I'm in the middle of a rewatch , and I say it's Boy Meets World. 

Fight Me. 

I was a Saved by the Bell guy

Even though it's run was at the tail end by the start of the 90s, I'd still go with Head of the Class.

Oct 27, 2017 20:50:43 GMT thereallt said:

I was a Saved by the Bell guy

I loved it too but it does not hold up upon rewatch and is incredibly cheesy. Appealing for some nostalgia but it's like bringing a knife to an air strike in terms of best teen comedies.

Oct 27, 2017 22:33:00 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Even though it's run was at the tail end by the start of the 90s, I'd still go with Head of the Class.

That's just the wrong answer. I'm not speaking in opinions , just the facts mate.

Oct 28, 2017 1:44:30 GMT UT said:

Oct 27, 2017 20:50:43 GMT thereallt said:

I was a Saved by the Bell guy

I loved it too but it does not hold up upon rewatch and is incredibly cheesy. Appealing for some nostalgia but it's like bringing a knife to an air strike in terms of best teen comedies.

You’re describing Boy Meets World too.

Oct 28, 2017 2:58:49 GMT mikec said:

Oct 28, 2017 1:44:30 GMT UT said:

I loved it too but it does not hold up upon rewatch and is incredibly cheesy. Appealing for some nostalgia but it's like bringing a knife to an air strike in terms of best teen comedies.

You’re describing Boy Meets World too.

You're wrong but it's okay , you might not have seen it in awhile.

Oct 28, 2017 2:58:49 GMT mikec said:

Oct 28, 2017 1:44:30 GMT UT said:

I loved it too but it does not hold up upon rewatch and is incredibly cheesy. Appealing for some nostalgia but it's like bringing a knife to an air strike in terms of best teen comedies.

You’re describing Boy Meets World too.

Whoa,whoa, whoa.  Lets just stop right there sir.  Saved By The Bell was always ridiculous trash.  It was entertaining as a train wreck spectacle and it did give us one of the most hilarious podcasts (Go Bayside...listen to it if you were a fan of the show or not, it's so funny) but Boy Meets World wasn't anywhere nearly as cheesy and ridiculous. I mean sure it doesn't hold up as well as it did in my younger years and the writing for Eric's character goes off the rails in an insane way when he goes to college, and the creepy fascination old man Feeny has with these children that he just can't stop following around,  but it had some good heart felt stuff in it. The finale, I fucking wept which granted is saying much as i'm a bitch who is a crier of many things but  Saved By The Bell never had that shit. About as serious as it got was Jessie getting hooked on caffeine pills after about one day of taking them.  Even their serious episodes were fucking ridiculous. 

So yeah my answer is clearly Boy Meets World...I would say Wonder Years as it was on until 1993 but to me that transcended the usual sitcom world and was kind of it's own thing entirely.  Plus Fred Savage is clearly the better brother.  

Oct 28, 2017 5:15:12 GMT UT said:

Oct 28, 2017 2:58:49 GMT mikec said:

You’re describing Boy Meets World too.

You're wrong but it's okay , you might not have seen it in awhile.

Hopefully most of us haven’t seen it in a while.

The Wonder Years was and still is an amazing show, but does it really count? It wasn't celebrating modern culture like Saved By The Bell and Boy Meets World.

I want to throw my support around Boy Meets World. I remember seeing the ads for it and writing it off for being terribly hokey, but then I caught one of the later seasons and was surprised by how much drama was on the show. It wasn't like the shows that followed the seemed to be following the same template, they put some thought into the relationships between the characters and sometimes the show dealt with situations in a very mature manner. The actors clearly grew into their roles as well and they had their chemistry down pat, so it became one of those comfy shows I didn't have an issue watching in my early teens when I was out-growing that stuff.

Also, I'll stand up for Saved By The Bell. Sure, it didn't nail the serious moments like Boy Meets World did, but it reveled in it's own cheesiness and you can just tell everybody was having fun with the material. Zack pausing the show and speaking to the audience maybe one of my favourite sit-com bits and it's something you can only get away with in a show that's winking at you all the time. When I think about teenage shows, I think of them as simple entertainment, there to give you a cheap laugh and enjoy life and honestly Saved By The Bell did this better than most.

