Welcome back to The Future, I'm your co-host, Daniel Driscol, joined today like every other day that we do this with Mark Goslar. Hello, Mark. Hello, Daniel. Today, Mark, we're joined by a very special guest, author of a book all about Zach, more specifically, Matt Pace. Hello, Matt Pace.

Hey, guys, thanks so much for having me. I have so many questions I'm going to start off with what the fuck? Matt, what is this all about? What did you do here? I mean, tell us. You know, it just occurred to me, what if someone counterattack Dick lies? And once that idea popped into my head, I couldn't not do it. I've been a fan of the show for as long as I can remember.

And obviously everyone should know by now that Zach Morris was not always the greatest person.

If they didn't make that very clear on his own, he was going to say, like, who inspired you to to write such compelling literature? Also, we did not plug the name of your book. Matt, please, the title of your of your book. Thank you. The book is called Zach Morris Lide. Three hundred and twenty nine times reassessing every ridiculous episode of Saved by the Bell with stats.

Yeah, that's just good. That's just good literature right there. First of all, three hundred and twenty nine times. Is that accurate based on one rewash of every single episode, breaking it down as best as I could. There is a disclaimer and the purpose of the book. It's possible. I absolutely invite people to go through the whole series, count the lies and and find out something that I messed up.

Of course it's possible, Mark Paul, just the three hundred twenty nine seem high or low to you and actually seem pretty low to me because I'm thinking like there's there's. Were you also counting the the specials and the college years? Yes.

That's that's from junior high through wedding in Las Vegas. OK, so not including Miss Bliss. Now that includes Miss Bliss. Yeah. Including Good morning, Miss Bliss. I think we've made it very clear. I don't know how the whole school system works so misplaced. Junior high, high school. I don't know these things. OK, so junior high through the colleges. Why, Matt, why did you I mean, you're a fan of the show.

I get it. But was this was this like an assignment where you in detention? Like why did you decide to write this book?

Imagine if I said that someone was saying it, that only something could happen if I did this book. I don't know what that something could be that would justify this, but thankfully, it was only because I wanted to. It was and so much of the book was sort of discovering as I watched, there were things that I had planned to track with numbers throughout that I stopped because it didn't seem necessary. There were things I didn't think of tracking, such as the the show's treatment of Jessie, that I then started tracking the stats for and just trying to and I'm not I don't like doing spreadsheets by any means.

I'm I'm not someone who does math on a daily basis at all either. But I wanted to see again, that's all that has illuminated so much about Zach Morris for us. But I was curious, would using numbers about the lies about tax treatment of women, about the show's treatment of Jessie, would that teach us anything about sex relationships? And I think it did with the book itself.

Can the viewer follow along with your book in in sequence? Basically. So does it start like our podcast? We started with episode one of the high school years, but as a viewers watching the show, can they can they in a linear fashion follow the show to the book? Absolutely. That's that's an awesome question. And yes, it's definitely meant to be a companion. So whether it's someone who knows the show really well and is going back to watch it or even a first timer, you can absolutely watch an episode.

Go check out the book episode by episode. And I was lucky enough to speak with twenty two cast members from the show, as well as the co-founder of the say Biomax Pop Up restaurant, as well as Dashiell himself. So being able to read the interviews throughout the book, in the episodes as appropriate, and also and then also with the full interviews toward the back, was definitely meant to illuminate the show even further, not just from where I was coming from, but also trying to get that added perception of people who were actually involved in it.

Wow. So you got Dashiell Driscoll to do an interview for your book. I mean, you were swinging really high with with the request for the people that you wanted for this book, because I don't remember getting an email for my request. So I know that you were trying to go just below that bar. Well done.

How how long do you think it took me to clear my schedule for that phone interview? Just ballpark it. I don't even want to get Stachel, I don't even want to guess. I'm not sure that watches have that that low enough of a number of seconds to really measure.

I told myself, if I can talk to Dazzle, I wasn't even going to do the book. So once once that happened, I knew I could move forward.

Well, it's good to have you on the show. And with that dash, why don't you take it away and do your thing, do the summary thing in case you, the listener, did not do the homework like these two wonderful guests today, Beauty in the Screech. Kelly won tickets to a George Michael concert, and Zach wants her to take him, but she won't be able to go unless she asks her science test. Zach has Screech tutor Kelly and Kelly starts falling for Screech.

Zach and Slater try to brakes screeching Kelly up and fail. But it doesn't matter because after passing the test screeching Kelly realize they have nothing in common. Zach and Slater go to the George Michael concert together. And we're at the in the halls of Bayside Posit right there, right off the bat.

I just want you guys to notice, what is Kelly doing at that phone? She's she's randomly just pecking at the dial. I counted. She hit it about six times. We all know that that's not a real phone number. Correct. And then she kind of reaches in there. She she checks the where where the quarter went and it looks like she mimes putting a quarter back. The whole thing is a mess right off the top. I just got to throw it out there.

That's a lie right there.

Matt Yeah. She's doing too much phone. Acting too much. Mark Right. Mark Paul, I was wondering if the reason you want to pause it right off the top was something that I did not even really process until just this last time watching it. It was the debate team tryouts in the back. See Mike Munson, also known as the mouth, huh? I did not see that even a little bit. That's a that's our department just going nuts with with how much stuff they can throw back there.

