By Emily Krauser
4:23 PM PDT, May 8, 2020
Zack and Kelly forever! "Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?" "I'm so excited... I'm so excited... I'm so scared!" There is something about Saved By the Bell that still warms our hearts, even 30 years later! There's nary a '90s kid who wasn't a huge fan of the NBC sitcom, which ran for four seasons from 1989 to 1993, and still holds a major place in the pop culture lexicon. Here's what the kids of Bayside High looked like back then and what the actors are up to today -- before the reboot kicks off!
Mark-Paul Gosselaar: Then
As Zack Morris, the Los Angeles native was the heart of Saved by the Bell -- even during that first season, which was inexplicably set in Indiana. Before stealing our hearts as the preppy blonde mischief-maker, Gosselaar appeared in episodes of The Wonder Years, Punky Brewster (which is also getting a reboot!) and The Twilight Zone. He also continued to portray Zack after graduating from Bayside, when much of the cast joined the short-lived spin-off, Saved by the Bell: The College Years. We also could never forget Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. Zack and Kelly forever!
Mark-Paul Gosselaar: Now
Now 46, Gosselaar has been one of the most successful SBTB alumni. After his stint as a Bayside Tiger, the actor joined the casts of Hyperion Bay and D.C. He then spent four years as Detective John Clark, Jr. on NYPD Blue and went on to star as Peter Bash in Franklin & Bash and as Mike Lawson on Pitch. He has most recently been seen on The Passage as well as mixed-ish, in which he plays Rainbow's dad, Paul. Next, we'll happily see him take on the role of Zack Morris again when Saved by the Bell returns this year (this time wearing a wig, not bleaching his naturally brown hair blonde). Off screen, Gosselaar was married to Lisa Ann Russell from 1996 to 2011, with whom he shares 16-year-old son Michael and 13-year-old daughter Ava. He has been with his current wife, Catriona McGinn, since 2012, with whom he has two children, 6-year-old son Dekker and 5-year-old daughter Lachlyn.
Tiffani Thiessen: Then
Then known as Tiffani Amber Thiessen, her first major role came as beloved cheerleader and girl-next-door Kelly Kapowski on SBTB, also starring in The College Years and the Vegas TV movie. During her time on the Saturday morning NBC hit, she also turned up on other beloved '90s sitcoms like Blossom, Married With Children, Step by Step and Charles in Charge. During her teen idol heyday, Thiessen dated fellow heartthrob Brian August Green in 1992, and they moved in together in 1994 before breaking up the following year.
Tiffani Thiessen: Now
Thiessen, 46, went a little darker when she moved on from Kelly to the role of Valerie Malone on Beverly Hills, 90210, and starred in a number of TV movies as well, including 1993's Son in Law and 1996's Buried Secrets. After the '90s, she appeared in a few episodes of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place and Just Shoot Me! before landing starring roles in the short-lived series Fastlane, Good Morning, Miami and What About Brian. The former teen idol went on to play Elizabeth Burke on White Collar for five years and then hosted her own show on the Cooking Channel. She can currently be seen on Netflix's Alexa & Katie, and the foodie will bring us Kelly again in the SBTB reboot. Thiessen was previously engaged to Richard Ruccolo from 2001 to 2003, but went on to marry actor Brady Smith in 2005. They have two children, 9-year-old daughter Harper and 4-year-old son Holt.
Mario Lopez: Then
The San Diego native was discovered at a dance recital when he was just 10 and landed his first TV roles in 1987 as Tomas on a.k.a. Pablo and as a drummer and dancer on Kids Incorporated, with the latter part lasting for three seasons. Before landing the part as Bayside's resident jock Albert Clifford "A.C." Slater, Lopez had guest parts on The Golden Girls and in the 1998 film Colors.
Mario Lopez: Now
After stealing Jessie's heart on SBTB, Lopez, now 46, moved on to Pacific Blue, playing the part of Bobby Cruz until 2000. He continued acting, landing an arc on The Bold and the Beautiful in 2006 and starring as Dr. Mike Hamoui on Nip/Tuck, and he even graced the Dancing With the Stars stage, coming in second with partner Karina Smirnoff. Most people these days know him best as an entertainment reporter; he currently co-hosts Access Daily, and he has previously had hosting stints with Entertainment Tonight, America's Best Dance Crew, MTV's Top Pop Group, Masters of the Maze, The X Factor, Pet Star and Extra, as well as hosting the Miss America Pageant for three years between 2007 and 2010. You can even hear him on the radio, and he returned to the sitcom world in February 2020 with Netflix's The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia, which he co-created. As for his personal life, Lopez, 46, wed Ali Landry in 2004 after six years of dating but they annulled the marriage just two weeks later, and he dated Smirnoff for two years starting in 2006. In wed Broadway actress Courtney Mazza in December 2012, and they share three children, 9-year-old Gia and sons Dominic, 6, and Santino, 9 months.