Just because we need some other contenders, I'm going to toss up Sabrina The Teenage Witch. Since it was based off a comic book, this showed had a lot more ideas going for it and although witches appearing it sitcoms was far from original, I thought the show did surprisingly well to live up to Bewitched. It lasted for 7 seasons (only one less than Bewitched) and inspired an OK animated television spin-off.

Oct 28, 2017 5:36:38 GMT vendrell said:

Oct 28, 2017 2:58:49 GMT mikec said:

You’re describing Boy Meets World too.

Whoa,whoa, whoa.  Lets just stop right there sir.  Saved By The Bell was always ridiculous trash.  It was entertaining as a train wreck spectacle and it did give us one of the most hilarious podcasts (Go Bayside...listen to it if you were a fan of the show or not, it's so funny) but Boy Meets World wasn't anywhere nearly as cheesy and ridiculous. I mean sure it doesn't hold up as well as it did in my younger years and the writing for Eric's character goes off the rails in an insane way when he goes to college, and the creepy fascination old man Feeny has with these children that he just can't stop following around,  but it had some good heart felt stuff in it. The finale, I fucking wept which granted is saying much as i'm a bitch who is a crier of many things but  Saved By The Bell never had that shit. About as serious as it got was Jessie getting hooked on caffeine pills after about one day of taking them.  Even their serious episodes were fucking ridiculous. 

So yeah my answer is clearly Boy Meets World...I would say Wonder Years as it was on until 1993 but to me that transcended the usual sitcom world and was kind of it's own thing entirely.  Plus Fred Savage is clearly the better brother.  

I've listened to Go Bayside , great podcast and only adds to the Saved by the Bell being ridiculously cheesy argument. It's fine if you're going to watch one or two episodes for nostalgia's sake but sitting through a rewatch of some of that trash would be unbearable. 

You'd be surprised at how well some of that stuff holds up and some of the earliest moments of the show , Feeny is the best character. He is superior to Belding in every feasible way. Boy Meets World had some great supporting characters from the parents to the teachers. There was some nice adult humor in there and they were far better at doing drama. I'm in the middle of Season 3 and there are some incredibly emotional moments so far and we haven't even gotten to the deaths yet - something Saved by the Bell could never handle. 

Also Cory & Topanga relationship arc > Zack and Kelly. They were so much more of a genuine couple and I forgot just how long it took them to actually start dating. It's a great moment. 

Oct 28, 2017 14:32:07 GMT mikec said:

Oct 28, 2017 5:15:12 GMT UT said:

You're wrong but it's okay , you might not have seen it in awhile.

Hopefully most of us haven’t seen it in a while.

I don't know why you hope PW has taken joy out of their life. And if you haven't seen it since then it's really hard for you to comment on whether or not it holds up. It's actually quite weird how a handful of the storylines and comments on the show could apply to 2017. 

Oct 28, 2017 15:03:22 GMT Big Pete said:

The Wonder Years was and still is an amazing show, but does it really count? It wasn't celebrating modern culture like Saved By The Bell and Boy Meets World.

I want to throw my support around Boy Meets World. I remember seeing the ads for it and writing it off for being terribly hokey, but then I caught one of the later seasons and was surprised by how much drama was on the show. It wasn't like the shows that followed the seemed to be following the same template, they put some thought into the relationships between the characters and sometimes the show dealt with situations in a very mature manner. The actors clearly grew into their roles as well and they had their chemistry down pat, so it became one of those comfy shows I didn't have an issue watching in my early teens when I was out-growing that stuff.

Also, I'll stand up for Saved By The Bell. Sure, it didn't nail the serious moments like Boy Meets World did, but it reveled in it's own cheesiness and you can just tell everybody was having fun with the material. Zack pausing the show and speaking to the audience maybe one of my favourite sit-com bits and it's something you can only get away with in a show that's winking at you all the time. When I think about teenage shows, I think of them as simple entertainment, there to give you a cheap laugh and enjoy life and honestly Saved By The Bell did this better than most.

