The American television sitcom Saved by the Bell, that aired on NBC from 1989 to 1993, follows a group of six high school students and their principal, Mr. Belding.
Cast timeline Main cast (Opening credits) Recurring guest star (Guest starring for 4+ episodes) Guest star (Guest starring for 1–3 episodes)
Character Actor Good Morning, Miss Bliss Saved by the Bell The New Class Saved by the Bell Pilot 1 1 2 3 4 Hawaiian Style The College Years Wedding in Las Vegas 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 Miss Carrie Bliss Hayley Mills colspan="2" colspan="16" Charlie Davis Charles Siebert rowspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="17" Miss Tina Paladrino Maria O'Brien rowspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="17" Joan Ryan colspan="1" colspan="16" Lonnie Maple Julie Ronnie rowspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="17" Mr. Richard Belding Oliver Clark rowspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="17" Dennis Haskins colspan="1" rowspan="1" colspan="6" rowspan="1" rowspan="1" colspan="8" rowspan="1" colspan="2" Mikey Gonzalez Max Battimo colspan="16" Samuel "Screech" Powers Dustin Diamond colspan="8" colspan="6" colspan="2" Zack Morris Mark-Paul Gosselaar colspan="8" colspan="5" Nikki Coleman Heather Hopper colspan="16" Lisa Turtle Lark Voorhies colspan="6" colspan="5" colspan="2" Mylo Williams T.K. Carter colspan="16" Kelly Kapowski Tiffani Thiessen colspan="2" colspan="7" colspan="7" A.C. Slater Mario Lopez colspan="2" colspan="7" colspan="3" colspan="2" Jessie Spano Elizabeth Berkley colspan="2" colspan="5" colspan="7" colspan="2" Max Ed Alonzo colspan="2" colspan="10" colspan="2" Tori Scott Leanna Creel colspan="5" colspan="12" Andrea Larson Rena Sofer colspan="6" colspan="11" Brian Hanson Dan Gauthier colspan="6" colspan="11" Leslie Burke Anne Tremko colspan="7" colspan="10" Alex Tabor Kiersten Warren colspan="7" colspan="9" Mike Rogers Bob Golic colspan="7" colspan="9" Carla Liz Vassey colspan="8" colspan="9" Kurt Martin Spencer Rochfort colspan="8" colspan="9" Melanie Morris Melody Rogers colspan="4" colspan="3" colspan="9" Derek Morris John Sanderford colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="9" Scott Erickson Robert Sutherland Telfer colspan="9" colspan="8" Tommy De Luca Jonathan Angel colspan="9" colspan="3" colspan="6" Barton "Weasel" Wyzell Isaac Lidsky colspan="9" colspan="8" Lindsay Warner Natalia Cigliuti colspan="9" colspan="3" colspan="6" Megan Jones Bianca Lawson colspan="9" colspan="2" colspan="7" Vicki Needleman Bonnie Russavage colspan="9" colspan="8" Brian Keller Christian Oliver colspan="10" colspan="7" Rachel Meyers Sarah Lancaster colspan="9" colspan="3" colspan="5" Bobby Wilson Spankee Rogers colspan="10" colspan="7" Ryan Parker Richard Lee Jackson colspan="11" colspan="3" colspan="4" R.J. Collins Salim Grant colspan="11" colspan="1" colspan="6" Maria Lopez Samantha Becker colspan="11" colspan="5" colspan="2" Nicky Farina Ben Gould colspan="12" colspan="4" colspan="2" Eric Little Anthony Harrell colspan="12" colspan="4" colspan="2" Katie Peterson Lindsey McKeon colspan="12" colspan="4" colspan="2" Liz Miller Ashley Lyn Cafagna colspan="13" colspan="3" colspan="2" Tony Dillon Tom Wade Huntington colspan="14" colspan="2" colspan="2" Daisy Haskiri Velazquez colspan="16" colspan="2" Mac Morris Mitchell Hoog colspan="16" colspan="2" Lexi Josie Totah colspan="16" colspan="2" Aisha Alycia Pascual-Peña colspan="16" colspan="2" Jamie Spano Belmont Cameli colspan="16" colspan="2" Devante Dexter Darden colspan="16" colspan="2" Principal Toddman John Michael Higgins colspan="16" colspan="2"
Main characters Zack Morris
Zachary "Zack" Morris is a fictional character from the sitcoms Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Saved by the Bell, and Saved by the Bell: The College Years. He makes a guest appearance in the spin-off series Saved by the Bell: The New Class. He is portrayed by Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Though the character appeared in several different television programs, Gosselaar made a concerted effort to keep the character fundamentally the same through its various incarnations.
Incarnations Junior High School Set in a different continuity from the later series, Good Morning, Miss Bliss took place during Zack's eighth grade year at John F. Kennedy Junior High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. Screech and Lisa are two of Zack's friends in these episodes. Other friends that are regularly featured are Mikey Gonzalez, a close friend who is often involved in Zack's scheming, and Nikki Coleman, who often butts heads with Zack on many issues. His best friend Mikey is a good student and is often supportive of him, and helps him with schoolwork a lot. Mr. Belding was the principal of JFK Junior High, and often had to deal with problems Zack had caused. Zack's homeroom teacher and history teacher, Miss Carrie Bliss, also acts as a moral compass for Zack. In this series, Zack is already doing much of the scheming, betting, and manipulation for which he became known in the later series.
