Lisa Turtle Wasn’t Invited To SBTB Revival

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Lark Voorhies Painfully Discusses Not Being Asked To Return To Save By The Bell’s Modern Revival

We’re in the age of the revival and nothing is stopping Hollywood from shoving nostalgia down our throats. You can claim all day that writers have ran out of ideas, but also – admit it – you’ve been excited for some revivals like Will & Grace and Fuller House. One of the latest revivals is the ‘80s series, Saved By The Bell (SBTB). Of course you’re likely familiar with SBTB – it launched the deliciously sexy Mario Lopez into our spank banks and led Elizabeth Berkley to be “SO EXCITED!” about starring in the cult classic Showgirls. The original series recently gained traction with the new generation of kids via the satirical website, Funny or Die. Funny previously released a digital series dissecting cheesy old television shows and one of their most popular was Zack Morris Is Trash, based on SBTB’s titular character played by hunky Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Ironically enough, the creator of that series ended his digital platform and began working on the revival of the original series aimed for NBC’s streaming platform, Peacock.

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A handful of the old cast is coming back to return to their roles in the original series. The success of the revival is likely going to be an uphill battle as the newcomers are targeting the next generation or “Woke” audience, especially by making the main character the “most beautiful, popular cheerleader” a transgender young actress, Josie Totah. Woke revivals tend to not do so well with overall audiences, as we’ve learned with Blumhouse’s Black Christmas, but all material is subject until viewing and SBTB has a very dedicated fanbase. While Gosselaar, Lopez, and Berkley are set to return – we definitely won’t be seeing bumbling mess Screech (Dustin Diamond) as he is blacklisted from Hollywood and it is very unlikely original Goddess Tiffani Amber Thiessen return as Kelly Kapowski because she wouldn’t even do the Beverly Hills, 90210 revival last year. There’s our five of the main billed stars – but what about an actual original cast member when the series was called Good Morning, Miss Bliss? Yep, she won’t be a part of it either – because she wasn’t asked.

We’re talking about Lark Voorhies as the fashionable, likeable beauty queen Lisa Turtle. If you are up to date on your SBTB facts, you’ll know Voorhies impressed producers of the original series so much that they cast her on the show when the character description was originally for a Caucasian, Jewish princess. Voorhies broke barriers simply by being her fabulous self and would go on to have a very long-behind the scenes romance with Gosselaar, despite their relationship being ignored by the media as the world wanted to see Zack and Kelly together. Many years ago, Voorhies revealed she is bipolar and has not acted since at the very least 2012.

According to Deadline, Voorhies recently appeared on The Dr. Oz Show and discussed her disappointment over not being invited to return in the SBTB revival and subsequent reunions her former costars frequent. She is more than open to reunite with them and has an interest to be included, but feels “empowered”. Voorhies tells of her omission:

“I have to admit I did feel a bit slighted and hurt when I was not invited to be part of the Saved by the Bell reunion, as well as other cast members events. Yet, of course, I also realized that having this puzzling disorder may have played a major part in that factual decision. With that in mind, I am truly thankful for having had the chance to work on a show that has been so successful.”

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Poor Lisa Turtle. It’s a little hard to imagine SBTB without her and her unique commentary. Check out Voorhie’s painful words below and don’t forget to check her full interview with Dr. Oz premiering today:

Writer’s Note: This is the opinion of one Instinct Magazine contributor and does not reflect the views of Instinct Magazine itself or fellow contributors.

H/T: Deadline

2 thoughts on “Lisa Turtle Wasn’t Invited To SBTB Revival”

  1. The only African American in the original cast isn’t invited back??? This new “woke” audience should be complaining, cause we know Hollywood hasn’t changed.

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