Saved By the Bell: Season 1 - College Years [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

"Saved By The Bell-The College Years" was a really great show and it's so great that the show is on DVD. It was rather short lived 19 episodes, but every episode was enjoyable and if you are a big fan of the show you will enjoy watching these episodes back to back to back.

Zach, Kelly, Slater, and Screech are all freshman in college. Kelly is roomates with two women Alex and Leslie. Blonde hair Leslie is a girl from a wealthy family and Alex is just a silly young woman who dates Slater on the show. I can't understand why they put Slater with such an odd girl and she shares the comic relief role with Screech.

My favorite episode of the show is the Thanksgiving episode. There are a lot of celebrities that stop by the show, Marv Albert, Jonathon Brandis, Brian Austin Green, Jenna Von Oy, Marsha Warfield and Mr. Belding.

Zach and Kelly are broke up but remain good friends. The rekindling of their relationship starts heating up around the episode "Dr. Kelly." Kelly expresses to Zach that she wants to be a doctor and he basically shoots her down so Kelly throws herself into her waitress job at a Hooter's like restaurant named Skeeters. Zach offers Kelly kind words and they agree that they have "chemistry." It's cute the way the episode ends and by the Thanksgiving episode they share of kiss and by the end of the series Zach and Kelly make plans to take their relationship to another level.

First of all, I do enjoy watching this dvd...I have been a fan of SBTB since Miss Bliss, and really liked each character..its like Lark Vorhiees says on the SBTB 3 & 4 seasons commentary, they all had great chemistry. They were an ensemble that really worked!

To me, this dvd is what it would be like if Seinfeld did a show where only Jerry and Elaine moved somewhere, left George and Kramer behind, and met new friends. Then, change elements about Jerry and Elaine that people enjoyed, and that is what the College Years are to me...

As mentioned, Kelly is different-nothing like Kelly Kapowski from Bayside...I know people change, but I don't see any sort of similarity! Different hair, different style choices, different acting person...it is just weird!!

Slater's niche is also taken away-he was the jock, and now falls to low status at the school..I know he is a new freshman, but...that takes away part of who his character was! Also, as mentioned, he is paired with Alex, who seems odd, and she doesn't have near the amount of charm as Elizabeth Berkley!

There is more to say, but I don't want to bore (too much!) I am just pointing out that if you have not seen SBTB The College Years, and expect it to be just like Bayside and the kids there, you are in for a surprise! This doesn't make it a BAD show, but I was shocked to see the differences in these two shows...I thought that after not seeing the College Years since I was about 12, that these episodes would seem different to me now that I am older, but now I notice the differences all the more!

I would recommend this dvd if you saw and liked The College Years originally, or are a Saved By The Bell collector (like myself)...otherwise, if you haven't seen the show, I would rent it (if possible!)

Maybe I'm partial to the series because Zack (Mark-Paul Gosselaar)and myself are about the same age and I grew up with him during the 1st series too during my high school years. But now as I look back, I can't believe how stupid the shows actually were. Notice how the show was always recorded in the same hallway, the same people were always together, the principal was nothing short of a moron, and the stories were as realistic as Elvis being alive.

The College Years, while the critics may say otherwise, is clearly better than the high school episodes. Maybe it's because "I was in college during the "College Years" but they really seem more entertaining to me and is definitely fun to watch if you're fan of no-brainer nonsense entertainment like me. Saved by the Bell is about "stupid" plotlines and loop holes of stories that really don't make sense, and that is what makes them fun.

Although shortlived, the series was unlike it's high school counterpart. Alot has changed since Bayside. How convenient that Slater, Kelly, Zack and Screech all end up in the same dorm room together. Once again "unrealistic craziness" that the show survives on. Too bad Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies) and Jessica Spano (Elisebeth Berkley) couldn't make it back, although lark does make a cameo toward the end of the series. "Berkley was too busy taking her clothes off for the grammy award winning movie "ShowGirls". The series basically brings back Zack's non-sensical antics to college life at California Univeristy. Towards the end the story, the series focuses back on Zack and Kelly falling in love and then eventually talking about getting married. AC-Slater (Mario Lopez) really shines during the series and shows his fine acting abilities in a "silly" but sometimes serious way. Some newbie (nobodies) come around for the show and help it along the way too. Mark-Paul Gosselaar and the conflicts of college life really made me laugh throughout every episode. Every tongue and cheek cliche' and trick to make 30 minutes go by is used up on every episode. Screech still ruins of the episodes better moments when the unrealistic feel of the show is brought out almost to the point of being absurd, but Zack, Slater and Kelly seem to keep the show at bay. It's too bad the show was cut, because some of the last episodes were getting a bit more serious and believable and I wanted more.

Saved By The Bell: The College Years is a good DVD buy and people who are like me, will watch it over and over, we just don't know why we watch it?