Elizabeth Berkley: Then
She's so excited! The Michigan-born actress had a couple of small TV parts before landing her breakout role as smarty-pants Jessie Spano on Saved by the Bell. In true early '90s style, Berkley also appeared in episodes of Valerie, Step by Step, Baywatch and Life Goes On.
Elizabeth Berkley: Now
The blonde beauty caused a whole lot of controversy when, just a couple of years after SBTB wrapped, she starred in 1995's Showgirls. She followed that up with more silver screen roles in The First Wives' Club, Random Encounter, Last Call and Any Given Sunday. Berkley has also been seen in TV guest roles, including on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without a Trace, The L Word and CSI: Miami. She was last seen in a 2016 episode of New Girl, and her next move is reviving her role as Jessie Spano in the SBTB reboot. In addition to acting, the 47-year-old animal rights activist created an online self-help program called Ask-Elizabeth in 2006, which she translated into a book in 2011. She wed artist Greg Lauren in 2003 and the pair welcomed a son, Sky Cole, in 2012.
Lark Voorhies: Then
Like Gosselaar, Voorhies was one of the originals cast in 1988's Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which only lasted one season before rebranding as Saved by the Bell and taking the gang from Indiana to California. She played the fashionable, sometimes ditzy but loveable Lisa Turtle who had a closet worthy of much envy. During her time on both Good Morning and SBTB, she also guest-starred on Small Wonder, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Martin before scoring a stint on Days of Our Lives in 1993. She also appeared in the Boyz II Men music video for their hit "On Bended Knee," as well as a few other vids for various music artists.
Lark Voorhies: Now
Though she played Lisa in the SBTB spin-offs, the 46-year-old actress has pretty much left Bayside behind. She spent a season on The Bold and the Beautiful and starred in both seasons of In the House, but after the '90s, she took on bit parts here and there. Her last major credit is the 2012 faith-based film Closer to God: Jessica's Journey, as she focused on writing books, self-publishing three over the last decade: Reciprocity, Trek of the Cheshire and A True Light. The California girl will not be in the SBTB reboot, sharing on The Dr. Oz Show in 2020 that she was "hurt" by not being included in it, nor has she been invited to recent cast get-togethers, though in 2015, her publicist said that Voorhies was too busy at the time to be in the The Tonight Show reunion that included Gosselaar, Lopez, Thiessen, Berkley and even Dennis Hopkins, who played Mr. Belding on the show. In 2015, she filed for divorce from ex-husband Jimmy Green after six months of marriage.
Dustin Diamond: Then
The youngest of the bunch, the California native was just 11 when he was cast as nerdy Samuel "Screech" Powers on Good Morning, Miss Bliss, staying in the role for the entire Saved by the Bell runs and its spin-offs. Save for Haskins, Diamond was the only SBTB cast member on Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which ran from 1994 to 2000.
Dustin Diamond: Now
Though we were blessed to see him play the groom in 98 Degrees' 1999 music video for "I Do (Cherish You), Diamond's life took a bit of a hard turn in the 2000s. The current Wisconsin resident starred in a few indie movies and then seemed to make fun of his child acting roles by playing himself in Paulie Shore Is Dead and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, which both came out in 2003. He released an unflattering SBTB tell-all, Behind the Bell, in 2009, though he would later claim that the book was ghostwritten and he was simply interviewed for it, claiming the parts about teen sex and drug use were exaggerated or fabricated. He hasn't been asked to join the rest of the Bayside crew in the 2020 reboot, and last year, Gosselaar admitted to Andy Cohen that he hadn't seen Diamond since 1994. Aside from acting, the 43-year-old played bass and wrote for the band Salty the Pocketknife, hosted the 12th annual Gathering of the Juggalos and joined Celebrity Big Brother in 2013. In his personal life, he married Jennifer Misner in 2009, but the two later separated, and he became engaged to Amanda Schutz. Diamond filed for bankruptcy in California in 2001, was arrested in Wisconsin for possession of a switchblade knife after a bar fight in 2014, for which he served three months in prison in 2015. He was arrested again in 2016 for violating the terms of his probation.