Post by The Friar on Jun 10, 2008 0:01:06 GMT -5
Hey Gang,
With the idea of trying to jump start some posting and reading through the Social Commentary thread - I am asking this question...What is it about SBTB that's so appealing? Now I know we've all answered this question many times, but I would challenge all to think this through and give it a good, solid answer. In other words answer like Screech not like Zack! I will get us started.
I have a confession to make. I am (gulp) 40 years old, I'm married to the most wonderful woman in the world, I have two beautiful kids...
and...
I am a Saved by the Bell fan.
It's true. Now don't go locking the doors when I come to town, or hiding your kids from me, and don't go looking for a pocket protector in my shirt pocket (even Screech didn't wear one of those!). I am your average, everyday man. I love watching football on Sundays (and Mondays and sometimes Thursdays, oh yeah, and Saturdays) I am a HUGE Bears fan! I love to go fishing, playing basketball, playing and watching soccer, and hanging out with the guys. I belch out loud (only sometimes!), and occasionally leave the seat up (much to my wife's chagrin). But I also love the simple life, and you can't get much more simple than SBTB.
I think the appeal is that it reminds me of my own high school days. Bayside was small, like my high school. The gang was made up of all those high school stereotypes, a prep, a geek, a jock, a brain, a beauty queen, and a fashion queen. The only things keeping this from being the Breakfast Club is the language and a criminal (but then of course there was Jesse's brother!). Those stereotypes are magnified when you are in a small school setting, they were magnified on SBTB, and they were in my high school too. They do a fairly good job of covering all the bases. Let's face it most of us can identify with one of the characters on SBTB. And if you're wondering about me I was mostly Slater, with a little Zack thrown in for good measure (I must admit it, I was a smart mouth, but only sometimes!).
SBTB was a smart, funny, well written show. The actors were good and the plots, though most times very predictable, were still very good. Yeah, it got a little cheesy here and there, now and then, but then so do most shows. It was a nice slice of what was good in life and what was fun about high school. It never pretended to be more than that, and that, among other reasons, is why I think SBTB attracted so many viewers (of course having good looking actors playing the roles of the kids didn't hurt either!). But it was more than good looking kids, it had to be or it would never have lasted for 12 years (Good Morning Miss Bliss to the New Class), that's right I said 12 years!
Mostly though, I think SBTB appeals to me because morally it was sound and that is important to me. I am really growing tired of the shows that grace the TV today (and commercials for that matter) with their morally questionable character. Where are the Mayberrys and the Baysides today? They have seemingly vanished from the TV landscape (with the exception of shows like Seventh Heaven) and have been replaced by the morally challenged (read here Gossip Girl and the like). As the world, and the U.S. in particular, loses more and more of the moral grip it once had, we will only continue to further slip into the abyss that is the decadence of today's society.
With SBTB there was no sex, no language, and no smoking. There was a couple of episodes on drugs, and there was an episode on underage drinking. But you know what? The outrageous behavior was condemned not condoned. Zack wasn't bouncing from Kelly's to Jesse's to Lisa's bed and in the process passing out STDs like they were candy for trick or treaters. Slater wasn't shooting up human growth hormone so he could beef up and beat Valley Friday night. And for me, that's ok, and in fact is preferred.
Today's shows give me a bit too much reality (and I am not talking about reality TV, that's for another post!). I'm talking about how many of the shows today seemingly do condone teenage drinking, sex, smoking, and so on. That's a part of reality that I get on a daily basis in my job and don't want to get from my TV or movie theater. Enough is enough!
I guess what I am saying is I'd rather be sitting at the Max talking with the gang over a Coke about how we were going to get back at Valley in the basketball game, than standing outside of the locker room trying to score some weed for the party later that night.
What happened to those days? Unfortunately, Opie and Screech are gone from regular TV. So I am left with my Andy Griffith Show and Saved by the Bell DVDs. They will have to do. Like I said at the beginning of this post I am a Saved by the Bell fan, and I am proud of it.
