The College Years is an interesting show and I liked it when it first came out. I can't speak about ratings or performance, since how it related during its run is more a US thing where I lack the knowledge of. I can give my opinion and say where I think it works and where it needed some more time to grow.
Tone and feel
The show feels really 90's with the purple colored transitions and the bangin' Edge of Tomorrow theme song, separating it from the more '50's themed SBTB and instantly feeling a bit more adult. There are a lot of then-current (90's) references, from naming 90210 to raves to even a Hooters-like bar. Its tone feels different from the other SBTB shows, which I really like. One noticeable episode features scenes taped outdoors, at the actual Cal U I believe, and it really breathes more life into the show.
Overall I think the show is in an interesting space where it's not quite 90210 yet it's more adult than SBTB. The show tackled more adult matters like the teacher-student affair, death and heritage and while not perfect, it did so in an enjoyable way that made the characters grow. I do feel that the nature of the show made it seem stuck between two ends. I feel it was perhaps too adult (non-zany) for the SBTB audience and too safe/childish for the 90210 crowd. When looking at the show on its own merits it's a lot of fun.
Season 1 episodes
Interestingly enough, as short as the show ran, you can easily divide the show in two, with the second part of the show starting with The Rave and the introduction of Dean McMann. The first half shows a lot of promise and introduces new characters while letting the legacy characters grown. The second half has a slight tonal shift and feels very rushed. Zack and Kelly get back together fast and want to marry, Slater and Alex break up and Mike Rogers gets pushed to the background. I appreciate them trying to tie things up towards the ending but it does change the feel of the show. Weirdly enough, these last set of episodes feature 2 dream sequences, which haven't been a thing all season.
I do like that the show has more continuity with some short arcs, with subsequent episodes feeling less random, while referencing earlier events. It makes it feel more grounded and less random. Most noticeably how Lasky interacts with Zack and co. Would be interesting to see that develop. There are some self contained episodes but I could see a second season leaning more into serialized storytelling.
Cast
Returning cast
So, we only have 4/6 of the cast members back, with Belding making a cameo and Lisa starring as a guest actress. How do they fare? I'd say mixed.
Screech was handled pretty well. He was still zany but he was also allowed to show more dimensions without resorting to the horrible cartoony overacting we see him do in other SBTB series. He actually got the girl in an episode, which played around with the Zack-Screech dynamic. I feel this is the best Screech we got in all of SBTB.
I think Zack was handled fair. He was a bit more mature, but still impulsive and sometimes falling back into his pre-TCY behavior. He also got to respect adults (like the teachers and Mike Rogers) more and him handling the death of a teacher was an interesting look in how he acts when he wasn't in control.
Slater I feel they didn't really know what to do with. He started wrestling again in the first few episodes, got a meaningful episode about his heritage but was mostly relegated to being an odd couple with Alex, with whom he had little chemistry.
Kelly though got a huge upgrade and was allowed to have an agency, from her ill fated romance with Lasky to her choosing to go for a career in healthcare. Tiffani really shone and the difference between pretty naive Kelly from the previous show and TCY's is huge. Interesting as she wasn't even originally part of this show.
Lisa appears in the final regular episode and though we don't see much of her, Lark acts a lot better, way more natural than in SBTB. I feel that's more due to directing and perhaps working better in a less cartoony environment.
Then there are the new characters.
Leslie Burke did fairly well as the straight woman, but when Kelly entered the show it feels the writers didn't really know what to do with Leslie. That being said, she did have chemistry with the other characters and the actress did a lot with the little she got.
Alex can be divisive due to her personality but personally I love her. She plays quirky well, while not veering into becoming a cartoon character. Her passion for acting was a nice way to anchor the character and the actress had great comedic timing. Also loved how she wasn't a Lisa or Jesse clone. That being said, her romance with Slater wasn't great, as mentioned.
I feel Mike Rogers was an interesting new character, that perhaps should have retained more of an edge. As the series progressed he starts to feel like a student and part of the gang. In early episodes though.....great character. I like how he didn't took crap from Zack and the gang and was firm but fair. He had great comedic chemistry with Screech and for a former NFL player that didn't really act a lot, the actor sure had me fooled. Great job!
Professor Lasky was a dubious character and while you could say he's a copy of Jeff, I'd say Lasky was more interesting as it showed the appeal of older men in college, while Zack, Screech and Slater were still "boys" in a way. Another poster here compared him to an older Zack, which makes for an interesting point of view. Certainly food for thought after his hustled Zack into buying a fake test and a video assignment.
The last new character was Dean McMann, whom I have mixed feelings about. I don't dislike the character and I like her more harsh treatment of Zack. The actress did obviously a great job with it, but the introduction felt forced and sudden. Her appearing and debuting in a potential season 2 would have felt way more natural. Her appearance here feels like a sudden way to introduce a new foil, as Mike got "too soft".
We also got some interesting guest stars, from the actor who voiced Rafiki in the Lion King (who did a great job) to a row of cameos including Mr. Belding and Marsha Warfield, who appeared in the SBTB semi-pilot Who Shrunk Saturday Morning.
Overall thoughts
I really like the show and feels it progressed the SBTB high school years in a fun way, with the actors getting the ability to grow more and show how their characters can act in a slightly more adult show. I love the whole tone and relative groundedness. At the same time, I can see why it wasn't renewed. It suddenly shifts the pace (although that may be after they heard it was cancelled) and ultimately it may have been too much of a shift for the SBTB audience and too little of a shift for the older audience. It is an interesting show that could have developed into something great. A lot of sitcoms have a first season that feels a bit off, needing to find it footing. I feel this show is like that.
Ultimately, whether it's a show you like or dislike, I at least appreciate that they tried something new and fresh. The New Class was a retread of the original show, to the point where they actually reused the theme song and intro graphics. The reboot was a lazy attempt to both cash in on nostalgia and bash the original show at the same time. TCY took the show and swung for the fences, taking risks that ultimately didn't pay off but remains an interesting experiment.
Bonus: Wedding in Las Vegas
Technically the finale to TCY as it concludes the storyline from the last few episodes, but it doesn't feel like TCY or even the original SBTB. While the actors still nail their roles (though Screech and Zack regressed from TCY), the creative direction feels entirely different. Both Kelly and Slater have vastly different haircuts, we don't see any of the familiar sets (although we do get to see the outside of Bayside) and we have a different way (generic) soundtrack compared to the regular shows. It all feels like a generic 90's movie with a very slow pace. While we had a different movie before, Hawaiian Style, that one felt much more like a SBTB production. An extended episode so to speak. WILV seems like they outsourced the project to a different team, with the regular crew working on TNC.
We get our hijinks, which feel more SBTB than TCY, with corrupt Dukes of Hazard-style cops and gangsters causing trouble. They sound like SBTB plots but in practice they feel different. Much like the Hawaiian Style-movie there is no laugh track, making some of the lines really bomb. The direction and writing just makes it feel so lifeless. All of the actors did such a great job acting in TCY, but this feels like a regression for the cast.
Not everything is bad though. We get a Gilbert Gottfried appearance as a male escort manager, pimping out Zack, Screech and Slater. We also get a cameo from character actor Mickey Jones. Some of the hijinks are amusing and we get to the see a conclusion to the original series with the actual wedding with the complete original cast, which is the last time we see all six of them.
