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Saved by the Bell: Dexter Darden Has High Hopes for Season 3, Special

Dexter Darden (Half Baked: Totally High) spoke with Bleeding Cool about his time on Peacock's Saved by the Bell and hopes for its future.

Published Tue, 14 May 2024 12:39:08 -0500

by Tom Chang

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Two things the original Saved by the Bell cast has received that their spinoffs haven't are specials and TV movies to expand their story. It's something star Dexter Darden is optimistic for the Tracey Wigfield legacy sequel based on the Sam Bobrick popular NBC Saturday morning series since its cancellation on Peacock after two seasons. While promoting his latest film, Half Baked: Totally High, the actor spoke to Bleeding Cool about the future of his character, Devante Young, what he discussed with Wigfield and the series' legacy.

Saved by the Bell: Season 2, Episode 4: Morris Double Trouble — Dexter Darden in Saved by the Bell (2020). Image courtesy of Tyler Golden / Peacock

Dexter Darden on Saved By the Bell Cancellation, Season 3 Hopes

"Tracey and I, when we got canceled, it was more the idea of there being a season three eventually, right?" Darden explained. "Things were happening with streaming, a strike looming, and a lot was going on that Peacock as a network maybe decided it wasn't the best way to go. I still think there is hope for a season three somewhere down the line, and maybe we can come back for a graduation movie or something."

Darden's Devante was one of the six student characters, like in the previous series, along with Haskiri Velazquez (Daisy Jiménez), Alycia Pascual-Peña (Aisha Garcia), Josie Totah (Lexi Haddad-DeFabrizio), Mitchell Hoog (Mac Morris), and Belmont Cameli (Jamie Spano). Also new in the cast was John Michael Higgins, playing the new Bayside High principal, Ronald Toddman. Fronting the cast were original series holdovers Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, reprising their roles as A.C. Slater and Jessie Spano, alum-turned-faculty. The other surviving original student cast members – Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen, and Lark Voorhies – reprised their roles as Zack Morris, Kelly Kapowski-Morris, and Lisa Turtle, finding lives in politics and fashion in their lives post-Bayside.

Saved by the Bell: EP, Cast Talks Retaining Spirit of Original — L-R Mitchell Hoog, Belmont Cameli, Dexter Darden, Josie Totah, Alycia Pasual-Peña, and Haskiri Velazquez in Saved by the Bell (2020). Image courtesy of NBC Universal/Peacock

On a possible season three, Darden remained optimistic that the series would do so in some form. "Given all the success that we've started to have as a cast individually outside of the show, shout out to Alycia Pascual-Peña, who is on 'Bel-Aire' now, and Josie Totah, who's doing everything producing. She was also a producer on 'Saved By the Bell.' We have our cast growing in the cult fandom so far. It's still good, and it's not just old 'Saved By the Bell' fans, but new ones due to the show that we have on Peacock. So it's nice and I'm hoping that we might be able to see this final arc on screen, and I don't spoil it for you as much as I would like to."

In two seasons, Devante was like many of his peers as a student trying to fit in and buck against stereotypes as a transfer student from the same school as friends Daisy and Aisha to his new home at Bayside, building relationships with Mac, Lexi, and Jamie. While Slater hoped Devante would have aspirations for sports, he found his voice in the arts and theatre with the help of Lexi.
Half Baked: Totally High, which also stars Ramona Young, Moses Storm, Harland Williams, David Koechner, Frankie Muniz, Rachel True, and Ash Santos, is available on streaming and digital. Saved by the Bell is available to stream on Peacock.