Matt, I'm going to use this this session between you and Daniel as sort of like an audition. I want you to to fight it out with Daniel as much as you can throughout this whole thing. I want I want you to flex your muscle through this. I want you to give it to Daniel. Usually it's the our Twitter followers, all five of them. Yeah. That will point out things to Daniel. But I want you to give it to Daniel.

I want you to tell him when he's right, when he's wrong. And I want you to do your thing as well.

You know, I want you to point out the lies, but mostly my fault is that seems to be the agenda of the day. Just to be clear, mostly Daschle's fault. Yeah, I think I can make that happen. OK, all right, good. Well, as long as we're all on the same page about we're trying to accomplish today and right off the bat, also look at that hair.

I again, I think that these were shot out of sequence. We've we've sort of discussed that in the past. In the previous episode, my hair look like a ball of cotton candy. And then this one, there's a little more shape to it. It's it's not as spindly looking, I think, because this episode might have been shot before that previous episode. I'm just going to put it out there.

Yeah, it looks more in control if we're doing like mad. I know you started documenting things as you watch the series and so are we. And Zach's hair in this episode feels decidedly decisively, more under control than it did last week. It's impressive. I got to say, a lot of product. Also, we have a twins alert right here in the background. They are crossing in acid washed denim behind this news that Kelly just won her George Michael tickets.

And we learned they had to bring their own wardrobe. So that's that's a very impressive thing they just had in their closet.

My favorite background. Artist in this episode is the guy with the longer rocker hair, the blond guy, no, not the blonde guy he's got it's a brunette dude, but he also we'll get to him later on. I'll point him out. But he is one of the ones that basically announces Screech and Kelly. But he's got this really cool, like rocker 80s hair or maybe a 90s hair hair band kind of look. But when when we get to him again, I'll point him out.

But he's he's my he's my favorite of the episode this time around.

He's on the he's on the payphone later. I know who you're talking to. Yes. Becca, you know who I'm talking about. And I was going to I was going to say in terms of Kelly winning the contest, I wonder why that no one else was participating. And I guess maybe this is we know there are at least two payphones on the premises of the school, both in the hallways and at the max. But why wasn't someone else trying to call in and also be the twenty fifth caller and say, hey, if one of us gets it, then that way we're doubling our chances or have everyone call in it, like if seconds later are such big George Michael fans to maybe they would have wanted to try to.

Do you think the rest of the gang knew about this contest? Clearly not. No, I don't. I don't think they were aware as a I mean, Kelly is a noted George Michael mega fan. She has a poster or poster in her room and the girls use George Michael to coax her out of the bathroom or closet. Were unsure when she had is it so maybe she was just more aware than the rest of the gang. She is sort of the the audience for George Michael back in that day, right?

I mean, a teenage girl, that was that was the audience that he primarily had. Or am I reading that wrong? No, you're you're 100 percent correct. I did some homework on the homework. And at the time, in nineteen eighty nine, George Michael was touring in support of his faith album. Absolutely massive. And it was a tour that left him, quote, according to Wikipedia, thinking there was something wrong in being an idol to millions of teenage girls.

So, yeah, he was George Michael at the time was going through some real conflict over fans like Kelly capacity. And we're in science class with Dr. Mert's. So tell us about Dr. Mert's. It's like you just already knew I had something about Dr. Mert's. I know you do. You just know you just already know. I have something that Dr. Mert's he is played by Avery Schreiber. And Avery Schreiber was a legend of stage, film and television.

He started the comedy duo with Jack Burns called Burns and Shreiber. He was born in Chicago, came up through Second City and widely known for Doritos commercials in the 70s and 80s. It is funny how you can be in all kinds of things, but the commercials you do really stand the test of time not dissimilar to the Micromachines man from several episodes ago.

You know what I thought was interesting while I was watching this and I knew that you had something about Dr. Mezze Avery Schreiber, but it's it's that we didn't have social media. We didn't have Google back then. So we were doing these these scenes with with fellow actors having no idea of their background. I mean, this is a pretty impressive I mean, I would have liked to have known this and I didn't until, you know, watching this episode and doing a little search on on Avery.

But it's just it's just interesting, you know, that this seasoned actor was was on our show for this very small part that I don't think he was utilized all that much. No. Yeah, I would I would definitely be in the camp of criminally underutilized. I had no idea about this guy until I until I Googled him. I mean, he's a legitimate, like, comedy legend and he's really like the most they give him is like a funny noise he makes with his mouth one time.

That seems to be like the extent of his chops that he flexes. But, yeah, he's he's here. And also the fun, a really fun little fact. The Avery Schreiber Playhouse is located in North Hollywood, just minutes away from where saved by the bell is still being produced in the year 2020.

So, Dr. Metz, interesting. He's a doctor at our school. So that's an interesting little tidbit there. But so he passes out the test scores.

OK, I was curious if there were any other prizes that someone can get screech I his thirty seventh applause and got to wear the hat. Were there any other levels along that way when he hit the twenty of consecutive applause. Where did you get to do if thirty seven is wearing the hat there must be because you built what happens when you get fifty eight losses in a row. I don't know. I mean I would imagine you. How many tests can you even have in an academic year.

You know like thirty, thirty eight it seems. Yeah. That would be a test every single week I would imagine. Minus vacationed in. It's also that he's he's sorry about Kelly's grade, but he's not that sorry about the grade, he just has a copy of Someone Smarter next time. Yeah, we get we get some knowledge here that Zack is not a great student, which isn't even Canon. Zack will later go on to miraculously ace the SATs.

