House Party

The one where Screech's parents are out of town, and the guys sing "Barabara Ann," break Mrs. Powers' bust of Elvis, and throw a party.



Slater shows off his biceps in his normal school-wear.

 I was just minding my own beeswax, getting ready for work, and watching Saved by the Bell on TBS, when I realized Slater was wearing a comically skimpy tank top...to SCHOOL. Where does he think he is, Malibu Sands Beach Club?! Question, what makes it skimpier: the small amount of material or how much his muscles bulge out of it? The beginning of this clip shows the tank top I'm talking about.

Some quick background on where my perspective is coming from: I grew up in Iowa and recently moved to Colorado...I must admit, I have not yet been to California in my lifetime...maybe guys really do/did wear tank tops as much as Slater there. I'm positive they wear them more than people in Iowa (due to the abundance of "cut-offs" as opposed to "tank tops" in Iowa, so to speak). And Cali guys definitely wear tanks more than Colorado guys (unless you're one of the cool kids who wear shorts while skiing down a mountain in April).

All of this banter leads me to the point of this post. The style of Saved by the Bell intrigues me. We all grew up watching it (and if you didn't, then I am sincerely sorry). I love what the students of Bayside High wore to school. Part of this enamoration might have to do with the fact that I went to a school that enforced a dress code from Kingergarten until Senior Year, leaving our clothing options to be rather miniscule.



I feel like Slater would have basically supported
American Apparel's line
men's tank tops these days.

 Back to the episode itself: it finally introduces us faithful viewers to a romantic interest for Screech (besides the fiasco that was "Beauty and the Screech"), Violet Anne Bickerstaff. The girls are shocked that Violet would be interested in Screech (even though Violet herself is a "dork"). It totally makes sense Violet would think Screech was a stud...he (inexplicably) hangs out with the most popular kids in school. Of course he would be King of the Nerds, if even considered a nerd at all (if this situation were happening in real life ("RL") of course).

We all remember this episode, and I'm not here to recap...but here's a quick one anyways. Screech's parents are out of town, and Screech isn't allowed to have parties. Slater and Zack go over to hang out and lip sync for no one to "Barbara Ann." The girls spy on the boys and end up laughing so hysterically that they break Screech's mom's bust of Elvis which costs $250 to replace. Zack tries to win the money by playing rich dork (and Violet's ex boyfriend) in poker, but Zack ends up losing Screech's dog as well (if this episode doesn't epitomize how much the gang walks all over Screech, I don't know what does). So the gang throws a party at Screech's to raise money to replace Elvis. His parents come home a day early (they always do, don't they...) and catch him having a party, but at least his mom got her precious Elvis back. I always found it creepy how obsessed she was with that statue. For a half-hour episode of Saved by the Bell, this one sure had a lot of intricate side stories...

Hopefully once I can figure out how to cleanly use screen captures, I will have many more (and relevant) pictures on here. Until then Bayside...