SavedByTheBell
Mark-Paul Gosselaar Explains How the 'Saved By the Bell' Cast Stayed Grounded (VIDEO)
Mark-Paul Gosselaar told 'The Talk' (weekdays, syndicated on CBS) the secret to keeping teen TV stars grounded: cancel their shows every season. Gosselaar, who became tremendously popular at the age of 12 as the star of 'Saved By The Bell,' explained that the cast of the now-beloved show stayed modest because they had no idea they were popular."We were just doing this little show that got canceled every single year we did the show. But it was like, 'Oh, they're bringing you back because they have nothing on the schedule.'" And without Twitter, paparazzi or the Internet, Gosselaar explained that "we didn't have big heads because we didn't think we were doing anything that people were watching."
On the Pill: 'Nurse Jackie' and Other Characters Struggling With Addiction
Drugs on TV have had a strange history. There have been after-school movies, very special sitcom episodes and even entire dramas based around illegal substances.Sometimes, drug abuse on TV is used to teach the audience a lesson, while other times writers have characters develop an addiction as a way of making them more human in a flawed sense.
One of the most recent drug abusers comes to us in the form of Edie Falco's title character on 'Nurse Jackie.' The medical drama is back with a vengeance (Mon., March 22 10PM on Showtime), and to celebrate the return of our favorite no-nonsense RN, we're taking a look at TV's other famous pill-popping characters we've come to love (despite their issues) over the years.
We're not endorsing drug abuse of any kind, but it's a fact of life for some people, including these TV characters.
Find out who made our list after the jump.
Staff Crush: Kelly Kapowski of 'Saved By the Bell'
In honor of Valentine's Day, AOL TV's staff will be revealing their crushes all week.Like a generation of kids who came of age in the mid 1990s, 'Saved by the Bell's' Kelly Kapowski was the first girl -- fictional or otherwise -- that I ever had a crush on. This was not because she was the captain of the cheerleading team, a waitress at The Max or one of the three females at Bayside High graced with a speaking role.
No. It was because Tiffani Amber Thiessen was smokin' hot. Even at an age where I remained mystified by the vagaries of long division and writing in cursive, this much I knew for sure.
Best TV of the '00s: Late Night Moments

More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about the funniest or most surprising late night moments of the last ten years.
In the past decade, late night shows continued to bloom in popularity. However, some of our favorite late night shows were shuffled around while some got new hosts.
No matter what network executives decided to do to the line up of US late night shows, their hosts and guest stars gave us plenty fantastic, OMG!, and WTF? moments that generated tons of watercooler talks and forum discussion threads.
Below are some of the best late night moments of the past decade as chosen by some of the TV Squad bloggers. We realize there are tough choices in this category, so we hope you'll add your own favorites in the comments section below.
Mario Lopez Talks 'Saved By the Bell' Reunion, His Children's Book & 'Nip/Tuck'
Mario Lopez is a busy man.Between his ongoing hosting duties for 'Extra' and 'America's Best Dance Crew', as well as his recurring guest role as a plastic surgeon on 'Nip/Tuck,' you wouldn't think he'd have enough time to catch his breath, much less use it to give us the inside scoop on all his upcoming projects.
Yet that's just what he did when AOL TV caught up to him recently, telling us all about the 'Saved By the Bell' reunion, the new children's book he co-wrote with his sister and his ongoing search for a new canine friend. So check out what he had to say, but watch out: you may get exhausted just reading about his amazing schedule.
Seven '90s TV Show Reunions That Need to Happen Right Now

The Zack Attack is back! Alas, it was for one night only.
Last night, Mark-Paul Gosselaar surprised Jimmy Fallon on 'Late Night' by showing up dressed as Zack Morris from 'Saved By the Bell' -- complete with giant mobile phone. Fallon's been obsessed with putting together a 'Saved By the Bell' reunion, and Gosselaar (who now stars in TNT's 'Raising the Bar') gamely agreed to participate -- if Fallon can get everybody else on board.
It got us thinking about which of our favorite '90s sitcoms need to hold reunions, like, yesterday. 'The Today Show' already hosted a 'Cosby Show' reunion, but here are some more meet-back-ups we really, really want to see:
If Mark-Paul Gosselaar is on board, the Saved by the Bell reunion is as good as done
My sister was addicted to Saved by the Bell, and to the hotness that was Zack Morris in particular. I'm not sure if she checked out Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night, but if she had she just might have been stunned to see Zack Morris there. And I do mean Zack Morris, because Mark-Paul Gosselaar did his entire interview in character as the coolest guy from Bayside High.Considering that Gosselaar has been doing pretty well for himself post-Bell, with big roles in NYPD Blue and Raising the Bar, it's a big deal that he was not only willing to poke fun at his own roots (with The Roots as well for a rousing rendition of "Friends Forever"), but he also committed to Fallon's pet project: the Saved by the Bell reunion. Personally, I think a funny take on where those kids are today could be awesome. You could even work Showgirls into Jessie's post high school career path.
