1. Originally titled Good Morning, Miss Bliss, the amusement was initially inspired by the then-NBC president's sixth people teacher—yes, Miss Bliss—and helium asked producer Pete Engel to marque a amusement astir her. Hayley Mills was formed arsenic Miss Bliss after Sandy Duncan was archetypal considered. But aft seeing the pilot, NBC decided not to prime it up.

Disney Channel, however, took a accidental and aired a 13-episode play from 1988-89 of a retooled Miss Bliss, recasting astir of the roles and aging up the students to eighth grade. Due to its debased ratings, it was canceled aft 1 season.

2. In the precise archetypal pilot, a aboriginal Beverly Hills, 90210 prima was 1 of the large kid characters: Brian Austin Green. And different young histrion who would spell connected to play a beloved '90s sitcom quality was besides featured: Jaleel White a.k.a. Steve Urkel. 

3. After Miss Bliss' cancellation, NBC had a alteration of bosom and felt that the amusement could really enactment if the absorption was placed connected the kids alternatively than Miss Bliss, starring to what would go Saved By the Bell.

Only 4 actors from that amusement made it implicit to the revamped series: Mark Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, Lark Voorhies and Dennis Haskins (Principal Belding). The determination was changed from Indianapolis  to "the Palisades" successful Los Angeles, and the characters were upgraded to precocious schoolers. (Bayside High forever!)

4. The relation of Kelly Kapowski came down to 3 young actresses: Tiffani Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley and Jennie Garth, with the second yet going connected to prima successful Aaron Spelling's different iconic teen show, Beverly Hills, 90210. While Thiessen yet landed the relation of 1 of the '90s astir crushed-on characters, the producers loved Berkley truthful overmuch they created the portion of Jessie Spano specifically for her. 

5. When casting A.C. Slater, producers had a wholly different vision successful caput earlier finding Mario Lopez. "Slater was expected to beryllium Vinny Barbarini [sic] with a leather jacket, from Welcome Back, Kotter," Engel said connected the Industry Standard podcast. "Italian kid, who was a thoroughfare kid, who was an Army brat."

As for A.C.'s infamous permed mullet, Lopez's parent really did it for him. "I wanted to look similar Mel Gibson successful Lethal Weapon," helium told People. "I didn't adjacent cognize I had a mullet!"

6. Oh, and A.C.'s existent name? Albert Clifford. 

7. At slightest 3 years younger than the remainder of the main cast, Diamond wouldn't person been formed if producers had known his existent age, Engel erstwhile revealed. Diamond experienced galore firsts during filming, including his first-ever buss with impermanent prima Tori Spelling. Aaron Spelling's daughter, who would later prima successful Beverly Hills, 90210, played Violet, Screech's nerdy emotion interest.

8. A earthy brunette, Gosselaar had to bleach his hairsbreadth each 2 weeks to support Zack's signature blond locks. After his days calling "Time out!" ended, helium told People, "Getting backmost to my earthy colour took a while!"

9. Because Saved By the Bell was 1 of the archetypal non-animated bid to go a monolithic deed connected Saturday mornings, the formed weren't each that savvy at the clip and hardly get paid from the show's syndication deals. 

"We made truly atrocious deals," Gosselaar admitted connected Watch What Happens Live. "Poor deals, backmost then. It is what it is. You determination on, you learn. Great experience."

10. If you thought the Saved By the Bell characters were romantically cliquish on-screen, it was thing compared to each of the narration play going connected behind-the-scenes. 

'All of america dated astatine 1 constituent oregon another—it was incestuous!" Gosselaar told People successful 2009. "Sometimes the girls would pack up connected the guys. Tiffani and Elizabeth would hatred me, and past they'd hatred Lark due to the fact that Lark was talking to me, and Mario was expected to broadside with someone. All that worldly you did successful precocious school, like, 'How could you speech to him?'"

Thiessen added, "Did we person crushes connected our costars? Absolutely," she said. "But we were truthful young!"

11. While Gosselaar and Voorhies really dated for 3 years during filming, Ed Alonzo (aka Max from The Max) erstwhile dished to Entertainment Tonight astir Gosselaar and Thiessen's flirtations. "They kinda liked each different a bit," helium spilled. "They liked each different a lot. It was precise cute. It was hand-holding and looking over."

12. In an interrogation with People, Thiessen revealed the archetypal clip she drank intoxicant she was with Gosselaar, saying, "Mark-Paul and I got to spell to Paris [for a property tour]. We ate crepes, and my archetypal sip of intoxicant was with him. It felt astatine times similar we were Barbie and Ken." Or Zack and Kelly?

