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When actor Dustin Diamond passed away earlier this year at the far-too young age of 44, he left behind a small but solid body of work that endeared him to a large swath of fans. Specifically, his role as Samuel “Screech” Powers on the perennially popular series Saved by the Bell had ensured Diamond an immortality that will no doubt outlive all of us. Seemingly not as hip or as good looking as his well-coiffed co-stars, it’s those very reasons that have ensured Screech’s continuing life among Bell-heads the universe over. And now, according to our friends over at Variety, the new iteration of that classic series is set to pay homage to one of their own.
According to Executive Producer for the new Saved by the Bell Franco Bario, he had been in contact with Diamond ahead of the premiere of the new version of the show, giving him the scoop on all of the mentions that were to be made of his signature role of Screech, and hinting to him that these name-drops might very well lead to some cameo appearances from the actor when season two began production. Alas, ‘twas not to be, but that hasn’t stopped Bario and showrunner Tracey Wigfield in preparing what looks to be an emotional on-camera tribute to the mercurial Dustin Diamond.
“I knew we wanted to do more than just putting a picture of him up at the end (of an episode),” explained Wigfield about the origins of the tribute.
And so it was that the original members of Diamond’s Saved by the Bell series gathered with Wigfield and Bario with the intent to memorialize their fallen co-star: Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, Mario Lopez, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen and Lark Voorhies were “keen to do something,” said Wigfield.
“At the beginning of this season, we already were coming into writing Season 2 (where) obviously Dustin was one thing, but we also were like in a pandemic and in general in the first episode, everyone was feeling the same sense of everyone understands how heavy this last year has been,” Wigfield explained of sensitively putting together the Diamond tribute. “It would have been wrong to not acknowledge that in a real way and to not have our original characters mourning this character that we’ll never get to see again. That, I wanted to put on the screen, but I just wanted to make sure we were being as sensitive as possible. There was a real guy who had people who loved him. You don’t want to make any jokes or talk about it in any way that might hurt anyone’s feelings.”
Dustin Diamond was a polarizing actor during his life that never really got the breaks he deserved as an actor. Ye writer of pop culture can recall vividly to this day being first introduced to Diamond and his gift for comedic acting on early episodes of The Wonder Years. I recall thinking, ‘Boy, here’s someone who might just go pretty far.”
You did go far, Dustin. We all wish you were here to bask in a little bit of Saved by the Bell revival glow, but we’re grateful for the laughter you gave us while you were around.
Saved by the Bell Season Two premieres November 24 on Peacock; tell ‘em Vents sent you!
