Good Morning, Miss Bliss
Also known asSaved by the Bell: The Junior High Years
GenreTeen sitcom
Created bySam Bobrick
Starring
Theme music composerCharles Fox
Opening theme"These Are the Best of Times"
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (+ original pilot)
Production
Executive producerPeter Engel
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time22–24 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network
ReleaseJuly 11, 1987 (1987-07-11) –
March 18, 1989 (1989-03-18)
Related

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 30 November 1988 until 18 March 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 the Disney Channel, the show was retooled as Saved by the Bell, which aired on NBC.

The show was the first program produced by a Big Three network for cable television – in this case, NBC produced it for the Disney Channel.[1][3]

Plot

The 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

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
0"Pilot"Peter BonerzSam BobrickJuly 11, 1987 (1987-07-11)

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 BrinckerhoffPeter EngelNovember 30, 1988 (1988-11-30)
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 BrinckerhoffDavid Garber & Bruce E. KalishDecember 7, 1988 (1988-12-07)
Screech asks Zack to write a love letter from him to Lisa.
3"Wall Street"Burt BrinckerhoffJake Weinberger & Mike WeinbergerDecember 14, 1988 (1988-12-14)
While doing a class project on stocks, Zack invests the class's money on risky stocks.
4"Leaping to Conclusions"Burt BrinckerhoffSusan Sebastian & Diana AyersDecember 21, 1988 (1988-12-21)
Nikki refuses to do the science class's frog dissection.
5"Parents and Teachers"Gary ShimokawaLawrence H. LevyDecember 28, 1988 (1988-12-28)
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 ShimokawaR.J. CollearyJanuary 4, 1989 (1989-01-04)
Screech's friends encourage him to stand up to bully Deke Simmons (Andras Jones).
7"Save the Last Dance for Me"Gary ShimokawaGwyn Gurian & Skip FrankFebruary 4, 1989 (1989-02-04)
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 ShimokawaRobert Burris & Michael WareFebruary 11, 1989 (1989-02-11)
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 BrinckerhoffMichael PoryesFebruary 18, 1989 (1989-02-18)
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 ShimokawaHoward OstroffFebruary 25, 1989 (1989-02-25)
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 BrinckerhoffJake Weinberger & Mike WeinbergerMarch 4, 1989 (1989-03-04)
Zack bets Nikki he can kiss pop singer Stevie (Suzanne Tara).
12"Clubs and Cliques"Burt BrinckerhoffMichael Poryes & R.J. CollearyMarch 11, 1989 (1989-03-11)
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 ShimokawaStory by : Jim Carlson & Terrence McDonnell
Teleplay by : Jim Carlson, Terrence McDonnell, & Michael Poryes		March 18, 1989 (1989-03-18)
Miss Bliss's former teacher Mr. James Lyman (Robert Donner) returns and causes controversy with his teaching methods.

Broadcast

Original pilot

The 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

After 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

The 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

The Good Morning, Miss Bliss pilot drew a 11.1 household rating and 25 share on NBC.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Sharbutt, Jay (May 2, 1988). "Affiliates OK NBC Cable Deal with Disney". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ↑ Goodman, Walter (July 11, 1987). "TV: HAYLEY MILLS AS TEACHER". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  3. ↑ Cotter, Bill (1997). The Wonderful World of Disney Television. Hyperion Books. p. 294. ISBN 0-7868-6359-5.
  4. ↑ "Saved By The Bell: The Complete Collection - DVD". Shout! Factory.
  5. ↑ "NBC continues summer run". Broadcasting. Vol. 113, no. 3. July 20, 1987. p. 74. ProQuest 1014730210.
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