But we like learn Kelly really like he does feel bad for Kelly. He feels bad for Kelly's F, but just indifferent towards failure. Anybody else feel that space shuttle joke joke was a little too soon? You know, the Challenger 1986 was probably shot in 1990. Slater says B minus D and he goes decent. If NASA scientists got a B minus, the space shuttle wouldn't get past Cleveland. I thought that's a little too soon.

Interesting. I didn't even I did not even register that as being anywhere near the challenger, but it was very much, very, very much. You're right. That is very soon to be making a astronaut failure joke. I just want to take a minute here, Mark Paul, to say Zach's wardrobe. I mean, really, everyone's wardrobe in this episode stood out to me as being, like, exceptional and colorful and the whole thing.

But I loved pretty much everything Zach wore, everything Zach wore in this episode. I was a big fan of I would I would love that shirt that that he has on right there, that pink shirt with, like the multiple yin and yang on there. It's very fun. Yeah. And very 80s style to roll up the the cuff of the of the sleeve. That was a very eighties thing to do. I noticed that the cuff of my pants were not rolled.

I think that'll be in later episodes.

The cuff had not migrated all the way south. Correct. I don't remember picking this wardrobe out though. I don't remember wardrobe fittings. I remember my wardrobe fittings now they're painful for me. I absolutely despise trying on clothes, which is why we've we've said this in some of our commercials for Stitch Fix, why it's so nice to have clothes to you and not have to try them on. But that for me as an actor trying on clothes, that's what I feel I get paid for.

I would act for free as long as you pay me to try on the clothes for the wardrobe. And just so that people are aware, the wardrobe department, you know, they set up this look, they they they have specific scenes that they have to dress the actors in. And, you know, they have you come in during the week before this episode and they have you try on certain things to make sure things fit, that it fits within the the narrative of the show.

And but to me, that is the hardest work for me to do is to to try clothes on. I can't think of a worse thing to have to do as an actor. And I know people listening would be like, oh, boo hoo. But honestly, like that, that we all have our things. That's my thing is is trying clothes on. So they're OK.

Well good. Noted I, I will, I will, I will note that Michael.

You're welcome Paul. Well I did want to point one thing out at the end of that scene when when Kelly is realizing the urgency of starting for the next test and Zach says, there goes my weekend if the concert doesn't happen. Something that really, really struck me when I return to the series was. When I when I interviewed you that when I interviewed you for the book, we talked about how when we were growing up, Zach seemed so cool.

You know, when you're when you're watching this as a kid, you just see Zach Morris as cool and seeing it again later on. I saw so much more vulnerability and fear in him. And I'm wondering if when you see a moment like Zach, I mean, Zach is being terrible in that moment. He's not he's not worried about Kelly at all. He's just being extremely self-serving and saying this hurts me the situation. But but I think part of the reason people have asked me about this book, they're like, why has the show endured so much?

I do think part of the reason is your performance, Mark Paul. And the whole cast brings such likeability out despite the behavior. But when you watch a moment like that, what what do you feel about Zach as a person? Oh, yeah.

I mean, it's just easy to say Zach is trash because because Daniel used that to to to such great lengths. But I was going to say, as we watch this episode, both Slater and I could give two shits about Kelly and and the things that she's going through.

And it's always amazing that that watching it back, that these that it's it's there right in front of us. But I feel like as a kid and again, I'm looking at it through the lens of a guy in his 40s. But and but back then, I can see, you know, these bright colors and the way we looked in the music and the little special effects things, that it was just it covered up all that and it just was meant to be fun.

And I think they did a good job of doing that. But yeah, I mean, it's kind of and that's why, you know, Daniel has created a show and why this podcast is so much fun to kind of go back to these things because we can pick these things out. But yeah, watching it originally, I don't think any of us picked up on any of these things. I don't think we were we were programmed to think that way back then.

It's also kind of interesting because, like Zach is rich, I believe. I mean, they live in the Palisades. His father is a successful computer salesman. You would think he could wrangle up a couple of George Michael tickets like you would like. Kelly, having tickets is not the only way for Zach to attend that show. It's probably at the arena, maybe the forum at the time. So it is kind of odd. He like pins all of his hopes and dreams on this weekend, on Kelly's free tickets specifically.

Yeah, but if I bought those if I bought the concert tickets, we wouldn't have this episode. All right. If you bought them the episode, wouldn't I? I always forget. I always forget the episodes need to exist.

And then then they wouldn't be able to feature the pursuit of buying concert tickets to see a band like you two at another time.

Oh, yes. No spoilers, my pal, but you will later be in a very complex plot to buy two tickets much, much later. OK, because I have no no recollection of of that. Is that later, later, like three years later, it's like, yeah, I will, we will be I mean we will certainly be different people if we're still covering this by the point we get to the U2 tickets, it's literally.

Paul, I know you have talked at length previously and today even you mentioned that trying on clothes is your least favorite part of being an actor. This is true. It's very true.

It's the least favorite part of my life, not just being an actor. I don't like trying on clothes. And I'll tell you why. I have a I have an odd body shape. I'm going to throw it out there. I have sometimes an athletic build. I've checked that box on stitch fix. Generally, when I go shopping, I have to tailor my clothes after I buy them because the waist this all goes to say this. I hate trying to close because they just never fit.

I don't want to put the work. I want to put the effort into buying clothes. You know what I'm saying?

I do know what you're saying. And why don't you just love it? If there was a clothing store out there that knew exactly what fit for you, sent you the clothes right to your door, had a sense of the styles. You like your do's and don'ts when that will not just be the bee's knees.

McPaul while Dash, I'm glad you said that because Stitch Fix is a personal styling company that brings you the world of fashion and style. It's a completely different and fun way to find clothes that you will love. I have come to love it. I have got my fixes through stitch fix. They have been spot on. I've maybe returned two or three things.

That whole process is super simple. If you don't like what you have in your fix, you just put it in this bag. It's postage have been paid for and you drop it off and you start with a whole nother fix. You you you get another shipment within four minutes every month.

Yeah. Couldn't be easier. I have also gotten my fixes and I love all of them. I have a a fun new shirt with flamingos I wear. Did not have a shirt with flamingos before stitch fix. Now I have a flamingo shirt. It's fantastic. If you would like to get started. Obstetrics, go to stitch, fix dotcom, set up your profile and pick your dos and don'ts and your likes and dislikes and get started today. You'll get twenty five percent off when you keep everything in your fix that stitch fix dotcom slash twenty five percent off when you keep everything in your fix stitch fix dotcom slash ETF.

And we're in the hall and Zach is doing, you know, one of his classic conning screech to do his bidding routines, but I just again, mad, I know you started keeping track of things as they emerged to you for your book. This is now the third Alaf joke that Screech has made in 10 episodes. So we're rockin almost a 30 percent episode rate of Scrooge making a joke about Elf. I just thought that was I'm going to say interesting, but I'm also going to say lazy.

That feels like lazy, lazy jokin to me. I would think if if you were a part of a show and one third of your episodes had a joke about ALF, you would say we should probably correct this course.

I think that's fair. If I if I had all the time in the world, I would love to go back and track everything that I possibly could, such as Alf mentions, M.C. Hammer mentions, Freddy Krueger mentions all the things that only that you kind of know about. But until you really start seeing them a lot, you wish you had Traktor from the beginning.

Yeah. Also, we talked about a little bit last week about how product placement sort of things put into the universe to make a fictional world seem real. It it makes the world feel more real that there's a George Michael concert and Screech watches Elf and Freddy Krueger movie, like all these things, add layers, the pop culture references to to give the extremely insane world of Bayside some some grounding but a just mix it up. Screech watch something else. I thought it was interesting that Screech says he's going to be an Uncle O to the aunt about Dadfar.

Yeah. Help me understand that joke. I don't quite understand what what that is it.

I mean it's the again this would be a thing where it doesn't make actual sense. He's just playing around with the the hominum of NS A. and A.. So it is. Yeah. Got it. It's Accommodator. Thank you. National. No problem. Thank you. Wow. Check out Lisa's outfit too. That is a that is something. Cowboy boots. Cowboy boots. Also speaking of wardrobe screeches screeches use of tie dye I found really interesting. It like comes back a few times in series that screech wears tie dye.

I just I was like I had an interesting choice when they talk about like nerds, as we later have the nerd fantasy sequence that this sort of tie dye tie dye look would be associated with that. I don't usually make that connection, but say by the bell did and screeches room or is it screeches room? It could be Jesse's room. It could be Kelly's room. I was going to his room. There could be Zach's room. Yeah, I was going to say what?

So this is we've established that Jesse and Lisa shared a room. And Kelly, is this the same room? Well, I think the proper term is that this would be a swing set. And again, when we're looking from the audience's perspective, they would see the hallway first to the left would be Belding's office, to the next to the immediate left of buildings. Office would be the max. And all the way at the end, if you were looking all the way at your basically nine o'clock would be the swing set, which would be the bedrooms.

So it would be either Zach's bedroom, you know, week to week or B, Jesses. And so I think that, again, this was all the way to the left of our of our soundstage. This was a depending on the episode whose whose bedroom that would it would it would be for that particular episode. So the bones are kind of, you know, if you look at it, the bay window with the with the door, the closet, these are all reminiscent of some of the other rooms that we've seen before.

Yeah. It looks like a similar layout for sure. But I think like Jessy's to Kelly's transformation was pretty subtle. They just put a bunch of posters up. This is like a full blown I mean, this feels like this almost feels like a different TV show going inside of screeches room, just like the the quality of of electronics everywhere and beakers and like it it feels like a much a different universe for sure.

Meanwhile, Kevin, the robot which Screech programmed himself, is just sitting there waiting for someone to walk in, which is fascinating because I would wonder what does Kevin do when no one else is around and he's just standing there? Hmmm.

I really wish I remembered how we how we controlled Kevin. Like was that someone off to the side with a remote control, you know, like how did we do it with the voice. I believe that was a voice actor that provided the voice of Kevin. Yeah, I looked into it. He was a voice actor who did not do a ton beyond this. But there was a voice actor for Kevin and I. I mean, it does feel like a very advanced prop for the time to have like a motorized like I think now you could picture how to assemble that, but yeah, you'd need some kind of like probably some.

Something similar to a race like an art, an RC car kind of set up on the bottom and a remote control. That's certainly an advanced prop in the production world. But in the world of, say, by the bell, it is insanity that Screech has had the time to build a real robot like this thing is as alive as anyone else at Bayside.

And he hasn't told people about it, it would seem. Well, he's he told the robot magazine he he was taking pictures for Kevin for for one of those magazines. He was hoping his friends would just see Robot Illustrated. And that would be the way they would find out about Kevin. Yeah, robot illustrator. That's correct. He also has eight dolls lying around.

Let's talk about these dolls, because I think it's very important that we talk about why does he have eight dolls just laying around that he could use for an example? I don't know. I mean, he's the best I could come up with in the world of the show is he really wanted to take tutoring Kelly seriously, which again, was only a ruse to get closer to Lisa. But I would imagine after school he ran over to the doll store and said, eight, please, and.

That's the that's the best I can do, because any other answer is just downright peculiar light up eight matching dolls. So at the end of the scene, we get the two of them kind of staring at each other. We kind of know where this is going to go. And Screech Gentlemanly offers his hand. That is the most awkward handshake I had seen on television in a long time. Yeah, it's rough. It's not good.

I like that the show is willing to give them a moment, though, you know, because the scene we actually see Kelly response. She says, I can't believe you went to all this trouble just for me. So I think that suggests that she assumed that Screech went out and bought the dolls and that he didn't just have them sitting around, but they they connect there. And the fact that she she kind of responds to him, she sees it is a very responsible guy.

Kevin says it's nine o'clock and immediately Screech says, it's my bedtime. You have to go now. But they and then they have that awkward handshake. You're right. It's I can't imagine anyone watching that moment of the handshake and not feeling like that. There's something in the air which you never would have thought would exist between Kelly and Screech.

I wonder what Dustin thought when he when he picked up this script and like was like, is this going to be the beginning of screeching, Kelly, the relationship fans have been clamoring for because it Marple, I know you are not super familiar with the series, but I will I will spoil it by saying this is the only instance where Screech comes anywhere near Kelly romantically and then it gets it gets abandoned forever.

That's a shame because I actually was rooting for them. I mean, watching the chemistry in that room, I thought it was I like watching it. I thought it was an interesting choice, but I believed it. I thought, you know, throughout this entire episode, one of the things that I was taken away was I genuinely I genuinely believed that Kelly was having a good time. I, I, I believed in her smile. I thought her acting was on point.

And same with Dustin. I mean, I think that he did a great job in this episode as well. Many moments where I thought he was going to break character and will point those out coming up. But that relationship between the two of them, I was I was kind of drawn to it and I was actually rooting for them.

I had a similar reaction to of of Tiffany's acting specifically where I was. I believe. I did believe it. I that's an interesting use of the word believe I like believed she was into screech in a way that didn't didn't the episode didn't feel I mean, if that makes sense, like it could have been played in a different way, it was like she was genuinely into this guy. But yeah, it is it is funny how they just I mean, it's explained at the end of the episode they they realize they have nothing in common, but they they really do abandon this this thing, which could have been probably the most interesting creative choice that's saved by the bell made.

Well, they they define the personal characteristics so. Well, he's intelligent. He has a great sense of humor. He's really fun to be with. That's a great summary of why she had a good time with him. Of course, Jesse and Lisa can't believe is talking about screech, but how much does that show? What a great person Kelly is that she's she has a new crush on Screech, and she's still telling Lisa she should give him a chance.

Wow. Yeah. I don't even think about that later. That's a really good point. And Lisa does the best steak I've ever seen. Yeah, that was a professional take. It's truly a just doesn't get much better than that as far as mistakes go. Like her distance and her volume and the it's all it's a it's a no notes deal for sure on that. Cybertech also Kelly, now that she had one nice study date with Screech, is also wearing tie dye.

It's like he passed on his tie dye jeans to Kelly, not tie dye jeans, jeans with a g another homonym joke, but not a joke, just another hominum. And I'm wearing an oversized shirt or I'm just really skinny. I can't tell there's too much shirt there. So it is over. It's like it did. It's the right size for your body, but it is just very, very large. I still think it looks cool, though.

I like all of the excerpts in this episode. Big Zach Shirts fan in this particular app.

And I'm glad you pointed out that shirt, Marc Paul, because in the next scene, as we begin at two, you're wearing another like large blue striped shirt and screech and Kelly are having so much fun together in the hallway, like you said, that in some ways this episode feels really different from a lot of the other episodes because of the relationship that comes out of it. It's also nice to see Screech when he's been he gets beat down so much.

To have him kind of riding high is a fun, fun energy. I truly laughed at the very end of the scene with with Zach and Slater watching Kelkal and Screechy walk off. I laugh because of Mario's deadpan, unblinking look before he delivered. Kelkal Oh, man. All right, yeah, it's it's really good stuff, I guess he doesn't even have he's really not in that much of this episode, huh?

He's like only in that scene. And then when he he barges in to the study that he's not he's not super heavily featured in the action. And I think some of Kelly is sort of goofy jokes in this episode also show her connecting with Screech in a different way, too. There are a couple of times where she says, you know, to find radioactivity, she says changing stations until you find her favorite song. She's making sort of dorky jokes that are I think are endearing.

And that's part of the reason why I think we feel the connection between the two of them. She we're seeing her in a way we usually don't get to. She's also learning like she's only able to make those jokes because she's learning about science. Also, I feel that, you know, because Zack isn't in the room sucking all the air out, we actually get to see her speak and her character. And, you know, we see elements of Kelly that we don't generally get to see because Zach's not in the room.

That is such a great point. And the same goes for Screech to look at what happens when these people are able to just exist outside of that world with Zack. But we also, I think, are artsy new shades of Zack's floundering in this episode. It's it's fascinating. What do you what do you mean by that, Matt? There are sort of there are aspects of the morality of the situation that that the episode doesn't even get into. Screech knows that Zack is interested in Kelly there.

Really it really doesn't come to a head between the two of them as much as it does in a later episode that I won't spoil from our Paul. But when there's a different love triangle going on that it does come to a head between them. It seems like most of Zach's I mean, Zack being worried and concerned, it really is all about George Michael. It seems like like like the romantic prospects of Kelly or it's there and him and later busting up this study date.

But it seems like George Michael really is the primary concern. But it's also clear he sort of feeling abandoned a little bit. He's Kelly shutting him out, screeches his best friend, who he doesn't even see as like an equal or someone who could have his own life and romantic possibilities either. So that drives him to sort of be conspiring with Slater. It changes where Zack is able to latch on to and that.

Are there any lies in this episode? I feel like we should have asked that at the top. But have you did any of that stand out there?

Really? I really only marked one actual lie in this episode, which is lying to Belding about Kelly and Screech getting married. And part of part of the goal of the book was to see how was it that every time he was lying more, his behavior was worse? This is a rare case, I think, where there are very few lies in this episode. But Zach is still acting very badly.

Well, you know, who wasn't acting very badly was screech with the popcorn, the very sweet gesture of pulling the popcorn out of her hair. I watched this episode with my son, my six year old son, and he goes, wait, did he just pull out popcorn out of her hair? Was that was he just touching her hair? I said, no, he's being sweet. And he pulled the popcorn out. OK, yeah, that's it.

Could have been creepy, right? I mean, unwanted or unasked for hair touching is definitely like on the list of creepy stuff. But it almost it felt improv to me because it like it didn't. I feel like you just saw it and took it. It felt very natural. Again, very sweet. And you get you know, Zack fallen out a window or fallen from a second story to talk about that scene.

I also want to point out right before the falling of us out the window kind of thing, but the smile on his face when we talked about the real genuine quality of it, that that was a smile. I hadn't seen her give Zack or Slater or anyone else up until this episode. And that was a smile. I think that a lot of the audience fell in love with that, that that just this wholesome girl that that Kelly was and that smile.

I mean, it was just a it was a it was bright. It was it was beautiful.

And of course, like, look at these nerds who overheard them in the bathroom. I mean, Bayside had such a comic book version of what a nerd looks like and seconds later are only they're upset because they say we just lost our girl to a nerd. Right. Like The Screech is one of their best friends. There's still defining it as we lost our girl to a nerd. Why can't they just say, screech, he's part of this group of six?

Yeah, he's one of the he's certainly in the gang. And like, why can't they be happy for like I mean. Screeches screech It's a reason it becomes global news immediately. You'd think they could just be happy for the guy. And Zach knows how much Screech wants a relationship. He's already dressed up as a woman. He knows how much he wants to be with somebody. He knows his loneliness. That's a really good point that. What were the nerds doing in the.

Bathroom stalls. I need to know. Oh, right, why were they just like full? So this is the second time someone's emerged from a stall, like not adjusting like like quickly left a stall. Just, you know, usually there's some adjustment going on your in motion leaving a stall. That's a good point. All I'm I'm not sure what they were doing in there.

And we have as the news makes its rounds, we get I see the background artist you're talking about the the the brown haired rocker guy. He's your new favorite. He is. I feel like I could watch a show all about him. I would love to say by the bell spin off just about just about the other kids. That would be really interesting to me.

This is actually a really funny moment I really enjoyed. But the you know, the George Bush and Barbara Bush, Gwen Kelly and Screech and that whole little montage there got a kick out of that, though. That was kind of highbrow. Yeah.

It's a fun it's a fun joke that it would it would become global news immediately. And we're the max screech of super popular getting getting swarmed.

Watch screech as he walks in, he wipes drool from his mouth, I believe, huh.

I never noticed that before. And it just seemed like such a strange way to start that scene where all the girls are about to swarm him and be so interested walking in and wiping something from his mouth. For some reason that just struck me this time.

Mark Parlier, you were around back then. Do you think that was an intentional thing or was he just wiping something from his mouth? I don't remember him being you know, we've all met those people that have a little bit of spittle between their lips. I don't remember him being one of those kind of guys. I don't remember him being exceptionally drooly. So I don't quite know what he was doing there.

I mean, he just may have had a a little a little excess saliva salivating to get in through that max door, thinking of all the eighteen women that were waiting for him. I don't know.

It could almost read is like I mean, I don't think it's this, but it could be just him to show how much of a like klutzy nerdy guy he like. He's like he's a mess walking in and he gets swarmed like that juxtaposition.

But I think you just I think you just at the last second touched his face and now we're now we're talking about it three decades later.

It was nice to see the twins had some lines right there, thrown some love to the twins.

Twins had a line that day which we learned when they were on the podcast, that those were special days because they would get copies of the script. And it was a it was a special day for the twins when they got a line.

So also monetarily, you would you would get a bump in your pay for having lines that day.

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K.M. Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at Mint mobile dotcom slash Zackham. And then we go into a group fuzzy sequence. Is this the first time we've we've gone into a group fuzzy? Oh, no, we did that with the girls. They were on the bed and one of those previous episodes. Right. But this is like four of us now. The rules are a little I mean, again, we talk about rules. The rules are a little fuzzy of of how it all works.

But, yeah, it seems like it seems like they can pull each other into the fantasies they can have shared. It's, you know, like Nightmare on Elm Street three specifically, they can kind of share the dream together. And there we go. Slater is a nerd because he has a tie dye t shirt. I like I don't know why I'm so, so fixated on that. Like Zach's wardrobe. Reid's nerdy to me. Slater, minus suspenders and glasses, just very, very colorful.

