Screech Hits a Fan in the Face in Lifetime's Saved by the Bell Movie
Lifetime has dropped the latest trailer for The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story, the possibly factual dramatization of the behind-the-scenes fighting and makeouts of your favorite '90s TV teens. As expected, there is fighting and there are makeouts.
The central tension of this thing is the perceived rage and insecurity of Dustin Diamond, whose 2009 tell-all book Behind the Bell inspired the Lifetime movie.
"I am not Screech!" screeches Screech in the trailer, after punching a random fan in the face.
But Diamond says the situation behind the scenes wasn't as toxic as the media—and even his own book—has made it out to be. Last year, Diamond claimed he regretted the book and blamed some of its negativity on a ghostwriter, but implied he stood by the claim that his co-stars did drugs and slept together.
"Well, what do you think? There was a bunch of kids with hormones, 15, 16 years old," he told HuffPo.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who played Zack, also indicated the drama in Diamond's book was overblown. He told the Huffington Post earlier this month that everything he's heard about the book "is negative, and I don't remember those things, 'cause my experience on the show was very positive."
The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story airs Sept. 1.