High school and college years Zack demonstrates a flair for business throughout his teen years. However, in many subjects, notably history and literature, he is often seen receiving poor grades or displaying a lack of interest. Despite this, Zack achieves a very high score of 1502 on his SAT and gets accepted to Yale in his senior year. At the end of Saved by the Bell, Zack is planning on going to Yale. However, in Saved by the Bell: The College Years, we see Zack attending Cal U, along with Screech, Slater and, later on, Kelly, who joined the cast after the pilot episode. Their dorm was a suite, with the three guys in one room, three girls in another room and a common area in-between.
Assigned to watch over Zack and his friends was Mike Rogers, a former football player for the San Francisco 49ers. He works as a resident adviser, while also working towards a graduate degree. Mike often steps in to keep Zack in line. Dean McMann, however, is a more authoritative figure for whom Zack often causes problems.
Athletically, Zack participated in cross country, basketball, and track. He experienced some success in each of these sports. Zack is musically talented. He one time offers to play for free at a school dance so that more money could be spent on decorations. The band line-up featured Zack as a main vocalist while playing guitar, Jessie as a featured vocalist, Lisa on bass guitar, Screech on keyboard, and Slater on drums.
Zack helped restart the school radio station, and hosted a radio-thon to save the local teen hangout. He created a carnival to raise money for a school ski trip, and helped with several dances. He was also a member of the school's Junior ROTC program, and together with Screech, ran the Yearbook committee to produce a video yearbook. At one point, Zack took over as manager of the school store, and is also on the student council.
Governor of California By 2020, Morris has been elected Governor of California and is the father of Bayside High student Mac Morris. Zack admittedly ran for governor as a way to get out of a $75 parking ticket and he later cut $10 billion in education funding from the state budget, which forces the closure of poorly funded schools, including Douglas High, whose students must now attend Bayside as well. Zack is married to his high school sweetheart Kelly Kapowski.
Kelly Kapowski
Kelly Kapowski (portrayed by Tiffani Thiessen) is the most popular girl in school and is head cheerleader and captain of the volleyball, swim, and softball teams. Though a hardworking student and role model, Kelly did find herself sentenced to detention on a couple of occasions. She is also a big fan of George Michael. She also is the love interest and later wife of Zack Morris. In contrast with her friends, she came from a more modest working class family and her father went through periods of unemployment. Kelly was the middle child in her family. She had three older brothers, a younger sister named Nicki, and two younger brothers named Kyle and Billy.
At the start of Kelly's freshman year, Zack had been trying to go out with her for as long as she could remember. For a while, a feud began between Zack and fellow student A.C. Slater over who would be her boyfriend, which caused her great stress, but a lot of fun at the same time. Kelly blushed numerous times when both Zack and Slater would hit on her, especially when it was done in front of other students. During her sophomore year, Slater conceded defeat to Zack and she and Zack began dating, whereas Slater thereupon pursued his interest in Jessie Spano.
Eventually, Zack wanted to go steady with Kelly, but she wasn't sure at first. She thought it over but by the time she decided to accept Zack's offer, he had already become infatuated with a young school nurse. That turned out to be a dead-end and when he tried to apologize to Kelly, she brushed him off. However, they were back together by the following episode ("Breaking Up is Hard to Undo"). The following school year, marked the end of Kelly's relationship with Zack. Kelly began working at The Max as a waitress and fell for her boss, Jeff Hunter (Patrick Muldoon), much to Zack's disappointment. This caused her and Zack to break up. Kelly dated Jeff for a while, until he is caught at an 18-and-over club (The Attic) with another girl.
Subsequently, Kelly and Zack became closer friends, while they dated other people. While vacationing in Palm Springs for Jessie Spano's father's wedding, Zack and Kelly flirted with the possibility of getting together again but ended up remaining friends.
In her senior year, she is once again pursued by Zack to accompany him to the prom. She agrees, and they get back together. As graduation approached, Kelly stated she could not afford to go to an out-of-state university and instead would attend community college. She and her friends graduated from Bayside High in 1993 and went their separate ways.
In Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Kelly is accepted into California University on a scholarship, joining Zack, Slater, and Screech as suitemates. She also became the new roommate of Leslie Burke and Alex Taber. While at Cal U., Kelly engaged in an affair with her anthropology professor, Jeremiah Lasky. Zack makes a final attempt to win her over when she decides to go on a "Semester on the Sea" program through the Mediterranean for three months. Zack proposed to Kelly, and she accepted.
Without much support from their families, Zack and Kelly had planned to get married in Las Vegas in Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. The couple managed to bring Slater, Screech, and Lisa Turtle with them for the event. Just prior to the exchange of vows at the ceremony at a cheap wedding chapel, Zack's parents showed up and stopped the wedding. They told Zack and Kelly that they would give them the wedding of their dreams. A few days later, Zack and Kelly had an elaborate outdoor wedding in the Las Vegas area. Lisa and Jessie stood as bridesmaids while Screech and Slater stood as groomsmen. The newlyweds then went on a honeymoon.
When Zack and Slater made guest appearances on Saved by the Bell: The New Class a few years later, Slater asked Zack how "the Mrs." (meaning Kelly) is doing, Zack replied, "Good."
By the time of the 2020 revival, Zack and Kelly have respectively become the governor and first lady of the state of California, and have a teen son named Mac.
Samuel "Screech" Powers