Dustin Diamond Movies

Paul Reubens's followup to the box-office hit Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is just as outrageous and cartoonish, though not as good. This time, child-man Pee-Wee runs a colorful farm, chock full of talking animals and outsized produce. On the morning after a tornado of Wizard of Oz dimensions, Pee-Wee awakens to discover that a travelling circus has been deposited in his back yard. Befriended by circus owner Kris Kristofferson, Pee-Wee takes an acrobatic job, hoping to impress lovely trapeze artist Valeria Golino--thereby incurring the jealous rage of his hometown sweetie Penelope Ann Miller. When the circus is faced with bankruptcy, Pee-Wee comes up with a brilliant idea: why not stage a three-ring spectacular celebrating the wonders of agriculture? A partial takeoff of such earlier sawdust-trail flicks as Martin and Lewis' Three Ring Circus and Disney's Toby Tyler, Big Top Pee-Wee is generally entertaining, but goes off in too many directions at once, leaving a lot of loose plot ends and underdeveloped characters. Also, Pee-Wee's overactive libido (at least in this film!) is not all that suitable for his younger fans. Even so, there are plenty of hilarious set-pieces. Big Top Pee-Wee was produced and cowritten by Paul Reubens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Stan Dragoti, whose forte is plumbing the depths of the male psyche, plumbs those depths once again in She's Out of Control. Tony Danza stars as Doug Simpson, a broadcasting executive who has trouble adjusting to the fact that his fifteen-year-old daughter Katie (Ami Dolenz) is blossoming into a sexual being. This realization kicks in after his fiancee Janet (Catherine Hicks) takes Katie for a makeover; suddenly she appears before Doug looking like a sultry super model. Now Doug is unable to look at his daughter as anything other than as a sexy chick, and he spends his time fending off packs of horny suitors while dictating morality to Katie. It finally gets to the point where Doug consults with television psychiatrist Dr. Fishbinder (Wallace Shawn), who recommends that Doug read a book he has written for single fathers, advising him, "If you're a slow reader, you better put your daughter on the pill." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

That madcap gang from the popular TV teen show, Saved by the Bell, head for Hawaii to save the tiny resort of Kelly's grandfather from an avaricious developer. Mayhem, and romance ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The second season of Saved by the Bell: The New Class marks the return of (arguably) the most popular character from the original Saved by the Bell: Dustin Diamond as the estimable Samuel "Screech" Powers, now a college student doing his academic internship as administrative assistant to Bayside High School principal Richard Belding (Dennis Haskins). Of the students introduced during season one, only "Tommy D" (Jonathan Angel), Lindsay (Natalia Cigliuti), and Megan (Bianca Lawson) remain; gone are Scott, "Weasel," and Vicki, replaced by Bobby Wilson (Spankee Rogers), Swiss exchange student Brian Keller (Christian Oliver), and Rachel Myers (Sarah Lancaster), a recurring character elevated to regular for season two. Highlights this season include a cycle of "summer" episodes in which Mr. Belding and Screech manage the Palisades Hills Country Club, hiring the other regulars as temporary help. Also worthy of mention is the episode "Breaking Up," featuring Kim Baranof's one and only appearance as Brian Keller's sister Kate; and the two-part season finale, in which it appears for a time that Bayside will be closing its doors -- prompting return guest appearances by Saved by the Bell alumni Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies), and A.C. Slater (Mario López). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A sequel to the popular NBC weekend seriocomic series Saved by the Bell, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which first aired September 11, 1993, was set not long after the familiar regulars from the original series had graduated from Bayside High School. During the sequel's first season, only the character of Principal Richard Belding (Dennis Haskins) was carried over from the first Saved by the Bell. The sequel's initial episodes introduced Bayside's incoming sophomore class: Scott Erickson (Robert Sutherland Telfer), Barton "Weasel" Wyzell (Isaac Lidsky), "Tommy D." DeLuca (Jonathan Angel), Megan Jones (Bianca Lawson), Lindsay Warner (Natalia Cigiluti), and Vicki Needleman (Bonnie Russavage). Fans of the earlier series could not help but notice that the new cast bore many of the character traits associated with the Saved by the Bell regulars -- notably Scott, who came off as the new incarnation of the earlier show's inimitable Samuel "Screech" Powers (Dustin Diamond). This may be why Scott was among the characters eliminated during The New Class' second season, when, in a ratings-boosting move, "Screech" returned, this time as a college student working on a trial basis as Mr. Belding's administrative assistant. (Other Saved by the Bell favorites would pop up as guest stars in later New Class episodes.)

