Once again, many Bayside originals returned for Saved By The Bell season 2, but only Slater and Jessie were in every episode — here’s why. When Peacock’s revival of the iconic 90’s series was announced, several of the original Saved By The Bell cast signed on to both reprise their roles and serve as producers. That included Zack Morris’ Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Kelly Kapowski’s Tiffani Thiessen alongside A.C. Slater’s Mario Lopez and Jessie Spano’s Elizabeth Berkley Lauren. In Saved By The Bell season 2, that expanded to include Lisa Turtle actress Lark Voorhies. Despite that, the characters only featured intermittently while Jessie and Slater were certified regulars across the whole season.
That remained as true in Saved By The Bell season 2 as it did the well-received first season. Jessie continued in her role as Bayside’s wise guidance counselor. Similarly, Slater returned as the school’s passionate gym teacher and sport’s coach. Meanwhile, Zack, Kelly, and Lisa popped up only occasionally — albeit still in prominent and delightful ways. That fact would likely have been disappointing to many original Saved By The Bell fans. Like much within the irreverent world of Bayside, however, there was no doubt a method within the madness.
For starters, one of the main reasons was probably that Zack, Kelly, and Lisa more or less got their respective happy endings. The bulk of Zack and Kelly’s story was focused on their popular will they/won’t they romance. That was ultimately resolved in Saved By The Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas when they got married. The Saved By The Bell revival further delivered on that fact, revealing they were still passionately in love alongside being wealthy and successful and had a son. Meanwhile, Lisa Turtle was never a romantically driven character. Instead, her ambitions were building a fashion empire. Saved By The Bell season 1 reaffirmed that she’d famously achieved that goal, with the added bonus that Lisa had a cadre of live-in lovers. As such, the Saved By The Bell reboot likely realized it was probably best not to disrupt those positive conclusions too dramatically and undermine what came before.
Even Screech was somewhat given a happy ending before Dustin Diamond’s untimely passing, with the quirky icon having successfully become an astronaut. Conversely, Slater and Jessie were left much more in flux by the end of the original run of Saved By The Bell outings. That went as much for individual pursuits as their shared romantic history. As such, the Saved By The Bell revival had much more of a clean slate from which to craft the directions their lives took and weave new stories — both dramatic and comedic. That has proven to be one of the show's greatest successes, with Saved By The Bell season 2 giving them more of the spotlight than ever before and fleshing them out to great (and hilarious) effect.
Another likely reason for not including the likes of Zack, Kelly, and Lisa in every Saved By The Bell season 2 episode was so as not to overshadow the new generation. Comprised of a wickedly talented bunch of newcomers, Daisy (Haskiri Velazquez), Mac (Mitchell Hoog), and their friends have rightfully been given a chance to shine in their own rights. It was a wise move since not every viewer would be coming with familiarity and investment in the original. Therefore, to have featured extensive stories for every Bayside original in every episode would have mostly reduced the show to in-jokes and thus alienated countless potential audience members. It also would have undercut the younger cast. By keeping only Slater and Jessie as main cast members in Saved By The Bell season 2, it offered a bridge to the past and a resonant will they/won't they for longtime fans while not completely overwhelming the revival. Plus, it served to make it all the more special and delightful when Zack, Kelly, or Lisa do return and when the remaining Saved By The Bell originals were reunited as a group.