Just because we need some other contenders, I'm going to toss up Sabrina The Teenage Witch. Since it was based off a comic book, this showed had a lot more ideas going for it and although witches appearing it sitcoms was far from original, I thought the show did surprisingly well to live up to Bewitched. It lasted for 7 seasons (only one less than Bewitched) and inspired an OK animated television spin-off.

I never got into Sabrina as a kid so I can't really comment on it. If I was going to throw another show into the ring it would be Fresh Prince which I'm not sure entirely fits into this conversation. 

Boy Meets World did a tremendous job handling mature subject matters , and even did so in the shows infancy. I think the parents and Feeny in the early years were what really grounded the show in that reality. It's funny to say that a teen show needs adults in it , but I think it's really what differentiates Boy Meets World from the Saved by the Bells. 

I'm not saying Saved by the Bell didn't have it's worth , it deserves its place in television history and will always be iconic. In terms of quality and the ability to rewatch it in 2017 though - it's really trashy and only belongs in one era. 

See, I'd count Fresh Prince since the show is from Will's perspective and has this theme of rebellion which is rife in the teenage subgenre. Meanwhile Family Matters would be more complicated since the show was originally about the family unit.

I know I'm in the minority, but I find Saved By The bell holds up just as well now than it did back then. Since the show never took itself seriously, it's actually a fairly effective satire of that time period. Admittedly it isn't a high bar, but the show sort of has that Archie style of writing to it.

Just gonna assume this thread only exists as an excuse to post that gif. Haven't seen Kids Gets Acquainted with the Universe since 03-05 so it may be time to go visit.

Oct 28, 2017 15:35:25 GMT UT said:

Oct 28, 2017 14:32:07 GMT mikec said:

Hopefully most of us haven’t seen it in a while.

I don't know why you hope PW has taken joy out of their life. And if you haven't seen it since then it's really hard for you to comment on whether or not it holds up. It's actually quite weird how a handful of the storylines and comments on the show could apply to 2017. 

I’ve seen a handful of episodes in the last few years, but I don’t really need to watch them to know that the Topanga and Corey relationship is built on a different kind of cheese which is still pretty cheesy, that Shawn’s big emotional moments landed with all the subtlety of a back to school special, and that the younger Savage was an awful actor.

I don’t really know of any great teen specific sitcom that these things aren’t true of, I think it just depends on how nostalgia colors the shows. I love Saved by the Bell while acknowledging it’s totally stupid. It was my first though, so I’ll always cherish it.

Stop. Hold the phone. You are all stupid idiots. 

This is the only appropriate answer. 

Oct 28, 2017 16:19:36 GMT Big Pete said:

See, I'd count Fresh Prince since the show is from Will's perspective and has this theme of rebellion which is rife in the teenage subgenre. Meanwhile Family Matters would be more complicated since the show was originally about the family unit.

I know I'm in the minority, but I find Saved By The bell holds up just as well now than it did back then. Since the show never took itself seriously, it's actually a fairly effective satire of that time period. Admittedly it isn't a high bar, but the show sort of has that Archie style of writing to it.

I guess Fresh Prince does fit the parameters , it has an argument against Boy Meets World but one thing it's missing to really put it over the top as a teen sitcom is a relationship angle. Will was a playboy with many girlfriends , never a will they/won't they dynamic until the very end with Lisa. To be the best , I think that is an area that needs to be covered. It definitely handled serious issues better than most though and the comedy is right up there with any other show of any kind. 

As for Saved By The Bell , I think it tried to take itself seriously. That was 90's America serious and while it allows for some good jokes I think it failed the most when it tried to actually tackle serious issues. The pot episode , the caffeine pills. 

Also Saved by the Bell went through three different cast changes and it's continuity just isn't there and I don't believe ever addressed. It's a show that clearly looked down on it's audience , while I don't think Boy Meets world ever did. 

Oct 28, 2017 16:30:20 GMT @ness said:

Just gonna assume this thread only exists as an excuse to post that gif. Haven't seen Kids Gets Acquainted with the Universe since 03-05 so it may be time to go visit.