13. Gosselaar besides dated Berkley, a tidbit helium revealed connected Anna Faris' podcast. "You're successful an environment—you cognize however it is," helium said. "When you're moving connected a set, and we were young, there's nary 1 around, really. I mean, you enactment and unrecorded successful a bubble."

14. While A.C. and Jessie were OTP connected the show, Lopez revealed successful his memoir that helium besides dated Thiessen successful his memoir. He wrote that they "went to movies, went retired to eat, hung retired astatine parties, danced together," and yet became an authoritative couple. But helium admitted to being unfaithful, writing, "I thought that being loyal to Tiffani was the close happening to do. But I can't accidental that I was susceptible astatine that property of pursuing done connected my noble intentions."

15. Of course, with the changeless carousel of changing relationships came the occasional on-set fights, with Gosselaar revealing to The Hollywood Reporter, "Sometimes we loved each different and sometimes we hated each other. There were moments wherever Peter Engel had to beryllium america down and say, 'Guys we person to movie a amusement here,' due to the fact that sometimes we weren't talking to each other.'" 

16. Because of their demanding schedules and newfound fame, the formed missed retired connected a batch of mean precocious schoolhouse experiences. Voorhies told People she "wasn't capable to spell to my graduation oregon prom. Those moments we had to sacrifice, we made up for with each other." 

17. After filming what was primitively intended to beryllium the last play of Saved By the Bell, NBC decided to bid much episodes. The problem? Thiessen and Berkley had already moved connected and were absent, prevention for the bid finale, erstwhile the 2 pistillate leads are randomly contiguous astatine graduation. But the stars didn't really return for the bid finale. It was filmed before their deals were up.

"We had already changeable the graduation and that was expected to beryllium the end," Engel revealed. "We were expected to extremity and not bash different season...So we changeable the graduation but Tiffani had an connection to spell with Aaron Spelling for 90210 and Elizabeth, I didn't cognize it was going to be Showgirls, wanted to bash movies. So we didn't re-sign them due to the fact that we couldn't re-sign them."

18. With 2 of their leads gone, Leanna Creel unexpectedly became a large pistillate pb erstwhile her biker miss Tori Scott (named aft Tori Spelling) was introduced arsenic a emotion involvement for Zack. 

19. After the occurrence of Saved By the Bell: Hawaiian Style, the made-for-TV movie that aired successful primetime, NBC ordered Saved By the Bell: The College Years, which followed Zack, Screech and A.C. as they navigated their freshman twelvemonth astatine the fictional California University. (Thiessen would aboriginal articulation the show.) 

But the determination to assemblage and primetime proved to beryllium excessively overmuch alteration for the show, and it was canceled aft conscionable 1 season. Looking backmost connected the failed spinoff, Engel told The Wrap, "I should've taken each the six kids to college. I should've insisted we instrumentality them each and I didn't. It was my determination and I made a mistake."

As for wherefore helium didn't bring the trio of girls to college, Engel explained, "I was trying to marque it antithetic than Bell and I deliberation we made it excessively different. I deliberation we mislaid immoderate of our—what's the word?—innocence."

The archetypal bid yet wrapped up with the TV movie Saved by the Bell: Wedding successful Las Vegas.

20. Another spinoff premiered successful 1993: Saved By the Bell: The New Class, which aired for 7 seasons, though it was ne'er arsenic fashionable arsenic the archetypal series. Haskins and Diamond were the lone archetypal formed members to articulation the spinoff, which besides starred Bianca Lawson, Chuck's Sarah Lancaster, and One Tree Hill's Lindsey McKeon.

21. Jessie's infamous caffeine pill addiction? Yeah, it was a spot over-the-top, and that's due to the fact that she was primitively expected to go addicted to speed.

"What fans don't cognize is that, erstwhile I primitively wrote the occurrence with Tom Tenowich, Jessie was hooked connected speed, not caffeine pills," Engel wrote successful his memoir. "But Standards and Practices, the censorial section of NBC, vetoed it, saying velocity was excessively superior for Saturday mornings." 

Still wanting to research the superior contented of addiction, arsenic good arsenic the unit kids tin enactment connected themselves, Engel and Standards and Practices yet compromised connected caffeine pills.

22. In 2009, Diamond made headlines erstwhile helium published a tell-all publication astir the amusement and his erstwhile co-stars called Behind the Bell (which would go the root worldly for Lifetime's The Unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story successful 2014). In the memoir, helium made allegations of steroid use, hook-ups and different off-camera antics, astir of which were debunked by the cast. "Everything that I've heard astir his publication is antagonistic and I don't retrieve those things," Gosselaar told E! News astatine the time. 

While the remainder of the formed had remained adjacent implicit the years, Diamond mislaid interaction and his tell-all was the last straw, with the histrion being near retired of their reunion for the 20th day acceptable up by People mag successful 2009.

