Good Morning, Miss Bliss
Encyclopedia
Good Morning, Miss Bliss is an American teen sitcom that aired on the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...

 from 1988 to 1989 (and later in syndication as part of the Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell is an American television sitcom that aired between 1989 and 1993. The series is a retooled version of the 1988 series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was itself later folded into the history of Saved by the Bell...

 rerun package), starring Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills is an English actress. The daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and sister of actress Juliet Mills, Mills began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising newcomer, winning the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Tiger Bay , the Academy Juvenile Award...

 as a teacher at John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

 Junior High School in Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

.

The show was originally a pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

, which was inspired by NBC president Brandon Tartikoff
Brandon Tartikoff
Brandon Tartikoff was a television executive who was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, ALF, Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, Miami Vice, The Golden Girls, Knight Rider, The A-Team, St...

's idea for a show about an "inspiring" teacher. NBC decided not to pick up the pilot, but Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...

 did, premiering the show on November 30, 1988, and airing it for one season. The show was later retooled as Saved by the Bell, with much of the same cast but without Mills, and with a different setting. The latter show focused on the students rather than the teacher, and had a much more successful run.

Plot


The series focused on the life of junior high school teacher Miss Carrie Bliss (Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills is an English actress. The daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and sister of actress Juliet Mills, Mills began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising newcomer, winning the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Tiger Bay , the Academy Juvenile Award...

) at John F. Kennedy Junior High in Indianapolis. She was often put into morally difficult situations by her work and often served as the only person her students could turn to. Her eighth grade
Eighth grade
Eighth grade is a year of education in the United States, Canada, Australia and other nations. Students are usually 13 - 14 years old. The eighth grade is typically the final grade before high school, and the ninth grade of public and private education, following kindergarten and subsequent grades...

 students included:

Zack Morris
Zack Morris
Zachary "Zack" Morris is a fictional character from the sitcoms Good Morning, Miss Bliss; Saved by the Bell; and Saved by the Bell: The College Years. He was portrayed by Mark-Paul Gosselaar...

 (Mark-Paul Gosselaar
Mark-Paul Gosselaar
Mark-Paul Harry Gosselaar is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Zack Morris in NBC's Saved by the Bell, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, and Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Detective John Clark in NYPD Blue, Jerry Kellerman in TNT's Raising the Bar, and more recently Peter...

), a charming, manipulative scamp; lazy and not necessarily a good student and always looking for the easy way out.

Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies
Lark Voorhies
Lark Voorhies is an American actress who rose to fame playing Lisa Turtle in Saved by the Bell, for which she was nominated for the Young Artist Award four times, winning in 1990 and 1993. She also portrayed the role as a regular on Good Morning, Miss Bliss.-Acting career:Voorhies made her acting...

), a rich shopaholic; and best friend of Nikki. Lisa is the crush of many guys in the school and in Miss Bliss' class, especially Screech.

Samuel "Screech" Powers (Dustin Diamond
Dustin Diamond
Dustin Neil Diamond is an American actor, musician, director, and stand-up comedian best known for his role as Samuel "Screech" Powers in the television shows Saved by the Bell, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Saved by the Bell: The College Years and Saved by the Bell: The New Class.-Career:Diamond's...

), an awkward nerd
Nerd
Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...

 with a crush on Lisa, very weird around others.

Mikey Gonzalez (Max Battimo
Max Battimo
Maximiliano Cardenas Battimo is an American hockey official and former actor. At the age of 2, he was moved to Los Angeles, California. Max decided he wanted to be an actor at an early age. He played Mikey Gonzalez on Good Morning, Miss Bliss from 1988–1989...

), Zack's best friend, who, while not as awkward as Screech, would become quite shy around girls; a good student, especially in math and history but sometimes gets into conflict with Zack.

and Nikki Coleman (Heather Hopper), who was outspoken and often advocated the moral course of action when the others decided to do something mischievous.

The show also featured Mylo Williams (T.K. Carter), a maintenance supervisor, and Miss Tina Paladrino (Joan Ryan), a quirky teacher and friend of Miss Bliss, with whom she would often discuss her personal life, with Miss Paladrino acting as sounding board. Dennis Haskins
Dennis Haskins
Dennis Haskins is an American actor known for his role as principal Richard Belding in the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell, which ran from 1989 to 1993 on NBC. He then went on to star in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which aired from 1993 to 2000...

 played the principal of John F. Kennedy Junior High, Mr. Richard Belding.

The show was cancelled after 13 episodes, and the rights were acquired by NBC, who reformatted Good Morning, Miss Bliss into Saved by the Bell. The series was integrated into the Saved by the Bell syndicated rerun package; episodes from this series were later introduced with a cold open
Cold open
A cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...

 by Mark-Paul Gosselaar
Mark-Paul Gosselaar
Mark-Paul Harry Gosselaar is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Zack Morris in NBC's Saved by the Bell, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, and Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Detective John Clark in NYPD Blue, Jerry Kellerman in TNT's Raising the Bar, and more recently Peter...

 explaining that these were from an earlier time frame than the rest of the series (despite the fact that the previous series was, for all intents and purposes, a different continuity), along with a retrofitted version of the regular Saved by the Bell opening theme.

