Entertainment
Saved By The Bell pays tribute to Dustin Diamond and Screech Powers in emotional scenes
Dustin Diamond was honored in the latest episode of the Saved By The Bell reboot (Picture: Peacock/Getty)
The Saved By The Bell reboot featured an emotional tribute to Dustin Diamond, following his death.
The actor, who played Screech Powers in the original 90s sitcom, died in February following a battle with cancer, aged 44.
He was honored in the latest episode of the reboot – which also included a surprise cameo from Screech’s beloved robot, Kevin.
In the season two premiere, Zack Morris and AC Slater (played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Mario Lopez respectively) paid tribute to their former school pal – but made no mention of how he died on screen.
‘[The] worst things happened this year,’ Zack told his former teenage rival – who was seen to be struggling following the sad news.
In the final moments of the instalment, the gang reunited at their school hangout, The Max, with Jessie (Elizabeth Berkley), Kelly (Tiffani Thiessen) and Lisa (Lark Voorhies) joining in the memorial, before Max unveiled the latest addition to the menu in tribute – Screech’s Spaghetti Burger.
Dustin was part of the original sitcom cast (Picture: NBC)
Dustin died aged 44 following a battle with cancer (Picture: Getty)
Robot Kevin served up the dishes as the cast raised the burgers to their late friend, with a montage of some of his best moments from the comedy playing at the end.
Diamond played Screech, the nerdy sidekick in Saved By The Bell, from 1989-1993 and reprised the role in the follow-up series Saved By The Bell: The New Class and Saved By The Bell: The College Years.
He did not appear in the first season of the reboot series – something he confessed had hurt him at the time, considering he was such a huge part of the original cast.
Dustin was the only member of the main cast to not return for the reboot (Picture: Getty)
There had reportedly been discussions about him joining the forthcoming second season before his death.
Executive producer Tracey Wigfield explained to Variety that the original cast members felt it was important to include a tribute to their co-star.
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She stated: ‘It would have been wrong to not acknowledge that in a real way and to not have our OG characters mourning this character that we’ll never get to see again.
‘That, I wanted to put on the screen, but I just wanted to make sure we were being as sensitive as possible.’
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