Top 10 Times Zack Morris Was the Worst

In the “Saved by the Bell” precursor, Zack makes a bet with his friend Nikki that he can get a kiss from Stevie, an ex-student-turned-pop-star, who returns for her farewell concert. Establishing himself as the school’s trickster from the beginning, he plans to win the bet by pretending he’s dying. Somehow, almost everyone is fooled by Zack’s ploy, except Miss Bliss, who sees straight through his deceit. Although he technically loses the bet, an undeserving Zack still manages to steal a kiss. And as always, Zack seems to learn his lesson, that is until the end credits roll.

In order to impress the new girl, Kristy, Zack enlists Jessie’s help to overturn a rule that prevents women from joining the wrestling team. Under the ruse of an interview, Zack saunters into the girl’s locker room and only leaves once Kristy agrees to go out with him. During their date, Zack almost gets into a fight, but after Kristy steps in, the only thing that gets bruised is his ego. His behavior almost leads Kristy to quit the team, but he convinces her that he’s the one with the problem - and we’d have to agree.

When money is involved, we can practically see the dollar signs light up in Zack’s eyes. When the gang decides to sell friendship bracelets for a school project, he takes over, causing the group to split. He then proceeds to overwork Lisa, refuses to pay anyone for their labor, and even sells Screech for some extra bucks. His own greed brings about the downfall of “Friendship Forever”. But he plots to sabotage his friends’ rival business too. He’s such an awful friend that it’s hard to understand why they’re so quick to forgive him.

Slater finally feels at home at Bayside. But when jealousy rears its ugly head, Zack stumbles across the perfect opportunity to eliminate his competition. Zack tells his friends that Slater is dying and the only known treatment is in Hawaii. He manages to convince them all to shun Slater so that he’ll feel unwanted and leave. Even though at first they’re apprehensive, eventually they decide to overlook Zack’s penchant for diabolical plans and play along, leaving Slater to believe that everyone really hates him. It’s only when Kelly makes an unexpected announcement that Zack’s whole twisted scheme starts to unravel.

If a girl is willing to laugh at your misogynistic jokes, then chances are she’s probably into you. So, it was no surprise when Wendy placed the winning bid on Zack during Bayside’s highly inappropriate dating auction. Zack initially has his eyes set on someone else but when Wendy is victorious he barely even tries to hide his disappointment. We’re not quite sure what Wendy sees in him as he never hesitates to engage in body-shaming, and even lies to get away from her. She soon sees through his facade and rightfully calls him out for being superficial.

While an episode centering on mental health would have been groundbreaking in the early 90s, Zack finds a way to ruin this too. Not only does he abuse what’s meant to be an anonymous advice hotline to get a date, but his reaction upon learning that she uses a wheelchair is excruciating to watch. He’s consistently inappropriate and offensive, pointing out her wheelchair to anyone within earshot and acting like it’s the most important thing about her. While he might have believed that he’s being protective of Melissa, he actually comes across as rude, disrespectful, and completely shallow.

This episode made headlines when Mark-Paul Gosselaar apologized for its racist content. While working on a family tree project, Zack discovers he has Native American roots. Presenting his findings to the class, he manages to turn a rich heritage into a caricature, complete with war paint and broken English. Only his teacher seems to call out how offensive this is, although maybe she should have also advised him that wearing a Native American costume wasn’t appropriate either. This whole concept should have probably been left on the cutting room floor.

Serving as a PSA on the dangers of drinking and driving, the gang tries to cover-up the damage when Zack crashes Lisa’s mom’s car on the way home from a party. While Screech would have been the logical choice for a designated driver, Zack decides to get behind the wheel and then convinces his friends to lie about the accident. While the guilt weighs heavily on the others, Zack goes to all lengths to avoid taking any responsibility, although even he eventually realizes that he can’t keep lying forever. This is one of the few occasions where Zack truly does learn his lesson.

As a reward for making the honor-roll, Lisa’s dad loans her his credit card. But she goes a tad overboard, raking up a bill of almost $400. She ignores Jessie and Kelly’s completely reasonable advice and instead turns to Zack for help and, as we know, he just can’t resist a good ol’ get-rich-quick scheme. As if auctioning off her clothes isn’t degrading enough, he also holds a raffle where the grand prize is a kiss with Lisa, without her consent. To add insult to injury, when she tells him that she feels cheap, his response is far from comforting.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

When He Ignored Jessie in Her Time of Need
Perhaps If He’d Cared Sooner, Jessie Wouldn’t Have Been So Scared

When He Caused Slater to Crash During Driver’s Ed
A Jealous Zack Didn’t Anticipate That Kelly Would Also Be in the Vehicle

When He Took Photos of the Girls Without Their Consent
In Their Swimwear, No Less

When He Used Subliminal Messaging to Manipulate Girls
After They Find Out, They Exact Their Revenge

When He Dumped Kelly for the School Nurse
To Make Matters Worse, He Had Just Asked Kelly to Go Steady

After Lisa rejects Zack’s offer to help her win a beauty pageant, Screech becomes the unlucky subject of a bet between him and Slater. Screech feels dejected as he’s forced to compete against his friends. A pep-talk from his robot only makes matters worse. Zack decides to spread a rumor that Slater is responsible for Screech’s shiner, to win sympathy votes while turning the whole school against his so-called friend. With no thanks to Zack, Screech wins the crown but suddenly winning the bet doesn’t feel quite right. Could Zack have suddenly developed a moral compass? Just kidding, as if!