The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story

To start this off this review, I wish I could give this movie a zero. This is not going to be a slam of Mr. Dustin Diamond, simply a review of what Lifetime put on the screen last night.

There are many things that I find wrong with this movie, I just don't know where to start. I really wanted to enjoy this one because like all who watched this movie, they grew up watching Saved By the Bell. And who doesn't like to know what goes on behind closed doors? But, my interest dimmed after finding out two major components: It's based on Dustin's falsified memoir and two it has "Unauthorized" in the title. I get it, I didn't have to watch it and there were a million things I could have been doing. But, I didn't.

Firstly, the cast was put together poorly. The only ones that I thought matched their counterparts were: Ken Tremblett (played Dennis Haskins), Tiera Skovbye (Elizabeth Berkley, due to her scene when she was on the caffeine pills.), and Taylor Russell (Lark Voorhies). The rest I could care less about, especially Sam Kindseth, I didn't feel that Screech charm, nor did I expect it, I just wanted a glimpse. I felt more anger towards Dustin Diamond as a whole after the movie. I don't know if he was that goofy on set or just pushed himself out of the group, even to this day he doesn't associate himself with them. With hearing about positive things from the other cast members. I am hoping they didn't treat him with disrespect or being a complete bully. I understand that no one wants to be the outcast, especially how the others were adored by millions. But, with that said, just like Jaleel White with his Steve Urkel character he embraced the role. He rode it out and capitalized on his fame, where Dustin didn't. Lifetime took a movie that was about an hour into a 2 hour slotted TV film, the editing was very poorly done. It just felt like it was going from one thought to another without changing the year. Plus what annoyed me were the conversations that Dustin was not in. For example, when Tiffany and Mark were in France, how does anyone know what happened? I get that there were multiple interviews with people, but it was an unnecessary scene. Also with the reenactments with the scenes on the show, were not accurate and most didn't even occur. It didn't help that they tried to cover five years that quickly. I mean for me personally, I wanted to hear about the College Years and the New Class more and how his life altered from those two shows. I know that his narration touched briefly on the College Years, but it felt like road kill you pass by. There was a lot of content that Dustin and Lifetime overlooked. I can tell that this movie was made in a few months, due to the choppy cuts and the actors' interactions with each other. It didn't feel real; it felt like the Days of Our Lives. I would have wanted flashbacks and real memorabilia from the show. I felt like I wasn't watching behind the scenes of Saved by the Bell; Lifetime and Dustin just wanted to tell the viewers a crappy bedtime story.

If you enjoyed it, that's great and I hope you don't take my opinion into account. I wish that this is comprehendible for everyone and I would love to hear what everyone has to say. Thank you!

The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story (2014)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This "unauthorized" telling of the events from the hit television show Saved By the Bell is based on the book that was written by Dustin Diamond (Screech) and centers on his unhappy time filming the show.

THE UNAUTHORIZED SAVED BY THE BELL STORY is a rather strange film on a number of levels. If you grew up watching the show like I did then you know it was rather corny and campy and those two words are how I'd describe this television movie. I say that because the movie really doesn't get into the darker elements of the story and it's rather silly when you think that some of the real-life people were upset about the movie. In all honesty, this is a pretty tame look at the events that were going on behind-the-scenes.

With that being said, since the movie was made Diamond has came out and said that a lot of the book was made up so perhaps that's why certain elements didn't make it into the film. For the most part this was a decent made-for-television film that will have some appeal to fans of the show. We learn that Diamond was basically unhappy while making the show because he wasn't treated the same way as other cast members and his "dork" character wasn't able to get ladies. What this movie is basically saying is that pretty people have it easier than ugly ones.

As far as the casting goes, the producers went to great trouble to make sure their young cast looked like the people they were playing. Performances were okay but certainly nothing special. I doubt the producers were looking for Oscar-winning performances but instead people who could at least make the viewers feel you were watching the real characters. The story isn't the strongest thing that I've seen but then again this is a TV movie for Lifetime.

On the whole, there's really nothing special or great about this film but it should appeal to fans who want to relive some of the campy moments from the show.

