The 25 most classic 'Saved by the Bell' moments

If there is one “Saved by the Bell” moment that first comes to mind, it’s this one. It’s the iconic moment from the show’s history. Jessie Spano, the resident brain of the group, has developed an overnight caffeine pill addiction. Zack goes to talk to her to find out what’s going on. Jessie, who has been prepping for a big girl group audition, tries to deny anything is wrong, but she can’t hide it any longer. She begins singing “I’m So Excited,” before breaking down and declaring, “I’m so scared!”

“Saved by the Bell” often went to the well of having the male characters dress like girls in acts of subterfuge. Normally that role went to Screech, such as when he played an Irish janitor named Sinead O’Connor to sneak into the girls locker room. Before that, though, Zack took on the guise of Bambi to get Screech to believe a girl liked him. Things escalate until Zack is having to dress up like Bambi to go on an actual date with Screech.

Pimples can be a sore subject for teenagers, especially for a girl like Kelly Kapowski. Fortunately for her, Screech and Zach have invented a pimple cream that works wonders. Of course it was too good to be true, as they find out the cream turns your face crimson. In the end things works out though, because crimson happens to be one of Bayside High’s school colors. So she still gets to be homecoming queen.

Kevin features in a few episodes. However, he has to be included, because Kevin is a super advanced robot that Screech somehow invented despite being a child. Kevin can talk and think and everything! If there is one episode that uses Kevin best, though, it’s the one where Kelly starts hanging out with Screech while he’s tutoring her.

When Screech’s mom went out of town to visit Graceland, naturally Zack and Slater decided that it was the perfect time for a guy’s night. What does that mean in the world of “Saved by the Bell?” Why, dressing up in weird pastel surfer gear and lip syncing to “Barbara Ann.” Zack plays a broom like a guitar, but when a statue of Elvis gets broken, things escalate from there.

Screech was always getting jerked around by all of his supposed friends. That was certainly the case when they dressed him up like an alien and sent a photo of him to a tabloid for money. Of course this somehow gets an actual government agent interested in finding this alien. Yes, they want to dissect him. Yes, the gang somehow outsmarts this government agent.

Kids aren’t in school all year round. Sometimes they take summer jobs at a local resort. Also, somehow everybody basically ends up at the Malibu Sands. Apparently there were a lot of jobs open. There we are introduced to new characters, primary Zack’s summer love interest Stacey Carosi, played by a young Leah Remini.

There are a lot of people who like to joke on the internet that Zack Morris is a sociopath. It’s times like this that bolster that argument. There’s a big chess match going down between Screech, representing Bayside, and its rival school, Valley. Valley has a Russian chess whiz at its disposal, and Zack has a lot of money riding on this chess match. Thus, he does the natural thing. He kidnaps the Russian, bounds and gags him in a closet, steals his clothes and pretends to be him to surrender the match to Screech. You know, normal kid stuff.

Usually the kids of Bayside hang out at The Max, a good, wholesome place that sometimes has a magician for a waiter. The Attic, though, is an over-18 club. Zack meets a college girl and, wanting to impress her, lies about his age and thus needs a fake ID. The Attic is memorable, mostly because it seems to be in a tiny room and also is a weird idea of what a club for college-aged kids would be. Also, Slater keeps photos of Jessie in his wallet like she’s his daughter and not his girlfriend.

Bayside strikes oil! That gets everybody excited — that is, until the gang learns the danger of the oil business. Years before “There Will Be Blood,” the perils of wildcatting is exemplified in the tragic death of Becky, a duck that Zack had found and immediately developed a deep fondness for.

Basically everything about the episode “All in the Mall” is memorable. Everybody is waiting in line for tickets to U2 for some reason, but Screech gets out of line. The kids then find a bag of money, and they think some mobsters are after them. It’s all a hidden camera show. Even for “Saved by the Bell,” this episode is bonkers.

Zack Morris is a real trickster. He’s always trying to get out of doing schoolwork, and he’s not a “brain.” That’s Jessie and Screech’s role. So when Zack gets a 1,502 on his SATs, it’s a huge moment for him. It’s also huge for Jessie, who gets only a 1,205.

