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So Excited, So Scared: The Saved by the Bell Retrospective


Astro Hollywood

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The Lifetime Movie is just a boring 90 minutes, because they don't embrace the shitness of it and go really big and camp, like Sharknado or something, so there are no real quotable moments, and all the changes they make to the story make it less interesting than what really happened.

 

I'm about halfway through it at the moment and to give it it's due, it's better than I expected it to be. It is kinda tedious though as nothing really groundbreaking or exciting or anything that informative is brought to the surface. It's kinda a "woe-is-me" where Screech says the other cast members don't like him (or like him much, he seems bent out of shape when the Zak character ignores him and talks to Slater) and when Tori Spelling wants to meet Zak instead. It's also overly re-iterates the point that SBTB was cancelled or going to be cancelled a number of times too. I guess since it's a Lifetime movie they can't really tell the true story (or the story according to Dustin Diamond anyway) but it's only his perspective and the other cast members basically rubbished his book and his view of things anyway. E!  has an article on 15 big things which weren't included in the TV movie here: http://uk.eonline.com/news/575124/15-real-life-shockers-the-lame-saved-by-the-bell-movie-didn-t-include

 

Also is there some issue with the first episode of season 1 as looking at the Amazon reviews it's apparently omitted from the box-set and The Vault doesn't appear to be showing that episode. I assume it's a music licensing issue maybe as the first episode is about a dance contest hosted by Casey Kasem. 

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Is it Kindle edition only? I'd still buy it if its digital only, but I'm a bit old fashioned and like having the actual book. 

 

If this does well enough, then there will be a paperback eventually (hopefully pretty soon after this comes out).

 

 

Also is there some issue with the first episode of season 1 as looking at the Amazon reviews it's apparently omitted from the box-set and The Vault doesn't appear to be showing that episode. I assume it's a music licensing issue maybe as the first episode is about a dance contest hosted by Casey Kasem. 

 

 

Not heard anything about that. Mine has that episode. Some of the box sets are confusing though, and there's another set which breaks the Tori episodes off into a spurious, separate Season 5, so maybe it's a thing to do with that collection.

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Is it in a format that can be loaded into other e-readers, or will it just work on Kindle?

 

I don't know how this stuff works, but I bought some cheapo Kobo thing from Argos when it was on sale a little while back and it would be nice to both get some use out of it, and also not have to read this whole book on my phone.

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Is it in a format that can be loaded into other e-readers, or will it just work on Kindle?

 

I don't know how this stuff works, but I bought some cheapo Kobo thing from Argos when it was on sale a little while back and it would be nice to both get some use out of it, and also not have to read this whole book on my phone.

 

Never used a Kobo, but from quickly Googling, Kindle files are not compatible, unless you want to fuck around with the DRM and converting it into Kobo's ePub format yourself.

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Not heard anything about that. Mine has that episode. Some of the box sets are confusing though, and there's another set which breaks the Tori episodes off into a spurious, separate Season 5, so maybe it's a thing to do with that collection.

 

OK, cheers. I was reading reviews for this boxset: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saved-Bell-Complete-Mark-Paul-Gosselaar/dp/B0073V2GL0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425413111&sr=8-1&keywords=saved+by+the+bell#customerReviewsI would think Season 5 would make sense if they think "Good Morning, Miss Bliss" is the first season, and according to wiki the whole SBTB premise is based around the Zack character and his transition through junior high (GMMB), high school (SBTB) & college (SBTB:TCY) and his marriage to Kelly. So in that way all those episodes are inter connected. 

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Is it in a format that can be loaded into other e-readers, or will it just work on Kindle?

 

I don't know how this stuff works, but I bought some cheapo Kobo thing from Argos when it was on sale a little while back and it would be nice to both get some use out of it, and also not have to read this whole book on my phone.

I have a Nook, which is similar to the Kobo, and I use Calibre to convert Kindle files to epub or pdf. Occasionally the formatting will go a bit squiffy and it'll have double line spacing or something, but I'm yet to encounter any issues that make a book unreadable.

 

http://calibre-ebook.com/

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Also is there some issue with the first episode of season 1 as looking at the Amazon reviews it's apparently omitted from the box-set and The Vault doesn't appear to be showing that episode. I assume it's a music licensing issue maybe as the first episode is about a dance contest hosted by Casey Kasem.

The Vault showed the first episode a couple of weeks ago. You may have missed it as it was on a Friday, then the second episode onwards carried on daily from the following Monday.

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The Vault showed the first episode a couple of weeks ago. You may have missed it as it was on a Friday, then the second episode onwards carried on daily from the following Monday.

OK, cheers. Guess they'll repeat it eventually.

 

One thing about SBTB in hindsight is why the Screech character didn't evolve over the seasons to be a 'cooler' character. IIRC he's best friends with Zack, who's the most popular one at Bayside High so Screech should have been cooler by association. Plus he hangs out with Zack, Slater, Kelly et al when in theory, they wouldn't give a Screech type the time of day since he'd be too geeky. Unless he's like Zack Morris's 'court jester' who's around for the LOLz factor. Although I suppose each character all have their defined roles and the audience probably wouldn't have accepted Screech Powers with a better haircut, an improved dress sense & being more popular.

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Here's the soundtrack to the TV show, I don't think any of the cast are singing on this album:

 

 

This must be a joke review from Amazon.com or written by a spam bot or something:

 

 

 

A universally acknowledged masterpiece, Saved by the Bell represents a departure from song structure and toward a more ethereal, minimalistic approach to sound. Despite the stripped-down arrangements, the album's sumptuous tone quality reflects Mark-Paul Gosselaar's growing virtuosity at handling the recording studio as an instrument in itself (à la Brian Wilson). There are a few pop songs scattered here and there ("Saved by the Bell," "Surfer Dude," "Deep Within My Heart"), but most of the album consists of deliberately paced instrumentals which, while often closer to ambient music than pop, are both melodic and rhythmic; many, like "Go for It," "Did We Ever Have a Chance," and "Gone Hawaiian," are highly imagistic, like paintings done in sound which actually resemble their titles. Lyrics are infrequent, but when they do pop up, they follow the free-associative style of albums past; this time, though, the humor seems less bizarre than gently whimsical and addled, fitting perfectly into the dreamlike mood of the rest of the album. Most of Saved by the Bell is like experiencing a soothing, dream-filled slumber while awake, and even if some of the pieces have dark or threatening qualities, the moments of unease are temporary, like a passing nightmare whose feeling lingers briefly upon waking but whose content is forgotten. Unlike some of his later, full-fledged ambient work, Mark-Paul Gosselaar's gift for melodicism and tight focus here keep the entirety of the album in the forefront of the listener's consciousness, making it the perfect introduction to his achievements even for those who find ambient music difficult to enjoy.

 

'Surfer Dude' definitely sounds like a Beach Boys or Jan & Dean type song and it has the alternative Saved by the Bell theme too by Michael Damian. He had a US #1 in 1989 with Rock On. 

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Yeah, think it got a cassette tape release too ;)  Also does anyone remember 'California Dreams'?, it was made by the SBTB writers & exec produced by Peter Engel too. Was the 'Zack Attack' SBTB episode a nod to "California Dreams", or a precursor to it, as 'Dreams' was about a band and the characters were very SBTB-esque IIRC which would make sense since it was developed by the same team. 

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