Why Saved By The Bell’s College Years Spinoff Was Canceled So Quickly

Saved by the Bell was a hit for NBC, but its College Years spinoff didn’t last long. From 1989 to 1993, Saved by the Bell became a phenomenon among younger viewers, bringing in ratings at its peak that rivaled those drawn by primetime comedies of the same period, and earning millions of teen and tween fans. Thanks to decades of syndicated reruns – and later DVD releases – Saved by the Bell has gone on to be well-known to many born after its run too, explaining how well the Peacock revival series has performed.

The main six characters on Saved by the Bell – arguable jerk Zack Morris, Kelly Kapowski, Jessie Spano, A.C. Slater, Lisa Turtle, and Samuel “Screech” Powers – all became pop culture icons to those who grew up with the show, and to an extent, so did their well-meaning but often awkward principal Mr. Belding. It’s no wonder that most of the cast went on to have long careers, including some that hardly needed to be resurrected by the revival series.

While Saved by the Bell certainly has its flaws and detractors too, and went through some weird periods – such as when Kelly and Jessie were replaced by Tori Scott – it’s no wonder that those involved have never really wanted the brand to die. Thus, it wasn’t long after the original show ended that a Saturday morning spinoff called Saved by the Bell: The New Class arrived, as well as a primetime sequel/spinoff called Saved by the Bell: The College Years. While The New Class lasted quite a while, The College Years met an early demise, primarily due to low ratings. However, bad decisions by NBC arguably led to those low ratings.

Saved by the Bell: The College Years actually had a bit working against it right out of the gate, as of the original cast, only Zack, Slater and Screech initially made the jump over. This was helped some when Tiffani Thiessen decided late to return as Kelly, being added to the cast after the pilot was shot. Still, the loss of the full original gang was felt by fans, and this turned out to be a warning sign that the spinoff wouldn’t last. The first questionable decision NBC made though was putting The College Years in primetime. Saved by the Bell fans were suddenly expected to follow the show from Saturday mornings to evening hours, and that mostly didn’t end up happening.

The move to primetime would’ve made sense if the content of the show had become significantly more adult-oriented than the original Saved by the Bell, but it hadn’t, and could’ve easily aired on Saturday mornings – or afternoons – with the few more risque jokes and situations changed or cut.  Still, putting Saved by the Bell: The College Years in primetime could’ve conceivably worked, were it not for NBC’s awful decision to air it directly opposite the ABC sitcom juggernaut known as Full House. Full House was nearing the end of its eight-season run at that point, but was still the 16th-highest rated show on network TV. By contrast, The College Years ranked a paltry 88 in the yearly Nielsen broadcast charts. After 19 episodes, Saved by the Bell: The College Years was canceled, although fans did get a follow-up TV movie subtitled Wedding in Las Vegas that finally saw Zack and Kelly get married.

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