'Saved By The Bell' Reboot Will Pay Tribute To Screech In Season 2 After Late Actor Dustin Diamond's Tragic Death
Honoring his legacy!
Even though Dustin Diamond — who played the beloved character Screech Powers in the original Saved by the Bell — wasn’t invited back for the reboot, the series will honor the actor in season 2 after his tragic death.
Diamond tragically died on February 1 at age 44 just three weeks after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
Before the Good Morning, Miss Bliss star’s untimely passing, executive director Franco Bario approached the actor about “possible stories that would include him in season 2,” reported Variety.
Showrunner Tracey Wigfield explained that although she never met Diamond, she “knew we wanted to do more than just putting a picture of him up at the end.”
She added Diamond's fellow original cast members — Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen, Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley and Lark Voorhies — were also “keen to do something” and wrote a scene where their characters reunite at their old hangout spot, The Max, to pay their respects to Screech.
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“At the beginning of this season, we already were coming into writing season 2 [where] obviously Dustin was one thing, but we also were like in a pandemic and in general in the first episode, everyone was feeling the same sense of everyone understands how heavy this last year has been,” she said. “It would have been wrong to not acknowledge that in a real way and to not have our OG characters mourning this character that we'll never get to see again.”
Wigfield made sure to note the tribute to Diamond will be “as sensitive as possible,” adding, “there was a real guy who had people who loved him. You don't want to make any jokes or talk about it in any way that might hurt anyone's feelings.”
Selected clips of Screech will be input into the second season of the reboot. “A lot of what Screech was known for was being the butt of a joke or being an outrageous character, and what we were hoping for was using the clips to show how important he was to the show, but also to the other characters in the show,” Bario detailed.
Season 2 of Saved by the Bell premieres November 24 on Peacock.