Best School Shows of All Time
Beverly Hills, 90210 ... 21 Jump Street ... The Facts of Life ... see where they rank on our list.The bad news? Summer's almost over and it's nearly time for school again.
The good news? We've got just the thing to ease you into back-to-school mode: Our countdown of TV's 21 best school shows ever.
So sharpen your No. 2 pencil and dive in to see which series just make the grade and which ones are at the top of the class.
School Daze Quiz
Can you make the grade?The beginning of fall will always mean one thing -- back-to-school season.
And in honor of this special time of year, we present you with a pop quiz all about TV schools.
Where did Felicity go to college? Was a baby ever born at Bayside High? Please keep your eyes on your own paper. Pencils out ... you may begin.
TV Athletes Quiz
How much do you know about TV sports stars?Always picked last in gym class? That's OK. You don't need to be a jock to ace this game.
You do, however, need some serious TV skills to answer which position Tim Riggins plays, which sport was popular on Caprica or which Simpsons' sibling acted as goalie.
Think you're ready? Then bring it on.
Elizabeth Berkley isn't afraid of the L-Word
Jesse Spano is coming back to TV. After guest appearances on CSI: Miami and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Elizabeth Berkley is ditching the procedurals and heading over to Showtime. The former Saved by the Bell star will be joining Jennifer Beals, her costar in the 2002 film Roger Dodger, on Showtime's The L-Word for a multi-episode arc.Word is, Berkley's L-Word character has a history with Jennifer Beals' Bette. The two went to college together and Berkley was the straight girl who got away. Perhaps Bette will have better luck the second time around.
My only hope for this pairing is that they can somehow manage to fit a Flashdance: What a Feeling / I'm So Excited dance-off into the plot of the show, thus bringing together the high points of both of these women's careers and officially making this the best casting decision ever.
Natalia Cigliuti joins TNT's new legal drama
Natalia Cigliuti has joined the cast of Raising the Bar, a new legal drama from TNT. She will play public defender Roberta "Bobbi" Gilardi. Joining Cigliutti are Mark Paul Gosselaar (NYPD Blue), Gloria Reuben (ER), Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle), Teddy Sears (Ugly Betty), Melissa Sagemiller (Sleeper Cell), Currie Graham (Boston Legal), J. August Richards (Conviction) and Jonathan Scarfe (Into the West). Cigliuti will co-star with Gosselaar. Her character Bobbi, a Brooklyn native, is brought in to help with the strenuous workload at the public defender's office. Gosselaar flirtatiously calls her "Bobbi from Brooklyn" and takes an interest in his new co-worker.
TV 101: Five VERY SPECIAL EPISODES that saved society - VIDEOS
There's no denying it: we're currently living in a utopia. Not a day goes by that I don't thank my lucky stars that I get to live in the greatest country on earth during the greatest time to be alive. I think even the harshest critic of the current world order would agree with me when I say that there's not a single problem anywhere in the world that anyone is dealing with.But how did we get here? What was the spark that spurred us from barely cognizant man-apes into the enlightened, elegant creatures that we are today? Look no further than that great black monolith sitting in your living room: your TV. Five VERY SPECIAL EPISODES that saved society after the jump...
CSI: Miami picks up former Showgirl Elizabeth Berkley
While Elizabeth Berkley's TV pedigree was perhaps better received than her feature film debut, it was the notorious Showgirls that made her a household name and launched her into the "Worst Films Ever" hall of fame. Her career began in the teen series Saved by the Bell, which also netted us Dancing with the Star's Mario Lopez, NYPD Blue's Mark Paul Gosselar and Beverly Hills, 90210's Tiffani-Amber Thiessen.
After Showgirls, it took the actress many years to regain credibility and acclaim, working in theater and off-Broadway productions until her return to television in 2002 in a recurring role on Titus. Since then she has guested on several shows, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Now, Reuters tells us the 35 year-old Berkley is set to play Horatio Cane's (David Caruso) ex-wife Julia Winston and mother to his recently discovered teenage son (Evan Ellingson) on spin-off CSI: Miami. Miami is known as a "hotter, sexier" CSI, so she should fit right in. She can even try to match Caruso's one-of-a-kind line delivery when they inevitably spar.
Saved By The Bell -- DVD Review
It's always interesting going back to see something that you were once fond of again. Sometimes they hold up, and sometimes you are left shaking your head wondering what could have been in the air in 1982 that made you like this pile of crap. That's how I headed into the new Saved By The Bell double feature DVD, which includes "Wedding in Las Vegas" and "Hawaiian Style."Somewhere along the lines Saved By The Bell ended up rerunning on cable at the perfect time to fit into my daily routine, and I got in the habit of watching it regularly. I'm not positive that I have seen every last episode, but I know I'm pretty close. So, you could say I was a fan of the show. That, or I really should have popped for the more expensive cable plan all those years ago.
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