I am a huge Saved By The Bell fan and I went into this knowing it was a Unauthorized "movie." I really tried to like or enjoy this but I just could not. The movie was very under acted and zero SBTB feel. I do not believe the characters spent enough time trying to study the part. I was mildly embarrassed for the movie most of the time. It was way to rushed and not very well thought out. I felt they just wanted to get this movie out and in our face. I wish more time was spent putting the timeline together. The characters needed to really understand what this show meant to a lot of us in this time period.

There's been a lot of criticism for this TV movie on review sites. It is corny, it is sugary and it does miss some of the seedier parts of Dustin Diamond's book.

I read Dustin Diamond's book "Behind The Bell" on which this TV Movie is based several years before this film was even made. It was incredibly difficult to obtain a physical copy so I bought the eBook instead. The book was controversial at the time and arguably libellous in places. The story goes Dustin Diamond wanted to publish a "tell all" book about the Saved By The Bell cast. The book was said to be co-written with the aid of a ghostwriter and also parts were made-up or exaggerated by him.

With this being PG rated it totally glosses over the seedier aspects of the book like: sex amongst cast members, like some of the drug taking, like the dressing room orgies and Dustin's infamous trips to Disney World. If you believe the book. The film is basically a nostalgia piece and fairly flattering to the cast. I can't imagine them being that offended by this film unlike the book. The film takes place in 1989 after "Good Morning, Miss Bliss" gets cancelled and part of the cast are reunited for the Saved by the Bell pilot. The film missed out Lark Voorhees was in this series implying Saved by the Bell was her big break. Dustin Diamond was the youngest cast member, but it also ignored that he was a child actor with substantial acting experience compared to most of the cast.

Other omissions include Dennis Haskins (Mr Belding) not really featuring despite being a major cast member, I think Dustin said Corey Feldman used to visit the set which was missing, the two TV specials: Hawaiian Style and Wedding in Las Vegas were not mentioned and neither was long-running, The New Class which ran for 7 years. I would have liked to have heard more about Peter Engel who was considered a sort-of surrogate father to some of the cast and also that apart from "Hang Time" he never managed to have another big hit in TV (so far).

So it is corny fun much like Saved By The Bell itself and there are several glaring omissions, probably due to libel or inaccuracy. This means it sort of feels shallow. I was a big fan of SBTB and like a lot of people of my age it was a part of my childhood. I do not think this is a great film. The cast do their best with a limited script and all look the part. At 85 minutes it is also really skinny in terms of content, given it is telling 3+ years in that time. The soundtrack is also pretty decent. See it for the nostalgia rather than the drama.

First of all, it's a Lifetime movie. They're not exactly known for creating cinematic masterpieces. Secondly, it's based on the largely untrue "memoirs" of Dustin Diamond. Thirdly, (and I'm a fan of it anyway), the original show was corny and shallow. If you watch this movie, go into it with reasonable expectations.

As far as the production value and writing, it's on the lower end of the Lifetime movie spectrum. My biggest problem is that, with the exception of Dustin Diamond, they portrayed the actors as exact replicas of the characters they played on SBTB. Dennis Haskins greets everyone with a corny "Belding" joke. Mario Lopez is the loveable but overly macho man. Elizabeth Berkley is the most intelligent, issues-driven member of the cast. Tiffani-Amber is the sweet, nieve one. The point is made that Dustin Diamond was not a total geek, like Screech, so it should be assumed that the other actors weren't exactly like their characters, either. All of them played stereotypes, so it's fair to say none of them fully fit into their stereotype IRL, either.

Given that glaring flaw, the casting is actually decent. The actors apparently only had the original series to draw upon for for inspiration, and they nailed that. If they'd been asked to just replicate an episode of SBTB, I think they would have been really well cast. The actor who played Mario Lopez (playing Slater), in particular, picked up Slater's attitude and mannerisms. As far as portraying the ACTORS, the young actors who played Dustin Diamond and Mark-Paul Gosselar are believable.

The movie feeds into the nostalgia of fans of SBTB. The original material has been debunked by the entire cast, so it's not a "true story." It's a low-budget Lifetime movie. If you go into it, with that in mind, it's a fun watch if you're really bored.