Originally, the six main characters on the show were Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez), Screech Powers (Dustin Diamond), Leslie Burke (Anne Tremko), Alex Taber (Kiersten Warren), and Danielle Marks (Essence Atkins). After the pilot, Tiffani Thiessen decided to return to play the role of Kelly Kapowski. Essence Atkins was fired, and the plotline said she transferred to an unnamed college.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar was noticeably bigger on this show than during the original Saved by the Bell (1989) run. A sports enthusiast, Gosselaar explained in an Onnit interview that he bulked up to around 190 pounds with plans of playing college football before opting to reprise his Zack Morris role in this series. He is not a fan of his Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993) physique.
Bloopers are shown during the end credits.
The last scripted primetime show to be videotaped on NBC. All primetime scripted shows moving forward would be filmed.
Patrick Fabian said that, initially, Professor Lasky was to be a much older man. NBC asked the producers to make him closer in age to the characters, as they were afraid of the backlash they would receive from parents of the student-teacher affair, since they knew a lot of children were watching the program.