'Saved By The Bell' Revival Casts Biological Male to Play 'Most Popular Girl in School'

Did you know that a revival of Saved By The Bell was in development? If you’re a nineties child like me, you probably watched the show more than you care to admit.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard any news about the revival since it was announced in September, but on Monday, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the Saved By The Bell revival has finally cast its lead role.

The role of Lexi, who is described as “a beautiful, sharp-tongued cheerleader and the most popular girl at Bayside High who is both admired and feared by her fellow students,” has been given to a biological male.

Time out.

What?

Yep. The male actor formerly known as J.J. Totah got started in his acting career in 2012 playing male roles, because, obviously, he is a male. He came out as transgender in August 2018 in a TIME magazine essay.

“My pronouns are she, her and hers. I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female,” he wrote. “And my name is Josie Totah.”

“This is not something that just happened,” he continued. “This is not a choice that I made. When I was five, long before I understood what the word gender meant, I would always tell my mother that I wished I were a girl.”

He added, “I always knew on some level that I was female. But it crystallized about three years ago when I was a 14-year-old watching the show I Am Jazz with my mother.”

I Am Jazz was a documentary series glorifying a 14-year-old boy undergoing gender transition.

He joins original Saved By The Bell cast members Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley (who are reprising their roles as A.C. Slater and Jessie Spano) in the revival that will be launching on NBCUniversal’s forthcoming Peacock streaming service, set to launch in April.

The plot of the new version of Saved By The Bell was revealed back in September when the revival was announced:

When California governor Zack Morris gets into hot water for closing too many low-income high schools, he proposes they send the affected students to the highest performing schools in the state — including Bayside High. The influx of new students gives the over privileged Bayside kids a much needed and hilarious dose of reality.

It is not clear whether the Lexi character will be a transgender character, or meant to be a biological female. I also do not know whether or not Totah has undergone any “medical” transition.

According to recent estimates, a mere 0.6 percent of the population identify as transgender. If you watch prime time television, it’s quite clear that Hollywood is aggressively trying to promote LGBT themes and characters in their programming. If you believe in traditional values, and you know, biology and science, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find shows that aren’t pushing this radical social agenda on you and your kids.

The original Saved By The Bell was by no means a good show, but it was a staple of Saturday morning television for many ’90s kids, who can probably still remember all the words to its iconic intro:

If you were “so excited” about this revival before, I suspect this scene accurately shows how your views have changed:

As for me, if I was moderately curious about the revival before, I’ve completely lost interest now. Not that I ever planned to subscribe to Peacock in the first place, but one thing’s for sure, I don’t need to waste my time watching television shows that try to push the falsehood that it is possible to change gender.