The ;D Friar
With the idea of trying to jump start some posting and reading through the Social Commentary thread - I am asking this question...What is it about SBTB that's so appealing? Now I know we've all answered this question many times, but I would challenge all to think this through and give it a good, solid answer. In other words answer like Screech not like Zack! I will get us started.
I have a confession to make. I am (gulp) 40 years old, I'm married to the most wonderful woman in the world, I have two beautiful kids...
and...
I am a Saved by the Bell fan.
It's true. Now don't go locking the doors when I come to town, or hiding your kids from me, and don't go looking for a pocket protector in my shirt pocket (even Screech didn't wear one of those!). I am your average, everyday man. I love watching football on Sundays (and Mondays and sometimes Thursdays, oh yeah, and Saturdays) I am a HUGE Bears fan! I love to go fishing, playing basketball, playing and watching soccer, and hanging out with the guys. I belch out loud (only sometimes!), and occasionally leave the seat up (much to my wife's chagrin). But I also love the simple life, and you can't get much more simple than SBTB.
I think the appeal is that it reminds me of my own high school days. Bayside was small, like my high school. The gang was made up of all those high school stereotypes, a prep, a geek, a jock, a brain, a beauty queen, and a fashion queen. The only things keeping this from being the Breakfast Club is the language and a criminal (but then of course there was Jesse's brother!). Those stereotypes are magnified when you are in a small school setting, they were magnified on SBTB, and they were in my high school too. They do a fairly good job of covering all the bases. Let's face it most of us can identify with one of the characters on SBTB. And if you're wondering about me I was mostly Slater, with a little Zack thrown in for good measure (I must admit it, I was a smart mouth, but only sometimes!).
SBTB was a smart, funny, well written show. The actors were good and the plots, though most times very predictable, were still very good. Yeah, it got a little cheesy here and there, now and then, but then so do most shows. It was a nice slice of what was good in life and what was fun about high school. It never pretended to be more than that, and that, among other reasons, is why I think SBTB attracted so many viewers (of course having good looking actors playing the roles of the kids didn't hurt either!). But it was more than good looking kids, it had to be or it would never have lasted for 12 years (Good Morning Miss Bliss to the New Class), that's right I said 12 years!
Mostly though, I think SBTB appeals to me because morally it was sound and that is important to me. I am really growing tired of the shows that grace the TV today (and commercials for that matter) with their morally questionable character. Where are the Mayberrys and the Baysides today? They have seemingly vanished from the TV landscape (with the exception of shows like Seventh Heaven) and have been replaced by the morally challenged (read here Gossip Girl and the like). As the world, and the U.S. in particular, loses more and more of the moral grip it once had, we will only continue to further slip into the abyss that is the decadence of today's society.
With SBTB there was no sex, no language, and no smoking. There was a couple of episodes on drugs, and there was an episode on underage drinking. But you know what? The outrageous behavior was condemned not condoned. Zack wasn't bouncing from Kelly's to Jesse's to Lisa's bed and in the process passing out STDs like they were candy for trick or treaters. Slater wasn't shooting up human growth hormone so he could beef up and beat Valley Friday night. And for me, that's ok, and in fact is preferred.
Today's shows give me a bit too much reality (and I am not talking about reality TV, that's for another post!). I'm talking about how many of the shows today seemingly do condone teenage drinking, sex, smoking, and so on. That's a part of reality that I get on a daily basis in my job and don't want to get from my TV or movie theater. Enough is enough!
I guess what I am saying is I'd rather be sitting at the Max talking with the gang over a Coke about how we were going to get back at Valley in the basketball game, than standing outside of the locker room trying to score some weed for the party later that night.
What happened to those days? Unfortunately, Opie and Screech are gone from regular TV. So I am left with my Andy Griffith Show and Saved by the Bell DVDs. They will have to do. Like I said at the beginning of this post I am a Saved by the Bell fan, and I am proud of it.
The ;D Friar
