His cheeky smirk and blonde locks defined a generation in the '90s, making Zack Morris one of the most popular characters in Saturday Morning programming and the King of Bayside High. During the five-season run of Saved By The Bell (and later two seasons of Saved By The Bell: The College Years), he schemed and plotted to have as much fun as possible while doing as little homework as possible, yet somehow graduated at the top of his class.
Looking back on Zack's reign, there are a lot of inconsistencies with his character, from unwarranted scholastic achievement, to somehow maintaining friendships with classmates he treated like dirt. In the popular Saved By The Bell Reboot, Zack is up to his old tricks, causing fans to scratch their heads in disbelief at how a complete slacker ended up winning so much at life.
Zack has always managed to maintain a great group of friends despite treating them abysmally. He's made the government think Screech was an alien worthy of dissection, he's made Kelly feel bad about working to support her family because it meant not being able to go to dances with him, and he's tried to get Slater expelled for stealing the Driver's Ed golf cart.
His friends do get fed up with his behavior at different times, but they always seem to have an endless supply of patience and understanding when it comes to his antics. They respect his feelings far more than he does theirs, and it's hard to believe he could retain the same group of friends through all of high school and beyond.
Zack Morris is known for his elaborate schemes and hijinx at Bayside, almost all of which should get him expelled, yet for some reason he never is, even when it means flooding the gymnasium or stealing a rival high school's mascot.
At one point, he even convinces Screech to help him edit footage of the female students for the Video Yearbook in order to make a dating tape. This tape includes a phone number, allowing any number of sleazeballs who buy it to harass the women at all hours. Zack makes plenty of money with his escort service, yet is never so much as suspended.
It's hard to believe that Zack Morris -who once set rats loose in school to get out of taking a test- ever graduated. If he wasn't trying to leverage a relationship between his father and homeroom teacher Miss Bliss to avoid homework, he was manipulating Screech or The Nerds into doing it.
Zack always seemed to excel in business, but in areas of English, History, or Math, he showed little interest and received poor grades. Even with his reputation as a slacker, he still managed to score 1502 on the SAT and was accepted to Yale University. How did he manage to get a higher score on the SAT than any of his more diligent friends who actually studied?
While some fans maintain Zack and Kelly are part of a great teen love story, Zack's actions clearly indicate he didn't treat Kelly with respect or compassion, so what compels her to stay with him? He once broke up a school dance contest because she was partnered with Slater, and there was the possibility that if they won, their names would forever be immortalized on a trophy (meanwhile, he could have also just entered the dance).
When he asked Kelly to go steady and she finally accepted, his eye wandered to the new school nurse, and he couldn't even remember what question he'd been asking the woman he supposedly loved. How could he think treating Kelly like that was acceptable for so many years, and why did she put up with it?
When the character of AC Slater was first introduced to the series, Zack saw Slater as a rival, and though they quickly became friends instead, the fact that Slater might eventually date Kelly never seemed to leave the back of Zack's mind, and he often tried to manipulate Slater throughout the series to reduce his chances.
Rather than communicate honestly with his supposed best friend about how he feels, he does things like tell everyone Slater is dying when in reality his father is moving the family to Hawaii. The scheme eventually backfires, and it seems Zack has learned his lesson, but of course, fans know that isn't the case.
Beginning with the very first episode of the series, in which Zack crushes on Karen, the new girl in school, Zack develops feelings for every girl that comes to Bayside. Wouldn't he eventually garner a reputation for only pursuing these girls because of their novelty?
Eventually, it gets so bad that he competes with his best friend Slater for the attention of Joanna, and almost ruins a friendship because of how competitive he gets. In the episode "The Fight", the two friends come to actual blows, and it becomes clear their animosity isn't even about dating anymore.
Occasionally Zack's schemes go too far, and venture into the realm of illegalities, like getting Screech to take pictures of his female friends at swim practice and then selling them as part of a school calendar, something which should have gotten the local authorities involved but he's given a slap on the wrist.
In another instance, he takes a class on subliminal messaging to heart and teaches himself hypnosis in order to force girls to fall for him. He goes on to manipulate almost the entire female student body into doing intimate acts without their consent, yet doesn't get in trouble with higher authorities for orchestrating sexual assault en masse.
Zack wouldn't know what a boundary was if it hit him in the face while he was trying to cross it. He enters Mr. Belding's office without permission, bothers him during important scholastic activities, and treats him more like a friend than a mentor. Their casual friendship is bizarre, especially since neither of them even like each other very much.
From nearly getting him fired to almost causing him to miss the birth of his child, Zack isn't exactly a friend Mr. Belding should have, and Zack shouldn't be paling around with his principal.
Zack lives a life of privilege and entitlement. There are very few problems in Zack's life except those he creates, and despite being given every opportunity, he squanders what he has out of a need for more excitement and the rush of power that comes with pushing boundaries.
Somehow during Student-Teacher Week, he's made Acting Principal, because somehow it's good for Bayside that he be given all the same authority and influence as Mr. Belding. His first decree? Enlarging all the "peep-holes in the girl's locker room". Who would put Zack Morris, known trouble maker and social deviant in charge of anything?
After receiving a 75 dollar parking ticket, Zack Morris decides to instigate another of his schemes and somehow ends up running for Governor of California. The particulars around his win are murky in Saved By The Bell: The Reboot, but somehow the citizens of California decide Zack Morris, an industrious criminal is the best choice to lead the state.
His choice to close underfunded schools is immediately controversial and causes the students of Douglas High to have to uproot their lives and transfer to Bayside High. Zack is shown to be a completely inept political figure, prioritizing his position over the future of low-income students as well as a relationship with his son Mac.
