Dennis Haskins and Mr. Belding
This past week saw the passing of a beloved figure for an entire generation. Dennis Haskins, who played the principal, Richard Belding, on Saved by the Bell had died at 75 and it was revealed that he had been previously diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. For many 90s kids, Saved by the Bell was our pathway into high school. The show would play on Saturday mornings and in syndication throughout the week. The sitcom saw the lives of Zack, Kelly, Slater, Lisa, Jesse and Screech as they navigated high school with their principal close by. Many times, the kids would try to fool Mr. Belding. But countless times, he was also there for them when they needed help.
In honor of Mr. Haskins, we are going to take a look at five of our favorite Mr. Belding moments from the show!
5. Male Bonding Tribal Leader
In the season 4 episode of Slater’s Sister, Mr. Belding was forced to go to a male sensitivity seminar against his will by his wife. Afterward, though, he would become a changed man. He became in touch with his feelings and took it upon himself to lead the charge in the making of Bayside’s own emotional tribe. As you can see, Mr. Belding amusingly went all-out for his display. He greeted everyone with a primal scream. He passes around a talking stick and dons a bear suit. He would even shout a mantra with his brethren, “Feel! Feel!”
4. The New and Improved Mr. Belding
In the season 4 premiere, The Fight, it’s Senior Year for our characters at Bayside. While the kids get reacquainted with each other after the summer, Mr. Belding shows up with new hair, new clothes, new confidence and a claim to have worked out over the summer. The “New and Improved” Mr. Belding hilariously attempts to be hip with the kids, but they see right through it. In the end, while Zack and Slater are starting to fight at The Max, Belding gets in between them and the commotion knocks his toupée into a punch bowl. This gets both guys laughing and deflates the situation.
3. “1-2-3 Guys!“
In the season 2 episode, Breaking Up is Hard to Undo, Zack and Slater are both at odds with Kelly and Jesse and the girls refuse to speak to the guys. Mr. Belding tries to have an open dialogue between the feuding couples, but as he conducts the process, he gets into his own argument with his wife on the phone, which sways Mr. Belding to latch on to Zack and Slater. Mr. Belding goes as far as to crash Zack’s house to hang out with the guys and talk trash on the women. They briefly form a males-only club with the chant, “1-2-3 GUYS!” That is, until it becomes too much for Zack and Slater. They, then, take it upon themselves to quell the fire between Mr. Belding and his wife.
2. Hawaiian Professor
In the TV movie, Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style, the kids coincidentally run into Mr. Belding on a principal’s trip while in Hawaii. In order to save Kelly’s grandfather’s hotel, they take in the group of principals and fight off the evil corporation trying to buy the hotel. In one scene, Mr. Belding gets be included on the kind of underhanded schemes that they’d usually pull on him at school. Here, Zack gets Mr. Belding to pose as a Hawaiian professor to convince the corporate lawyer that the land his clients want belongs to natives. Mr. Belding goes all out with a high-pitched voice and some humorous Hawaiian improv. And it’s pretty cool to see him and Zack on the same side.
1. The Fabulous Belding Boys
In possibly the most regarded Mr. Belding episode, the season 2 episode, The Fabulous Belding Boys, sees Mr. Belding competing for the kids’ attention when his younger, cooler brother, Rod, substitutes for a class and has a better rapport with them. It gets to the point that the kids convince Mr. Belding to cancel his plans for the school trip to go with his brother’s idea. The reality is that Mr. Belding knows that Rod isn’t trustworthy. When it came time that Rod was going to skip out on the kids, Mr. Belding throws Rod out of his school and decides to take the kids on the trip in the end. There is a very sweet moment where Zack states that Mr. Belding is the better of the two brothers and they share a wholesome embrace.
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