Good Morning, Miss Bliss, also retroactively known as Saved by the Bell: The Junior High Years, is an American teen sitcom that originally aired on the Disney Channel from November 30, 1988, until March 18, 1989 (and later also in syndication as part of the Saved by the Bell rerun package). Starring Hayley Mills as a teacher, the series takes place at the John F. Kennedy Junior High School in Indianapolis, Indiana.[2] After one season on the air on Disney Channel, the show was retooled as Saved by the Bell, which aired on NBC.
| Good Morning, Miss Bliss | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Saved by the Bell: The Junior High Years |
| Genre | Teen sitcom |
| Created by | Sam Bobrick |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Charles Fox |
| Opening theme | "These Are the Best of Times" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (+ original pilot) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Peter Engel |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network |
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| Release | July 11, 1987 – March 18, 1989 |
| Related | |
The show was the first program produced by a Big Three network for cable television – in this case, NBC produced it for Disney Channel.[1][3]
Plot
editThe series focuses on the life of junior high school teacher Miss Carrie Bliss (Hayley Mills) at John F. Kennedy Junior High in Indianapolis. She is often put into morally difficult situations by her work and often serves as the only person her students could turn to. Her eighth grade students include:
Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), a charming, manipulative scamp. He is lazy, a bad student and always looking for the easy way out. Nonetheless, in the episode "Parents and Teachers", Miss Bliss says that Zack has the most potential of all her students.
Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies), a rich shopaholic; and best friend of Nikki. Lisa is the crush of many guys in the school and in Miss Bliss's class, especially Screech.
Samuel "Screech" Powers (Dustin Diamond), an awkward nerd with a crush on Lisa, but an excellent student and very honest.
Mikey Gonzalez (Max Battimo), Zack's best friend, who, although not generally as awkward as Screech, becomes quite shy around girls; a good student, especially in math and history but sometimes gets into conflict with Zack.
Nikki Coleman (Heather Hopper), who is outspoken and often advocates for the moral course of action when the others decide to misbehave.
The show also features Mylo Williams (T. K. Carter), a maintenance supervisor, and Miss Tina Paladrino (Joan Ryan), a quirky teacher and friend of Miss Bliss, with whom she often discusses her personal life, with Miss Paladrino acting as sounding board. Dennis Haskins plays the school principal, Mr. Richard Belding.
The show was cancelled after 13 episodes, and NBC reclaimed the rights to it, reformatting Good Morning, Miss Bliss into Saved by the Bell; the characters of Zack, Lisa, Screech and Mr. Belding made the transition to Saved by the Bell, which instead saw the four located in the fictional California suburb of Bayside.
The series was then integrated into the Saved by the Bell syndicated rerun package, with Miss Bliss episodes being introduced with a cold open by Mark-Paul Gosselaar (in character as Zack Morris) explaining that they were from an earlier time frame than the rest of the series, followed by a retrofitted version of the regular Saved by the Bell opening sequence.
Cast
edit- Hayley Mills as Miss Carrie Bliss
- Dennis Haskins as Mr. Richard Belding
- Joan Ryan as Miss Tina Paladrino
- Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Zachary "Zack" Morris
- Max Battimo as Michael "Mikey" Gonzalez
- Dustin Diamond as Samuel "Screech" Powers
- Heather Hopper as Nicole "Nikki" Coleman
- Lark Voorhies as Lisa Turtle
- T. K. Carter as Mylo Williams
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | "Pilot" | Peter Bonerz | Sam Bobrick | July 11, 1987 | |
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On the first day of school, Miss Bliss (Hayley Mills) tries to help a student who she learns is having problems dealing with a situation involving his older brother dying. This episode was aired only once (and is not included in syndication); it is the only episode in the franchise (outside of The New Class) to not feature characters Zack Morris, Lisa Turtle, or Screech Powers. Includes Jonathan Brandis, Jaleel White, and Brian Austin Green. Note: Though the later episodes aired on the Disney Channel, the original Good Morning, Miss Bliss pilot aired on NBC in the regular primetime timeslot of The Facts of Life. | |||||
| 1 | "Summer Love" | Burt Brinckerhoff | Peter Engel | November 30, 1988 | |
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Zack finds out the older, 9th grade girl he had told everyone he was with at summer camp, Karen (Carla Gugino), has transferred to JFK High, and he tries to keep up the charade that he too is in the 9th grade. | |||||
| 2 | "Love Letters" | Burt Brinckerhoff | David Garber & Bruce E. Kalish | December 7, 1988 | |
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Screech asks Zack to write a love letter from him to Lisa. | |||||
| 3 | "Wall Street" | Burt Brinckerhoff | Jake Weinberger & Mike Weinberger | December 14, 1988 | |
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While doing a class project on stocks, Zack invests the class's money on risky stocks. | |||||
