How Saved by the Bell Paid Tribute to Dustin Diamond in Season 2 Premiere
Samuel “Screech” Powers’ former classmates gather at The Max to honor their late friend in the Season 2 premiere of Peacock‘s Saved by the Bell revival.
The memorial doubles as a tribute to legacy cast member Dustin Diamond, who died in February of lung cancer; he was 44 years old. Though Screech was not seen during Season 1 of the sequel series, he was mentioned during the big homecoming episode, when Slater alluded to Screech having relocated to the International Space Station with his robot companion Kevin.
So how exactly does the revival acknowledge Diamond’s passing? Read on to find out…
Wednesday’s opener picks up a full year after the events of Season 1, as Bayside resumes in-person for the first time since the coronavirus forced the world into lockdown. After dropping Mac off at school, Zack asks Slater if he’s “going to the thing at The Max,” but Slater shrugs it off. He then proceeds to spend the next few days avoiding his feelings about the pandemic and the unspoken passing of his childhood friend — that is, until he no longer can.
While helping the current student body clean up the gym following the Last Year Dance — a formal meant to squeeze in every Bayside event that was waylaid by quarantine — Slater overhears Daisy talk about the year that she and her classmates lost due to COVID.
“Last year did happen,” she acknowledges. “And we lost a bunch of stuff we’re never going to get back. We’re never going to have another sophomore year. And there are people we are never going to see again. And everybody can’t just instantly be OK.”
That’s when Slater realizes that his attempts to “pump the pain away” are misguided, and he can’t run from his feelings any longer. He accompanies Jessie to The Max, where they meet with Zack, Kelly and Lisa to memorialize Screech. Veteran owner Max introduces the gang to the newest item on the menu — Screech’s spaghetti burger, a nod to Screech’s spaghetti sauce from the OG Saved by the Bell — which is delivered to the table by none other than Kevin. Slater takes a bite, then gives his two cents: “It’s a little weird, but great,” he says, to which Lisa responds, “Kinda like Screech!” What follows is a stroll down memory lane, as the Bayside pals reminisce about their quirky friend.
Zack: Do you guys remember the time that he got struck by lightning and was psychic for a week?
Jessie: And then you used his powers to cheat on a midterm?
Zack: Yeah! Why didn’t we go to, like, Vegas? Or… stop the Gulf War?
[Awkward silence]
Lisa: Hey, you know, I was still mad that that little dweeb beat me at becoming Miss Bayside.
Kelly: Yeah, me too!
Jessie: He was so funny.
Slater: Yeah…
Zack: To Screech!
As the gang clink their burgers together in honor of Screech, a montage of classic Screech clips commences, to the tune of Mr. Belding singing “Miss Bayside.” At no point does the episode say the words “Screech died,” nor do we find out how Screech died. But his passing is obviously implied.
Executive producer Tracey Wigfield previously told our sister site Variety that “it would have been wrong to not acknowledge [Diamond’s death] in a real way and to not have our OG characters mourning this character that we’ll never get to see again.” Asked how important it was to get the tone just right, fellow EP Franco Bario — who has been with the SBTB franchise since its inception as Disney Channel’s Good Morning, Miss Bliss — told TVLine: “It was important for all of us — obviously the OG cast and myself, but it was important for Tracey — that this was tasteful, and that it was meaningful…. I think we all felt good about it.”
As for how Kevin the Robot was still functional after all these years, Bario added: “Kevin does say that he got a little work done. He did get a little work done!”
What did you think of Saved by the Bell‘s tribute to Diamond and his iconic character? Grade the Season 2 premiere via the following poll, then drop a comment with your full review.
After the way the og cast treated Dustin, this feels so FAKE
didn’t he write a book about about them? if someone did what HE DID to me I sure as hell wouldn’t memorialize them… there’s a (good) reason why he wasn’t asked back in the first place and him passing away is sad but don’t act like was a saint and their the bad guys.
Yep, he did. Stuff like this always happens when someone famous passes away. It’s like all the bad things they did suddenly gets erased. Dustin wasn’t a good person. It’s sad he died and great the show acknowledged him but he wasn’t included in the reboot for a reason.
They’re fake bc they’re acting now that he is dead like they care. They didnt give a damn before why now?
“They didnt give a damn before why now?”
Again, He wrote a god damn book about them and said all kinds of messed up things that he admitted he lied about, would you keep in touch or be around someone who did that to you or would you keep around you (in case they decided to reveal or make up any more personal information about you)?
They kept a professional distance from him like any sane person would, the way you do if you have a troubled family member that you have to love from a far because they always bring trouble when they come around.
What they did is put aside all the messed up things he did to them and chose to show up and celebrate the good memories they had of him, which they didn’t have to do given their history with him… and even if they didn’t they would be more people like you asking why they didn’t acknowledge his death even though HE MADE UP LIES ABOUT THEM DOING DRUGS.
What would you have had them do? post “love you” tweets as he made up stories about them having sex with each other? stop trying to drudge up drama.
Bruh relax, youre tooo invested. You wrote all those paragraphs in defense of people who dont even know you. My god, stop having a hissy fit on the internet lmao. Get a life
Bruh, don’t post stupid question and then act brand now when your called out on it. I mad as many comments as you did. From the looks of it your just in the comments section trolling to get a rise out of people and i need to get a life? — and i never said anything indicating that i know any of these people, just what any average person would do the situation.
your the one calling people “FAKE” and making assumptions about their motivation.
He DIDN’T write the book. Dustin gave stories to a ghostwriter who went off on his own, and the book was published before Dustin ever saw what he wrote.
He signed off on collected money, did interviews promoted the book, sold the movie rights to lifetime. Then 5 yrs later after date was done, admitted it was lies.
Newflash… its a tv shoe. Theyre actors. And theyre actors acting on a tv show. Every moment on screen theyre acting.
Are tribute episodes a thing anymore? When Luke Perry died, I expected 90210 to have an episode dedicated to him. Instead, it was just a few mentions like how SBTB did Dustin today. I feel like tribute episodes are a thing of the past.
Luke Perry died in 2019. The reboot of 90210 was 2008-2013. The original show was 1990-2000.
Do you mean Riverdale? I don’t watch it, but the Internet tells me they had an entire episode dedicated to him.
They mean the BH90210 series that came out in 2019
I totally forgot that existed!
The Riverdale episode was phenomenal from start to finish. It was done so very well and such a great tribute to Luke as well as his character.
What a weirdo response… No one was obligated to be friends with him. He went down a completely different life path from everyone else. From day one of the Zack to the Future podcast (which started 7 months before Diamond’s death), Mark-Paul regularly praised him for his comedic skills. I believe Elizabeth did too when she was a guest. – Fans of every show love to forget that all people on a set are coworkers. Some become good friends. Some can’t stand each other. Some get along just fine but don’t keep in touch once a show is over. Are you besties with every coworker you’ve ever had?
Hollywood Phonies
That tribute sucked the cast should be ashamed. What was the tribute a freakin 1min.
He deserved better, Dustin wasn’t perfect but he deserved better.
I don’t know how the cast felt about him–Mario Lopez visited him before he passed away, so at the very least the two of them patched things up. Regardless, I thought the tribute to Screech was fine, but it felt a little weird to only acknowledge the character and not end with a card that read “In Memory of Dustin Diamond.”