Usually Slater dates Jessie. Sure, she often calls him a pig, but they stay together as a couple. For the two-part trip to Palm Springs for Jessie’s father’s wedding, though, Slater finds a new romantic interest. She also happens to be a princess, which certainly complicates things for A.C. After this two-parter, we never hear about her again.

Naturally a show for kids was going to do an anti-drug episode at some point. Here, famed actor Johnny Dakota goes to Bayside to film an anti-drug PSA. Unfortunately the shocking truth is that Johnny actually smokes marijuana. Fortunately, Mr. Belding is good friends with NBC chairman Brandon Tartikoff, so he steps up to help the kids film their PSA.

Casey Kasem appeared in the first episode of “Saved by the Bell” as host of a dance party at The Max. Kasem came back for the episode “Rockumentary,” a “Behind the Music” parody about the famed band Zack Attack. You surely remember their hit song “Friends Forever.” Of course, it all turns out to be a dream, but what a ride it was.

Everybody learns a real Christmas lesson in this two-part extravaganza, when Zack finds out the girl he’s interested in his homeless after her father passes out in the bathroom at the mall where everybody is working for the holidays. Laura, the homeless girl, has to run away when her evil boss accuses her of stealing a coat. In the end, Zack’s mom agrees to let Laura and her dad stay at the Morris house until they get on their feet. We never see them again.

Zack and Slater were on-and-off rivals. Early in the show’s run, that was more common, as they were both going after Kelly. This time they were fighting over a different girl, but this time the fight became physical, as Zack and A.C. come to blows in the hallways of Bayside. Violence turns out not to be the answer.

First, yes, this is from an episode where the gang become spaghetti sauce impresarios. The highlight, by far, is the commercial they make to advertise their sauce. As the tagline goes, delivered by Screech in a faux Italian accent, “The sauce you can have, but the secret, she’s-a mine!”

The fourth season of “Saved by the Bell” is weird, as it is basically two separate seasons going on at once. In one, Kelly and Jessie are around and everything is normal. In the other, the actresses who played those characters were holding out for more money, and they don’t appear. In that version of the show, they are replaced by Tori, a tough girl who rides a motorcycle.

It’s a big day for Slater when he gets a wrestling scholarship offer to Iowa. The problem? His dad wants him to go to military school. Zack agrees to help Slater by pretending to be him for his interview for the military academy. Of course he dresses like Rambo and says he wants to invade Canada. And then a high-ranking member of the military uses his time and energy to help pull a prank to teach Slater and Zack a lesson.

Look, obviously drunken driving is terrible. That being said, “Saved by the Bell” didn’t necessarily have the gravitas or storytelling ability to really pull it off. Namely, the big moment comes as the gang leaves a toga party, and they all are riding in the same car. The song “Wild Thing” comes on the radio, and of course these teenagers can’t help but to sing along. Alas, this distraction, combined with the drinking, leads to them wrecking Lisa’s mom’s car.

For some reason, Zack is put in charge of getting the class rings for Bayside High. Of course Zack believes that his middle name is “Deals,” so he figures he is going to do a great job. Then he gets scammed by a ring salesman named Gem Diamond. Then Diamond decides to stick around and keep taking calls from Zack, which eventually leads to a Screech-related downfall.

The idea of a rap version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is bad. The idea of “Saved by the Bell” doing it is transcendentally bad. You have to see it performed to believe it, especially since Zack and Jessie decide to completely rewrite it on the fly to make amends with Kelly and Slater at the same time.

If you are ending a high school show, there is only one way to do it. You have to have a graduation. This episode was even put in prime time to give the Bayside students a proper sendoff. There aren’t many bizarre or funny moments in “Graduation,” but it was certainly momentous when Mr. Belding finally handed Zack Morris his diploma.

After a trip to Hawaii, and the forgettable “College Years,” the story of “Saved by the Bell” finally came to its proper conclusion. Everything had to end with Zack and Kelly getting married. To make it a proper made-for-TV movie event, naturally the wedding happens in Las Vegas. Do the guys have to dress like showgirls to hide from mobsters? It’s “Saved by the Bell,” so you know the answer is yes.