Customer Reviews

Saved By the Bell - The New Class: Season 6 & 7

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think that SBTB: TNC is unfairly slammed by many fans of the original show due to the fact that people who watched the original series and then TNC grew older and hence were more aware of the insane "cheese" factor that is a staple of SBTB. Let's face it, this isn't Emmy material by far. But it's still entertaining in its own right.

Although TNC's repeated cast changes confused viewers and stunted character development, they finally got it right in the end. One of the things I like about this cast is that the characters were not as confined to stereotypical niches like in the first show ("jock," "nerd" and so on). Each character has their own comedic and dramatic moments to shine. This allowed for a lot more flexibility with the characters to interact with one another and help each other out with the problems they face, as opposed to the original cast who was very clique-ish (i.e. the boys were off doing one thing and the girls another). However, I feel that many of the shows deliver the "moral" way too quickly at the end of most of the episodes. The lessons learned often seem rushed and forced by the writers and thus not very meaningful. I also don't like how Screech's continued downward spiral into a poor excuse for an Urkel impersonator hits its outrageous peak these seasons, even though it does make for some occasional funny material with Mr. Belding.

Furthermore, after 10 years of doing this show, its obvious that Bayside got way too small for them. Alternate settings such as the mall (where almost half of the episodes are filmed) and the police cadet academy (three episodes) just seem way to forced and take away from the original premise of the show.

This may be more attributed to the network or writers, but there are some obvious continuity errors in the sequencing of the episodes. Tony and Maria's relationship is off and on. They are dating in one episode and they have no scenes together in the next. Furthermore, DVD set also includes way too many "clip shows." Finally, the entire 4th disc chronicles their last days at Bayside leading up to graduation, which occurs in the 2nd to last episode, with the last episode on the disc being something random about getting ripped off by a mechanic. Compared to the original SBTB DVD's which had commentary, subtitles, a "Play All" feature, etc., this set seems very rushed.

But in the end, the show does its job. It makes younger viewers aware of the issues they face in adolescence and makes older viewers reminiscent of the good ol days.

It's good to have watched this show at least... for me, it's the best of the "New Class " series... In the middle of the laughs, there's a lot of problems that high school students face everyday, like drugs, cigars, first loves, breakups, jokes, deceptions... and friendships...

The set dindn't have any extras... :(

... and if you followed this series since the original cast been in the show, then maybe you'll cry in the last chapter of the show...

Seasons 6 and 7 remind me a lot of season 2 in that they did not have a definitive male star on the show. Season 1 pushed the Scott character as the leading male character and Seasons 3-5 had Ryan Parker as their male star. These two seasons could not make up there minds on which male character to highlight as their star, much like season 2 in my opinion. Despite that these seasons had their fair share of memorable moments and did a fine job of closing out the series. I recommend this set to anyone who is a fan of any season of Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

Yah Ryan was my favorite character on The New Class, this is still a good season because the end is awesome when mr. belding leaves and they discuss how live at bayside has been from the begining its kind of like the christmas one when the max burned down and they had flashbacks from the old class....this is a good season too because liz looks really pretty ;-)

When you stop to consider the Saved By The Bell franchise spans 15-seasons across multiple spin-offs (Good Morning Miss Bliss, The College Years, The New Class and so on), it can be a bit confusing to put a sense of order into the many releases.

That said, The New Class Season 6 & 7 is, as the name suggests, the sixth and seventh seasons of The New Class and the twelfth and thirteenth season of Saved By The Bell if you're using 1988's Good Morning Miss Bliss as a starting point. Regardless of where you like to consider your starting point amidst the Saved by the Bell franchise, this box set represents the very end of it all.

TNC Season 6 originally aired between in September of 1999 and the 7th and final season debuted in September 2000 on Saturday mornings on NBC. Unlike the seasons prior; which had all been 26-episode runs, 6 & 7 were reduced to 13 episodes each and were hence lumped together into a single DVD release from Image Entertainment.

Season 6 made a single character swap: Ryan Parker (Richard Lee Jackson) was replaced by jock Tony Dillon (Tom Wade Huntington); but another Bayside transplant from rival school Valley. One really does wonder why, since the original class' departure, so many Valley students trucked into Bayside but that's neither here nor there. Perhaps credited to the fact that the cast was so similar to the season preceding it, it's apparent that the writers had reached a point where they were able to capitalize on the dynamic of this particular group.

