Dustin Diamond, unforgettable Screech in Saved by the Bell, died of cancer on February 1. His playmates will pay tribute to his character in the first episode of season 2.
It’s been two seasons since the Saved by the Bell (2020) revival is back on the Peacock streaming platform. And the first episode of season 2, which will air on November 24, will pay tribute to Screech following the death of Dustin Diamond from lung cancer last February.
This tribute comes as the character of Screech was mentioned during the first season but did not appear there even as a guest star.
As a reminder, Dustin Diamond played Samuel Powers aka Screech in Hello, Miss Bliss the prequel series to Saved by the Bell. He kept his character in the cult series with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen, Mario Lopez and company. He retained his role in the short-lived spin-off Saved By The Bell: The High School Years and again for six years in another Saved By The Bell spin-off: The New Class.
According to Variety, executive producer Franco Bario – who was already a producer on the original series – told the US magazine he spoke with Dustin Diamond before the first season for “inform him about the mentions of Screech in season 1 and how these could lead to potential stories that would include him in season 2“.
Revival showrunner Tracey Wigfield and Franco Bario told Variety: “It would have been wrong not to actually bring up his death the real way and not allow our characters to mourn for Screech that we will never see again. I wanted to put that on the screen, but making sure that we were as fair as possible. There was a real person that people loved. We don’t want to joke or talk about it in a way that might hurt someone.“
All the members of the original cast, namely Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopez, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen and Lark Voorhies, will thus meet at “Max” their favorite meeting place to remember their friend together. The tribute will also include images of Screech in the original series. A selection made according to Franco Bario “to show how important he was to the series, but also to the other characters.“