23. But Diamond wasn't the lone 1 absent, arsenic Haskins aboriginal admitted to Parade helium was upset astir not getting a telephone to articulation the reunion. "People mag did thing with 5 formed members, but they didn't adjacent speech astir Mr. Belding, and Screech was benignant of exiled due to the fact that of his book," helium said. "That's inactive not the 7 of us. Whatever you privation to speech about, that amusement was six students and the principal. They were the bosom of the show."

24. Diamond would aboriginal telephone Behind the Bell "another disappointment of mine" successful a 2013 OWN interview, during which helium claimed his ghostwriter utilized throwaway comments helium made during their conversations arsenic "factual trash-talking astir everybody" successful the book. 

"I person thing but bully thoughts and memories towards everybody. I expected that I was going to beryllium sent a transcript to proofread," helium said, "and I was sent a copy, 'Oh, this is done. What?' Oh man, there's going to beryllium fallout from that."

25. In 2015, the main cast (including Haskins) reunited connected The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon for an epic sketch, erstwhile again taking connected their iconic roles. Well, it was astir the full cast, arsenic Diamond and Voorhies were notable absent.

While Voorhies' publicist said her "intense enactment schedule" prohibited her from participating, Diamond's attorney told E! News helium had "prior commitments." Just months earlier the reunion, Diamond had pleaded not guilty to stabbing a man successful December 2014. He would aboriginal serve a four-month sentence after a jury recovered him blameworthy of carrying a concealed weapon. But helium was arrested weeks aft his merchandise for violating his probation. He passed distant successful Feb. 2021 aft a conflict with lung cancer.

26. Though Diamond would telephone his tell-all 1 of his biggest "disappointments," his greatest regret was his 2006 enactment tape, titled Screeched – Saved by the Smell. 

"The enactment portion is the happening that I'm astir embarrassed about," helium said during his OWN interview. "In my stupidity, I thought, 'You know, I could wholly fake this. I could get a stunt idiosyncratic to instrumentality my place. It's my face, but thing else. Looking backmost now, successful my 30s, I recognize that was truly dumb. You know, I decidedly got immoderate wealth disconnected of it but it wasn't worthy what the fallout was. I mean, people, to this day, they look down connected me. There's a batch of radical who are like, 'Oh, however disgusting of you.' I didn't truly bash it!"

27. Despite the Diamond-caused drama, Gosselaar aboriginal admitted helium has nary atrocious humor with his one-time on-screen sidekick. "Listen, I've worked with actors that I couldn't basal being successful the country with. Dustin is not 1 of those people," helium told The Hollywood Reporter. "Who cares astir the book? The publication was fiction…I don't cognize what it was."

28. In the aforesaid interview, Gosselaar admitted that helium ne'er felt similar helium acceptable successful adjacent though Zack Morris was 1 of the coolest kids at Bayside (and connected TV).

"Zack Morris was a quality that I created from seeing the truly chill kids successful my school. I was not 1 of those kids. I was a kid that—I wasn't successful the debased end, I wasn't successful the top, I was determination successful the mediate and I would conscionable observe, and I would spot some sides of things," helium said. "But Zack was a quality that I was bully astatine playing due to the fact that I could manipulate my eyebrow to benignant of springiness maine a, for deficiency of a amended word, a smirky douchey look. And the hair, I did the hair…Uneven smile, small smirk, I had each these small things I could bash to beryllium this character, but this was not me."

29. In April 2019, Gosselaar, Thiessen, Lopez and Berkley got fans truthful excited erstwhile they went connected a quadruple day with their respective important others, sharing photos from their saccharine reunion connected societal media. Lopez captioned his pic of the radical "Friends forever," with Gosselaar commenting, "Thanks for taking attraction of the bill!" On his ain Instagram photograph from the night, Gosselaar wrote, "This is what 30+ years of relationship looks like.." (We're not crying, you're crying!)

30. Still, not each reunion for the formed has been rather truthful cuddly. Who tin hide erstwhile Haskins decided to astonishment Thiessen during 1 of her Today amusement appearances, starring to a pretty awkward and uncomfortable fewer minutes of unrecorded television. 

31. More than 20 years aft playing 1 of TV's astir infamous principals for much than 200 episodes, Haskins graduated from assemblage successful 2015, receiving a grade successful theatre from the University of Tennessee astatine Chattanooga.

"As palmy arsenic immoderate person said I've been, from the unthinkable occurrence of Saved by the Bell, different prime acting roles, the books I've written, and adjacent UTC Distinguished Alumni successful 2000, there's ever been thing missing for me—my assemblage degree," helium said successful a connection posted connected UTC's website.