Cast

  • Hayley Mills
    Hayley Mills
    Hayley Mills is an English actress. The daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and sister of actress Juliet Mills, Mills began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising newcomer, winning the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Tiger Bay , the Academy Juvenile Award...

     as Miss Carrie Bliss
  • Dennis Haskins
    Dennis Haskins
    Dennis Haskins is an American actor known for his role as principal Richard Belding in the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell, which ran from 1989 to 1993 on NBC. He then went on to star in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which aired from 1993 to 2000...

     as Mr. Richard Belding
  • Joan Ryan as Miss Tina Paladrino
  • Mark-Paul Gosselaar
    Mark-Paul Gosselaar
    Mark-Paul Harry Gosselaar is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Zack Morris in NBC's Saved by the Bell, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, and Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Detective John Clark in NYPD Blue, Jerry Kellerman in TNT's Raising the Bar, and more recently Peter...

     as Zachary "Zack" Morris
    Zack Morris
    Zachary "Zack" Morris is a fictional character from the sitcoms Good Morning, Miss Bliss; Saved by the Bell; and Saved by the Bell: The College Years. He was portrayed by Mark-Paul Gosselaar...

  • Max Battimo
    Max Battimo
    Maximiliano Cardenas Battimo is an American hockey official and former actor. At the age of 2, he was moved to Los Angeles, California. Max decided he wanted to be an actor at an early age. He played Mikey Gonzalez on Good Morning, Miss Bliss from 1988–1989...

     as Mikey Gonzalez
  • Dustin Diamond
    Dustin Diamond
    Dustin Neil Diamond is an American actor, musician, director, and stand-up comedian best known for his role as Samuel "Screech" Powers in the television shows Saved by the Bell, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Saved by the Bell: The College Years and Saved by the Bell: The New Class.-Career:Diamond's...

     as Samuel "Screech" Powers
  • Heather Hopper as Nicole "Nikki" Coleman
  • Lark Voorhies
    Lark Voorhies
    Lark Voorhies is an American actress who rose to fame playing Lisa Turtle in Saved by the Bell, for which she was nominated for the Young Artist Award four times, winning in 1990 and 1993. She also portrayed the role as a regular on Good Morning, Miss Bliss.-Acting career:Voorhies made her acting...

     as Lisa Turtle
  • T.K. Carter as Mylo Williams

Episodes

# Airdate Title Overview
0 July 11, 1987 Pilot On the first day of school, Miss Bliss tries to help a student who she learns is having problems dealing with a situation involving his older brother dying. This episode was aired only once.
1 November 30, 1988 "Summer Love" Zack finds out the older, 9th grade girl he had told everyone he was with at summer camp, Karen (Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino is an American actress known for her roles of Sally Jupiter in Watchmen, Dr. Vera Gorski in Sucker Punch, Lucille in Sin City, Amanda Daniels in seasons 3, 5 and 7 of Entourage, Ingrid Cortez in the Spy Kids film trilogy, and as the lead characters of the television series Karen Sisco...

), has transferred to JFK, and he tries to keep up the charade that he too is in the 9th grade.
2 December 7, 1988 "Love Letters" Screech asks Zack to write a love letter from him to Lisa.
3 December 14, 1988 "Wall Street" While doing a class project on stocks, Zack invests the class's money on risky stocks.
4 December 21, 1988 "Leaping to Conclusions" Nikki refuses to do the science class's frog dissection
Dissection
Dissection is usually the process of disassembling and observing something to determine its internal structure and as an aid to discerning the functions and relationships of its components....

.
5 December 28, 1988 "Parents and Teachers" Zack's dad Peter (Robert Pine
Robert Pine
Robert Pine is an American actor who has starred on television and in film. He is probably best known for his role as Sgt. Joseph Getraer on the hit NBC television series CHiPs from 1977 to 1983.-Personal life:...

) meets Miss Bliss at a parent/teacher conference and they find they are attracted to one another.
6 January 4, 1989 "Showdown" Screech's friends encourage him to stand up to bully Deke Simmons (Andras Jones
Andras Jones
Andras Jones is an American actor who has worked in movies and in television. He is perhaps best known for his role in the 1988 hit horror movie A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master as the central character Rick Johnson....

).
7 January 25, 1989 "Save the Last Dance for Me" Zack and Mikey fight over Shana (Alexondra Lee
Alexondra Lee
Alexondra Lee is an American actress. She is married to actor Stephen Dunham.She was born in Pennsylvania to parents Mae and Harry Lee. Lee studied ballet since the age of four and has danced in The Nutcracker Suite with the New York City Ballet Company. She began dancing with the New York City...

