document_title: List of That '70s Show characters

question_text: who plays hyde's dad on that 70s show

question_tokens: who plays hyde 's dad on that 70s show

text: List of That '70s Show characters

text: Main characters[edit]

text:
Eric Forman (portrayed by Topher Grace): The protagonist; Eric is a nice guy, generally geeky, physically slight, and somewhat clumsy. He is a smart-aleck with a fast wit and a deadpan sense of humor. He convinces his parents to let his best friend Steven Hyde move in with them, making Hyde like a brother. His father, Red, is always hard on him. Eric is in a relationship with his longtime love and neighbor Donna Pinciotti. He decides to become a teacher after high school, and he leaves the series at the end of the seventh season to teach in Africa, and returns at the series finale, reuniting with Donna.
Jackie Burkhart (portrayed by Mila Kunis): The youngest member of the group, Jackie starts the series as the pretty, rich, spoiled, selfish, conceited, annoying, and immature girl. She makes thoughtless and superficial comments, which occasionally turns out to be correct. As the series progresses, after her wealthy father is jailed and her mother (first played by Eve Plumb in an early episode, and later, permanently, by Brooke Shields) abandons Point Place, Jackie becomes less self-centered and is forced to take a job. She becomes more needy of genuine love and affection. Partly as a result of these changes, she and Donna become better friends. By the end of the series, Jackie has dated three of the four males of the original group: Kelso, Hyde, and Fez.
Michael Kelso (portrayed by Ashton Kutcher): The dim-witted pretty boy of the group who wants to coast through life on his good looks. He spends the first half of the series in a relationship with the equally vapid Jackie but their relationship comes to an end when Jackie wants to marry him and he isn't ready, so he runs away to California with Donna in the Season 4 finale. His best friend is Fez. He fathers a baby girl named Betsy during the seventh season. He becomes a police officer but gets kicked off the force because he does just about everything wrong. He gets a job as a security guard at a Playboy Club in Chicago, and leaves the series during the eighth and final season. He only appears in five episodes during season eight, including the series finale.
Steven Hyde (portrayed by Danny Masterson): Eric's best friend and the anti-establishment member of the group. By the end of season one, Kitty Forman prevails on her husband to allow Hyde to move in after he was abandoned by his mother (played by Katey Sagal) and living in squalor. Hyde has a witty, blunt, and sarcastic sense of humor, and a rebellious personality. He is also smart and realistic, and the other group members often ask for his advice. Although Hyde dates Jackie for three seasons, they eventually part and in the final season he marries an exotic dancer named Samantha, who, unknown to Hyde was still wed to her first husband (Sam McMurray) when she married him. As Donna points out in "My Fairy King", that means Hyde and Samantha are not legally married. In the seventh season, Hyde meets his biological father (William Barnett, played by Tim Reid), a wealthy black businessman. Hyde gets an attractive, straight-laced step-sister from this newfound relationship. Barnett, who owns a chain of record stores, makes Hyde first the manager, and later the owner, of the Point Place store.
Donna Pinciotti (portrayed by Laura Prepon): Eric's longtime girlfriend (and briefly fiancée). Donna is intelligent, good-looking, and a feminist. Although she does not agree with what Jackie represents in the beginning of the series, they become friends. Donna is in a relationship with Eric for seven seasons (despite their break-up during season 4). She has brief romances with Casey, Michael's brother, and with Randy during the final season and quickly ends it. She rekindles her relationship with Eric at the end of the show's finale.
Fez (portrayed by Wilmer Valderrama): The foreign exchange student of the group whose hormones seem to be out of control. His secret country of origin is one of the longest-running gags on the show. He is sweet, friendly, perverted, gullible, and rather odd. He enjoys eating candy, drinking beer, and looking at pornography. His best friend is Michael Kelso, and he shares a "younger brother" type relationship with Hyde and Eric. He constantly flirts with Jackie and Donna and often makes romantic advances toward them. Initially, he has a lot of trouble getting attention from girls, but during the eighth season he becomes a ladies' man. He is in love with Jackie throughout the series, but his love is not reciprocated until the eighth season when they become a couple.
Kitty Forman (portrayed by Debra Jo Rupp): Eric's mother and Red's wife, Kitty is a cheerful, doting, often oversolicitous mother, who can turn cold and assertive when pushed too far. A nurse and former smoker, she drinks far too much. Her major mood swings are usually attributed to menopause. She is also an overly nurturing mother figure to Eric's friends, especially Fez and Hyde.
Red Forman (portrayed by Kurtwood Smith): Kitty's husband, Eric's and Laurie's father, and Hyde's adoptive father. Red is a Navy combat veteran, having served in World War II and the Korean War. Impatient, short-tempered, often mean-spirited and constantly threatening to stick his foot up his son (Eric)'s ass, he occasionally displays a soft side. His hobbies include working with his power tools, drinking beer, watching television, reading the newspaper, hunting, and fishing.
Midge Pinciotti (portrayed by Tanya Roberts): Bob's wife, Donna's mother, and Kitty's best friend. Midge was the sexy neighborhood mom Eric and his male friends fantasized about when coming of age. Although often dim-witted, she is also a kind-hearted woman who develops feminist ideals. She and Bob divorce when she is written out of the series after the third season, however, returns during the sixth and seventh seasons in a recurring role where she and Bob almost reunite.
Bob Pinciotti (portrayed by Don Stark): Midge's husband, Donna's father. Bob often brags about his service in the National Guard, which invariably irritates Red. Bob is also known for walking around his house with his robe wide open and no underwear. He eats constantly, even in bed. Bob is almost always in a good mood and is a ladies' man. His best friend is Red, even though Red sees him as a nuisance. He usually takes the brunt of Red's abuse in a jolly manner.
Laurie Forman (portrayed by Lisa Robin Kelly/Christina Moore): Eric's beautiful but evil older sister. Laurie enjoys tormenting Eric and manipulating her father. She is promiscuous, often seen with various men, mainly Eric's friend Kelso, who cheats on his girlfriend, Jackie. Eric, Hyde, and Donna often mock her promiscuity. Laurie has a strained relationship with her mother, who, unlike Red, sees Laurie for what she really is. Laurie leaves the series during the third season but returns in a recurring role during the fifth, somewhat chastened. At one point, she genuinely seeks out a loving relationship, rather than merely a physical one, with Kelso, who is dumbfounded. She also becomes attached to a baby for whom she is babysitting, and feels quasi-maternal pangs, which soon disappear. In season five, she and Fez marry to prevent him from getting deported. In season six, due to Kelly's health issues, Laurie was portrayed by a different actress, Christina Moore.
Leo (portrayed by Tommy Chong): A hippie, and the owner of a Foto Hut at which Hyde once worked. Leo is an Army veteran who served in World War II, where he was awarded a Purple Heart. Leo often puts play before work and maintains an easy-going attitude in most things, business included. He disappears from the series after season four but is later referenced in season five's "The Battle of Evermore" when the gang goes on a mission to find him, but with no luck. He returns in season seven and remains on the series until the show's end. In season 8, he gets a new job working for Hyde at Grooves.
Randy Pearson (portrayed by Josh Meyers): The newest member of the group, Randy is introduced in the final season. Tall and handsome, he is laid back, polite, and forms a friendship with Red who is impressed at Randy's skill at fixing things. While Hyde, Jackie, Donna, and Kelso accept him as a new member of their group, Fez does not. Randy dates Donna for the majority of season eight, causing Kitty to be infuriated with both of them. Donna eventually breaks up with him, and reconciles with Eric when he returns in the last episode of the series.

text: Recurring characters[edit]

