Anyone who came of age in the nineties lived for shows like Saved By the Bell. Saturday mornings always started with an episode of Zach, Kelly, A.C. Slater, and the gang getting into trouble at Bayside High School. Fans watched them fall in love, work through private issues, stand by each other’s sides as best friends, and eventually graduate and move onto greener pastures. Following the original series came the college years edition and then a marriage special where Zack and Kelly finally wed.
After that, the show was done, for good it seemed. Life went on, and new shows replaced our old favorite. This is a strange year indeed, and it is throwing things at the world that we never saw coming, like a Saved By the Bell reboot. That’s right; our favorite characters are back to entertain us, but this time as successful adults. Mario Lopez returns to Bayside High as the school gym teacher as well as the football coach. Over the years, he has changed plenty, but much of his persona remains the same.
Changed: Slater Has A Softer Side
Fans of the original series will remember A.C. Slater as a jock, a buff wrestler, and a guy who valued all things macho above all. Sure he had a heart under all of those bulging muscles, but Slater was Slater, and he was the farthest thing from effeminate.
In the reboot, he shows his softer side as he works at Bayside high, helping to mold and guide a new generation of students. Mr. Slater even goes as far as to reflect on his former “sexist” ways and apologizes to his old friend Jessie for his former views on the world.
Same: Slater’s Still Buff
Plenty has changed for A.C. since his days of being a Bayside High School student, but one thing that remains the same is his physically fit body. Mr. Slater grew up to become the school’s gym teacher and the school’s head football coach. Plenty of scenes in the reboot showcase actor Mario Lopez’s biceps. Former Saved By the Bell fans will definitely appreciate the fact that this one thing remained the same.
Changed: Slater Is The Man Man On Campus
The main characters all had about equal screentime in the original show, but it was Zach, played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who ran away with the heartthrob star title. Zach was a key player in just about every scene of the original series, and while Slater was there too, he seemed the side-kick to Zach’s head honcho role. In the reboot, it is Slater who seems to be front and center. Actors Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley are reprising their roles as full-time cast members, with Zack (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and Kelly (Tiffani Amber Thiessen) making guest appearances in the first season.
Same: Still A Dancing Machine
Back in the day, A.C. Slater took any possible opportunity to showcase his fancy feet. Whether it was at a school dance, in the hallways, or at the kids’ favorite hangout, The Max, A.C. was always ready to bust a move. Decades later, a grown Slater can still cut a rug. Coach Slater ends up crashing a party thrown by Jaime, and he pulls out some moves that fans of the original series will no doubt remember.
Changed: He Is A Mentor Now
A.C. Slater was a pretty self-absorbed fellow back in his high school days. He was cocky and all about himself, often showing off his best assets (whether those be dance moves or muscles.) As a high school teacher and coach, Slater has turned into a mentor to his students and his athletes. Sure, he still spends a lot of time reminiscing about the old glory days, but he also devotes his time and attention to kids who need him. The reboot certainly shows a more mature Slater, and it showcases him in a favorable light. This is a contrast to Gosselaar’s character Zack, who has only grown ruder and more entitled.
Same: Still Loves His Sleeveless Shirts
During his Bayside High days, A.C. Slater liked to rock a good sleeveless shirt. He strutted those hallways in a cutoff, allowing all of the ladies to ogle his physique. While A.C. is educated, enlightened, and changed in many ways in the show’s reboot, his fashion sense stays the same. He still sports a cutoff tee shirt on occasion, paying homage to the original series. With biceps like Slater’s, it is no surprise that he can not seem to let this trend go.
Changed: Bye Bye Mullet
A.C. Slater used to rock one of the most iconic hairstyles in the nineties. He wore his curly locks in a short in the front, longer in the back do known as a mullet. The mullet is gone and replaced by a more modern style in the reboot. If actor Mario Lopex had his way, he would have brought the mullet back! He revealed that the only reason he didn’t reprise the hairdo was because of other projects he was working on at filming. As for seeing it in the future, Lopez has not ruled it out.
Same: Side By Side With Jesse
Back in the Saved By the Bell high school days, Slater and Jesse were a thing. They didn’t always see eye to eye, and they got in their fair share of teen romance skirmishes, but they stayed either friends or more for all those years. Fast forward a few decades, and Slater and Spano are still kicking it side by side, just not in the way many people assume.
They both work at Bayside High, him as the gym teacher and football coach and she as a school counselor, and Slater is the coach to Jesse’s son on the football team.
Changed: Roots Put Down
When viewers first met A.C. Slater in the original series, he had come to Bayside after quite a bit of moving around. Before becoming a Bayside Tiger, Slater was an army kid, and when his father got transferred, he had to up and switch schools. It seems that he finally found his forever home in Bayside because even after graduating, he continued to live and work there, digging his roots down deep. Decades later, Slater shows just how much he loves the school and community by teaching and coaching there with his high school girlfriend and pal, Jesse Spano.
Same: Frenemies With Zack
Zack and Slater have had their ups and downs. They were at odds as teens when they were both vying for Kelly’s affections. They then developed a banter and eventual friendship over time. The love-hate relationship between Slater and “Preppie” was one of the aspects that made the show so entertaining. Twenty years later the two guys still have some kinks to work out. We see that in their choice of occupation and demeanor. Slater is a coach and school teacher, staying down to earth. Zack is a powerful governor who goes and shuts down schools, causing all sorts of chaos for many. You know these old pals will have different thoughts of school structure, among other things.
