Saved by the Bell revival explains where Screech has been

Dustin Diamond may not have appeared on the Saved by the Bell revival, but the series does explain what his character Screech Powers has been up to.

In episode 8 of the Peacock series' debut season, available to stream in its entirety now, most of the old gang gets back together to celebrate Homecoming weekend at Bayside High. A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez) and Dr. Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley Lauren), both of whom work at their alma mater, are supervising the soiree in present day. Governor Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and his wife Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen) surprise their old friends to catch up and reminisce on old times.

Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies) also makes an appearance in the episode as a successful fashion designer living in Paris. But before Lisa's scene, Slater makes a remark to Jessie — a.k.a. "Dr. Momma" — that explains where exactly Screech has been.

"Screech is so lucky he and Kevin get to live on the International Space Station so he doesn't have to deal with all this," Slater says.

Kevin is an easter egg dropped into the revival by showrunner and executive producer Tracey Wigfield. Fans of the original series will remember that Kevin was the sassy, artificial intelligence robot that Screech built and programmed himself. Kevin shared advice and took on odd jobs to assist his maker. In present day, both Screech and Kevin are floating about in space where it's presumed they're astronauts.

Diamond, who has run into legal problems in recent years, told TMZ in February he had not been approached to appear in the revival, but Voorhies offered another view during a recent interview.

"[With] Dustin Diamond, the almighty dollar rules on that," she alleged about his lack of participation to Toronto's KiSS 92.5. "He wants to be paid and respected. We would love for him to come back on set. He's going through his growing pains...He's going through his adult issues and all of that but I am sure he'll be back—granted they have the perfect contract for him. I'm sure he would be back."

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