Wedding Time...

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Gunner’s Mate First Class Freeman Gill (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 11, 1898, on board the USS Marblehead. His citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. Marblehead during the operation of cutting the cable leading from Cienfuegos, Cuba, 11 May 1898. Facing the heavy fire of the enemy, Gill set an example of extraordinary bravery and coolness throughout this action.

Corporal James R. Gillenwater (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on September 3, 1899, near Porac Luzon, Philippine Islands. His citation reads:

While on a scout drove off a superior force of insurgents and with the assistance of 1 comrade brought from the field of action the bodies of 2 comrades, 1 killed and the other severely wounded.

First Lieutenant George L. Gillespie (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 31, 1864, near Bethesda Church, Virginia. His citation reads:

Exposed himself to great danger by voluntarily making his way through the enemy's lines to communicate with Gen. Sheridan. While rendering this service he was captured, but escaped; again came in contact with the enemy, was again ordered to surrender, but escaped by dashing away under fire.


I am in Clemson for my cousin Susan’s wedding… more on that tomorrow (or Monday).


The I’m just sayin… Kid Show of the Week>

Our Kid Show of the Week today is Saved by the Bell. Saved by the Bell is a 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 backstory of Saved by the Bell. The TV series followed the exploits of several students along with their principal at fictional Bayside High School. Each season of the series basically represented a year of high school for the students, plus summer vacations, ending with their graduation. The sitcom name is an idiom for being saved, by a school bell ringing, when a student is unprepared to answer a question asked near the end of a classroom period. The show stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, Lark Voorhies, and Dennis Haskins, who appeared in Good Morning, Miss Bliss, as well as Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, and Mario Lopez, who joined the cast for Saved by the Bell.

The show often incorporated dramatic elements into episodes by dealing with real teen social issues, such as friendship, drug use, driving under the influence, homelessness, financial issues, divorce, graduation, college, sibling rivalry, taking responsibilities for one's actions, bullying, death, and environmental issues.

The show's popularity allowed for two spin-off series: Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993–1994), a prime time series which followed several of the original characters' college experiences, and Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993–2000), a Saturday-morning series which followed a new group of students at Bayside High School. The college years was pretty good… the new class, not so much. The series also spawned two TV movies and a short-lived comic book series. Saved by the Bell originated in an NBC pilot entitled Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was inspired by then NBC president Brandon Tartikoff's teachers from his past. The show was set in Indianapolis, Indiana. NBC decided not to pick up the pilot, but Disney Channel did and aired the series for one season. Unlike the series that followed, the intention was to focus on the life of the teacher Miss Bliss, played by Hayley Mills, as the main character. The characters of Zack Morris, Samuel "Screech" Powers, Lisa Turtle, and Mr. Richard Belding all originated on the series; other main characters, including other classmates Nikki Coleman (Heather Hopper), Mikey Gonzalez (Max Battimo), and maintenance supervisor Mylo Williams (T. K. Carter), were discontinued when the show changed direction. Jaleel White, Brian Austin Green, and Jonathan Brandis all had roles in the pilot episode. The show was canceled after 13 episodes, and the rights were acquired by NBC, which had reconsidered the matter.

Seeing that it had merit, they decided to revamp and recreate the series (their second live-action youth series in a five-year period). Executive Producer Peter Engel wanted the show to be called When the Bell Rings, but Tartikoff convinced him to go with the title Saved by the Bell.[4] Three of the teens from the original cast—Gosselaar, Diamond, and Voorhies—remained on the show, playing the same characters with only minor changes to their backstories. Haskins also stayed on as Mr. Belding. However, the setting was changed from Indianapolis, Indiana, to the fictional "Bayside High School" in the Palisades in Los Angeles, California. The two students dropped from the original series were replaced by three new additions. Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen) and Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley) were introduced as longtime friends of the original three characters and new transfer student A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez) rounded out the group. Max (Ed Alonzo), the proprietor of the local restaurant hangout The Max, was also a cast member in early episodes. The focus of the show was shifted toward the exploits of the students themselves, and Zack Morris became the show's lead character. Several teachers recurred over the course of the series, but Mr. Belding was the only school authority figure ever to be in the main cast. After the show's second season, NBC sold the series off into syndication with the Good Morning, Miss Bliss episodes included to pad out the syndication package, despite the plot-continuity problems and production changes. The Good Morning, Miss Bliss episodes were edited to include openings to match the Saved by the Bell episodes. These episodes are sometimes billed as Saved by the Bell: The Junior High Years. Mark-Paul Gosselaar would do in-character commentaries, addressed to viewers, before each of the earlier episodes, explaining that the episodes occurred in "junior high". The show performed extremely well for NBC, and despite being trashed by TV critics, it quickly became the highest-rated show on Saturday mornings. At the height of its popularity, the cast of the show did many road tours to malls and other places, where they would interact with fans and sign autographs. The show's popularity on Saturday morning is what led NBC to shift from airing mainly cartoons to more live-action teen-oriented shows (California Dreams, Hang Time, etc.) under the TNBC banner. Each season of the series essentially represented a year of high school for the students, culminating in their graduation.

In the fall of 1991, at the start of season three, the series was expanded to one hour with all new hour-long episodes. In the show's final season, NBC doubled the number of episodes ordered, despite the fact that they would have to re-sign the entire cast to new contracts in order to film them. Thiessen and Berkley refused to sign a new contract for these new episodes, resulting in a block of episodes that feature a new character, Tori Scott (Leanna Creel) in their place.

The final episode of the series aired in prime time on May 22, 1993. The episode, in which the cast graduated from high school, was filmed before Thiessen and Berkley left the show. No mention is made as to what happened to Tori Scott. The series finale was followed by a special airing of the Saved by the Bell: The College Years pilot episode, to set up the next phase of the characters' lives.

While the show is better to watch with older kids… it’s still a good show to watch with children of all ages.