Nope. I was actually looked for one of the bully Harvey or his thugs , possibly Vader on the show but couldn't find a good one so I used Feeney. 
S

Oct 28, 2017 16:35:04 GMT mikec said:

Oct 28, 2017 15:35:25 GMT UT said:

I don't know why you hope PW has taken joy out of their life. And if you haven't seen it since then it's really hard for you to comment on whether or not it holds up. It's actually quite weird how a handful of the storylines and comments on the show could apply to 2017. 

I’ve seen a handful of episodes in the last few years, but I don’t really need to watch them to know that the Topanga and Corey relationship is built on a different kind of cheese which is still pretty cheesy, that Shawn’s big emotional moments landed with all the subtlety of a back to school special, and that the younger Savage was an awful actor.

I don’t really know of any great teen specific sitcom that these things aren’t true of, I think it just depends on how nostalgia colors the shows. I love Saved by the Bell while acknowledging it’s totally stupid. It was my first though, so I’ll always cherish it.

It's not that much cheese and Topanga is a far more superior character to Kelly Kapowski in that she actually had one aside from being a hot cheerleader , Cory too for that matter was at least better written and more fledged out than Zack.  In fact in hindsight both Zack and Kelly were very unlikable characters. 

Shawns big emotional moments like his pseudo parent dying and then his actual dad? That isn't really back to school stuff , that's some traumatizing shit the show actually handled quite well.


When did Saved by the Bell handle death aside from that old Native American chief that Zack knew for like 12 hours and was completely devastated by. And then the show had the audacity to make the blondest haired , bluest eyed Zack Morris part Native American. It's moments and episodes like that , that will always prevent Saved by the Bell from ever holding up. 

Oct 28, 2017 18:34:56 GMT KITN said:

Stop. Hold the phone. You are all stupid idiots. 

This is the only appropriate answer. 

I don't even qualify that as a sitcom. It's not even on the same level and makes Saved by the Bell look like Breaking Bad in terms of quality. 

It's not that much cheese and Topanga is a far more superior character to Kelly Kapowski in that she actually had one aside from being a hot cheerleader , Cory too for that matter was at least better written and more fledged out than Zack. In fact in hindsight both Zack and Kelly were very unlikable characters.

LOL...Kelly>>>>>>>>>>>>Topanga.    It really isn't even close.

As far as what? She had no character aside from being hot and gullible. So you're right , it's not close. Kelly is a terrible character.

Oct 29, 2017 2:28:10 GMT UT said:

As far as what? She had no character aside from being hot and gullible. So you're right , it's not close. Kelly is a terrible character.

As a teenage boy I never even gave Topanga a second look.   Kelly on the other hand was the stuff of teenage dreams.

Oct 29, 2017 3:38:52 GMT thereallt said:

Oct 29, 2017 2:28:10 GMT UT said:

As far as what? She had no character aside from being hot and gullible. So you're right , it's not close. Kelly is a terrible character.

As a teenage boy I never even gave Topanga a second look.   Kelly on the other hand was the stuff of teenage dreams.

Well if you're basing it off something superficial like looks , I get picking Kelly. She was my first ever crush.

I'm talking about actual characters though. Kelly isn't even in the conversation. 

Topanga was smokin'.

BMW is the quintessential 90s teen sitcom. It evolved and matured like few shows in that genre ever do.

Glad someone isn't sleeping on Topenga. Don't get me wrong odds are "hot chick" searched on google probably brings you to Kelly's wiki page but she's no uggo.

Topanga was definitely a babe , but her actual character was just as good.

I really liked her weird hippy character in middle school. I think they toned it down a lot as the series moved on and she became more "normal" but she always stood out a lot more in the early seasons.

Oct 29, 2017 23:00:41 GMT @ness said:

I really liked her weird hippy character in middle school. I think they toned it down a lot as the series moved on and she became more "normal" but she always stood out a lot more in the early seasons.

They had her turn a bit arrogant and conceited when she transitioned to HS (her and Shawn being "pretty" people). They toned that down too and she became a pseudo-feminist. Still, great character.