Time out: Saved By The Bell revival already renewed for season 2

To paraphrase George Orwell’s 1984, there has always been a Bayside High. There will always be a Bayside High. And it will remain as brightly colored, as divorced from reality, and as stocked with good-natured dimwits as ever. At least, that seems to be the plan for Peacock: The streaming service just announced it has granted a season 2 renewal for Saved By The Bell, the revival of the bizarre, meta ’90s sitcom, thereby ensuring at least one more year of acerbic outsiders and clueless privileged weirdos traversing the halls of the hallowed institution of secondary education.

To be fair, the revival ended up being funnier than just about anyone expected. Credit 30 Rock alum and new Saved By The Bell showrunner Tracey Wigfield; as we said in our review of the new series, “it’s easy to forgive a dud when the jokes come so fast and furious.” Following a group of transfer students reassigned to Bayside after California governor Zack Morris cuts $10 billion from the education budget, the show retains the naïf-life innocence of the original while updating it for people who like actual humor, as well as easily digestible lesson-of-the-week stories involving race, class, inclusiveness, and more. In short, it’s a solid show for kids, but you may enjoy it as well if you were among those of us foolish enough to invest copious hours watching the original. The comedy ended 2020 as the number-one show on the new streaming platform.