Tough critic! Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s journey rewatching himself on Saved by the Bell has been far from easy.
The Mixed‑ish star, 46, has chosen to rewatch the beloved sitcom for the first time ever for his new podcast, “Zack to the Future.” He cohosts the project with Dashiell Driscoll, who gained recognition through Funny or Die’s Zack Morris Is Trash.
So far, Gosselaar has admittedly been critical of his own performance on the series. “I feel like it’s a little bit torturous every week for me to go through this process because I am watching my work — and it doesn’t matter that it’s 30 years old, it’s still something that I feel like I can improve,” he explained to Variety in an interview published on Wednesday, September 2. “There’s moments where I’m talking with Dashiell and I say, ‘My timing is off there, if I had just done it this way I bet I would have gotten a bigger laugh.’”
Gosselaar added, “But that’s just the perfectionist in me, which is why I don’t like to watch my work. I feel like I should leave it on the set.”
The Franklin & Bash alum’s podcast launched on July 29. Leading up to its arrival, he told Entertainment Weekly that he hadn’t “watched a single episode in its entirety since I walked off the sets in 1993.” However, he was interested in revisiting Saved by the Bell after all these years upon finding the right medium and reason to do so.
Gosselaar starred as Zack Morris on Saved by the Bell from 1989 to 1992. The NBC series was retooled after originally appearing on the Disney Channel for one season as Good Morning, Miss Bliss.
The Los Angeles native later reprised his iconic role after the show wrapped in Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style, Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas and Saved by the Bell: The New Class. In 2009, he even reunited with former costars Mario Lopez, Tiffany Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to do a bit while in character.
Now, Gosselaar is set to appear on the upcoming Saved by the Bell revival series for NBC’s new Peacock streaming service. Production on the show began in January, but it was put on hold due to safety concerns amid the COVID-19 crisis.
In his interview with Variety, the Passage alum also opened up about returning to his roots for the reboot. “The date we were given [to return to set] was August 10 and I would have bet my house that we never would have made that, but we did, and I have to say we all feel safe — as safe as can be,” he explained to the publication. “We’re being tested every day and the protocols are pretty good. I think all of us are pretty comfortable.”
