Mark-Paul Gosselaar breaks down Zack and Slater’s iconic ‘Saved by the Bell’ fight scene: ‘I think it was a real fight’

In the halcyon days of 1992, Saturday mornings were truly something special. Teenagers stumbled out of bed, poured a bowl of their sugary cereal du jour and feasted on a smorgasbord of TNBC’s amazing content. Hijinks is the name of the game as they show california dreams Hang timeand City boys taught us that the perfect combination of friendship and comically contrived plans can thwart our only common enemy: adults.

No show embodied the spirit of TNBC more than the iconic sitcom Saved by the Bell. The original series, about a group of teenagers going through the ups and downs of adolescence at Bayside High, originally ran for 86 episodes (not including Good morning, Miss Bliss) to the creation of many additional products — New class, student yearsand more recently a satirical revival which aired on the Peacock — on its way to becoming the epitome of weird ’90s sitcoms.

The show was almost always untethered from reality, with Zack Morris regularly freezing time, and there were countless crazy episodes, including one where the gang accidentally convinced a government agent that Scream was an alien — but it also showed a few moments that felt all too real, just like Jessie’s addiction to caffeine pillsthe whole “no hope with drugs.”and, of course, the infamous fistfight between Zack (Mark-Paul Gosselar) and Slater (Mario Lopez).

The episode in question Season 5 “Fight”, is actually quite reasonable SBTB standards as it focuses on Zack and Slater trying to date the new girl at school. The series of their pranks is quite typical SBTB shenanigans (Slater third drives Zack on a date, Zack hires an actress to pretend to be Slater’s mom to ruin AC’s movie date), but the tone inexplicably shifts as the playful back-and-forth turns violent.

Everything goes down to the lockers. Zack calls Slater a jerk, Slater calls Zack a punk, and it… goes…. AC shoves Zach, who escalates the argument by throwing a wild haystack. Bad idea, Preppy. Slater’s defining features are “wrestler” and “loves chameleons”, so he effortlessly knocks Zack down and lands a powerful punch of his own. Eventually Mr. Belding, who wears a wig in this episode, steps in and puts an end to this wild mess.

I’ll say what we’re all thinking: Hey, hey, hey, hey! What is going on here!?“

So why exactly in a stupid world Saved by the Bell does the zack/slater fight look that relatively real? Because that’s how it was, at least according to Mark-Paul Gosselaar. During a recent speech at The Christian Harloff Showthe actor who brought Zack Morris to life said the Preppy/Slater scratch was as realistic as it looks.

“During rehearsals and walkthroughs and things like that, you’re going at half speed, and when the lights came on, it was Friday night, we’re in front of the audience, and I think it was a real fight.” Gosselaar told Harlow.

“Mario used his wrestling to get me down. I had no pads, nothing on the ground. I hit the pavement of the studio,” Gosselaar continued. “I look back on it now and just giggle because (there were) no standards and no practices. It was rough, and maybe there was some real emotion involved because neither of us backed down. I certainly wasn’t going to say he hurt me, and he wasn’t going to say I hurt him. But that’s about as real a fight scene as I think I’ve ever done, and I was only sixteen.”

So, how exactly does the episode end? Zack and Slater almost square off in the second round, but cooler heads prevail. After you pour the fruit, hit each other’s clothes (now What’with the Saved by the Bell I remember), two former friends prepare to fight, but Superintendent Mr. Belding is there again to break it up. Thank you, KING.

During the fight, Belding’s wig falls into the punch bowl and everyone has a hearty laugh. Our heroes make amends as the audience collectively goes “awww”.

Something tells me these two will friends forever.

You can watch Mark-Paul Gosselaar full interview with Christian Harloff on YouTube.