text:
Suzy Simpson (played by Alyson Hannigan) appears in three episodes of season 6. She is Kelso's buddy from the police academy who is also attracted to him. Fez has a crush on Suzy and it is because of her that he and Kelso fight after Kelso lies to Fez saying that Suzy has agreed to go on a date with him when really she thinks that she is dating Kelso. However, when Fez reveals that Kelso's having a Baby with another Woman and Kelso reveals that Fez is married, she is furious and wants nothing to do with them.
Angie Barnett (played by Megalyn Echikunwoke) is Steven Hyde's half-sister. Hyde did not know he had a sister until the 7th season. Angie graduated from college as a mathematics major. Angie and Hyde worked together managing their father's record store, but Angie did not always like working with him. She dated Kelso, which sometimes annoyed Hyde. Angie got her name because, in the seventh season, all episodes were named after Rolling Stones songs, and "Angie" was a song by the Stones.
Annette Berkardt (played by Jessica Simpson) was Michael Kelso's girlfriend for a brief period of time in season 5. She acts and talks very similar to Jackie, constantly bossing Kelso around. Eric and Donna once referred to her as a blonde version of Jackie, or "Blackie." Despite this, Jackie and Annette hated each other. Once at The Hub, Jackie said to Annette "I did not know they let 'slutballs' in here". Annette said since she saw Jackie in there she thought it was okay. Later in the episode, when Annette and Kelso were kissing, Jackie yelled "Get off my boyfriend!" to Annette, even though it was months after Kelso and Jackie broke up. This led to Hyde wanting to break up with Jackie.
Beatrice Dorothy "Bea" Sigurdson (née Heprage; played by Betty White) is Kitty Forman's mother. Bea seems like a friendly old lady, but is cold and critical, especially of Kitty. She appeared in a few episodes in season five, often nagging at Burt or saying something rude to Kitty in a faux-friendly manner. She was widowed in "Your Time is Gonna Come" when Burt collapses in the driveway and is rushed to the hospital where he dies. She shows little emotion after her husband's death but Kitty does catch her crying in a bedroom. Bea stays with the Formans for a while after Burt's death, causing Kitty considerable stress.
Bernice Rose Forman (née Larson; played by Marion Ross) is Red Forman's mother. Bernice resented Kitty and was always mean to her. Kitty revealed it was because Red married her instead of an attractive and wealthy woman he once dated who Bernice liked. She appeared in the episodes "Sunday, Bloody Sunday", "The Best Christmas Ever" and "Grandma's Dead" of season 1, and in a flashback in the episode "Halloween" of season two. In the episode "Grandma's Dead" she dies in Eric's car while he is driving her home after Eric tells her off for her treatment of his mother.
Brooke Leslie Rockwell (played by Shannon Elizabeth) was the valedictorian of the high school class two years before Eric's class. The summer after Kelso's graduation, she had sex with him at a Molly Hatchet concert in a bathroom stall and got pregnant. Initially, Brooke did not trust Kelso because of his immaturity and did not want him in the child's life. Eventually, Kelso convinced her to give him another chance. Brooke gave birth to their daughter, Betsy in 1979.
Steven James "Bud" Hyde Jr. (played by Robert Hays) is Steven Hyde's stepfather. Bud Hyde worked as a bartender and is an alcoholic. Until the end of the 6th season, Steven Hyde thought Bud was his biological father. Bud Hyde abandoned Steven when he was a child and Steven was always angry at Bud for this. They temporarily reconciled in season 3, with Hyde even moving in with him. However, he would leave again at the beginning of season 4 after getting back together with Edna – forcing Hyde to move back to the Forman house. Hyde mentioned that Bud did attempt to get in touch with him again. (Bud was passed out drunk on Hyde's car.)
Bertrum Wayne "Burt" Sigurdson (played by Tom Poston) is Kitty Forman's father. He is often seen avoiding his wife, Bea. In one episode, he bought an ostrich farm, which was right next to a coyote farm. The coyotes ate all the ostriches and the Sigurdsons had to sell the house. Burt died in the episode Your Time is Gonna Come.
Caroline "Crazy Caroline" Dupree (played by Allison Munn) was Fez's girlfriend in season 3. Fez quickly learned Caroline is very jealous and paranoid. She made threats against Donna and Jackie because Caroline felt they were going to steal Fez from her, when in fact Jackie and Donna had no intention of doing so. Caroline was once found hiding in the men's bathroom looking for Fez. Fez did not want to be with someone that aggressive and paranoid so he broke up with her. Fez and Caroline were together one last time in the eighth season. She got extremely angry when she found out that Fez had lied to her about Jackie being his roommate, and when she found nude photos of Donna in Fez's Barry White album (Leo hid the nude photos in the album without Fez's knowledge, but Caroline believed they were put there by Fez). Caroline appeared again in "Sheer Heart Attack". Fez was having sex with women once and not seeing them again and then decided that he wanted to be with only one woman, so he called Caroline. Later in the episode, Jackie told Fez that she loved him and then kissed him as Caroline walked in. This, as always, made Caroline angry with Fez and attack him viciously.
Casey (played by Luke Wilson) is Michael Kelso's brother who was in the military. Towards the end of season 4 he was dating Donna Pinciotti. During their relationship, there were instances of them engaging in bad behavior, such as Donna drinking and skipping school to hang out with Casey. Donna's father, Bob, felt that Casey was a bad influence and did not want Donna to date him anymore. Eric was jealous of Casey because he wanted to be with Donna, so Eric wanted them to break up. When Red Forman and Bob were discussing Casey's negative influence with Donna and Casey, Casey broke up with Donna, deciding the conflict with Bob and Red to be too much hassle. Donna felt that she and Casey were in love, but Casey felt "I love you" is just something you could say and do not have to really mean. Michael Kelso said that his brother Casey got bored with his girlfriends and broke up with them. During the summer of 1979, Casey was teaching physical education at Eric's old high school, and Eric was in Casey's class. He likes to call Eric "Foreplay". his last appearance was in the Season 7 episode "2120 So. Michigan Ave."
Charlie Richardson (played by Bret Harrison) is the son of one of Red's war buddies. Eric held a grudge against him from the time that he let some sick children win "Eric's" goldfish in an egg toss. Charlie only appeared in about three episodes towards the end of Season 7. Before the beginning of Season 8, Charlie accidentally fell off the water tower and died. The water tower is named the Charlie Richardson Memorial Water Tower in his honor. The original idea was to have Charlie stay on the show the entire 8th season as a replacement for Eric, but the actor got an offer for his own show so they killed his character off.
Christine St. George (played by Mary Tyler Moore) is a talk show host of What's Up Wisconsin. In the episode "Sweet Lady", Jackie felt she was destined to be Christine's co-host on the show. She persistently tries to get the job, but Christine St. George makes Jackie her assistant instead. After a few episodes, Jackie was fired for knowing too much about her.
Earl (played by Robert Clendenin) is a friend of Red's who worked for Red at Price Mart. Earl frequently came to work late and slacked off on his job, so Red fired him. After that, Earl sued Red for wrongful termination, however, Earl arrived too late to his own hearing, so the judge ruled in favor of Red. Later, Earl got a job working at a fast food restaurant, where he is again fired for his poor work ethic (this time for repeatedly eating the restaurant's food while on work). Earl appears in the episodes "Red Fired Up", "Roller Disco" and "Radio Daze".
Edna Hyde (played by Katey Sagal) is Steven Hyde's biological mother. She is only in the Season 1 episodes "Career Day", "Prom Night", and "Punk Chick", though she only appears in "Career Day". She plays a large part in "Career Day", playing opposite Hyde when on Career Day, he has to help her in the kitchen (she was the school chef, "Gross Edna" at the time). In other episodes she only has lines yelling at Hyde on the porch from the inside of the house such as:
In Prom Night Edna: "They're all gonna laugh at you!" (a prom night reference to the 1976 film, Carrie) Steven: "Shut up ma, you're makin' the night too damn special!"
In Punk Chick Steven: "It's still my suitcase!" Edna: "Nothing in this house is yours!" Steven: "Shut up!"

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Fenton, also known as Clerk in Season 5, (played by Jim Rash) is someone with whom Fez has a feud due to a "half-off sale, a crowded parking lot and a pair of pants that made Fez's ass look like an oil painting" in Fez's own words. In the fifth season, he was an employee at the jewelry store where Eric bought Donna's engagement ring. He is also the landlord of the apartment that Fez and Kelso moved into in the seventh season, which later became Fez and Jackie's apartment when Kelso moved to Chicago. At first, Fenton did not want to let Kelso and Fez move in because of his feud with Fez, but later when he found out Kelso wanted the apartment to have a place to take care of his daughter, and Fenton got the impression that Kelso and Fez were "life partners", he let them have it. Though Fenton does not state this explicitly, his frequent innuendos about men, his lack of experience with women, his mannerisms and affect overtly imply he is gay. Whenever he sees Fez, he says "Oh, It's you" in a contemptuous way. Neither Fenton nor Fez will specifically explain the reason for their mutual hostility and dislike to Eric, despite his increasing curiosity. Fenton later becomes good friends with Jackie, who persuades him not to evict Fez and end their feud. However, very shortly thereafter, she carelessly floods both their apartment and Fenton's apartment directly underneath after falling asleep while running the bathtub.
Hilary Robinson (played by Lara Everly) is Fez's co-worker at the salon where Fez works in season 8. Fez tried to impress her by trying to look cool which intimidated her, but when Jackie explained to her who Fez really was, she fell in love with him. Fez and Hilary dated for a few weeks, before Hilary suddenly decided to become a nun and left Fez.
Jack Burkhart (played by Paul Kreppel) is the father of Jackie Burkhart. After his arrest for bribery and embezzlement, he was sent to jail. Jackie ceased being a rich, privileged girl.
Joanne Stupac (played by Mo Gaffney) is a girlfriend of Bob Pinciotti, who appears in Seasons 4 and 5. She met Bob at the supermarket when Bob, being unable to cook, was about to buy a dozen TV dinners. Joanne decided to teach Bob to make a meatloaf so he would not have to buy the TV dinners. She does not get along well with Red. When Red and Joanne first met, they got into an argument about who would cook the meat and who would make the salad. Joanne works at the dog food factory and hires Eric to work there to put coupons in the dog food bags. Eric would eventually lose that job after Joanne broke up with Bob.
Mitch Miller (played by Seth Green) is a student in the same class as Eric. Mitch had a feud with Fez and because of this conflict, Mitch published a photo of Fez and Kelso kissing each other in the school newspaper. Mitch had a crush on Donna Pinciotti, and one time Donna went to a wedding with Mitch. Eric was angered when Mitch embarrassed Donna, and Eric and Mitch agreed to fight each other the next day at 5:15 PM. Not wanting to fight, Mitch persuaded Eric not to fight with him by offering him a French-made GI Joe called "GI Jacques". Mitch has a father, Charlie Miller, played by Fred Willard.
Nina Jo Bartell (played by Joanna Canton) is a girlfriend of Fez in season 5 who worked with him at the DMV. Fez lost his virginity to her, but it went badly, so she suggested they needed to do it more often to get better. They broke up a while later because Nina thought he was too needy.
Officer Phillip Otis Kennedy II (played by James Avery) is Kelso's training officer when he joins the police force. He appears mostly in the 6th season, playing a straight ace to the bumbling Kelso.
Pam Burkhart (played by Eve Plumb in Season 1 and Brooke Shields in Season 6) is the mother of Jackie Burkhart who was dating Bob Pinciotti in season 6. Once a serious business lady, she fled to Mexico when Jackie's councilman father was arrested for bribery and embezzling $60,000. She returned to try to fix her relationship between her and Jackie.
Pam Macy (played by Jennifer Lyons) is a classmate of the main characters of the show. She has been mentioned in more episodes than she appeared, mostly by Michael Kelso. She appeared in the episodes "Prom Night", "Romantic Weekend", and "It's a Wonderful life". In "Prom Night", Michael took Pam to the prom while temporarily broken up with Jackie. In "Romantic Weekend", Kelso was about to have sex with Pam but was unable to perform, telling his friends "The buffer wouldn't buff". Pam told the whole school, which caused everyone to tease Kelso about it.
Pastor Dave (played by Kevin McDonald), Pastor Dave is the local pastor at the church. He is overly cheerful and (incorrectly) thinks he is up to date with the trends, and is "hip and cool". He is often greeted by Eric and his friends with deadpan voices, and they typically just agree with Dave in the hopes he'll go away. Dave is good friends with Kitty, who helps with the church fundraisers, and has an uneasy friendship with Red (mostly because Red is not used to having friends). His friendship with Red seems to have brought out a less-pure side of Dave, as he spends a day with Red watching football and drinking beer, and once even quit the church because he wanted to watch more football on Sundays (he later rejoins as the pastor again). He appears primarily in Season 3 and 4, but has a few cameos in Season 2.
Rhonda (played by Cynthia Lamontagne) Often called Big Rhonda by her classmates, she was a recurring character during season 4. She was Fez's girlfriend during this season. When she and Fez were stuck in the school during a tornado, he was about to have sex with Big Rhonda, but after the tornado was gone, she did not want to anymore. She broke up with Fez after she choked him after he wanted to get to third base, which came from bad advice from Casey Kelso. Like Fez, she loves candy. She treats Eric with relentless contempt but was genuinely fond of Fez. She also physically intimidated tiny Jackie by threatening to wrestle her after Jackie gets rude with her. The episode "It's a Wonderful Life" featured an alternate timeline, where Rhonda went to the prom with Eric (in this timeline, Eric and Donna were never in a relationship), and they remained together until her dumped her. Eric mentions that the two only had sex three times. Later in the same episode, she is seen at their 10-year reunion but now as a trim, beautiful, and sexy woman, which Rhonda claims came from being dumped by Eric which led her to lose weight thanks to Jane Fonda workout tapes and to become a fitness instructor herself. She thanks him for this. It was also mentioned in the season three episode "Kitty's Birthday" that she was hit by a car but was apparently uninjured.
Roy Keen (played by Jim Gaffigan) is the kitchen manager of the Holliday Hotel who employed Eric, Hyde, and Kelso to work as waiters in the hotel's restaurant during seasons 5 and 6. The character serves as the replacement of Leo who was written out during season 5, although he had been absent for several episodes. It was mentioned by Hyde that Roy was like a father figure when his father abandoned him. Roy has stated that his standards for food service are low and he goes days without washing his hands. Roy served in the Vietnam War, once describing Eric as "scrawny, but strong... like the Vietcong". He suffers from serious trouble connecting to people. At one time he got the impression a woman was in love with him, after she insulted him when he got her some butter, and hid in her shower to surprise her with flowers. He once mentioned he was living with a woman, but moved out when she found out he was living with her in secret. It is revealed in the season 6 episode "A Legal Matter" that he was a police cadet who was oust of the police academy for shooting a police horse.
Samantha Hyde (played by Judy Tylor) is Hyde's wife during season 8. They got married while Hyde was drunk in Las Vegas. The two barely knew each other when they got married. Hyde did not even remember the wedding and did not know he was married until after Samantha came to Point Place to see Hyde. In the episode "My Fairy King", Hyde learned that Samantha was already married to someone else. After this, Hyde and Samantha's relationship ended.
Schatzie is a Dachshund that Red gave Kitty in an attempt to make her happy. Schatzie was in several episodes of season 5, was absent for all of season 6, then returned for only one episode towards the beginning of season 7. Red claimed that his absence was due to hiding under the house because he was afraid of the garden hose. "Schatzie" is German and means "little treasure" or "darling" (diminutive of "Schatz").
Timmy Thompson (played by Paul Connor) is an incredibly annoying fellow high-school student of the gang who always embarrasses someone with loud comments meant for everyone around to hear, that start with "Heeey...", such as:
"Heeey, Forman and Donna got a motel room and they're going to do it!"
"Heeey, I'm taking off my pants!"
"Heeey, Forman's on a date with his mom!"
"Heeey, Donna's showed her ass!" (while showing everyone a yearbook photo where Donna mooned the camera).He only has real dialogue in the episode "Burning Down The House".
William James "WB" Barnett (played by Tim Reid) is Steven Hyde's biological father. Hyde originally thought Bud Hyde was his biological father until the cliffhanger between the 6th and 7th seasons, where Kitty discovers that Steven's real father is a man who lives in Milwaukee. Sometimes people call William Barnett by his initials, WB. Barnett is wealthy and owns Grooves, a chain of record stores. Barnett put Steven in charge of the Point Place record store along with his daughter (and Hyde's half sister), Angie. Barnett is black, which Hyde believes explains his "coolness, afro and suspicion of the man" (it can also be noted that when Hyde asked him who killed Kennedy his father stated "I don't know, because they don't want me to know"). WB's last on-screen appearance is in the first half of the series finale which is the twenty-first episode of the eighth season, "Love of My Life" (WB had already appeared in the fourteenth episode of that season, "Son and Daughter").

text: Intended recurring roles[edit]

text: Several characters on the series were written as recurring, but made only one appearance. Among them:

text:
Tina Pinciotti (played by Amanda Fuller) was the younger sister of regular Donna Pinciotti. She first appeared in "Eric's Burger Job", but made no appearances following that, except for a brief mention in the episode "Vanstock". A similar situation occurred with unseen Valerie Pinciotti. The two are later written out with no explanation, as demonstrated in the season seven premiere, when Kitty refers to Donna as Bob and Midge's only child.
Valerie Pinciotti was the older never-seen sister of Donna Pinciotti and Tina Pinciotti, who in "Eric's Birthday" was said to be away at college but never mentioned again.
Matthew and Rebecca Erdman (played by Kevin Farley and Shannon Holt) were the prudish host parents of Fez. They first appeared in "Drive-In" and convince Fez the rock they detest is diabolical by playing a KISS album backwards. Fez's host parents make no further appearances in the show.
Buddy Morgan (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) was introduced in "Eric's Buddy", and was intended to become a recurring character. However, the introduction of homosexual Buddy as a love interest for Eric (at a time when both Eric and Hyde were competing for Donna) did not go over well with audiences, and Buddy was cut from the show.
Melissa (played by Reagan Gomez-Preston) appeared in "Hyde Gets the Girl" as a potential love interest for Hyde. She was intended to become his on-off girlfriend.
Patty (played by Lindsay Sloane) appeared in two episodes in the series' second season. She is introduced in "Eric Gets Suspended" along with her best friend, Mary (played by Melissa Joan Hart). The two go on a double blind date with Hyde and Fez. Hyde initially pairs with Mary, and Fez with Patty; but in the course of the date Hyde tells Fez to swap dates because he is hitting it off with Patty. Patty then returned in "Eric and Kitty's Night Out". In the episode, Fez and Patty become boyfriend and girlfriend. Patty's role and impact in the episode implies an intention to continue the character's appearance in the series. However, with no explanation in the show Patty is not seen or mentioned again.

text: Notable Guest Stars[edit]

text:
Paul Anka
Curtis Armstrong
Jim Beaver
Charo
Erika Christensen
Alice Cooper
Shae D'Lyn
Roger Daltrey
Ashley Drane
Eliza Dushku
Alexis Dziena
Jamie Farr
Adrienne Frantz
Amy Adams

Monty Hall
Valerie Harper
Jenilee Harrison
Isaac Hayes
Mitch Hedberg
Carolyn Hennesy
Howard Hesseman
Josh Holloway
Richard Karn
Richard Kline
Christopher Knight
Don Knotts
Lindsay Lohan
Justin Long
Gavin MacLeod

Christopher Masterson
Alex Nevil
Keri Lynn Pratt
Ethan Peck
Jack Riley
Connie Sawyer
French Stewart
Betty White
Barry Williams
Billy Dee Williams

tag: table


document_title: List of Saved by the Bell characters

question_text: who played lisa turtle mom on saved by the bell

question_tokens: who played lisa turtle mom on saved by the bell

root

text: List of Saved by the Bell characters

text: Main characters[edit]

text: Zack Morris[edit]

text: Kelly Kapowski[edit]

text: Kelly Kapowski (portrayed by Tiffani Amber Thiessen) is the most popular girl in school and is head cheerleader and captain of the volleyball, swim, and softball teams. Though a good student and role model, Kelly did find herself sentenced to detention on a couple of occasions. She is also a big fan of George Michael. She also is the love interest and later wife of Zack Morris. In contrast with her friends, she came from a more modest working class family and her father went through periods of unemployment.

tag: p

text: At the start of Kelly's freshman year, Zack had been trying to go out with her for as long as she could remember. For a while, a feud began between Zack and fellow student A.C. Slater over who would be her boyfriend, which caused her great stress, but a lot of fun at the same time. Kelly blushed numerous times when both Zack and Slater would hit on her, especially when it was done in front of other students. During her sophomore year, Slater conceded defeat to Zack and she and Zack began dating, whereas Slater thereupon pursued his interest in Jessie Spano.

text: The following school year marked the end of their relationship. Zack wanted to go steady with Kelly, but she is not sure at first. She thought it over but by the time she decided to accept Zack's offer, he had become infatuated with a young school nurse. That turned out to be a dead-end, but when he tried to apologize to Kelly and get her back, she brushed him off. However, they were back together in the following episode ("Breaking Up is Hard to Undo"). Kelly began working at The Max as a waitress and fell for her boss, Jeff Hunter (Patrick Muldoon), much to Zack's disappointment. This caused her and Zack to break up. Kelly dated Jeff for a while, until he is caught at an 18-and-over club (The Attic) with another girl.

text: Subsequently, Kelly and Zack became closer friends, though they dated other people. While vacationing in Palm Springs for Jessie Spano's father's wedding, Zack and Kelly flirted with the possibility of getting together again but ended up remaining friends.

text: In her senior year, she is once again pursued by Zack to accompany him to the prom. She agrees, and they get back together. As graduation approached, Kelly stated she could not afford to go to an out-of-state university and instead would attend community college. She and her friends graduated from Bayside High in 1993 and went their separate ways.

text: In Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Kelly is accepted into California University on a scholarship, joining Zack, Slater, and Screech as suitemates. She also became the new roommate of Leslie Burke and Alex Taber. While at Cal. U., Kelly engaged in an affair with her anthropology professor, Jeremiah Lasky. Zack makes a final attempt to win her over when she decides to go on a "Semester on the Sea" program through the Mediterranean for three months. Zack proposed to Kelly, and she accepted.

text: Without much support from their families, Zack and Kelly had planned to get married in Las Vegas in Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. The couple managed to bring Slater, Screech, and Lisa Turtle with them for the event. Just prior to the exchange of vows at the ceremony at a cheap wedding chapel, Zack's parents showed up and stopped the wedding. They told Zack and Kelly that they would give them the wedding of their dreams. A few days later, Zack and Kelly had an elaborate outdoor wedding in the Las Vegas area. Lisa and Jessie stood as bridesmaids while Screech and Slater stood as groomsmen. The newlyweds then went on a honeymoon.

text: When Zack and Slater made guest appearances on Saved by the Bell: The New Class a few years later, Slater asked Zack how "the Mrs." (meaning Kelly) is doing, Zack replied, "Good."

text: Samuel "Screech" Powers[edit]

text: Samuel "Screech" Powers (portrayed by Dustin Diamond) is one of only two characters to appear as a series regular from the beginning of the franchise to its end. He appeared in Good Morning, Miss Bliss; Saved by the Bell; Saved by the Bell: The College Years; and Saved by the Bell: The New Class. Screech is seen as the geek of his peer group. While he is clearly intelligent and a high academic achiever, he lacks common sense and social skills. His friends, who are more conventionally attractive and "cooler" than he is, like him anyway and always include him in their plans.

text: In Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Screech is much like he is in all of his other incarnations, only younger. He mentions he has a brother in one episode, but this was written out of all subsequent continuity.

text: In Saved by the Bell, Screech is the only child of an unseen father and an Elvis-obsessed mother (guest star Ruth Buzzi). In addition, he has a dog named Hound Dog, and a robot pal named Kevin, whom he built and programmed himself and who exhibits artificial intelligence. He often exhibits low self-esteem when it comes to girls, in contrast to his more popular friends.

text: During his years at Bayside High, Screech frequently pursues classmate Lisa Turtle and is consistently turned down by her. However, she does agree to date him in one episode, only to spoil the date by talking through the movie. She also attends senior prom with him, because she is moved by both his honesty about how hurt he is that no one wants to go to the prom with him and impressed when Screech says he will stand by an earlier promise not to ask her to the prom.

text: It is revealed in one episode that Screech is of Italian ancestry.

text: Screech does eventually end up with a girlfriend, Violet Anne Bickerstaff (played by the then unknown Tori Spelling), and dates her for several episodes, even managing to win back the support of her upper-class parents after losing it on a disastrous dinner date. Violet is then never seen again, without any explanation.

text: Screech is frequently roped into scams by his best friend, Zack. As a running gag, he often unwittingly sabotages them. In spite of all his faults, Screech is well liked by his friends.

text: Upon graduating, Screech and his friends Zack, Slater, and Kelly, attend California University in Saved by the Bell: The College Years. Screech remains there until his sophomore year, when he begins a work-study program at his alma mater, Bayside High, alongside Principal Richard Belding.

text: In Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, Screech attends Zack and Kelly's wedding. He served as Zack's best man in the wedding along with Slater. This is mentioned in an episode of Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which aired around the time of the movie's release.

text: From season two in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Screech is initially in the role as Belding's administrative assistant as part of a work-study program. Screech retains the same bumbling tendencies he did as a teenager, often irritating Belding and leading to his new what-did-I-do catachcall "Zoinks!" (an utterance originally made famous by Shaggy Rogers from Scooby-Doo). However, Screech remains at Bayside in this capacity until the end of the series. Mr. Belding leaves to pursue a new job at the University of Chattanooga at the end of the series. It's implied that Screech will take over as Principal but the series ends without showing this happening.

text: A.C. Slater[edit]

text: Albert Clifford "A.C." Slater (portrayed by Mario Lopez) is a popular jock who excelled in most sports (particularly football and amateur wrestling). An Army brat, he is an outsider, having transferred to Bayside in the first filmed episode (which aired later as a flashback). A.C. mentions that he has been to Bolivia, Italy, Iceland, and Berlin among other places. He becomes the school's star athlete, excelling as a wrestler and the quarterback of the football team, but does not excel in the class room.

text: His father, Martin (a Major in the U.S. Army), appears in two episodes. His mother, Lorraine, however, is not in any episodes. He also has a younger sister named J.B. whom Zack briefly began dating, much to Slater's chagrin. In the season four episode "Love Machine," his ex-girlfriend from Berlin visits and calls him by his real name, "Albert Clifford ".

text: Much like Voorhies, Lopez was able to captivate the show's producers into casting him into a role that was originally written to be Caucasian. This issue of Slater's ethnicity is addressed in "Slater's War" from The College Years, where it is revealed that 25 years earlier A.C.'s father changed his last name from Sanchez to Slater so he could get into the military academy. Although the episode reveals that A.C. does not fluently understand Spanish, A.C. is seen speaking broken Spanish to the kitchen staff of the Malibu Sands Beach club.

text: At the start of freshman year in Saved by the Bell, Slater arrives as a transfer student, immediately making an enemy of Zack Morris by attempting to make a move on Kelly Kapowski. Both boys end up in detention after schemes to be with Kelly backfire on both of them. While in detention, Slater reveals to Zack that he had transferred in and out of various schools throughout his life due to his father being a Major in the army. Their mutual understanding of a father putting something else before his son would serve as the ice breaker between the two (Zack's own father was too busy with his job and never paid attention to him or his academics). By the end of the first season, Zack and Slater find themselves bonding over similar social standing, popularity among women, and athletic ability. During Season 2, the rivalry between the two is toned down, and they begin to become friends. Slater grew into the habit of calling Zack "Preppie" which he at first intended as an ongoing insult, but once they became friends, Slater used the term as an affectionate nickname for Zack. Slater goes on to date feminist Jessie Spano on and off for the remainder of High School.

text: Throughout the course of the show, Slater and Zack compete for many other girls which often puts a strain on their friendship (one instance culminated in a brawl between the two during their senior year). In the end though, their friendship is more important to them than any girl that would possibly come between them.

text: In Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Slater is accepted into California University, along with Zack, Screech, and Kelly as suite mates and begins dating Alex Taber, one of Kelly's roommates. While there, Slater continues his passion for wrestling and works in the University's main restaurant. Along with Screech, Slater serves as Zack's best man at his wedding to Kelly in Las Vegas in Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. Slater makes two return guest appearances in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, firstly in "Goodbye, Bayside" Part 2, along with Zack and Lisa when a millionaire alumnus J. Walter McMillan plans to buy the school and tear it down for the purpose of constructing a condo, and in "Fire at the Max: Part 2", where he reminisces on fond memories he had with his friends at the diner, after it was accidentally burned down by student Ryan Parker, who forgot to turn off the Christmas lights.

text: Jessie Spano[edit]

text: Jessica "Jessie" Myrtle Spano (portrayed by Elizabeth Berkley) is a lifelong friend of Zack, Screech, Lisa and Kelly. She and Zack live next door to each other, and Zack regularly visits Jessie by climbing through her window. Her parents are divorced. She lives with her mother, who remarried in the third season, providing Jessie with a stepbrother, Eric (played by Joshua Hoffman) from New York City, seen in only two episodes. Jessie's father is the owner and manager of the Marriott Desert Sands resort. He also becomes remarried in the hour-long "Palm Springs Weekend" episode, to a much younger woman with whom Jessie did not initially get along and was against marrying. She eventually accepted Leslie for who she was and becomes friends with her (Jessie's father is played by George McDaniel, and her new stepmother, Leslie, is played by Barbra Brighton).

text: Jessie is portrayed as a liberal (she critiqued then-president George H. W. Bush), with strong feminist views. She is often the first to speak up when she feels something is unjust. Although seen as intelligent, Jessie has a somewhat neurotic streak.

text: Jessie is the class president. In a close election, she initially lost to Zack. However, Zack used underhanded techniques to win the election in order to get a free trip to Washington, D.C., but upon realizing that being class president would be a much better fit for his friend Jessie, Zack stepped down from office, naming Jessie the president. Jessie remains president for the remainder of her time at Bayside.

text: From sophomore year until the end of the series, Jessie dates athlete A.C. Slater in an "opposites attract" relationship, which causes friction between the both of them. Slater's pet name for Jessie is "Mama." Jessie and Slater's relationship is put to the test several times over the course of the series. Jessie also has a brief romantic encounter with Zack when the two are forced to endure a kissing scene in a school play. Additionally, she has a crush on one-time character Graham (played by David Kreigel), with whom she spends cut day. (This last encounter ultimately leads to her and Slater's break up).

text: Most notable is Jessie's struggle with addiction to over-the-counter caffeine pills, in the episode entitled "Jessie's Song." Pressure from school and social obligations, and her desire to be accepted into Stanford University, drive Jessie to take caffeine pills in order to stay awake. Eventually she gets hooked on the pills and has a breakdown as Zack comes to her rescue.

text: Another ongoing issue is Jessie's height. She often considers herself too tall, and has therefore developed a bit of an insecurity complex, especially when it comes to shorter boys, and sometimes superficially judges men based on their height. Additionally, she is known as Jessie "Legs" Spano to some. Jessie would later stop judging men based on their height when she begins dating Slater.

text: In an early episode, Jessie reveals that she attended dance camp as a child. As such, she is an experienced dancer. Jessie is also on the swim team. Jessie later joins Kelly and Lisa as cheerleaders (because, according to Jessie, it looks good to colleges).

text: Before graduation, Jessie has her hopes pinned on becoming valedictorian, but ultimately loses out to Screech. However, Screech realizes how important it is to her, and concedes the honor to Jessie. Jessie soon realizes just how much valedictorian meant to Screech and gives it back to him.

text: After graduation, Jessie goes off to attend Columbia University.

text: In Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, Jessie, with Lisa, returns as one of Kelly's bridesmaids at Zack and Kelly's wedding in Las Vegas. This was her final appearance to date in the show.

text: Lisa Turtle[edit]

text: Lisa Marie Turtle (portrayed by Lark Voorhies) is the rich girl of the group, whose parents both worked as physicians. She is frequently seen wearing designer clothing.

text: In her first appearance in Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Lisa plays a more secondary role than she later would in the later incarnations of the series. She attends John F. Kennedy Junior High with Zack Morris and Samuel "Screech" Powers.

text: Throughout her high school years in Saved by the Bell, Lisa spends most of her time fighting off the affections of Screech, who is relentless in pursuing her (and eventually wins at least one date with her) and has been doing so since they were in Kindergarten. Despite her irritation with Screech, she values him as a friend, and eventually comes to admire Screech's nobility when he abdicates his position as the class valedictorian in favor of Jessie Spano, who had a slightly lower grade point average than he did, but valued the position more. Lisa even went to the senior prom with Screech when she felt sorry that no one would go with him, when he promised to respect her comfort zone and not ask her, but she decided that she wants him to be her prom date. Most of Lisa's time is spent in the company of schoolmates and fellow cheerleaders Kelly Kapowski and Jessie Spano.

text: Unlike the rest of her friends, Lisa does not have a long-term relationship during high school (despite having countless dates), although she has a short term romance with Zack Morris in the episode "The Bayside Triangle," much to the chagrin of Screech. To keep his friendship with Screech, Zack must break up with Lisa. However, this is forgotten about in following episodes. "Screech's Spaghetti Sauce" involves Screech on a date with a girl who is impressed by him, causing Lisa to be in a state of disbelief.

text: Upon graduating, Lisa is accepted into the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Lisa only makes one guest appearance in Saved by the Bell: The College Years when she visits her former classmates Zack, Screech, Kelly, and A.C. Slater at California University in the episode "Wedding Plans", after hearing of Zack and Kelly's engagement. In Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, Lisa and Jessie were Kelly's bridesmaids for her wedding to Zack. Lisa returns to Bayside High along with Zack and Slater in "Goodbye Bayside: Part 2" (from Saved by the Bell: The New Class), where they are reunited with Screech (now working at Bayside on a work-study program) and their principal Mr. Belding when the school is under threat of being torn down by an alumnus.

text: Mr. Belding[edit]

text: Mr. Richard Belding (portrayed by Dennis Haskins) is the principal of Bayside High School. In his first appearance in the pilot of Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Mr. Belding's first name was Gerald, and the character was played by Oliver Clark. Other than Miss Bliss, the character of Mr. Belding was the only one carried over when the show began production. The character also appeared in Saved by the Bell: The New Class and guest starred in "A Thanksgiving Story" (from Saved by the Bell: The College Years). He is one of only two characters to remain from the beginning of the franchise until the end (the other being Samuel "Screech" Powers). Mr. Belding's name is a pun referencing the onomatopoeia "ding" that comes from a bell, (a "bell ding"). His signature catchphrase is "Hey, hey, hey, hey! What is going on here?", usually uttered after finding out about something ridiculous occurring at the school.[1]

text: Mr. Belding's most frequent nemesis is Zack Morris; however, throughout the series, it is abundantly clear the two like and respect each other, arguably because in "Save the Max" it is revealed that when Belding was a student himself he was a disc jockey and one who would rebel against school authority, prompting the comment that he was "the Zack Morris of the 1960s". On at least one occasion, Belding has even called Zack Morris "the son [he] never had". A small joke was also that Belding was open about his past failures with women prior to his marriage, such as when he was in the U.S. Army and in love with a North Vietnamese girl, where "even she was with the enemy!" Belding's family has appeared in the series on many occasions. The most frequent appearances were by his infant son, named in honor of Zack. When Belding's wife (Becky) went into labor in an elevator, Zack Morris, along with classmate Tori Scott, helped deliver him.

text: Much of Belding's humor comes from his attempts to make jokes, sing or being generally tricked and scammed by Zack. Despite Zack's ideas that he knew Belding inside and out, occasionally Belding would reveal that he had other ideas to deal with issues, thus outfoxing Zack. He also was against the Bayside-Valley High prank war and in spite of his best efforts to call a truce with Valley High's principal, the war continued until then end of the cheerleading competition when one of the students from Valley was exposed.

text: Belding also has a small rivalry with fellow teacher Mr. Tuttle, who was also in line for the position of Principal at Bayside. He also had a friendly rivalry with Brandon Tartikoff over courtship of Belding's wife, but Tartikoff accepted that he got the short end of the straw and accepted the eventual presidency of NBC (thus implicitly breaking the fourth wall, since Tartikoff actually was president of NBC at the time) while Mr. Belding was "happily married and got to be principal of a school of great kids."

text: Belding remains the one constant between all the series and in the second season of The New Class, he is reunited with Bayside High alumnus Samuel "Screech" Powers, who is studying to become a teacher. Screech becomes Mr. Belding's administrative assistant until the end of the series, when Belding decides to take a job as dean of a College in Tennessee.

text: In 2012, Dennis Haskins reprised his role as Mr. Belding on the hit Nickelodeon series Victorious in the episode "April Fools Blank".

text: Tori Scott[edit]

text: Tori Scott (portrayed by Leanna Creel) arrives at Bayside during senior year, making an immediate enemy of Zack Morris by parking her motorcycle in his usual parking space on her first day. Eventually, things thaw between Tori and Zack and they later begin dating, but broke up in the episode "The Will" due to Zack's sexist behavior. After the episode "School Song," Tori is never seen or mentioned again.

text: Bayside faculty[edit]

text: Mrs. Culpepper[edit]

text: Mrs. Culpepper is the school’s de facto art teacher (although she is seen teaching history during Cut Day) and made appearances in both junior year and senior year. She is always involved in comical situations in which she bumps into lockers and mistakes inanimate objects for living things due to her bad eyesight. At one point she even accidentally made Mr. Belding think she is in love with him; when he talked to her about her "crush" she became completely flustered, and later punched him the face for continuing to "reassure" her that he had no romantic designs towards her.

text: Mr. Dewey[edit]

text: Mr. Dewey (Patrick Thomas O'Brien) is a math teacher who also oversaw detention. He represented the archetypal down-on-his-luck, more-bored-than-the-kids, depressed teacher but seemed to be respected by the kids on the grounds that nothing they did bothered or registered very much with him. He spoke in a monotonous voice, is sarcastic, always wore glasses, and once auditioned for American Gladiators. Mr. Dewey also appeared in the New Class.

text: Doctor Mertz[edit]

text: Dr. Mertz (Avery Schreiber) is a science teacher that seems to want the students to enjoy his class, giving out awards such as a molecule hat to Screech. His Science test stresses Kelly because she has concert tickets that she won't get to use if she fails. Zack hoping to get on Kelly's good side arranges for Screech to tutor Kelly. The plan backfires when Kelly develops romantic feelings for Screech. Kelly manages to pass Dr. Mertz's test but finds that without the need for a tutor, she and Screech really do not have much in common.

text: Mr. Dickerson[edit]

text: Played by Raf Mauro, Dickerson is a history teacher known for his unfriendly demeanor and an impossible midterm that no student had passed in three years, something he seems to be very proud of. In the episode "The Fabulous Belding Boys," Dickerson has a nervous breakdown and is replaced by the very popular Rod Belding.

text: Mrs. Simpson[edit]

text: Mrs. Simpson (Pamela Kosh) is the nearly deaf, British-accented teacher who taught English class. She also appeared at the beginning of junior year and embarrassed Kelly and Zack by referring to them as “Bayside’s Most Beloved Couple” just a short while after they broke up. She said she didn't like Zack, and once wore a hearing aid that she discarded because the titular bell caused painful sound waves to assault her. She also made an appearance in the pilot episode of The New Class.

text: Coach Sonski[edit]

text: Coach Sonski (played by comedian Monty Hoffman) is the wrestling coach at Bayside High. He is overweight with a testosterone-laden personality, and has been shown to be a sexist (mainly in "Hold Me Tight"). He depends on Slater as his star athlete.

text: Coach Sonski is also shown as Bayside's auto shop instructor in the episode where Jessie's new stepbrother comes to California. He retains his sense of humor as well as his macho attitude throughout the episodes, though he once confessed to watching Oprah because he is "sensitive to dames".

text: Mr. Tuttle[edit]

text: Tuttle (portrayed by Jack Angeles) is an enthusiastic, overweight teacher (perhaps a foil for the thin, dour Mr. Dewey). He is well-liked by the students but had a mutually unfriendly relationship with Mr. Belding, stemming largely from Tuttle having been runner-up to Belding when Bayside had chosen a new principal. He also served as a leader in the local teacher's union, a driver's education teacher, and a music teacher.

text: Ms. Wentworth[edit]

text: Ms. Wentworth (portrayed by Carol Lawrence) is the Social Studies teacher during sophomore year who piqued Zack’s interest in his family heritage by assigning a family research project. She also taught the class about subliminal advertising, which led to a predictably hair-brained scheme from Zack. Ms. Wentworth is one of Bayside's more enthusiastic and unorthodox teachers. Like Mr. Tuttle, she is one of the few teachers who genuinely seems to like Zack, and seems to be popular with her students, because she is serious about her job but treats them nicely and has a good sense of humor.

text: Bayside students[edit]

text: Violet Ann Bickerstaff[edit]

text: Violet (Tori Spelling) is a nerdy character (appearing in 3 episodes in seasons 2 and 3) who was originally dating Maxwell Nerdstrom, but she dumped him in favor of Screech (whom she commonly addresses by his real name "Samuel"), as Maxwell had treated her poorly. In her first appearance, she knocks over Screech's mother's statue of Elvis Presley. This leads to a moneymaking scheme by the gang to get $250 for a new statue. Violet comes from an upper class family who disapproves of her relationship with Screech, mainly due to the fact he is from a lower class, despite the fact he and Violet share many common interests. In another episode, Violet is shown to have a beautiful singing voice, but is too shy to sing solo for Bayside's abysmal school choir until Screech supports her. She then quits the choir after Screech embarrasses her at a disastrous dinner with her folks, but when he comes out and sings her opposite, saving the day for her it convinces the Bickerstaffs that he is a good guy, and they say they no longer object to him dating their daughter.

text: Ginger[edit]

text: Ginger (portrayed by Bridgette Wilson) is a pretty but vacuous blonde (appearing in five season 4 episodes) who dates Zack a few times, but annoys him because she has little to say beyond asking him if she has lipstick on her teeth.

text: Rhonda Robistelli[edit]

text: Rhonda (portrayed by Kirsten Holmquist) is Bayside’s resident tomboy. She is a tall, lanky girl with disheveled blond hair (appearing in 3 first-season episodes). She and Zack have one date, during which she forcibly plants a kiss on his lips. Rhonda also tries to join the cheerleading squad in "Save That Tiger" and tries out for the team when one of the regulars is injured right before the big competition against Valley. Her audition is clumsy and the girls eventually talk Jessie into taking the spot.

text: "Big" Pete Stonebreaker[edit]

text: Pete Stonebreaker (Bryan Cooper) is one of the tallest nerds at Bayside (appearing in two episodes in seasons 3 and 4) who made his first appearance in an episode during the Malibu Sands storyline as a volleyball player when Screech was trying to recruit some members to replace Gary, an injured volleyball player. He seems to be a leader amongst the nerds, and has been able to fit in socially at times with more popular students.

text: Louise[edit]

text: Louise (Lara Lyon) is a nerdy Bayside student with blonde hair in pigtails and horn-rimmed glasses (appearing in 3 episodes in seasons 2 and 4) who is sometimes shown as a friend of Screech's. She enrolls in the Army JROTC program at Bayside after Zack convinces her that in the US Army men outnumber women. She is placed on Zack's "nerd team" in a physical competition to compete against Slater's better qualified team. Zack learns a lesson about leadership when he must encourage his team to realize their potential, which included telling Louise she could climb a rope. She returns in the episode "1-900-Crushed", where she confides she has feelings for the jock "Moose", whose feelings are mutual, but she worries about the mismatched relationship. She is the queen bee of the school's nerd clique, and Zack goes out on a date with her during his campaign to earn the nod for writing the new school song, knowing she would convince Bayside's geeks and dweebs to vote for him. Slater tells another high-ranking geek that Zack's "date" with Louise could set a precedent where other popular guys begin dating geek girls, which inspired the geeks to cast their votes in the song contest for Screech's entry.

text: Moose[edit]

text: Moose (portrayed by Mark Clayman) is a very dumb and childlike jock, much like his fellow football teammate Ox (appearing in two episodes in seasons 2 and 4). He is seen dating Louise in the episode "1-900-Crushed", and also has a minor speaking role in the episode "Student-Teacher Week."

text: Maxwell Nerdstrom[edit]

text: Nerdstrom (portrayed by Jeffrey Asch) is a rich nerd (appearing in two episodes in seasons 2 and 4) who is Violet Bickerstaff’s boyfriend and treats her rather poorly, although he does buy her a gold-plated pocket protector. His poor treatment of her is one of the factors in her becoming Screech’s girlfriend. While most of the nerds comport themselves with a bumbling dignity at most, Nerdstrom goes above and beyond, behaving as a pompous, stuck-up geek. He defeats Zack in a game of poker, but gets his comeuppance in the end. Perhaps Maxwell's most noted accomplishment at Bayside is mistakenly kissing Screech’s dog, "Hound Dog" believing him to be Jessie, to everybody’s delight. He is later humiliated when Screech pointed out that Maxwell kissed his dog and tells Maxwell to stay out of Violet's life.

text: Ox[edit]

text: Ox (Troy Fromin) is a member of the Bayside football team and an archetypal "dumb jock" (appearing in nine episodes in seasons 3 and 4) who pals around with Slater when Slater is without his friends. Despite being a jock, he dates a female nerd, and is often shown to be gentler and more sensitive than his size and oafish behavior would suggest. He is among the students who get drunk senior year at the toga party. A similar character named "Moose" also appeared on the show, however.

text: Belding family[edit]

text: Rod Belding[edit]

text: Rod Belding (portrayed by Ed Blatchford) is Mr. Belding’s brother and steps in as a substitute teacher during junior year, after Mr. Dickerson has a mental breakdown. He initially makes a hip impression on the students because of his happy-go-lucky attitude, world-weary demeanor, and tales of defying authority and schoolwork. Rod arranges to take the students on the rafting trip for their annual class trip (ruining Mr. Belding's plans to visit Yosemite Park) and attempts to teach them about it. Mr. Belding is overshadowed by his brother’s connection with the students, which is evident in a minor confrontation they have when Mr. Belding tells his brother he is not to be teaching the kids whitewater rafting on official class time. After Zack accuses him of being jealous of Rod, he soon finds out what he's really like on the inside. During a confrontation with the brothers, Rod tries to skip out of the trip just to meet a stewardess named Inga. Mr. Belding is furious that Rod would abandon his commitment to the students and orders him never to come back to Bayside. Rod leaves as Zack ducks behind some lockers to avoid his sight. Not wanting to upset his students, Mr. Belding claims that Rod is ill. However, when he offers to chaperone the trip instead, the students happily and gratefully accept. Zack, who had secretly overheard the incident, tells his principal that “we got the better Belding.”

text: Mrs. (Becky) Belding[edit]

text: Becky Belding, Mr. Belding’s wife (portrayed by Louan Gideon), is featured in the episode “Earthquake!”, in which she, Zack and Tori get stuck in an elevator after a minor earthquake. During the time in the elevator she goes into labor and gives birth to the Beldings' son with the help of Zack, who becomes the baby's namesake.

text: Penny Belding[edit]

text: Richard Belding’s niece (portrayed by Jodi Peterson) is blonde and bubbly, but no one wants to date her as she is related to the Principal. During Zack’s sophomore year at Bayside, he earns himself a Saturday school detention. In order to be released from serving time and to be able to attend Kelly’s upcoming party, he signs a treaty with Mr. Belding agreeing to take Penny out on a date on Friday in lieu of serving his sentence. After making this agreement, Kelly informs Zack that her birthday party would also be that Friday, since the Max was booked on Saturday. In order to make Kelly’s party, Zack trains Screech to imitate him, so that he could take Penny out on the date instead; this works out well because Penny is attracted to Screech, but she angers Kelly when she says that she is hot for “Zack,” thinking that was who Screech was.

text: Zack Belding[edit]

text: Richard and Becky Belding’s son, born when Zack, Mrs. Belding, and Tori get stuck in an elevator. He also appears in two episodes of Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

text: Morris family[edit]

text: Derek Morris[edit]

text: Derek Morris (portrayed by John Sanderford[2]) is the father of Zack. He is a businessman who spends little time with his son. He is very strict and opposed at first for Zack to marry Kelly in the TV Movie Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas Until a phone call from Slater changed his mind.

text: Melanie Morris[edit]

text: Melanie Rhonda Morris (portrayed by Melody Rogers[3]) is the mother of Zack. She's more fresh and less strict than her husband Derek. She adores Zack but still she knows some of her son's tricks. She supported Zack's marriage but couldn't do much to aid him in order to respect her husband, in the TV movie Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas.

text: Kapowski family[edit]

text: Frank Kapowski[edit]

text: Frank Kapowski (portrayed by John Mansfield) is the father of Kelly and her six other siblings. Kind and loving, he worked at a defense plant, but is laid off in the season two premiere "The Prom". He is also seen at Zack and Kelly's wedding in Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas giving Kelly away, and at the reception with his wife and two of Kelly's younger brothers.

text: Billy Kapowski[edit]

text: Billy Kapowski is Kelly’s baby brother, whom she places in the care of her friends in the episode “The Babysitters” so that she could have her cheerleading picture taken for the school yearbook. Zack is often left alone with Billy as the others make excuses or have other commitments to attend to. Because of this, Billy and Zack bond quickly to the point where Zack distrusts anyone else to care for the baby. He is forced, however, to allow Jessie and Lisa to look after him in their Home Economics/Parenthood class. They lose track of Billy when Screech goes to fetch Billy for Zack but mistakes a doll for the baby. The gang eventually find him in Mr. Belding’s office, and at the end of the episode he speaks his first word: “Zack.”

text: Kyle Kapowski[edit]

text: Another brother of Kelly's, he disrupts the end of one of Kelly and Zack's dates. Kyle later dumps water on Zack from the second floor of their house after Kelly decided against going steady.

text: Nicki Kapowski[edit]

text: Nicki Kapowski (portrayed by Laura Mooney) is Kelly’s tomboyish little sister who develops a crush on Zack. She becomes convinced that Zack feels the same way after he mixes up her phone call with Kelly's (while running the "Teen Line"). Although she is only thirteen and in the seventh grade, she nonetheless shows up at Bayside High to visit Zack, sporting a more feminine look and demanding a kiss. After trying various ploys to turn her off (including dressing up like a geek and trying to gross her out with a pet spider), Zack finally has to tell her the truth: he isn’t interested in her; he is in love with Kelly. More angry than hurt, she insults Zack for trying to scare her away instead of having the courage to tell a thirteen-year-old girl how he really feels.

text: Harry Bannister[edit]

text: Harry Bannister (portrayed by Dean Jones is Kelly's grandfather from the movie Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style. He invites Kelly and her friends to stay at "The Hawaiian Hideaway", a rustic hotel in Hawaii. However, someone else is out to buy his land and build a hotel/resort complex, and the gang has to save it.

text: Slater family[edit]

text: Maj. Martin Slater[edit]

text: Major Martin Slater (Gerald Castillo) is A.C.’s strict but loving father, who is frequently transferred due to Army obligations. Although he wants his son to attend West Point and enter the military as he himself had done, he eventually changes his views when he sees that Slater wants to attend college on a wrestling scholarship and figure things out from there. He is more frequent in the first season than any of the others. It is later revealed in "Saved by the Bell: The College Years" that Martin's last name was actually "Sanchez," causing an embarrassed A.C. Slater to realize his father concealed his Latino heritage (presumably simple due to his decidedly non-Latino appearance) to avoid rampant bigotry as he entered the military.

text: J.B. Slater[edit]

text: J.B. is Slater's younger sister. She shows up suddenly to visit A.C. and Zack develops a crush on her. This makes A.C. angry as he knows how big a womanizer Zack is, and forbids them from seeing each other. Once J.B. learns of this, she confronts Slater angrily and tells him to butt out of her love life. He eventually accepts that she will be dating his best friend and thus wouldn't be so bad. He still warns Zack to "treat her right". She does not appear in any other episodes besides "Slater's Sister."

text: Jessie Spano's stepfamily[edit]

text: Leslie[edit]

text: Leslie (Barbra Brighton) is the aerobics instructor (in the two-part season 3 episode "Palm Springs Weekend") as well as Jessie's future step-mom. Although Zack makes a pass at her in the beginning of the episode, the gang later finds out Leslie is marrying Jessie's dad. Jessie refers to her future step-mom as an "aerobics bimbo", insults and lies to her, and asks her dad flat-out to not marry her. Her father firmly says he loves Leslie and is marrying her, period. Jessie then refuses to attend the wedding. At the end of the episode, however, Zack convinces Jessie to do the right thing and they arrive (though slightly late) to the wedding on a golf cart, where Jessie apologizes and Leslie forgives her.

text: Eric Tramer[edit]

text: Eric Tramer (Josh Hoffman) is Jessie’s stepbrother from New York (in the two-part season 3 episode "The Wicked Stepbrother"). At first excited to have a new stepbrother, Jessie quickly grows to dislike his rough, confrontational and offensive personality. Eric causes trouble and conflict at Bayside, particularly with Zack who feels threatened by the new prankster bad-boy, even going so far as to offer up Mr. Belding’s car for auto shop class dissection to get Zack into trouble. However, after a punch and a speech from Jessie (after he said she was "just a chick"), he reforms his ways, entirely reassembles Belding’s car, and apologizes to all. He was planning to return to New York City, but the gang, particularly Lisa, who had developed feelings for him, convinces him to remain at Bayside.

text: Turtle Family[edit]

text: Mr. Turtle[edit]

text: Mr. Turtle (Henry Brown) appears in the episode "The Lisa Card". He was Lisa's father, who gave Lisa her first credit card for 'emergencies only,' however, she spends nearly $400 on clothes with the credit card. At the end of the episode, she confesses that she spent the emergency credit card balance on clothes, and Mr. Turtle forces her to pay the credit card off herself.

text: Judy Turtle[edit]

text: Lisa's mother Judy Turtle (Susan Beaubian) appeared in two episodes of the series, "Operation Zack" and "Drinking and Driving". In "Operation Zack", she is Zack's doctor after he accidentally breaks his leg when Mr. Belding bumps into him in the locker room. In "Drinking and Driving", Lisa crashed her car after getting drunk at a party, and has to deal with the repercussions of her actions, including telling Judy what she did to her car.

text: Powers Family[edit]

text: Roberta Powers[edit]

text: Roberta Powers (Ruth Buzzi) appeared in the episode "House Party". She is Screech's mom, who is a huge Elvis fan. In the episode, she trusts Screech to be home alone for a weekend and gives him a long list of rules to abide by. Her favorite Elvis statue gets broken by Screech's girlfriend, Violet, and the gang has to throw a party to raise money for the statue replacement.

text: Kimberly[edit]

text: Kimberly (who was uncredited) is Screech's cousin who appeared in the episode "The Aftermath". She was one of Zack's blind dates, which was intended to cheer Zack up after his rough breakup with Kelly. Slater, Jessie, and Lisa start wondering how Screech is related to her, due to the strong dissimilarities in their appearances, until Screech tells them she is adopted.

text: Malibu Sands employees[edit]

text: Stacey Carosi[edit]

text: Stacey Carosi (portrayed by Leah Remini, appearing in six episodes of season 3). She works for her father, Leon Carosi, at the Malibu Sands beach resort as a staff manager, in charge of all of the other members. Zack Morris is quickly smitten with her, and is disappointingly shocked to learn that she is the daughter of his boss. Throughout the summer, she and Zack progress from flirtation to hostility to eventual romance, marked by their kiss under the fireworks during the Fourth of July celebration.

text: Leon Carosi[edit]

text: Leon Carosi (portrayed by Ernie Sabella) is Stacey's father, who takes a strong dislike to Zack due to his constant snarky remarks and attempted courting of his daughter. He is also the gang's greedy boss for the summer. He also is very narcissistic, pompous and sometimes bumbling and thinks highly of himself and his daughter. However, despite his dislike of Zack, he eventually warms up to him towards the end of Zack's summer employment and says he approves of Zack and Stacey dating. He is similar to Mr. Belding who is always trying to get rid of Zack.

text: The Max's employees[edit]

text: Max[edit]

text: Max is the owner of The Max (played by Ed Alonzo, in 20 episodes during the first two seasons). He often advises the students of Bayside on their choices and dilemmas, and re-inforces his points with magic tricks. He is also the gang's friend.

text: Jeff Hunter[edit]

text: Jeff Hunter (played by Patrick Muldoon) has a brief tenure (in three episodes of season 3) as the Max’s manager who likes Kelly Kapowski. As a result, Zack and Kelly break up, allowing Jeff and Kelly to begin a relationship. Unfortunately, very soon afterwards Jeff’s infidelity was revealed when he is seen dancing with and kissing a girl at an over-18 club known as The Attic. Kelly breaks up with him as a result.

text: Miscellaneous characters[edit]

text: James the Actor[edit]

text: James (portrayed by Mark Blankfield) is an out-of-work actor who takes a job as a waiter at the Max (appearing in two episodes in seasons 2 and 3). He claims that he was a student at acting school. Most of the work he seems to get as an actor on the show is in the employ of Zack. In the season 3 episode "S.A.T.'s," Zack hires James to do a double role as Stanley Alan Taylor (S.A.T.), who orders Mr. Belding to lighten up Zack's workload after his grades have dropped, then to play an admissions officer for Harvard who acts snooty and elitist to everyone. In the season 2 episode "Rent-a-Pop," Zack hired James to impersonate his father after Belding demanded he meet with him as a condition to go on a ski trip in order to report on Zack's failing grades; to which Zack was convinced his real father would not let him go if he knew the truth. Zack then has to hire James again to play Mr. Belding after his real father accepts a letter to meet Belding once more, where James falsifies Zack's grades as spectacular. James the Actor also made two appearances on Saved By the Bell: The New Class.

text: Frank and Laura Benton[edit]

text: Frank and Laura Benton (Stephen Mendel and Jennifer McComb) are a homeless father and daughter, respectively (in the two-part season 3 episode "Home for Christmas"), who catches the eye of Zack and the gang around Christmas time. Laura, who works in a department store with Kelly, seems to be a tentative love interest for Zack; she is very shy around Zack about her homelessness. Zack, Slater and Screech get Frank to a hospital when he passes out at the mall from hunger, and then they find out he is Laura's father. Laura's boss accuses her of stealing a suit jacket that Kelly set aside to buy, so Frank would have an outfit that he could wear to job interviews. Later, Laura's boss apologizes and gives Laura the jacket for free. Eventually, the Morris family takes in the Bentons until they could “get back on their feet.”

text: Kevin the Robot[edit]

text: Kevin the Robot (operated and voiced by Mike Lavelle) was a creation of Screech’s with artificial intelligence (appearing in three episodes during seasons 1 and 2), who lives in Screech’s room and usually dishes out advice and witty remarks. His appearances include him as Screech's assistant when Screech is doing a magic show; and as assistant hall monitor when Screech is nominated for the post by his classmates, to make up for forgetting Screech's birthday.


document_title: Lake Michigan

question_text: how wide is lake michigan at its widest point

text: Lake Michigan

text: History[edit]

text: Some of the earliest human inhabitants of the Lake Michigan region were the Hopewell Indians. Their culture declined after 800 AD, and for the next few hundred years, the region was the home of peoples known as the Late Woodland Indians. In the early 17th century, when western European explorers made their first forays into the region, they encountered descendants of the Late Woodland Indians: the Chippewa; Menominee; Sauk; Fox; Winnebago; Miami; Ottawa; and Potawatomi. The French explorer Jean Nicolet is believed to have been the first European to reach Lake Michigan, possibly in 1634 or 1638.[6] In the earliest European maps of the region, the name of Lake Illinois has been found in addition to that of "Michigan", named for the Illinois Confederation of tribes.[7]

text: Lake Michigan is joined via the narrow, open-water Straits of Mackinac with Lake Huron, and the combined body of water is sometimes called Michigan–Huron (also Huron–Michigan). The Straits of Mackinac were an important Native American and fur trade route. Located on the southern side of the Straits is the town of Mackinaw City, Michigan, the site of Fort Michilimackinac, a reconstructed French fort founded in 1715, and on the northern side is St. Ignace, Michigan, site of a French Catholic mission to the Indians, founded in 1671. In 1673, Jacques Marquette, Louis Joliet and their crew of five Métis voyageurs followed Lake Michigan to Green Bay and up the Fox River, nearly to its headwaters, in their search for the Mississippi River, cf. Fox–Wisconsin Waterway. The eastern end of the Straits was controlled by Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, a British colonial and early American military base and fur trade center, founded in 1781.[8]

text: With the advent of European exploration into the area in the late 17th century, Lake Michigan became part of a line of waterways leading from the Saint Lawrence River to the Mississippi River and thence to the Gulf of Mexico.[9] French coureurs des bois and voyageurs established small ports and trading communities, such as Green Bay, on the lake during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.[10]

text: In the 19th century, Lake Michigan played a major role in the development of Chicago and the Midwestern United States west of the lake. For example, 90% of the grain shipped from Chicago traveled east over Lake Michigan during the antebellum years, and only rarely falling below 50% after the Civil War and the major expansion of railroad shipping.[11]

text: The first person to reach the deep bottom of Lake Michigan was J. Val Klump, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Klump reached the bottom via submersible as part of a 1985 research expedition.[12]

text: In 2007, a row of stones paralleling an ancient shoreline was discovered by Mark Holley, professor of underwater archeology at Northwestern Michigan College. This formation lies 40 feet (12 m) below the surface of the lake. One of the stones is said to have a carving resembling a mastodon. So far the formation has not been authenticated.[13][14]

text: Geography[edit]

text: Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes wholly within the borders of the United States; the others are shared with Canada.[19] It lies in the region known as the American Midwest.

text: Statistics and bathymetry[edit]

text: Lake Michigan has a surface area of 22,404 sq.mi (58,026 km2); (13,237 square miles, 34,284 km2 lying in Michigan state,[2] 7,358 square miles, 19,056 km2 in Wisconsin, 234 square miles, 606 km2 in Indiana, & 1,576 square miles, 4,079 km2 in Illinois) making it the largest lake entirely within one country by surface area (Lake Baikal, in Russia, is larger by water volume), and the fifth-largest lake in the world. It is the larger half of Lake Michigan–Huron, which is the largest body of fresh water in the world by surface area. It is 307 miles (494 km) long by 118 miles (190 km) wide with a shoreline 1,640 miles (2,640 km) long. The lake's average depth is 46 fathoms 3 feet (279 ft; 85 m), while its greatest depth is 153 fathoms 5 feet (923 ft; 281 m).[2][20] It contains a volume of 1,180 cubic miles (4,918 km³) of water. Green Bay in the northwest is its largest bay. Grand Traverse Bay in its northeast is another large bay. Its deepest region, which lies in its northern-half, is called Chippewa Basin (named after prehistoric Lake Chippewa) and is separated from South Chippewa Basin, by a relatively shallower area called the Mid Lake Plateau.[21][22]

text: Cities[edit]

text: Twelve million people live along Lake Michigan's shores, mainly in the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. The economy of many communities in northern Michigan and Door County, Wisconsin is supported by tourism, with large seasonal populations attracted by the beauty and recreational opportunities offered by Lake Michigan.[23][citation needed] Seasonal residents often have summer homes along the waterfront and return home for the winter. The southern tip of the lake near Gary, Indiana is heavily industrialized. Cities on the shores of Lake Michigan include:

text:
Illinois

Chicago
Evanston
Glencoe
Highland Park
Kenilworth
Lake Forest
Lake Bluff
North Chicago
Waukegan
Wilmette
Winnetka
Zion

Indiana

East Chicago
Gary
Hammond
Michigan City
Portage
Porter
Whiting

text: Michigan

text:
Benton Harbor
Bridgman
Charlevoix
Douglas
Elberta
Escanaba
Ferrysburg
Frankfort
Gladstone
Glenn
Grand Beach
Grand Haven
Harbor Springs
Holland
Ludington

Mackinaw City
Manistee
Manistique
Menominee
Michiana
Muskegon
New Buffalo
Norton Shores
Pentwater
Petoskey
Saugatuck
St. Joseph
Shoreham
South Haven
Traverse City

text: Wisconsin

text:
Algoma
Cudahy
Fox Point
Green Bay
Kenosha
Kewaunee
Manitowoc
Milwaukee
Mequon

Oconto
Port Washington
Racine
Sheboygan
Shorewood
South Milwaukee
Sturgeon Bay
Two Rivers
Whitefish Bay

text: Connection to ocean and open water[edit]

text: The Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway opened the Great Lakes to ocean-going vessels. Wider ocean-going container ships do not fit through the locks on these routes, and thus shipping is limited on the lakes. Despite their vast size, large sections of the Great Lakes freeze in winter, interrupting most shipping. Some icebreakers ply the lakes.

text: The Great Lakes are also connected by the Illinois Waterway to the Gulf of Mexico via the Illinois River (from Chicago) and the Mississippi River. An alternate track is via the Illinois River (from Chicago), to the Mississippi, up the Ohio, and then through the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (combination of a series of rivers and lakes and canals), to Mobile Bay and the Gulf. Commercial tug-and-barge traffic on these waterways is heavy.

text: Pleasure boats can also enter or exit the Great Lakes by way of the Erie Canal and Hudson River in New York. The Erie Canal connects to the Great Lakes at the east end of Lake Erie (at Buffalo, NY) and at the south side of Lake Ontario (at Oswego, NY).

text: Beaches[edit]

text: Lake Michigan has many beaches. The region is often referred to as the "Third Coast"[24] of the United States, after those of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The sand is often soft and off-white, known as "singing sands" because of the squeaking noise (caused by high quartz content) it emits when walked upon. Some beaches have sand dunes covered in green beach grass and sand cherries, and the water is usually clear and cool, between 55 and 80 °F (13 and 27 °C),[25] even in the late summer months. However, because prevailing westerly winds tend to move the surface water toward the east, there is a flow of warmer water to the Michigan shore in the summer.[26]

text: The sand dunes located on the east shore of Lake Michigan are the largest freshwater dune system in the world. In fact, in multiple locations along the shoreline, the dunes rise several hundred feet above the lake surface. Large dune formations can be seen in many state parks, national forests and national parks along the Indiana and Michigan shoreline. Some of the most expansive and unique dune formations can be found at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Saugatuck Dunes State Park, Warren Dunes State Park, Hoffmaster State Park, Silver Lake State Park, Ludington State Park, and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Small dune formations can be found on the western shore of Lake Michigan at Illinois Beach State Park and moderate sized dune formations can be found in Kohler-Andrae State Park and Point Beach State Forest in Wisconsin. A large dune formation can be found in Whitefish Dunes State Park in Wisconsin in the Door Peninsula. Lake Michigan beaches in Northern Michigan are the only place in the world, aside from a few inland lakes in that region, where one can find Petoskey stones, the state stone.[citation needed]

text: The beaches of the western coast and the northernmost part of the east coast are often rocky, with some sandy beaches due to local conditions; while the southern and eastern beaches are typically sandy and dune-covered. This is partly because of the prevailing winds from the west (which also cause thick layers of ice to build on the eastern shore in winter).

text: The Chicago city waterfront is composed of parks, beaches, harbors and marinas, and residential developments connected by the Chicago Lakefront Trail. Where there are no beaches or marinas, stone or concrete revetments protect the shoreline from erosion. The Chicago lakefront is quite walkable; it is possible to stroll past parks, beaches, and marinas for about 24 miles (39 km) between the city's southern and northern limits along the lake.

text: Ferries[edit]

text: Two passenger and vehicle ferries operate ferry services on Lake Michigan, both connecting Wisconsin on the western shore with Michigan on the east. From May to October, the historic steam ship, SS Badger, operates daily between Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Ludington, Michigan,[27] connecting U.S. Highway 10 between the two cities. The Lake Express, established in 2004, carries passengers and vehicles across the lake between Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Muskegon, Michigan.

text: Islands[edit]

text:
The Beaver Island archipelago in Charlevoix County, Michigan, includes Beaver Island, Garden Island, Grape Island, Gull Island, Hat Island, High Island, Hog Island, Horseshoe Island, Little Island, Pismire Island, Shoe Island, Squaw Island, Trout Island, and Whiskey Island.
The Fox Islands in Leelanau County, Michigan, consist of North Fox Island and South Fox Island.
The Manitou Islands, North Manitou Island and South Manitou Island, are in Leelanau County, Michigan.
Islands within Grand Traverse Bay include Bassett Island, Bellow Island, and Marion Island.
Islands south of the Garden Peninsula in Delta County, Michigan include Gravelly Island, Gull Island, Little Gull Island, Little Summer Island, Poverty Island, Rocky Island, St. Martin Island, and Summer Island.
Islands in Big Bay de Noc in Delta County, Michigan include Round Island, Saint Vital Island, and Snake Island.
Islands in Little Bay de Noc in Delta County, Michigan include Butlers Island and Sand Island.
Wilderness State Park in Emmet County, Michigan contains Temperance Island and Waugoshance Island.
Epoufette Island, Gravel Island, Little Hog Island, and Naubinway Island are located in Mackinac County, Michigan, in the area of Epoufette, Michigan and Naubinway, Michigan.
Green Island and St. Helena Island are in the vicinity of the Mackinac Bridge, in Mackinac County, Michigan.
Islands surrounding the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin include Chambers Island, Fish Island, Gravel Island, Spider Island, Horseshoe Island, the Sister Islands, Detroit Island, Green Island, Hog Island, Pilot Island, Plum Island, Rock Island, the Strawberry Islands and Washington Island. The northern half of the peninsula is technically an island itself, due to the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal.
Northerly Island is a 91-acre (37 ha) man-made island in Chicago. It is the home of the Adler Planetarium, the former site of Meigs Field, and the current site of the temporary concert venue Charter One Pavilion each summer.
Other islands included Fisherman Island in Charlevoix County, Michigan and Ile aux Galets in Emmet County, Michigan.
Plum Island (Wisconsin) is an island at the western shore of Lake Michigan in the southern part of the town of Washington in Door County, Wisconsin.

tag: ul

text: Parks[edit]

text: The National Park Service maintains the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Parts of the shoreline are within the Hiawatha National Forest and the Manistee National Forest. The Manistee National Forest section of the shoreline includes the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness. The Lake Michigan division of the Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge is also within the lake.

text: There are numerous state and local parks located on the shores of the lake or on islands within the lake. A partial list follows.

text:
Chicago Park District Beaches
Duck Lake State Park
Fayette Historic State Park
Fisherman's Island State Park
Grand Haven State Park
Grand Mere State Park
Harrington Beach State Park
Holland State Park
Hoffmaster State Park
Illinois Beach State Park
Indian Lake State Park
Indiana Dunes State Park
Kohler-Andrae State Park
Lake Park, Milwaukee
Ludington State Park
Leelanau State Park
Mears State Park
Muskegon State Park
Newport State Park
Orchard Beach State Park
Peninsula State Park
Racine Zoo
Saugatuck Dunes State Park
Silver Lake State Park
Traverse City State Park
Terry Andrae State Park
Van Buren State Park
Warren Dunes State Park

text:
Wells State Park
Wilderness State Park

text: Lighthouses[edit]

text:
Illinois lighthouses
Indiana lighthouses
Michigan lighthouses
Wisconsin lighthouses

text: Hydrology[edit]

text: The Milwaukee Reef, running under Lake Michigan from a point between Milwaukee and Racine to a point between Grand Haven and Muskegon, divides the lake into northern and southern basins. Each basin has a clockwise flow of water, deriving from rivers, winds, and the Coriolis effect. Prevailing westerly winds tend to move the surface water toward the east, producing a moderating effect on the climate of western Michigan. There is a mean difference in summer temperatures of 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit (2 to 5 degrees Celsius) between the Wisconsin and Michigan shores.[26]

text: Hydrologically Michigan and Huron are the same body of water (sometimes called Lake Michigan-Huron), but are normally considered distinct. Counted together, it is the largest body of fresh water in the world by surface area. The Mackinac Bridge is generally considered the dividing line between them. Both lakes are part of the Great Lakes Waterway.

text: Historic High Water

text: Historic Low Water

text: In January 2013, Lake Michigan's monthly mean water levels dipped to an all-time low of 576.2 ft (175.6 m),[30] reaching their lowest ebb since record keeping began in 1918. The lakes were 29 in (0.74 m) below their long-term average and had declined 17 inches since January 2012.[31] Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' district office in Detroit, explained that biggest factors leading to the lower water levels in 2013 were a combination of the "lack of a large snowpack" in the winter of 2011/2012 coupled with very hot and dry conditions in the summer of 2012.[30]

text: Drinking water[edit]

text: Lake Michigan, like the other Great Lakes, supplies drinking water to millions of people in bordering areas. The lakes are collectively administered by the state and provincial governments adjacent to them pursuant to the Great Lakes Compact.

text: Environmental problems can still plague the lake. Steel mills and refineries operate near the Indiana shoreline. The Chicago Tribune reported that BP is a major polluter, dumping thousands of pounds of raw sludge into the lake every day from its Whiting, Indiana, oil refinery.[32] In March 2014 BP's Whiting refinery was responsible for spilling more than 1,600 US gallons (6,100 l) of oil into the lake.[33]

text: Fishing[edit]

text: Lake Michigan is home to a wide variety of fish species and other organisms. It was originally home to lake whitefish, lake trout, yellow perch, panfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and bowfin, as well as some species of catfish. As a result of improvements to the Welland Canal in 1919, an invasion of sea lampreys and overharvesting, there has been a decline in native lake trout populations, ultimately causing an increase in the population of another invasive species, the alewife. As a result, salmonids, including various strains of brown trout, steelhead (rainbow trout), coho and chinook salmon, were introduced as predators in order to decrease the alewife population. This program was so successful that the introduced population of trout and salmon exploded, resulting in the creation of a large sport fishery for these introduced species. Lake Michigan is now stocked annually with steelhead, brown trout, and coho and chinook salmon, which have also begun natural reproduction in some Lake Michigan tributaries. However, several introduced invasive species, such as lampreys, round goby, zebra mussels and quagga mussels, continue to cause major changes in water clarity and fertility, resulting in knock-on changes to Lake Michigan's ecosystem, threatening the vitality of native fish populations.

text: Commercial fisheries[edit]

text: Fisheries in inland waters of the United States are small compared to marine fisheries. The largest fisheries are the landings from the Great Lakes, worth about $13 million in 2003.[34] Michigan’s commercial fishery today consists mainly of 150 tribe-licensed commercial fishing operations through the Chippewa-Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA) and tribes belonging to the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), which harvest 50 percent of the Great Lakes commercial catch in Michigan waters, and 45 state-licensed commercial fishing enterprises.[35] The prime commercial species is the lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis). The annual harvest declined from an average of 11 million pounds (5,000,000 kg) from 1981 through to 1999 to more recent annual harvests of 8 to 9.5 million pounds (3,600,000 to 4,300,000 kg). The price for lake whitefish dropped from $1.04/lb. to as low as $.40/lb during periods of high production.[35]

text: Sports fishing[edit]

text: Sports fishing includes salmon, whitefish, smelt, lake trout and walleye being major catches. In the late 1960s, successful stocking programs for Pacific salmon led to the development of Lake Michigan’s charter fishing industry.[36]

text: Shipping[edit]

text: Like all of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan is today used as a major mode of transport for bulk goods. In 2002, 162 million net tons of dry bulk cargo were moved via the Lakes. This was, in order of volume: iron ore, grain and potash.[citation needed] The iron ore and much of the stone and coal are used in the steel industry. There is also some shipping of liquid and containerized cargo, but most container vessels cannot pass the locks on the Saint Lawrence Seaway because the ships are too wide. The total amount of shipping on the lakes has been on a downward trend for several years.

text: Port of Chicago[edit]

text: The Port of Chicago, operated by the Illinois International Port District, has grain (14 million bushels) and bulk liquid (800,000 barrels) storage facilities along Lake Calumet. The central element of the Port District, Calumet Harbor, is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.[37]

text: Tourism and recreation[edit]

text: Tourism and recreation are major industries on all of the Great Lakes:

text:
A few small cruise ships operate on Lake Michigan, including a couple of sailing ships.
Many other water sports are practiced on the lakes, such as yachting, sea kayaking, diving, kitesurfing and lake surfing.
The Great Lakes Circle Tour, a designated scenic road system, connects all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.[38]
Great Lakes passenger steamers have been operating since the mid-1800s. Several ferries currently operate on the Great Lakes to carry passengers to various islands, including Beaver Island and Bois Blanc Island (Michigan). Currently, two car ferry services traverse Lake Michigan from around April to November: the SS Badger, a steamer from Ludington, Michigan, to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and the Lake Express, a high speed catamaran from Milwaukee to Muskegon, Michigan.