Saved By the Bell - The New Class: Season 6 & 7

I was very glad to get this DVD set. I had always been a fan of Saved by the Bell the New Class ever since its debut in 1993. I used to watch it every Saturday morning. However, when I was in 9th grade I "found religion" (Judaism) and could no longer watch the program at the regular time because it was on the Sabbath. This caused me to miss all of the episodes of the last two seasons (and some of season 5).
I had actually forgotten about the series for awhile until around 2005 when I noticed DVDs available at Best Buy. I had heard this show being slammed (very unfairly, in my opinion) so much that it was quite a shock to see that DVDs were released. This rekindled my interest in the program (as did the release of the original series on DVD also got me reinterested in the original series) I may have bought several, but I was lucky that the library owned most of them. The only one it was missing were the last 2 seasons.
I had for a long time felt a suspiscion that I preferred the New Class over the original series. Rewatching several episodes on DVD, that belief was VERY MUCH confirmed. I tired quickly of watching the original series. I thought it was boring, stupid, and at times downright nasty, especially the way Screech was treated by his "friends."
The New Class was far more interesting. However, rather than talking about the show as a whole I will try to limit this review to this particular season.
New cast member Tony Dillon replaces Ryan in fine form. I always felt Ryan was one of the weaker characters anyway. By this point, the show adopted a 3-plot formula. There would be a plot involving Screech and Mr. Belding (humorous), a humorous plot among the students, and a serious plot involving the students. I usually do not enjoy when comedies get serious, but this show is definitely an exception. Particularly notable are Lindsey McKeon's performances, both in the sexual harrassment episode and in the episode where she gets addicted to pain killers. Both episodes blow away the trite "Jessie's Song" from the original series. Ashley Lyn Cafagna was also particularly good in dramatic performances, such as when she was going to leave school after losing in a swim tournament. All of the actors performed well. There were many episodes that were an excellent combination of comedy and drama. I also thought the last scene of "The X-Friends File" was quite moving, especially for what many see as a "silly sitcom." I did not like the fact that Screech's voice was so high, but other than that he was hilarious. Not a particularly good actor by any means, but VERY funny.
I do have some problems with the DVD packaging itself, however. First off, there is no closed captioning. This unforgivable. I don't even understand how that is legal. There also no bonus features of any kind. It would have been nice to have some sort of running commentary through an episode or two, or perhaps a short documentary.
The strangest thing, however, is the sequencing. The last episode of series is clearly the second last episode in the set. Also the episodes keep alternating between the school and elsewhere. This may have been how they were aired, and the show was never known for good continuity, but it seems they could have done a better job with the sequencing. All in all a decent set of great program.

I own every saved by the bell disc set except New Class Season 2...This is the only season that doesn't have a "Play All episodes" feature...So you can only watch 1 episode at a time and then you have to select the next episode with the remote. This is a deal breaker for me as I watch it on my computer when I go to sleep. Such a trivial feature to be abandoned.

It's good to have watched this show at least... for me, it's the best of the "New Class " series... In the middle of the laughs, there's a lot of problems that high school students face everyday, like drugs, cigars, first loves, breakups, jokes, deceptions... and friendships...

The set dindn't have any extras... :(

... and if you followed this series since the original cast been in the show, then maybe you'll cry in the last chapter of the show...

Seasons 6 and 7 remind me a lot of season 2 in that they did not have a definitive male star on the show. Season 1 pushed the Scott character as the leading male character and Seasons 3-5 had Ryan Parker as their male star. These two seasons could not make up there minds on which male character to highlight as their star, much like season 2 in my opinion. Despite that these seasons had their fair share of memorable moments and did a fine job of closing out the series. I recommend this set to anyone who is a fan of any season of Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

Could this show have possibly had 7 seasons?! I honestly believe that if the show went for 60 more years, Dustin Diamond would still be a cast member. Spare yourself this terd and just buy the series with the original cast.