The bell rings again and students at Bayside High are returning to class for the “Saved by the Bell” reboot.
The reboot’s a riff on the original hit TV series and even features the original stars, including Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Lark Voorhies, and Tiffani Thiessen. Now that the gang’s all back together, they’re spilling secrets about the relaunch.
Berkley’s back as Jessie Spano and chatted with PEOPLE about taking on the role again, now over two decades later.
“It’s a very special thing we share,” Berkley said of her former costars. “It’s touching to have all these years of people that you care about and that you’re rooting for. To be on those same sets with those faces I know and love so well feels like coming home.”
Berkley is also a producer on the show and she wanted to make sure fans of the original could relate. “We wanted to introduce a new cast but also give fun winks and nods for the true fan,” she says. “‘Saved by the Bell’ holds a special place in people’s hearts. It’s part of their childhoods, and that is sacred. We are all fiercely protective of that legacy.”
Behind the Scenes of ‘Saved by the Bell’
The original cast of Saved by the Bell joined Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”. They reveal that the magic of “Saved by the Bell” is back in the halls of Bayside High.
Fallon asks to revisit some classic scenes, starting with the AC Slater and Zach Morris fight.
Lopez, who plays Slater, says that he’s really “proud of the fight” and Morris, played by Gosselaar, confesses that this would never happen on set today. Stunt doubles, padding, and a stunt coordinator would all be involved for a staged fight scene. The two say that they actually choreographed the fight beforehand and practiced the moves.
Next up is the prom night between Gosselaar and Thiessen. Fallon asks if they were nervous about the on-scene kiss. Gosselaar says, “Ya, I can imagine I was nervous. I didn’t have a resume of people that I had kissed up until that point.” He continues with, “You might’ve been my second kiss and that I wanted to make sure I did it right.”
Thiessen say, “You were a total gentleman, you still are and you always will be.”
Lastly, they end with one of the most iconic scenes from the original show. Berkley’s trying to sing “I’m so excited” but breaks down crying in Gosselaar’s arms instead and says “I’m so scared.”
They say that the producers told them that they got what they needed for this scene but to just “let it rip” one last time and that’s where the memorable take was made.
Gosselaar ends on a funny note by saying, “The little pills, the caffeine pills were red hots… So we were popping those during takes.”
“Saved by the Bell” is now streaming on the Peacock Network.
