The Morris Code

Let me start by distancing myself from Bill Simmons. The upcoming Morris Code entry sounds like one of the titles in the Sports Guy dictionary. I know I'm not alone in strongly disliking one of the most smug homers in the history of sports writing, nor is it a new thing to rip on him. But, for my own gratification, I hereby state that The Morris Code has nothing to do with the Sports Guy, the Sports Gal, the New England Patriots or the Boston Celtics.

In fact, I can't say it has a lot to do with anything. The whole idea for this entry came yesterday when one of my coworkers was rambling about something and mentioned he would need to use 'Morris Code' to escape the situation he was in.

His usage of 'Morris Code,' of course, is blatantly wrong. What he meant to say was 'Morse Code.' The whole tie-in to Zack Morris just followed on its coattails.

I'm probably one of the few that actually preferred 'Saved by the Bell: The College Years' to the high school version of the show. Before Will Ferrell and Tobey McGuire made James Lipton talking to Screech Powers on "Inside the Actors Studio" part of the cultural zeitgeist, one of my favorite made-for-tv movies was, in fact, "Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style".

To expect solid reasoning from me on that one is a bit much, I can't say I have any reasoning. I do know that Kelly Kapowski was much cuter later in the show's run, not to mention Lisa Turtle. What ever happened to Lisa Turtle anyway? We all know what happened to Jessie Spano.

The most memorable theme of any "Saved by the Bell" episode, to me, is the constant struggle between Slater and Zack for Kelly's affection. My hope was always to see Zack win Kelly. Again, not sure why, but I'm thinking it might have had to do with Slater being a pompous meat head and Zack being a clever beanpole. Sound familiar?

In conclusion, the fact that Fred referred to "Morris Code" yesterday is absolutely ridiculous, and, "Saved by the Bell" did not have nearly as much influence on me as it did others. A good show? Yes. Something I look back upon as a great memory of days gone by? Not so much.