Zack Morris Lied 329 Times! Reassessing every ridiculous episode of "Saved by the Bell" ... with stats

by Matt Pais

It is not breaking news that Zack Morris was a dishonest person. But:

Do you know in which season he told the most lies, and least?
Which relationship brought the best out of him, and how did his deceptions correspond with his treatment of women?
Did he ever learn anything and grow?

"Saved by the Bell" is one of the defining shows for millennial childhoods, and "Zack Morris Lied 329 Times!" offers an unprecedented blend of episode guide and modern re-examination, appreciating the good, lamenting the bad and determining how well the classic sitcom holds up over time. Using fun/scathing episode recaps and stats-driven, season-ending analysis, this unique pop cultural retrospective considers every appearance of Zack and the gang (from junior high through college, plus the two "SBTB" movies) while exploring the series' progressive negativity toward female characters, especially Jessie.

Incorporating interviews with 22 cast members, the book identifies several moments copied by "Arrested Development" and "Friends," includes memorable quotes and trivia and ultimately asks: Can we still think this series was the best even though he was the worst?

FEATURES INTERVIEWS WITH:

Ed Alonzo (Max)
Anne Tremko (Leslie on "The College Years")
Troy Fromin (Ox)
Edward Blatchford (Rod Belding)
Nancy Valen (Nurse Jennifer)
Eddie Garcia (Johnny Dakota)
"Zack Morris is Trash" creator Dashiell Driscoll

And many more!

Genres: Nonfiction

364 pages, Paperback

Published August 20, 2020

Reviews

[Cat Gaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am that 90s kid obsessed with Saved by the Bell. I gave a speech on why Zack Morris should run for president in college. I quote to movie to young people on the daily. I event went to the pop-up Saved by the Max in Chicago on opening night.

While this book points out every single awful way that Zack treats his friends - particularly Jessie and Screech - and does it from a nerdy statistical view, for me the most interesting point was actually the interviews at the end of the book. The framing of how the show became so endearing from my generation in an age where we are reckoning with toxic masculinity and racism was extremely interesting. I sometimes asked myself if I was a bad person for loving the show so much, even into adulthood. The book examines more than just the number of times Zack Morris lies, cheats or treats his friends like trash, it examines the socio-cultural phenomenon that we keep quoting.

[Clementine · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was really fun - i cared less about the interviews at the end (with a few exceptions) than i did about the actual episode recaps, but what a truly entertaining way to spend time.

i will say that Pais is extremely kind to the character of screech in a way that i find unfathomable, partly because diamond's portrayal of him got increasingly grating as time went on, and partly because i read diamond's memoir (and anyone who made it through that should...know).

[Lance Lumley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book looking at all the schemes main character Zack Morris tried (or did)pull on one of my favorite shows Saved By The Bell.
Much like the podcast Zack to the Future, Matt Pais looks at each episode, from the original show Good Morning, Miss Bliss up to the College Years of the run of the shows, and brings his comments and tallies how many lies Morris says in each episode. Some of the pages are filled with humor and information, and others make the reader somewhat tired of the political comments.
At times, the book takes itself too seriously , especially with the interviews of former cast people (mostly extras), to the point where the writer tries to manipulate the reader and actors to feel guilty about being on the show, or the audience liking it. It was in a different time ear, we get it, and some things could not be done today, but it was a tv show.
Overall it was a fun read, especially since there are not many books on the subject, and kudos for adding in the College Years which was a favorite of mine.
For an in-depth review, visit my page at: https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/202...

[Joe Kearney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun quick read. I was hoping for a little more indepth or behind the scenes, but it was mostly just episode recaps, and since I've seen them all hundreds of times l wasn't presented with much new. Loved the interviews with many of the smaller characters though.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

For years I had searched on the Internet and even in libraries for an in-depth book on Saved by the Bell (SBTB), but it wasn't until 2022 that I found such a book. This book was called Zach Morris Lied 329 Times!

Zack Morris Lied 329 Times! analyzes every Saved by the Bell episode, even the Hawaiian Style and College Years episodes. And if that wasn't enough for Saved by the Bell junkies, author Matt Pais put together a section near the back of the book where different actors who guest starred on the show discussed their experiences working on the show.

There are writers who would write a book on SBTB and just do bare minimum write ups on each episode of the show, but that wasn't Pais. In addition to his analysis of each episode he gave some life lessons that readers could use in their own lives.

I read this book cover to cover (of course) and it was plain as day to me that Pais was serious about the theme of this book. He really went in on Zack Morris on just about every page of this book and for good reason. The Morris character is one of my favorite TV characters of all time, but he really was a conniving, manipulative, and scheming you know what. But all those lousy traits of his helped make SBTB a classic TV show. Zack and his scheming were the best parts of the show, and some of the main reasons why teenagers and young adults tuned in on Saturday mornings to watch the show from 1989 to 1992.

Pros of Zack Lied 329 Times!: The book was seriously on point with its analysis of every episode of the show. From time to time, I shook my head on Pais's accuracy and his passion for the subject matter within this book. The book really stuck to its theme, and you must respect Pais for that, because he could have easily gotten off track with all that was discussed within this book.

Cons of Zack Lied 329 Times!: I feel like Pais was too serious on many occasions in this book for what was a teenager/young adult TV show that aired on Saturday mornings, a time slot that is bereft of deep thought TV shows or shows that are geared for adults. But it was his book, and he wrote it the way he wanted to.

There was an excerpted, honest, and appropriate quote for this book (page 124) from actor Larry Cedar who played on a 1991 episode of SBTB called Mystery Weekend. And it said: "I don't know that the show ever claimed to be a moral standard for kids. 'Tune in to watch Saved by the Bell' to learn how to be a good person in life.' I don't think it ever claimed to be that." Well said.

Also, I wonder why (and I have my theories) Pais didn't get some quotes from the stars of the show such as Mark Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, Dustin Diamond, and Lark Voorhies (I would wish anyone good luck with finding her and getting her to dish on this show). This book was already good, but with quotes from even one or two of the show's stars this book would have been more enriched.

In conclusion, Zack Lied 329 Times! did its job on giving its readers the dish on why Zack Morris was such a liar and master manipulator. On the other hand, if you're a casual SBTB viewer this book isn't for you because you would be bored reading the book. And that is not a knock on the book, it's just a true statement. Why would you read an in-depth book on a subject you know nothing about or care nothing about? Thank you, Matt Pais, for writing this book because I really needed a book like this in my life. I wish all my favorite TV shows had companion books like this.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️