Each successive season of Saved By the Bell: The New Class found a handful of new students either joining the existing cast members or replacing departing regulars. Newcomers in season two included Rachel Myers (Sarah Lancaster, who'd played the role on a sporadic basis in the previous season), Brian Keller (Christian Oliver), and Bobby Wilson (Spankee Rogers). Season three brought forth R.J. Collins (Salim Grant), Maria Lopez (Samantha Becker), and Ryan Parker (Richard Lee Jackson). In season four we met Nicky Farina (Ben Gould), Katie Peterson (Lindsey McKeon), and Eric Little (Anthony Harrell). New to the cast in season five was Liz Miller (Ashley Lyn Cafagna). And in season six, Tony Dillon (Tom Wade Huntington) joined the student body. Plot-wise, Saved by the Bell: The New Class followed the formula established by its predecessor: zany comedy set pieces, intramural romances, seemingly insurmountable crises, brushes with such social problems as drunk driving, smoking, drug use, and premarital sex, impromptu musical numbers, and exotic "field trips" to faraway locales. Although only six seasons of The New Class episodes were produced, the series lasted seven first-run years on NBC, its final season split into two 13-episode segments and spread out over a two-year period. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The class roster of Saved by the Bell: The New Class' fourth season includes two carryovers from season three, Maria (Samantha Becker) and Ryan (Richard Lee Jackson). Of the missing students, Lindsey has gone off to college, "Tommy D" has moved to Florida, and R.J. has apparently vanished from the face of the earth. Among the newcomers this season are Ryan's new stepbrother, Nicky (Ben Gould), sexy Katie (Lindsay McKeon), and football jock Eric (Anthony Harrell). Of course, Richard Belding (Dennis Haskins) remains the principal of Bayside High School, with former student "Screech" Powers (Dustin Diamond) fulfilling his college requirements as Belding's administrative assistant. As in the previous season, several The New Class episodes have been recycled from storylines previously utilized on the original Saved by the Bell. "Backstage Pass" bears a strong resemblance to the earlier series' "Dancing to the Max"; "Baby Care" is a remake of "The Mamas and the Papas"; and "Fall Formal" has its roots in "The Prom." The season's two-part finale finds the students' favorite hangout, The Max, accidentally burning down, thereby cuing a "clip" show culled from both Saved by the Bell incarnations, with Mario López reprising his role of A.C. Slater from the earlier series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Twenty-six episodes of Saved by the Bell: The New Class were produced for the series' sixth season. However, only 13 were telecast, with the remaining 13 withheld from view until the series' seventh and final year on the air. Virtually all of the regulars seen in season five have returned to Bayside High School this term. The only "dropout" is Richard Lee Jackson as Ryan, while the sole newcomer is Tom Wade Huntington as Tony. This last-named character figures into one of the series' traditional "problem" episodes, in which the students try to dissuade Tony from smoking cigarettes. Another example of a "serious" issue amidst all the hilarity is the episode in which student Katie (Lindsey McKeon) must fend off the sexual harassment of her new boss. Inasmuch as season six of The New Class has been literally cut in half, the season ends with the obligatory Christmas episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Former co-stars of the TV sitcom Head of the Class teamed up to write the story and script for this teen comedy. When junior high-school student Jason Shepherd (Frankie Muniz) realizes that his class paper has been ripped off and turned into a hit motion picture called "Big Fat Liar," he takes matters into his own hands. Along with his best friend, Kaylee (Amanda Bynes), Jason travels to Los Angeles, where he intends to confront Hollywood big shot Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti), the sleazy producer responsible for ripping him off. When he's unable to get Wolf to do the right thing, Jason subjects the showbiz power broker to a series of humiliating pranks and stunts designed to make an honest man out of him. Big Fat Liar co-stars Lee Majors and Amanda Detmer. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide