Mark-Paul Gosselaar defends 'Saved by the Bell' comments
Published Jun 9 2012, 18:43 BST | By Zeba Blay
Mark-Paul Gosselaar has come out to defend his recent comments about sitcom Saved by the Bell.The 38-year-old actor starred on the hit series from 1989 to 1993, playing troublemaker Zack Morris.
© Rex Features
© Rex Features / NBC
In a recent interview, Gosselaar said that the show was not great, describing the writing as "kind of hokey" and "very much a piece of that time".
Fans of the show blasted the Franklin & Bash star for his comments, which he now insists were taken out of context.
He told TMZ that he's still fond of the show despite what he maintains was bad writing.
"That's why people like it," he explained, "I wasn't saying it was a bad show, just that the writing reflected [the era it was produced]."
Gosselaar added that he was proud of the show and "bummed" by the fan reaction to his comments.
He added: "Everything I've ever done after the show has pointed to me having nothing but respect for it."
The writer of the original Yahoo! interview has responded to Gosselaar's claims that his words were twisted, saying "I stand by my story 100%", and adding that Gosselaar's statement was a direct quote that was recorded on tape.
Gosselaar was recently up for a proposed Saved by the Bell reunion, which was later halted by former castmate Tiffani Thiessen.
Watch a clip from Saved by the Bell below:
It was definately cheesy but enjoyable at the same time
June 11th 2012 at 7:33am
Loved saved by the bell as a kid, not seen him in anything since
June 10th 2012 at 5:15pm
I think that was kind of the point about Saved by the Bell, it was hokey and cheesy, and dependably predictable, to pretend it was Ibsen or anything would be absurd, I liked it for what it was at the time, a fairly formulaic knockabout show, it has dated poorly and tbh Peter Engel didn't do any hopes of the show having a 'legacy' by produced a myriad of identikit knock-offs.
To be fair to Mark Paul Gosselaar it was a Yahoo 'journalist' so you can depend on the article getting mangled.
June 10th 2012 at 12:08pm(+2 likes)
I agree, it was never a strong show, none of the teen shows that came from the same era/stable were, but they were fun and enjoyable at the time.
June 10th 2012 at 7:54pm
It's an awesome show but he definitely has a point, it's soooo cheesy and sooooo early 90s. That kinda makes it what it is though.
June 10th 2012 at 4:08am(+3 likes)
If he was ashamed of the show I doubt he'd have recently reprised the character for a skit. Looking back I loved SBTB when I was younger but now it's definitely formulaic. Writing has changed, times have changed, you just can't do it the same way any more, sad but true. When you watch a show nowadays you can feel the difference. I still like SBTB though. Good stuff, very nostalgic! :)
June 9th 2012 at 9:02pm(+2 likes)