First ‘Saved By the Bell’ Reboot Trailer Makes the Worst Possible Reference

Peacock, NBC’s exclusive streaming service, is rebooting Saved by the Bell, the show pretty much no one asked to see more of and yet, here we are, getting more Zack Morris (who appears to actually be a bad guy in the reboot) and Jessie Spano and their offspring. Well, now the streaming service has drops an official trailer for the revival of the classic sitcom, and it looks like the show isn’t straying that far from home.

Actually, it looks like the bulk of the show will take place in the same haunts as the original: namely, Bayside High School, and the Max, the burger joint and regular haunt that the original cast hung out at constantly in the show, and that both Slater (Mario Lopez) and Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley Lauren) taking on roles professionally within the school, with Slater being a gym teacher and Jessie being a high school counselor.

While new teens will be added to the group, kids of previous characters, like Mac Morris, Zac Morris’ son, and Jamie Spano, Jessie Spano’s son, among others. And while the show has promised to be an edgier update to the original, it also appears that they’re more than willing to make a few jokes at Jessie SPano’s expense, namely, to already bring back the infamous “pills” song and breakdown that Jessie went through in the famous episode of the show when Zack Morris finds her with caffeine pills. Remember — “I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so scared?”

Well, now that the journey through addiction has functionally become a meme in pop culture, despite the seriousness of the topic, the show seems more than willing to weigh in on the joke. When Mac Morris, Zac Morris’ son, offers a newcomer student named Daisy a bottle of caffeine pills (or, most likely, Adderall), Jessie notices and snatches the bottle out of his hand. She then says, “Are those caffeine pills?” Then, riffing on the joke, “At first, they’re so exciting. And then it gets even more exciting. But after that, it gets so scary. And in the end, you ruin your girl group’s shot at a recording contract.”

I’ll admit — it made me laugh. But it’s also in somewhat poor taste. After all, pill addictions aren’t that funny, and in the end, Jessie’s addiction episode in the original season was supposed to be sad, not funny.