Mario Lopez Reveals Saved By The Bell Reboot Will Be Edgier

The upcoming revival of classic sitcom Saved By The Bell will see a return to Bayside High with a mid-life update on characters like Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), AC Slater (Mario Lopez), and Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkeley), in addition to putting the focus on their children. Though the first teaser for the new series seemed to paint a picture of a return to form, one of the stars of the series now says that they’ll be pushing the envelope a little more than they did before. Speaking in a new interview, Lopez says the new series is trying to appeal to both a new audience in today’s younger generation while still catering to fans of the original.

“It’s definitely edgier,” Lopez tells Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “It’s edgier but at the same time not being too naughty. It’s just much more hip so we’re trying to [connect] with the young audience. But trying to keep the old fans of the show happy. I think they’re doing a great job so far….We have a great young cast, and it’s led by our wonderful showrunner Tracey Wigfield, who won a bunch of Emmys for 30 Rock.”

The new Saved by the Bell series will be available exclusively on the new streaming service Peacock, and though most of the original content coming to the service that was planned for a 2020 debut has been delayed, Saved by the Bell is still on track to arrive this year. Peacock chairman Matt Strauss confirmed this previously but Lopez mentioned it as well, revealing how many episodes they had left to film.

“We’re only two episodes away from being done with the first season,” he added. “And then the pandemic hit. So we want to get back there and get it on the air.”

The Saved by the Bell revival will see Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) now acting as the Governor of California. After getting into hot water for closing too many low-income schools, Morris introduces a proposal that sends the students from those closed schools to the highest-performing institutions in the state, including Bayside High. These new students will give the privileged kids at Bayside a little bit of the reality that they’ve been missing.

Gosselaar, Lopez, and Berkeley will be joined by John Michael Higgins as Bayside’s Principal Toddman, and Josie Totah, Haskiri Velazquez, Mitchell Hoog, Alycia Pascual-Pena, and Belmont Cameli as a new generation of kids. Great News creator Tracey Wigfield will serve as showrunner and executive producer of the Saved by the Bell reboot, following her new overall deal with NBCUniversal. She will be joined by original series creator Peter Engel and Franco Bario (Great News). Lopez, Berkley, and Gosselaar are also set to produce.

What do you think an edgier Saved by the Bell will be like? Sound off in the comments below!