bell right?
Yes dont lie some of you still do….
Ok fine maybe thats just me and maybe just when Jessie takes the caffeine pills because I think its funny…
But I have a confession…
Some things about SBTB plague me…
How come in their senior year Kelly and Jessie disappeared for a while and Tori came in?
What happened to them?
Seriously?
How come the middle school years and the high school years take place in different states?
Indiana and California….weird right?
Come on saved by the bell….EXPLAIN YOURSELF….
So I did a little digging and found what I like to think of as a fantastically silly explanation….
This is taken from Wikipedia:
As mentioned above, the character Tori Scott (Leanna Creel) was added in the final season as an initial sparring partner and later girlfriend for Zack. Originally, the final season consisted of thirteen episodes featuring the original cast, and the cast members’ contracts with the show expired after those episodes were completed with the final graduation episode. However, NBC ordered more episodes of the show and Thiessen and Berkley refused to sign new contracts. Rather than producing new episodes with only four cast members, a new character, Tori Scott, was added to serve as a replacement for Kelly and Jessie.
The promos for the final season of the show featured Kelly, Jessie, and Tori together, despite the fact that the actresses never actually appear in an episode together. Rather, the network alternated between “Kelly and Jessie” and “Tori” episodes each week.
During the “Tori” episodes, it was never explained why Jessie and Kelly were not present and likewise for the “Kelly and Jessie” episodes, no mention was made of Tori. When the season aired in the UK, the episodes were broadcast in production order – the Tori episodes and the Jessie and Kelly episodes were shown together. This was scarcely less confusing, since no mention was ever made of Tori’s sudden disappearance and Kelly and Jessie’s equally sudden reappearance partway through the season. However, a side effect of this resulted in the graduation episode (a “Kelly and Jessie” episode) airing before the first “Tori” episode – Zack, Slater, Screech and Lisa continued to attend Bayside even after their apparent graduation.
The term “Tori Paradox” is derived from Chuck Klosterman‘s essay about the show in his book, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto.
Ok and what about the different locations?
Three of the teens from the original cast – Gosselaar, Diamond, and Voorhies – remained on the show, playing the same characters with only minor changes to their backstories. Haskins also stayed on as Mr. Belding. However, the setting was changed from Indianapolis, Indiana to the fictional Bayside High School in the Palisades in Los Angeles, California.
Hmmm I dont accept this answer…we are supposed to believe that the creators just decided…OK no big deal we will move states and no one will notice!?
INCONCEIVABLE!
Who do we like more…
Kelly Kapowski?
Or Valerie Malone?
This post made me laugh. I LOVE SBTB, but always wondered the same things. It’s pretty funny how much show could get away with back in the day. =)
xoxo,
megs [at] Shine On
I am guessing they changed it to Cali because of it seeming more appealing to live in California than in Indiana? That’s just me. Think about how well it did when they moved it to Cali…more chances for bikini episodes and lots of skirts and things for the girls.
I definitely like Kelly more than Valerie. I hated how bitchy she was as Valerie and the boob job…no thanks.
Sorry but I am Kelly all the way!
I remember this post!! I love Saved by the Bell… grew up watching it every single day!
I always wondered about these things! haha! I’ve watched every single episode of SBTB. I loved it! Oh, and I hated Valerie. Kelly was so much nicer, haha!
Ha! I watch it whenever I see it. Love Kelly!
Actually when the show first started it was called Good Morning Miss Bliss (starring Hayley Mills). I was like 10 or 11 when it first came on, it aired on The Disney Channel. 🙂 I think the show got canceled but NBC liked the idea and kept some of the same characters and relocated the school to Bayside in CA. I know WAY too much about this show!!
XO!
I remember this post originally, and wondered why I’d never even noticed those glaring issues, haha. Guess they counted on ditzes like me to not pick up on them 🙂
Since I watched the re-runs as an 8 year-old, with no concept of time, in the mid-90s, I never really thought about the changes in cast. I just always thought Tori was weird and too tomboy-ish. As another commenter said, viewers probably didn’t pay as much attention to such details back in the day :).
Loved me some Saved by the Bell!
Kelly all the way!!!!
So glad you reposted this, I hadn’t read it before! Loved Kelly was never really a big Tori fan!
Hahaha– I remember this post. 🙂 Still funny this time too. And I hated Valerie on 90210.
I’m a Kelly girl all the way! And i’m always overjoyed when I find it on TV… Happy Friday!
I liked her as Kelly, she was nice. I’m loving her as Mrs. Suit on White Collar right now!
Oh, and I never cared about the back story. Some shows I seriously care, not that one though. hmm.
I love that chapter in Klosterman’s book. And I LOVED Tori, as much as the absence of Kelly and Jessie drove me nuts!
LOVE SBTB…i have all seasons on DVD of course and Zach Morris is till hot! I also laugh about Jessie taking the pills and every time i say “i am so excited” i break into that monologue. Tori really bothered me…i hated her episodes but thank you for posting why they decided to do this because i never knew!
Hahahaha, I love this!!! I used to be obsessed with SBTB. I definitely did not like Tori either, but I never really noticed that they kept disappearing. Weird!!