Hey, preppies! The stars of Saved by the Bell got back together on Wednesday, Feb. 4, in a talked-about reunion for the ages.
Host Jimmy Fallon cajoled the stars of NBC’s beloved teen sitcom back to Bayside High in a sketch about Fallon’s own high school days. The funnyman, 40, recruited five of the original actors to take his trip down memory lane.
Playing himself as a teen, Fallon was first met by Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who starred as dreamboat Zack Morris. Donning his classic Saved by the Bell duds of pastel colors and high-waisted light wash jeans, Gosselaar, now 40, easily became his famous character once more.
The California-born actor, who played Zack in various iterations of the show including the original Saved by the Bell, the College Years spin-off, and an episode of The New Class, has had an active career in the years since he hung up his varsity jacket. Gosselaar went on to star in NYPD Blue and Franklin & Bash, and is the father of three children with a fourth on the way and married to his wife Catriona McGinn.
Jimmy and Zack are soon joined in the clip by A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez) and Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley). Lopez, now 41, rocked his classic wavy hair, a bright colored printed shirt, and voluminous belted pants to become his jock favorite once more.
Lopez has continued to act, appearing on series like The Bold and the Beautiful and Nip/Tuck, but has focused more on his TV hosting career, working largely with Extra and The X Factor. He is now married to dancer Courtney Mazza, and the couple shares daughter Gia, 4, and son Dominic, 16 months.
Berkley, now 42, paid homage to her involved student Jessie with a rendition of The Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited,” and stepped out in a denim vest with matching jeans and a printed headband over her curls.
Soon after wrapping Saved by the Bell, the Michigan-born star famously shed her squeaky clean image — and her clothes — to play a stripper in the 1995 camp classic Showgirls. She later made appearances in The First Wives Club, Any Given Sunday, and episodes of The L Word and CSI: Miami.
Berkley wed artist Greg Lauren in November 2003, and the couple welcomed their first and only child, son Sky, in July 2012.
Principal Richard Belding then made his big entrance into the costar get-together. Dennis Haskins found his way back to his high school halls and sported a suit with a patterned tie and a pocket square to become the leader of Bayside High.
Haskins, now 64, has made various cameos as Belding in programs including Robot Chicken and Victorious. He also recently appeared in A Million Ways to Die in the West.
Finally, classic high school hottie Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen) reunites with her pals. Thiessen, now 41, slipped back into her cheerleading outfit for the nostalgic bit. While she still has her trademark brunette locks and sparkling smile, the star looked a little different in the cheer duds as she is now pregnant with her second child.
Thiessen, who wed actor Brady Smith in 2005, previously gave birth to daughter Harper in June 2010. After her Saved by the Bell days, she went on to star in shows such as White Collar, Fastlane, and Beverly Hills, 90210, among others. Original stars Dustin Diamond and Lark Voorhies, who played Samuel “Screech” Powers and Lisa Turtle, respectively, were both noticeably absent from the reunion.
