Saved By The Bell Reboot Learned From Fuller House Mistakes

The Saved by the Bellreboot revived the beloved sitcom for a new generation of viewers and learned from the mistakes of Fuller House. Reboots and revivals are all the rage now, with nostalgia bringing back versions of long-canceled series like Will and Grace and Walker, Texas Ranger. However, not all reboots are equal and Saved by the Bell, which began streaming on Peacock in November, smartly engages with its original characters while offering audiences something entirely new.

Fuller House debuted on Netflix in 2016 and ran for five seasons, ending in June 2020. The series, an update of the original 1990s sitcom Full House, follows the widowed DJ Tanner (Candace Cameron Bure), her sister Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and best friend Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber) as they navigate adulthood under one roof. All told, Fuller House was far too similar to its predecessor, emulating a lot of the same storylines with a heaping dash of fluff and cheesiness instead of trying to come up with something new.  

There were an abundance of references to its parent show, including an incident where Stephanie drove the car through the kitchen in a direct callback to her childhood mistake. The series also included a gameshow-style moment that saw DJ and Steve prove how well they knew each other. Additionally, Fuller House took plenty of shots at Mary-Kate and Ashely Olsen, with incessant jokes about the reasons for why Michelle was constantly absent from their lives. Suffice it to say a lot of the references only worked for fans of the original show; the remarks probably fell flat and alienated viewers who weren’t already in the know or who didn’t necessarily remember every detail about Full House. 

That is not the case with the Saved by the Bell reboot. For one, the updated series isn’t actually focused on the sitcom’s original characters (though they do make several appearances). Saved by the Bell follows the story of Daisy Jiménez (Haskiri Velazquez), Aisha Garcia (Alycia Pascual-Peña), and Devante Young (Dexter Darden). They join the ranks of Bayside High after their underfunded school is shut down by Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), who is now the governor of California. 

There are certainly in-jokes and mentions of events and storylines from the ‘90s sitcom, but they’re generally few and far between and tend to crop up when the now-adult characters like A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez) and Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley) interact with each other. The references are less blatant and far more bearable than those in Fuller House. Plus, a lot of the mentions in the Saved by the Bell reboot exist to acknowledge how strange the plots of the original show were. Take, for example, Zack bringing up having to do ballet to graduate when he was a senior. The reference itself is funny, but the reboot pokes fun at the storyline rather than redoing the same thing with Daisy and her friends. The reboot gives the new characters their own unique set of storylines to work through. 

The fact is that Saved by the Bell doesn’t attempt to be a mirror image of the original show, and the writers seem to understand that what made the ‘90s sitcom so popular might not translate the same way for new audiences. The sitcom certainly pays homage to its parent show without heavily relying on old jokes. Even the reboot’s concept is somewhat different and feels very authentic to the modern day, while still keeping in line with the original’s lighthearted and cheesy sense of humor. While Fuller House is over now, all reboots should take a page out of Saved by the Bell’s book moving forward.

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Mae Abdulbaki
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Mae Abdulbaki is a movie reviews editor with Screen Rant. She previously wrote about a variety of movies and TV shows for Inverse, CinemaBlend, Pajiba, and The Young Folks, where she wrote reviews, features, news pieces. Her other work can be found at The Mary Sue, Film School Rejects, UPROXX, Heroic Hollywood, Looper, The List, and Bam Smack Pow, among others. Mae has also appeared on television segments, podcasts, and panels to discuss all things entertainment.

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