And I just want to point out this may be true or not, but I was the inspiration for Leonardo DiCaprio when he was cast for What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

Oh, is this you think this was the this is what got him going?

Well, I remember it was between him and I and his was his performance was a little more nuanced and subtle and they gave it to him. But, you know, I was I was right up there as a contender to to play that that that role. Well, yeah. I mean, I think this is a good this is a good showcase of those abilities. Totally not true. Just throw it out there just in case. I don't want to offend anybody.

I thought I thought you were going to say this. This was an inspiration for Inception and the idea of a group dream sequence that can't quite be explained, but you just have to kind of go with it. Yeah.

So how much of Leo's career would you like to take credit for right here now? Because I feel like it's a good time to set the record straight.

All of it. All of it. Yeah, all of it. That makes sense. I also like Kelly's Pizza Hat. It's just a fun little like it was like a throwaway joke. But then she's wearing it in the fantasy. I thought that was a lot fun. What fun it was that day when they must have made that hat. This episode creates its own sort of internal jokes in ways that a lot of the other episodes don't, which I actually really appreciate.

There's a comment made about Kelly could wear a pizza hat and it would be a fashion trend and then they do it. Zach makes the comment about. Or Screech makes the comment about his tricycle from kindergarten, then Zach returns that they actually follow through and have continuity within the episode in ways that didn't always take place. So that's sort of unexpectedly a rewarding one that has that payoff. I think much like Vince Gilligan and on Breaking Bad, I mean, he had a way of doing that as well.

I think we originated that that of having runners they call through an episode. Yeah. I mean, this is a this is definitely as close to Breaking Bad as the the say by the Bell universe gets. But that's that's so true. The usually those jokes would be throwaway jokes where Screech says something like the last time you did that, I wound up on a bus with two quarters going to Omaha or something. And like, you never see the bus or Omaha ever again.

So it is kind of nice that they're paying that off. Also Screech I know my pal, you mentioned Dustin Braking. I feel like when he comes in as Screech Bond, he is just just the corners of the mouth, just holding everything back as best he can. Yeah.

I mean, you could watch this over and over and it just gets funnier and funnier. Each and every time he's looking at me, he looks over at Mario and he just he's doing his very best not to break character. It's I love these moments on the show cut to his face. And he's got this great look.

I mean, to me, this is like, you know, the things that I remember are these moments on set where we were actually having a good time and it shows on screen.

Yeah. And also screech. He really now that we're watching all these, I think he gets put in the most costumes like it pretty much an episode doesn't go by without Screech being in some kind of like crazy getup. So the fact that his costume in this episode is just like, oh, he's very handsome, he's a very handsome spy in a tuxedo. That's that's got to be a funny feeling for him, too. So he got a lot of these now that we're watching of like.

A scene will go by and it feels like Zach's plans have made 10 steps forward and the idea of framing Screech and Kelly for marriage is so funny to me as being like this is what we need to do. And of course, building just just buys it hook, line and sinker. Also, Mark Paul, your sneakers look very, very white there in this scene. We've had some sneaker chatter about how white your sneakers were and they were too dirty.

One episode. I feel like we've we've run the gamut here of how how dirty Zach shoes are.

Yeah, I was looking at this episode and I didn't recognize the footwear in this one. I recognize some of my other footwear being converse high tops. I think this was always like we were transitioning with the wardrobe of of Zach. I think we were trying things out, but nothing was sticking like this is a very preppy look in the scene. Yeah, more so than some of the the previous scenes in this episode. You know, the khakis with a with a button down shirt.

I think as the season progresses, I think we'll get more of like I think the wardrobe department finally solidified like a look for me.

And we're in buildings office and another Belding's office scene. And this this scene has pretty much the same energy as when Jesse was talking to with Belding about Slater dying in Aloha Slater. This kind of like two people having a conversation about different things. But it's fun. It's you know, this time Screech gets to be the straight man. And Belding is the one like being progressively exasperated.

And Belding says, I understand how kids your age might misread a close friendship as something more. He's not coming from it. As you guys are dating and want to get married. He assumes they aren't even dating.

And I didn't even pick up on that. That's really funny. Another Dustan breaking moment, the cantaloupe joke, which is so fun, can't elope this, I guess this episode really was swinging for the fences comedically. They were taking a whole lot of wordplay and callbacks that Dustin was cracking up with the who are you calling a cantaloupe melon head.

And if you listen carefully, there's someone in the audience with a Belding type of laugh.

Uh, there was is a you're saying like you could hear a fan have a building like you, but was the show airing at this point? Probably not. Right. But you're asking the wrong guy, Daniel. OK, well, I thought I thought I was asking the right guy, but I, I just now realize I'm asking the guy who knows who knows less about the show than me, something I'm still grappling with. I went there is a there is a you know, like his is his signature laugh.

And I don't know if maybe this was one of those where we pretaped this particular scene and we played it back for the audience. So Dennis was allowed, you know, like Dennis was watching it with the audience and he was laughing at himself. Oh, makes sense.

Well, that does make sense.

He was like it's like padding the bushes playback, you know, making sure that the joke has a good reception. That's crazy. So we might be hearing we might be hearing Mr. Belding laughing at himself. That's nuts.

