Saved By The Bell Vs. Dinosaurs: Who Had The Weirder Anti-Drugs Episode?

Any '80s or '90s sitcom worth its salt indulged in the soapy pleasures of a very special episode. The episodes were essentially blunt PSAs cloaked in the Trojan horse of zany sitcom fun; typically silly protagonists like Will Smith or Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) would dourly inform young viewers about teen pregnancy or abuse or any number of real-world issues. Other times, a guest star would do the heavy lifting, like Matthew Perry's "Growing Pains" appearance that centered on the horrors of drunk driving.

Very special episodes were often ham-fisted in execution, jarringly pairing a lighthearted sitcom with serious moral lessons. As a result, some were downright strange. A particularly unusual example was the anti-drug episode of "Dinosaurs," which dared to imbue the very special episode format with anthropomorphic, animatronic reptiles.

Conceived by Jim Henson shortly before his death, "Dinosaurs" aired from 1991 to 1994 and followed a family of human-like dinosaurs living in the modern world — one that wasn't immune to the scourge of drugs. In the Season 3 episode "Steroids to Heaven," the teenage Robbie Sinclair (Jason Willinger) takes steroids — known as thornoids — in order to bulk up so he can impress his crush. The drugs make Robbie overly aggressive and he drops them for good, despite the gnarly thornoid withdrawal. 

It's fairly rote stuff, save for the surreal inclusion of animatronics and dinosaurs. As a result, "Steroids to Heaven" never quite achieved the same pop culture glory as the famous "Saved by the Bell" anti-drug episode, "Jessie's Song."

Of all of the very special episodes, "Jessie's Song" from Season 2 of "Saved by the Bell" is perhaps the most famous, having risen to the upper echelons of pop culture phenomena. In the episode, straight-A student and overachiever Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley) struggles to balance her schoolwork and her role in Bayside High School's newest girl group, Hot Sundae. To keep up with her hectic schedule, Jessie gets hooked on caffeine pills. She ends up having a meltdown in her bedroom, leading to the series' most iconic line, sung to the tune of the Pointer Sisters' big hit: "I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so scared."

Jessie's exaggerated reaction to caffeine pills has helped cement the episode as a camp classic. According to "Saved by the Bell" writer Peter Engels, Jessie was supposed to develop a speed addiction, but NBC's standards and practices department nixed the hard stuff. "I know that she was supposed to get addicted to something like crack, but I love the fact that they just changed the drug and kept everything else the same," writer and co-executive producer Tracey Wigfield told The Ringer. "There's just something really funny about the fact that she's acting so wild for such an innocuous substance. It's coffee, basically."

The episode has become a TV punchline over the years, but there's no doubt that the series' decision to tackle pressure and anxiety struck a chord among viewers. The only thing that could make it more ridiculous is dinosaur costumes.