The Tony Dillon character actually wastes no time in integrating with the gang; in fact the character certainly feels more fluid from the get-go in the blonde-haired lead than either of the past two characters to have filled the role (Brian & Ryan). The Valley transfer student angle is a bit weak undeniably but at least the writers were clever enough in this instance to use it as an opportunity to rekindle a flame with fellow former-Valley turned Baysider Maria Lopez.

Sadly, while the duo of Screech and Belding had shown slight signs of improvement in subsequent seasons, the final two are a solid regression to the cobby and forced nonsense that shamed the original personas of the characters back in the original class days.

As always the case with The New Class, prepare for a multitude of out-of-school episodes/ sequences. This time around it's the part time jobs at the mall (again), jobs at the Max, the police academy, and multiple parties, gatherings, and dances. However, and in another step in the wrong direction, the final two seasons (the sixth especially) have traded in solid story telling & comedy in favor of glorified public service announcements. The dangers of smoking cigars, drinking (even without driving), shady auto mechanics, yellow journalism, sexual harassment at work, the dangers of prescription painkillers, what can happen if you don't get enough sleep; the list of moral lessons tackled here is basically continuous.

In all it's pretty safe to say Seasons 6 & 7 manage to instill a feeling that, try as they may, the dynamic of The New Class had finally reached the end of the road. In the show's defense they did manage to give the class itself some closure in the form of final exams, senior prom, and even Belding coming to terms with the fact that it may be time to head off to greener (in this case Screech-free) pastures. The humorous moments scattered about are surprisingly genuine but completely outweighed by the constant heavy-handed lessons.

In all, The New Class has, throughout its 7-season span, probably enough humorous moments to fill an entire season with the type of clever writing/ good innocent fun that many of us still wax nostalgic about the original class. Interestingly since many of the cable networks that own syndication rights to the Saved by the Bell franchise did not opt to buy The New Class rights making these DVD collections the only way to experience this rather obscure program. I for one am glad that Image Entertainment took the time to bring all 7-seasons to market even if the dynamic could never surpass (or for that matter equal) the vibe of the original show on which it was based.

Actually Season 6 split into two separate seasons (per NBC following their cancellation of the series), Saved By The Bell: The New Class - Season 6 & 7 brings the franchise to a close as it welcomes Tom Wade Huntington to the cast. With Ryan "3000 miles away on a scholarship to the best private school in the country", Huntington fills the void as Tony Dillon, the newest member of Bayside's football team who unfortunately falls victim to "Maria's Revenge". By episode's end, they reconcile and soon Tony picks up the gang's rhythm for Bayside hijinks before they all embark on new challenges in the finale "The Bell Tolls". Cue the graduation song and say farewell to Maria, Eric, Katie, Nicky, Liz, Tony, Screech, and Mr. Belding with the show's final 26 episodes.

Guest stars include: NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabar in "Maria's Revenge"; Jennifer Hale (Spider-Man: The Animated Series) as Sue in "Win, Lose or Cheat"; Barry Livingston (My Three Sons) as Mr. Green in "Guess Who's Running the Max"; Nick Spano (Even Stevens) as Travis Wilson in "Mind Games; Kim Miyori (The Punisher, St. Elsewhere) as Ms. Wells in "Free for All"; Taraji Henson (Hustle & Flow, Boston Legal) as Girl in "Loser"; Sam Jones III (Smallville) as Jeff in "Show Me the Money"; Merrin Dungey (Alias, King of Queens) as Coach Williams in "Prescription for Trouble"; Diane Delano (Popular) as Officer Barry in "The Captain and Maria" and "Don't Follow the Leader". Look for a cameo from series assistant to the producers Gilbert Lopez as the chef in "Cigar Wars".

Saved By The Bell: The New Class - Seasons 6 & 7 is a 4-disc (single-sided) set featuring all 26 episodes aired between 1998-2000 in Full-Frame (1.33:1) video and Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio. The audio is fine and consistent with the previous set while the video quality (which could be better) is apparently the best that Image Entertainment can muster. The discs are housed in a 4-disc black amaray case which perfectly holds the discs in place without scratching and without strain to remove. Here are the episodes (as listed in the menus) and how the discs will be configured.


