Secrets Behind The Making Of "Saved By The Bell"

“The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story” biopic is airing tonight on Lifetime. But before the “true story” behind the hit teen sitcom airs, MadameNoire compiled a list of secrets you probably didn’t know.

Miss Bliss

The show was originally “Good Morning, Miss Bliss” (1988), which was set in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hayley Mills starred as Miss Bliss. Disney cancelled the show, and NBC picked it up — reborn as “Saved by the Bell.” After the show was re-branded as “Saved by the Bell,” four characters Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies), Mr. Belding (Dennis Haskins) and Screech (Dustin Diamond) carried over. “Good Morning, Miss Bliss” episodes were re-edited as “Saved By the Bell” episodes — known as the junior high school years.

Theme Song

Musician Michael Damian made an alternate version of the theme song — being used during the show’s first season.

Age Gap

The cast members were different ages at the start of the series. Elizabeth Berkley was 17. Dustin Diamond was only 12! The rest of the cast was 15. Creator Peter Engel pointed out Diamond’s immaturity. He wouldn’t have casted Diamond if had known he was only 12 at the time. But by the end of the series, Diamond was only 16 while the rest were not of high school age anymore.

Blondie

Mark-Paul Gosselaar had to dye his hair blond every two weeks to portray Zack Morris. He is naturally a brunette. He returned to his “roots” today.

Make It Work

Elizabeth Berkley auditioned to play the role of Kelly Kapowski. Tiffani Thiessen got the part, but the producers liked Berkley so much they created the role of Jessie Spano for her.

He Gets Around…

Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen) was Zack Morris’ (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) girlfriend onscreen, but according to Gosselaar, he dated Lark Voorhies in real life for three years. Voorhies later denied this claim in an interview. Hmm… Also, he allegedly dated Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley.

Best Buds

The characters Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez) were supposed to be rivals — fighting for Kelly Kapowski’s (TIffani Thiessen) attention. But due to the actors’ chemistry they became friends on and off the set.

Set And Scene

The same classroom setting was used for every class period. The classroom would be rearranged for each subject. Also, the set for the school was never tore down. It was used for teen shows like “That’s So Raven” and “iCarly.”

Close Casting Calls

Jennie Garth, Jaleel White, Brian Austin Green and Jonathan Brandis all auditioned for different parts on the show. All of which (except Garth) had roles in the pilot episode of “Good Morning, Miss Bliss.” Although the characters Zack, Lisa and Screech weren’t featured on the pilot episode. They starred on the original series and went on to star on the revamped version of the show, the one we all know today.

Whoa…

Mario Lopez was accused of date rape while the show was on air. The charges were dropped in 1993. Dustin Diamond claimed NBC paid off the victim with $50,000 — so she would keep quiet.

Love Connection

Mark-Paul Gosselaar revealed to Newsweek in 2009 that he met his wife (Lisa Ann Russell) on the set. He said, “I met my wife on Saved by the Bell: The College Years. She literally walked by in the hallway and said one word to Zack. Zack looks at her, and gives a look at the camera and winks. It was 16 years ago. We’ve been together ever since.” They divorced in 2011.

Replacement Girl

The character Tori Scott (Leanna Creel) was named after Tori Spelling. She was added after Tiffani Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley decided not to sign on to do additional episodes during the show’s final season. However, Berkley and Thiessen shot the graduation episode prior to officially leaving the show. Creel was not featured on the graduation episode and her episodes (which didn’t feature Thiessen or Berkley) aired before the graduation episode.

The Big Payback

There’s no concrete number describing how much the cast members are paid in royalties. Just speculation. Dustin Diamond made an indication he gets $63,000 in royalties a year  — this figure was featured on his bankruptcy papers from 2001.

Run It Back

“Saved by the Bell” has been on TBS since 1992 in re-runs. The average re-runs of the show were more 4 million viewers per episode. This was the equivalent to 40 million viewers in cable television terms. “Saved by the Bell: The College Years” lasted one season and “Saved by the Bell: The New Class” was considered a failure — neither lived up to the original show’s success.