| 4 | "Leaping to Conclusions" | Burt Brinckerhoff | Susan Sebastian & Diana Ayers | December 21, 1988 | |
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Nikki refuses to do the science class's frog dissection. | |||||
| 5 | "Parents and Teachers" | Gary Shimokawa | Lawrence H. Levy | December 28, 1988 | |
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Zack's dad Peter (Robert Pine) meets Miss Bliss at a parent/teacher conference and they find they are attracted to one another. | |||||
| 6 | "Showdown" | Gary Shimokawa | R.J. Colleary | January 4, 1989 | |
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Screech's friends encourage him to stand up to bully Deke Simmons (Andras Jones). | |||||
| 7 | "Save the Last Dance for Me" | Gary Shimokawa | Gwyn Gurian & Skip Frank | February 4, 1989 | |
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Zack and Mikey fight over Shana (Alexondra Lee) whom Mikey likes, but who asks Zack to a dance instead. | |||||
| 8 | "The Boy Who Cried Rat" | Gary Shimokawa | Robert Burris & Michael Ware | February 11, 1989 | |
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Miss Bliss is a candidate for Teacher of the Year; Zack lets Screech's pet rat out into the school to avoid a midterm. | |||||
| 9 | "Let's Get Together" | Burt Brinckerhoff | Michael Poryes | February 18, 1989 | |
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Zack and Nikki are arguing and then are partnered for a class project; Tina moves in with Miss Bliss after her boyfriend dumps her and subsequently drives her crazy. | |||||
| 10 | "Practical Jokes" | Gary Shimokawa | Howard Ostroff | February 25, 1989 | |
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A mock trial is held after a series of practical jokes ends in one that breaks Miss Bliss's "unfooled" streak. Miss Bliss then reveals the joke she pulled on the students in order to get them to study the Constitution for their class better. However, she really ends up falling victim to Screech's prank. | |||||
| 11 | "Stevie" | Burt Brinckerhoff | Jake Weinberger & Mike Weinberger | March 4, 1989 | |
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Zack bets Nikki he can kiss pop singer Stevie (Suzanne Tara). | |||||
| 12 | "Clubs and Cliques" | Burt Brinckerhoff | Michael Poryes & R.J. Colleary | March 11, 1989 | |
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Zack is embarrassed by some older students who invite him into a "cool" club. Miss Bliss and Mr. Belding trade places for a week. | |||||
| 13 | "The Mentor" | Gary Shimokawa | Story by : Jim Carlson & Terrence McDonnell Teleplay by : Jim Carlson, Terrence McDonnell, & Michael Poryes | March 18, 1989 | |
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Miss Bliss's former teacher Mr. James Lyman (Robert Donner) returns and causes controversy with his teaching methods. | |||||
Broadcast
editOriginal pilot
editThe original pilot for Good Morning, Miss Bliss aired on July 11, 1987, on NBC (in The Facts of Life's timeslot). Hayley Mills would be the only actress to carry over from the pilot to the series. Brian Austin Green as Adam Montcrief, Jaleel White as Bobby Wilson, and Jonathan Brandis as Michael Thompson were among some of the actors to appear in the pilot. Green was, in essence, the "lead" student in the pilot, a particularly serious student, who wore business suits.
Several other characters from the series existed in the pilot but were played by different actors; Mr. Gerald Belding was played by Oliver Clark, and Miss Tina Paladrino was played by Maria O'Brien. Other characters include Gabriel Damon as Bradley; Samantha Mills as Wendy; Julie Ronnie as Lonnie Maple; Matt Shakman as Georgie Winslow; Charles Siebert as Charlie Davis; Britton Elliott as Janet Hillhurst; Josh Goddard as Steven; and Andrea Messersmith as Laurie.
Syndication
editAfter the huge success of Saved by the Bell, episodes of this series were added to the syndication package. Intros by Mark-Paul Gosselaar, in character as Zack Morris, were added to the beginning of each episode, and the title sequence was remade in the style of Saved by the Bell. The series reran on TBS, along with its spinoff. Good Morning, Miss Bliss and Saved by the Bell were later aired on The N from late 2008 to July 2009. As of February 2015, Netflix syndication of Saved by the Bell also reflects this change.
Although the Saved by the Bell intro was modified to accommodate the Miss Bliss cast, it was incompletely customized for those episodes. The reflection in the animated sunglasses shows images of Bayside High and The Max, locations that were not present in the Indiana-set Good Morning, Miss Bliss.
Home media
editThe complete series of Good Morning, Miss Bliss was released by Shout Factory with the Saved by the Bell: The Complete Collection DVD set on October 2, 2018.[4]
Reception
editThe Good Morning, Miss Bliss pilot drew an 11.1 household rating and 25 share on NBC.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Sharbutt, Jay (May 2, 1988). "Affiliates OK NBC Cable Deal with Disney". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Goodman, Walter (July 11, 1987). "TV: HAYLEY MILLS AS TEACHER". The New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
- ^ Cotter, Bill (1997). The Wonderful World of Disney Television. Hyperion Books. p. 294. ISBN 0-7868-6359-5.
- ^ "Saved By The Bell: The Complete Collection - DVD". Shout! Factory.
- ^ "NBC continues summer run". Broadcasting. Vol. 113, no. 3. July 20, 1987. p. 74. ProQuest 1014730210.
