Want to Watch the ‘Saved By the Bell’ Reboot? You’ll Need to Sign Up for Another New Streaming Service
Meet Governor Zack Morris. The character known for his wild high school schemes has landed in the California governor’s mansion in NBC’s upcoming Saved by the Bell reboot. In the show, Gov. Morris is in trouble for closing too many low-income high schools, and his solution to the problem is to send some of those students to the state’s better-performing schools, including Bayside High. Once the low-income kids arrive at Bayside, the school’s privileged students get a dose of reality, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The Saved By the Bell reboot will debut in 2020. But it won’t be on broadcast TV. If you want to see it, you’ll need to sign up for yet another streaming service.
The ‘Saved By the Bell’ reboot will be on NBC’s new Peacock streaming service
The revival of the early ‘90s sitcom is one of several reboots planned for Peacock, NBCUniversal’s new streaming service. In addition to an updated Save By the Bell starring Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie Spano) and Mario Lopez (A.C. Slater), the network is also planning a reboot of Battlestar Galactica and an new version of Punky Brewster, which will feature original star Soleil Moon Frye as a single mom to three young girls.
Peacock — the name is inspired by the network’s famous logo — will launch in the spring, though the originals won’t arrive until the summer, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The streaming service will also be home to more than 15,000 hours of other content and will be the only place to stream shows like Parks and Recreation and The Office. NBC reportedly spend $500 million to regain the rights to the latter program.
Other shows that will eventually be exclusive to Peacock include Monk, Friday Night Lights, Frasier, Saturday Night Live, and Will & Grace. New shows will include a Real Housewives spinoff and a limited series adaptation of the dystopian novel Brave New World starring Demi Moore. Also on the horizon if Rutherford Falls, a new sitcom from Mike Schur, the producer of The Office. Movies from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation will also be on the service, as will 3,000 hours of Spanish-language programming from Telemundo.
How much will Peacock cost?
NBC hasn’t announced a launch date for Peacock, nor do we know how much it will cost. The service will be supported by both subscriptions and ads, with specific subscription details available closer to the launch date.
While Peacock will officially arrive in the spring, the big push will come in the summer. NBC plans to promote the service heavily during the 2020 Olympic Games.
Peacock isn’t the only new streaming service on the horizon
Peacock is just one of many new streaming services that will be competing for viewers’ attention in the coming year. Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus launch in November, and HBO Max arrives in April. Those are on top of existing services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and CBS All Access, as well as more niche offerings like Criterion Channel, BritBox, Hallmark Movies Now, and DC Universe, plus live TV streaming services like Sling, Philo, YouTube TV, and PlayStation Vue.
The result is what some have dubbed the “streaming wars,” as various companies try to attract viewers with exclusive content and low subscription prices. The much-hyped Disney Plus, for example, will cost $6.99 a month and include access to new shows like the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian as well as hundreds of movies, including animated classics like Bambi and 101 Dalmatians.
Some people are growing frustrated with the sheer number of streaming options, a recent survey by Deloitte found. Survey respondents said they like being able to pick and choose from the services that have the content they want to watch. But people also said they were frustrated when shows disappeared from streaming services (as will happen when The Office leaves Netflix in 2020). Others reported difficulty finding the shows they wanted to watch when offerings are spread across multiple services.