Disc 1:
Maria's Revenge (episode 118)
Do the Write Thing (episode 119)
The Lyin' King (episode 120)
The Young and the Sleepless (episode 121)
Cigar Wars (episode 122)
Win, Lose or Cheat (episode 123)
Hands Off (episode 124)
Guess Who's Running The Max (episode 125)


Disc 2:
Mind Games (episode 126)
Free for All (episode 127)
Loser (episode 128)
Bye-Bye Tony (episode 129)
Seasons Greed-ings (episode 130)


Disc 3:
Show Me the Money (episode 131)
Prescription for Trouble (episode 132)
Me TV (episode 133)
The Captain and Maria (episode 134)
Liz Burns Eric (episode 135)
The X-Friends Files (episode 136)
Don't Follow the Leader (episode 137)
A Mall Shook Up (episode 138)


Disc 4:
Party Animals (episode 139)
The Last Prom (episode 140)
Mr. B Goes to College (episode 141)
The Bell Tolls (episode 142)
A Repair to Remember (episode 143)

Saved by the Bell - The New Class: Season 5 is a great start of a new series with new classmates. All the savedby the bell series are and were great an kids of all ages, including Adults still love Saved By The Bell SERIES! Season 6 & 7. Can't go wrong with any Saved By The BeLL Tv Series. Great for the whole family like mine!

I was very glad to get this DVD set. I had always been a fan of Saved by the Bell the New Class ever since its debut in 1993. I used to watch it every Saturday morning. However, when I was in 9th grade I "found religion" (Judaism) and could no longer watch the program at the regular time because it was on the Sabbath. This caused me to miss all of the episodes of the last two seasons (and some of season 5).
I had actually forgotten about the series for awhile until around 2005 when I noticed DVDs available at Best Buy. I had heard this show being slammed (very unfairly, in my opinion) so much that it was quite a shock to see that DVDs were released. This rekindled my interest in the program (as did the release of the original series on DVD also got me reinterested in the original series) I may have bought several, but I was lucky that the library owned most of them. The only one it was missing were the last 2 seasons.
I had for a long time felt a suspiscion that I preferred the New Class over the original series. Rewatching several episodes on DVD, that belief was VERY MUCH confirmed. I tired quickly of watching the original series. I thought it was boring, stupid, and at times downright nasty, especially the way Screech was treated by his "friends."
The New Class was far more interesting. However, rather than talking about the show as a whole I will try to limit this review to this particular season.
New cast member Tony Dillon replaces Ryan in fine form. I always felt Ryan was one of the weaker characters anyway. By this point, the show adopted a 3-plot formula. There would be a plot involving Screech and Mr. Belding (humorous), a humorous plot among the students, and a serious plot involving the students. I usually do not enjoy when comedies get serious, but this show is definitely an exception. Particularly notable are Lindsey McKeon's performances, both in the sexual harrassment episode and in the episode where she gets addicted to pain killers. Both episodes blow away the trite "Jessie's Song" from the original series. Ashley Lyn Cafagna was also particularly good in dramatic performances, such as when she was going to leave school after losing in a swim tournament. All of the actors performed well. There were many episodes that were an excellent combination of comedy and drama. I also thought the last scene of "The X-Friends File" was quite moving, especially for what many see as a "silly sitcom." I did not like the fact that Screech's voice was so high, but other than that he was hilarious. Not a particularly good actor by any means, but VERY funny.
I do have some problems with the DVD packaging itself, however. First off, there is no closed captioning. This unforgivable. I don't even understand how that is legal. There also no bonus features of any kind. It would have been nice to have some sort of running commentary through an episode or two, or perhaps a short documentary.
The strangest thing, however, is the sequencing. The last episode of series is clearly the second last episode in the set. Also the episodes keep alternating between the school and elsewhere. This may have been how they were aired, and the show was never known for good continuity, but it seems they could have done a better job with the sequencing. All in all a decent set of great program.

I own every saved by the bell disc set except New Class Season 2...This is the only season that doesn't have a "Play All episodes" feature...So you can only watch 1 episode at a time and then you have to select the next episode with the remote. This is a deal breaker for me as I watch it on my computer when I go to sleep. Such a trivial feature to be abandoned.

Could this show have possibly had 7 seasons?! I honestly believe that if the show went for 60 more years, Dustin Diamond would still be a cast member. Spare yourself this terd and just buy the series with the original cast.