) whom Mikey likes, but who asks Zack to a dance instead.
8 February 11, 1989 "The Boy Who Cried Rat" Miss Bliss is a candidate for Teacher of the Year; Zack let's Screech's pet rat out into the school to avoid a midterm.
9 February 18, 1989 "Let's Get Together" Zack and Nikki are arguing and then are partnered for a class project; Tina moves in with Miss Bliss after her boyfriend dumps her and subsequently drives her crazy.
10 February 25, 1989 "Practical Jokes" A mock trial is held after a series of practical jokes ends in one that breaks Miss Bliss's "unfooled" streak.
11 March 4, 1989 "Stevie" Zack bets Nikki he can kiss pop singer Stevie (Suzanne Tara).
12 March 11, 1989 "Clubs and Cliques" Zack is embarrassed by some older students who invite him into a "cool" club. Miss Bliss and Mr. Belding trade places for a week.
13 March 18, 1989 "The Mentor" Miss Bliss's former teacher Mr. James Lyman (Robert Donner
Robert Donner
Robert Donner was an American actor who made many appearances in television series and films in a career spanning more than 40 years.-Early life and career:...

) returns and causes controversy with his teaching methods.

Original pilot

The original pilot for Good Morning, Miss Bliss aired on July 11, 1987, on NBC (in The Facts of Life
The Facts of Life (TV series)
The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to May 7, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focused on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, a prestigious...

s timeslot). It featured up-and-comers Brian Austin Green
Brian Austin Green
Brian Austin Green is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of David Silver on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210, a role he played from 1990 to 2000. Green also starred in the sitcom Freddie and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Since 2009, he has appeared in a recurring...

 (who later got his big break on Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...

) as Adam Montcrief, Jaleel White
Jaleel White
Jaleel Ahmad White is an American actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Steve Urkel from Family Matters and voicing the character of Sonic the Hedgehog and other characters for Sonic the Hedgehog media....

 (who later got his big break on Family Matters) as Bobby Wilson, and Jonathan Brandis
Jonathan Brandis
Jonathan Gregory Brandis was an American actor, director, and screenwriter.-Early life and career:Brandis was born in Danbury, Connecticut, the only child of Mary, a teacher and personal manager, and Gregory Brandis, a food distributor and firefighter. He began his career as a child model and...

 (who later got his big break on seaQuest DSV
SeaQuest DSV
seaQuest DSV is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it was renamed seaQuest 2032. Set in "the near future", seaQuest mixes high drama with realistic scientific fiction...

) as Michael Thompson. Brian Austin Green was, in essence, the "lead" student in the pilot, a particularly serious student, who wore business suits.

Several other characters from the series existed in the pilot but were played by different actors; Mr. Gerald Belding was played by Oliver Clark
Oliver Clark
Oliver Clark is an American character actor.Clark was born Richard Mardirosian in Buffalo, New York, the son of Afro and Matthew Mardirosian. He is of Armenian heritage. His brother, Tom Mardirosian, is also an actor. Clark made numerous appearances in film and television, particularly in the...

, and Miss Tina Paladrino was played by Maria O'Brien. Other characters include Gabriel Damon
Gabriel Damon
Gabriel Damon , is an American actor born in Reno, Nevada.-Biography:He was exposed to the performing arts as early as 3 years old, when his parents and family moved to Los Angeles, California. After doing more than 100 commercials, his first role was in the 1984 TV series Call to Glory...

 as Bradley; Samantha Mills as Wendy; Julie Ronnie
Julie Ronnie
Julie Ronnie is an American actress who appeared on the daytime TV soap Santa Barbara as Laken Lockridge from 1984 to 1985. Raised in Torrance, California, Julie is a Torrance High School Alumni....

 as Lonnie Maple; Matt Shakman as Georgie Winslow; Charles Siebert
Charles Siebert
Charles Siebert is an American actor and television director. As an actor he is best known for his role as Dr. Stanley Riverside II on Trapper John, M.D. which he portrayed from 1979-1986...

 as Charlie Davis; Britton Elliott as Janet Hillhurst; Josh Goddard as Steven; and Andrea Messersmith as Laurie.

Syndication

After the huge success of Saved by the Bell, episodes of this series were added to the syndication package. As previously mentioned, intros by Mark-Paul Gosselaar, in character as Zack Morris
Zack Morris
Zachary "Zack" Morris is a fictional character from the sitcoms Good Morning, Miss Bliss; Saved by the Bell; and Saved by the Bell: The College Years. He was portrayed by Mark-Paul Gosselaar...

, were added to the beginning of each episode, and the title sequence was remade in the style of Saved by the Bell (giving Good Morning, Miss Bliss the title Saved by the Bell: The Junior High Years). The series currently reruns on TBS
TBS (TV channel)
TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...

, along with its spin-off. Good Morning Miss Bliss and Saved by the Bell were previously aired on The N
TeenNick
TeenNick, formerly The N, is an American television network aimed at the teenage market. TeenNick is owned by the MTV Networks subsidiary, Viacom. The channel was originally known as The N from its April 1, 2002 launch until September 28, 2009....

from late 2008 to July 2009.
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