RIP Dustin Diamond: Our 10 Favorite Screech GIFs to Celebrate Controversial ‘Saved by the Bell’ Star (Tributes to Follow)

Dustin Diamond has passed on at the age of 44 after battling stage 4 lung cancer. And it all has us thinking back to our younger years with the guy. Weekday afternoons we’d all rush home from school, turn on TBS, and get ready for an hour of Saved by the Bell. Saturday mornings, and even primetime on NBC, we would follow Saved by the Bell anywhere. Following every step in the adventures of Zack and Kelly, Slater and Jesse, Lisa and Screech, they were the friends we wish we had in school. Screech was the nerd, the outsider, the kid who we all knew in school that was bullied and made fun of, and for a lot of us, that is who we were. While we all wanted to be Zack or Kelly, we were Screech.

Dustin Diamond played a character that showed that even though you were the nerdy outsider, you could still belong to a group of friends that would seem unlikely. Screech was in everyone’s friend group in school, he made us all laugh and for us was the most relatable character on the show. To say Dustin had a rocky time after the show ended is an understatement, but we had all hoped in the end he would come around and pull through the darkness and maybe even reunite with his castmates on the rebooted Saved by the Bell on Peacock.

Rather than dwell on his controversial life after SBTB had ended, we want to remember him as he was in our daily lives. The loveable goofy nerd and always made us laugh. Scroll on to relive some of our favorite Screech moments, and see what everyone has to say after learning the sad news today.

Photo: NBC / Getty Images

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