Saved by the Bell star Tiffani Thiessen, who played popular girl Kelly Kapowski on the hit series, hopes season 2 of the reboot will honor the late Dustin Diamond. Created by Sam Bobrick, Saved by the Bell was one of the most influential young adult sitcoms of the ‘90s and propelled Diamond to fame among teenage circles for his role as dorky sidekick Screech Powers. Portraying Screech for over a decade of his life, Diamond appeared in Saved by the Bell from its early days of Good Morning, Miss Bliss, through Saved by the Bell: The College Years.
Last year, Peacock debuted the Saved by the Bell revival series, which became a massive success and was quickly renewed for a sophomore season. Season 1 of Saved by the Bell featured a new influx of students, including the son of Zack (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and Kelly (Thiessen), and returned to the halls of Bayside High. Touting numerous references to the original show, the reboot also brought back members of the original cast, sans Screech. The series explained Screech’s notable absence by revealing he was living on the International Space Station with a robot. Sadly, Diamond passed away earlier this year at the age of 44 after a battle with lung cancer.
Speaking with People, Thiessen reveals she hopes season 2 of Saved by the Bell will pay tribute to Diamond. Stating that the passing of her former co-star was a shock for the original cast, Thiessen expects Diamond to receive a nod in the upcoming episodes and said, "I would be surprised if they didn't do a tribute. I do know the writers are in the room right now, actually writing the episodes. We won't probably go back until sometime this summer. We don't have a date yet. But the writers are writing away right now as we speak."
Reportedly, before his shocking cancer diagnosis, Diamond was configuring an avenue to reprise his character as Screech in the form of Kevin - Screech’s A.I. creation on the original series - for a line of insurance ads. Of course, it's currently unknown if robot Kevin will be featured in season 2, but the writers certainly have a lot of material to pull from, especially with the original cast expected to return for season 2, and could dole out a proper tribute to Diamond.
Despite the stirrings of alleged controversy between Diamond and the original cast members of Saved by the Bell, Thiessen, Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, and Lark Voorhies issued touching tributes, fond memories, and well wishes to the family members of their former co-star after the news of his passing. While it remains to be seen how the creative forces behind Saved by the Bell will infuse Screech into season 2, Thiessen has voiced her support that the show should honor Diamond and the character he played for most of his career.
Source: People