Growing up as a teenager, there must have been a million thingsyou could do to be cool, popular, or at least normal, especially inthe “90s.

But nothing came closer to being all around cool than the oneand only “Saved by the Bell.”

Lions Gate Home Entertainment gets major props by being THEcompany to bring the best show about high school in the “90sto the DVD format, with a five-disc set covering the first twoseasons.

This consummate teen series chronicled the adventures of thepopular preppy Zachary “Zack” Morris (Mark-PaulGosselaar), class beefcake Albert Clifford “A.C.”Slater (Mario Lopez), quintessential nerd Samuel”Screech” Powers (Dustin Diamond), cheerleader KellyKapowski (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen), tall overachiever Jessica Myrtle”Jessie” Spano (Elizabeth Berkeley) and thealways-fashionable Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies) at Bayside HighSchool.

At times, they would receive life advice and counseling from thetitular owner of The Max (Ed Alonzo), the local hangout, and thewannabe hipster with the heart of gold, Principal Richard Belding(Dennis Haskins).

Of course, the show dealt with many teen issues, mostlynot-so-serious (winning the girl or boy of somebody’s dreams)to the very serious (run-ins with parents and breaking the law,even substance abuse). A lot of it was clichéd too,reminding people what the term “after school special”stands for. The jokes were corny, the acting was horrible, and eventhe music was embarrassing (if Muzak ever went all-out synthesized,the underscoring of the series would be it).

But there was appeal to the show in the form of the castmembers. They looked good, they behaved cool and people related toit. They didn’t just deal with stupid, heavy-handedrepresentations of life as a minor. They did it with a style andpanache that’s been missing from teen entertainment, whichhave gone the way of the sick and twisted mostly.

Sure, even the ideals and philosophies date back as far as the”50s and are pretty conservative.

And yes, that’s pushing it – analyzing “Saved by theBell” as though it were this generation’s “Leaveit to Beaver,” but it may as well should be. There’smore pride in laying claim to growing up with “Saved by theBell” than with any other show, even “Beverly Hills,90210.” We all wanted to be or felt like one of the six:Zack, A.C., Screech, Kelly, Jessie or Lisa. And deep down inside,weall still are.

Cut and dry, the set has nothing but the 20 episodes from thefirst season (late August 1989 to early January 1990) and the 13episodes from the second season (early September 1990 tomid-December 1990).

There are no extras, commentaries, nada. If you love the show,you can imagine what a plus it would have been to have the castlook back on this beloved piece of early “90s Americana. Butalas, it’s not to be. The show speaks for itself, though, andthe episodes look as good as can be remembered from TV, which ispretty damned good.

Come back and visit Bayside, where the guys can be dweebs andall the girls are pretty. Remember a time when you too wanted to be”Saved by the Bell.”