Aired on Labor Day weekend, the Lifetime TV movie "The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story" received negative comments from critics.
Loosely based on Dustin Diamond's tell-all book "Behind the Bell," "The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story" was intended to the share behind-the-scenes details of the hit 1990s high school sitcom "Saved by the Bell," in which Diamond played Samuel "Screech" Powers.
Since most of the "Saved by the Bell" cast members are against the book and the movie, most of the things that happened in the movie are unlikely to be true, Mark Snetiker of Entertainment Weekly wrote.
The entirety of "The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story" was told through the perspective of Diamond, who also executive produced by the movie, according to Washington Post.
If there is one scene in the movie that is moderately true, that is the part when the young actors complain about the negative reviews "Save by the Bell" received after its premiere, Brian Lowry of Variety commented.
Among the other things "The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story" claimed to have happened is that Lark Voorhie's role in "Save by the Bell" was originally meant to be a Jewish-American princess and Mark-Paul Gosselaar is part Indonesian and part Dutch.
The movie also claimed "Save by the Bell" producer Peter Engel was unsure if he was right guy for a middle school show while Diamond's father did not approve of his acting career until he watched him perform during live tapings.
Shortly after the two-hour movie's first scene, #UnauthorizedSavedbytheBellStory became a trending topic on Twitter worldwide.
Directed by Jason Lapeyre and written by Ron McGee, "The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story" stars Sam Kindseth as Diamond, Dylan Everett as Gosselaar, Taylor Russell as Voorhies, Tiera Skovbye as Elizabeth Berkley, Alyssa Lynch as Tiffani-Amber Thiessen and Julian Works as Mario Lopez among others.