Set to hit NBC’s upcoming streaming service named Peacock, Saved By the Bell has found its lead in Champions-star Josie Totah. The reboot will take place well after the original, still in California, with Bayside seeing an influx of new students from low-income schools closed by governor Zack Morris. I’m already satisfied by this show’s faithfulness to reminding us that Zack Morris is trash. Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley will reprise their roles as AC Slater and Jessie Spano, hopefully to save the world from a future President Zack Morris.
Will they do so with the help of Totah’s lead? She will take the role of Lexi, “a beautiful, sharp-tongued cheerleader” and the most popular girl at Bayside. Totah came out as transgender in August last year via a written Time piece that should honestly give us all joy that she did so. Hopefully, this role will be a legitimization both for Totah herself and the trans community as a whole. I know it seems sad that the entertainment industry can be so vital towards the acceptance of the oppressed, but it always has been and continues to be so. That is, when influential figures within the entertainment industry aren’t being gross TERFs. Here’s hoping her role here is part of a larger trend that is long overdue.
Here’s also hoping this Saved by the Bell reboot is good. It’s still a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine and one of the best of those late 80s-early 90s sitcoms. I am absolutely fascinated to see how they translate this show almost 30 years (!) later. So long as it is better than Fuller House.
Details about Peacock are sparse as of now, but details are expected to be released on January 16th during an NBCUniversal investor presentation. The Saved by the Bell reboot is the creation of 30 Rock award-winner and Great News creator Tracey Wigfield.
