Saved By The Bell: The Cringe

Saved by the Bell is one of my favourite shows. Then why the title, you ask? Well, admit it. Even with all it’s awesomeness it did make your stomach churn at times. There were some weird moments and some downright ridiculous ones. And it’s not just me who feels like this. A post on IMDB’s message board has over 250 entries listing some of the most cringe-worthy moments on the show. I agree with almost all of them but the ones I list here take the cake.

1. Samuel “Screech” Powers: Screech (Dustin Diamond) was the unfortunate best friend of lead Zach Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselar). He was a genius in science, the guinea pig for Zach’s experiments and an idiot who pursued Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies) without any luck. Screech began as a decent character but as the series progressed he was turned into a cartoon for occasional laughs.
   Reason for cringe: The clothes, the voice, the expressions and the OTT acting.
2. The “pocket protecting” geeks: I have no idea how American schools work so you should help me out. Are the intelligent students really as awkward as they have been portrayed in the series? Do they care only about retainers and pocket protectors and fight about them?
   Reason for cringe: Just their portrayal in the series. Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley) is also a geek but since she’s the lead she has to be normal-looking.
3. Hot Sundae: Nirvana, Motley Crue, The Beatles, The Bee Gees, U2. Well! These are boy bands. So since Jessie, Kelly (Tiffani Thiessen) and Lisa are girls let’s give them a name that they will hate in the future.
   Reason for cringe: Hot Sundae? Seriously?
4. Buddy Bands: In the episode “The Friendship Business”, the class is given an assignment to come up with business ideas. Naturally the leads have an amazing one. Friendship bracelets. That’s a fine idea. Due to Zach’s greedy plans the group splits into 2 with Slater (Mario Lopez), Jessie and Kelly creating a new product called the “Buddy Bands”. And they create a video to advertise it.
   Reason for cringe: Watch the video.
5. The one-episode wonders: What is common between the characters Wendy, Christy Barnes, Heather Brooks, J.B. Slater, Graham and Jennifer? They all were involved with Saved by the Bell for one full episode. They were never mentioned or seen again.
   Reason for cringe: It’s a series set in a school. Shouldn’t there be recurring characters? It’s like product placement. They are introduced just so their story revolves around the six leads.
   
6. Stacy Carosi’s boyfriend: This is another weird one-episode-wonder kind of moment. Stacy has a boyfriend who surprises her by coming to the resort much to Zach’s annoyance.
   Reason for cringe: He gives Stacy his fraternity pin to make her his forever. What does a fraternity pin have to do with love? And what is with the fist punch?
   
7. Poor Kelly: Kelly is popular, pretty and nice. But she’s also poor.
   Reason for cringe: She mentions that she has to watch her pennies, go to community college and work as a waitress to earn money. Yet she has clothes that are never worn twice. Always nice, expensive-looking ones. I don’t mean put Kelly in rags or dress her like Screech. At least wear the same dress on two different episodes.
8. Tori: Leanna Creel will forever be remembered for all the confusion her appearance as Tori caused.
   Reason for cringe: Since Kelly was not there, Lisa automatically became prom queen since she was the lead. Tori had to be in the leather jacket always. She was a tomboy yet she falls for Zach. Big surprise there!
   
9. The inconsistent lip-syncing: For some reason, there were episodes where the cast had to sing. And they did an awful job.
   Reason for cringe: If you sing like Justin Bieber in one episode, sing like Justin Bieber in all the episodes. Don’t sing like Aaron Carter in one episode, The Jonas Brothers in another and Miley Cyrus in the next.
10. I’m so excited: I think everyone expected this one. Jessie is hooked on to…wait a minute…Caffeine pills so that she can stay awake to study. All hell breaks loose when she has an overdose-freak-out.
    Reason for cringe: Watch below.
    

Let me know what you think.