Back to Bayside! Everything to Know About Peacock's Saved by the Bell Reboot

The reboot of the beloved sitcom premieres Wednesday on NBCUniversal's streaming service

Saved By The Bell
Photo: Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank

Class is in session!

Saved by the Bell is back, with the reboot of the classic '90s sitcom premiering on NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock, on Wednesday.

The reboot features the classic stars — Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen and Lark Voorhies — as well as a whole host of new characters.

Here's everything you need to know about Bayside High's return to screens.

Where the Storyline Picks Up

The revival kicks off at Bayside High in present-day — or as Jessie Spano (Berkley) put it in the initial teaser, "Can you believe that was almost 30 years ago?!"

Gosselaar's Zack Morris is now the governor of California, and after some political turmoil, he decides to send students from a now-closed, low-income high school to the state's best schools (read: Bayside High).

Elizabeth Berkley as Jessie Spano, Mario Lopez as A.C. Slater
Elizabeth Berkley as Jessie Spano and Mario Lopez as A.C. Slater. Joseph Del Valle/NBC

The teaser also unveiled Lopez's A.C. Slater as Bayside High's gym teacher, chatting with Zack and Kelly Kapowski's (Thiessen) handsome, charming and privileged son, Mac Morris (Mitchell Hoog) and Jessie's sensitive man-child son Jamie Spano (Belmont Cameli), who is the captain of Bayside's football team.

In addition to Hoog and Cameli, the revival stars a slew of newcomers playing students at Bayside High. "The influx of new students gives the overprivileged Bayside kids a much-needed and hilarious dose of reality," teased the show's synopsis.

Who's Involved — and Who's Not

In addition to Lopez's Slater and Gosselaar's Morris, Berkley's Jessie is also returning as the mother of a Bayside student and a guidance counselor. Gosselaar also confirmed that Thiessen's Kelly is returning to the show as well, and John Michael Higgins is back as Principal Toddman.

Though her involvement was announced later, Lark Voorhies will also be reprising her role as Lisa Turtle in some capacity. "When the show picks up with Lisa, she is thriving with a successful career in fashion," Peacock teased in October.

The notable absences include Dennis Haskins' beloved Mr. Belding and Dustin Diamond's Screech.

mario lopez
Mario Lopez in the Saved by the Bell teaser. NBC

In February, Diamond, 43, spoke to TMZ about his character not appearing in the show. "It's something we put so much time and effort into," he said. "How do you have Saved by the Bell without Screech? Right? I mean, it seems like there's a missed opportunity there."

During a recent appearance on on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen Berkley, 48, said she's not sure if Diamond will come back for the Peacock series, though she added that there's no bad blood between the pair.

"I don't know if he will make an appearance," she told host Andy Cohen. "We'll see if there's another season, maybe it's something to explore."

Some of the new, younger characters on the show will be played by Josie Totah, Haskiri Velazquez, Dexter Darden and Alycia Pascual-Pena.

Totah, who is transgender, is playing the lead role of Lexi, "a beautiful, sharp-tongued cheerleader and the most popular girl at Bayside High who is both admired and feared by her fellow students," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

J.J. Totah
Josie Totah. David Crotty/Getty Images

When It Premieres

All 10 episodes of the Saved by the Bell reboot will be available Wednesday on Peacock.

How It Will Switch Up the Original

Both Berkley and Lopez, 47, have opened up about what their return to Bayside means to them, and how the reboot will differ from the original sitcom.

"We wanted to introduce a new cast but also give fun winks and nods for the true fan," Berkley, who is also a producer on the show, said in this week's issue of PEOPLE. "Saved by the Bell holds a special place in people's hearts. It's part of their childhoods, and that is sacred. We are all fiercely protective of that legacy."

"It's a little edgier and updated, but not naughty by all means," Lopez teased earlier this year. "It's a lot of fun and I'm having fun with it."

The show's young stars have also discussed the experience of taking an old, beloved show and making it their own.

"Growing up and seeing Saved By the Bell, it was so small and so quaint — this is like an enlarged version," Totah said in a recent featurette. "It's still just as fun, just as campy, and it gives us kind of a '90s feeling back."

"You're getting reintroduced to that very nostalgic feeling, but also you're getting introduced to the new crew," Velazquez similarly shared, later adding, "Everything '90s is making a comeback — it never goes out of style."