Why Mark-Paul Gosselaar Regrets This Problematic Saved by the Bell Scene
Mark-Paul Gosselaar is finding it hard to stomach these old Saved by the Bell episodes.
The actor, who starred as Zack Morris on the '90s sitcom, recently opened up about the storylines he no longer finds appropriate for modern day audiences.
"There was one where I was basically whoring out Lisa Turtle," Gosselaar said of co-star Lark Voorhies' character on the Sept. 4 episode of the Pod Meets World podcast, via Deadline. "I charged people to kiss her without her consent, that was a tough one."
In fact, Gosselaar said that when he re-watched the 1989 episode—titled "The Lisa Card"—on his Zack to the Future podcast, which he launched alongside Dashiell Driscoll, they began the podcast by stating, "We do not condone this, we're just here to discuss it."
Another episode that the Pitch star notes didn't age well was in season three, when—during the episode "Running Zack"—his character donned Native American attire as part of a bit.
"The other one was where Zack Morris claimed that he was Native American," Gosselaar recalled. "Seeing Zack Morris in a full headdress…That was one we had to be a little sensitive on, there's things that you just would not film these days."
Nowadays, the 49-year-old would approach those kinds of questionable storylines with care.
"This is one of those things now, being the actor that I am, I would protect myself as well as my character," he said in a 2020 episode of his Zack to the Future podcast via Buzzfeed News. "This would be one of those times where I would have a dialogue with a writer, producer and have a discussion and say, 'I think we should look at this a little deeper, is this going to reflect well for me, for the character, for the future of the show?'"
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App