I don't know. It's something, you know, to to for the audience to to to discern for themselves whether they think that that sounded much like Dennis Hoskins laughing or someone was mimicking him and the audience.

Yeah, but mimicking it's like he if that shows hadn't I was going to go someone mimicking kind of like a fan thing, even if it's subconscious or not. But if the shows hadn't aired yet, you're you're Dennis laughing at Dennis theory is makes a ton of sense to me. I mean it's such a distinct laugh. So of course like who else, who else could it be. It's Dennis laughing at Dennis.

Well, and just to add one strange little detail in the background for this scene, Darcel, this is something clearly you should have noticed. So I'm pretty offended that you didn't point this out as Belding is trying to convince you not to pair up with Kelly. There's a book in the background titled Going It Alone.

I did not notice that. That's on Belding's bookshelf of many trophies and in addition to the other books called Before the Golden Age and seemingly from now to zero. So I don't I don't know what those books are about, but going it alone just seemed like it had to have been put there on purpose, that that does feel like an intentional creative choice. And Merkel got to give it up to you and Mario here on this this pratfall through the door.

We talk a lot about safety here on Zack to the future and child actors. It looks like you guys really went for it. I think I went for it. If you see, I didn't put my hands in front of me. Unlike Mario, who put his left hand to break his fall, I took the actual fall right to the chest.

I don't know. It feels like I saw your left hand go down a little bit more. Paul feels like just a little bit of left hand went down.

Yeah, but not not before Mario. OK, Mario, meyerrose. Left hand goes down a lot. I'm going to say yours went down just a teeny, tiny bit more.

Paul, do you remember is that is that something that you rehearse at all or it just sort of you show up and do it?

We've talked about this in the past. Like, if we if we had to do a pratfall like that nowadays, we'd have a stunt coordinator on we'd be wearing safety pads. And I'm not kidding. We would put knee pads on. We would put elbow pads on. They may they may have a stunt double do that. And it would be in a cut these falls.

And we do two of them, by the way, we did one in the max where we were the nerds. And this one, I think that those were written and you never give them another thought. You're just like, oh, OK, we're going to be falling through the door. And and nowadays, you know, if we were to do that immediately, someone would rush on set, make sure you're OK. Nothing. Nothing's been bruised or broken.

And back then it was like one of those things like, OK, great cut and moving on it. Yeah, it was just it was just another day on the job. And and part of me still wishes it was like that because that, you know, we're kids, we're we're we're flexible and spongy and, you know, we can get up from things like that.

And it was fun for us, to be honest with you. I always loved doing physical comedy. Some of the people that I looked to looked up to in comedy were very good at physical comedy. And I just I love that type of humor.

And the tests came back from science class. Slater raised his grade, Zach, not so much, but we get like the breakup between Screech and Kelly is is sad. It's like a really sweet, sad moment. My favorite joke of this episode is the the kindergarten sand joke that that Screech has really would like to know what happened in that in that sandbox.

Yeah, that that is a very dark, vague, looming shadow over screech his life that something happened again.

Like, yeah. Like like what what went down in that sandbox and why does he hate George Michael so much? We don't we don't know very much about screeches pop culture fandom. Musically, what is so, so opposed to George Michael? He wouldn't even go to the show for free with Kelly.

Yeah, that's that's insane. I mean, talk about insanity that is not rooted in mental stability at all. Like, you could just sit through a concert you don't like. I mean, who cares?

Also, I think the only musical funny going back to the time, I think the only thing I think Screech is noted as liking musically, he has a Grateful Dead shirt on much later in series. That's the only time I can remember him showing fandom for any kind of artist. But what's not to like about George Michael? I mean, he's just touring in support of faith. Screech like you're nuts. Go to that show. You know who else didn't like George Michael is or who had a problem with him is Casey Kasem, who was on the very first episode of Saved by the Bell and will be on at least one more when George Michael single I Want Your Sex came out.

Casey Kasem refused to say the name. He just would say the new song from George Michael Casey Kasem, a big saved by the Bell guy, not a big George Michael fan, just a teeny tiny crossover. Speaking of music, every rose has its thorn. Nope. Every ice cream cone has its last lick. I thought that was poetry.

I'm not even trying to, like, ham it up here. I thought that was a really beautiful sentiment.

Imagine if we just replace the lyrics of every rose has its thorn with every ice cream cone has its last lick.

Yeah, that would be a I mean that would be a it would be a different song for sure. I don't I don't think we could ever rewrite the lyrics for Poison. I mean, clearly Bret Michaels is a genius. But that's such a mature moment for Screech, isn't it? Can you believe that is all we know about Screech up to this point is how much he wants a relationship. And then all this happens with Kelly, it disintegrates and in the moment where she's upset.

He has the presence of mind to say. You have to have that perspective on the relationship is just unbelievable, not to mention doing is Humphrey Bogart impression and saying we'll always have science. And again, he does that little thing with his hand. He I thought he was about to grab her head and go in for a real kiss, but he just puts his hand kind of, I think, on her shoulder and gives her a nice, sweet little kiss on the cheek.

It was a very mature moment from from Screech that we hadn't seen before.

You really do feel for you feel Kelly, is like heartbreak in this moment. It's like as mature as screeches Kelly's. I mean, if I'm Kelly Karpovsky in this moment, I this would send my head spinning around in circles that I just got essentially dumped by screech. And then we pan and we see Zac and Slater. And I had this vision. I had I had to Google it like where have I seen this before? And it reminded me of these, like vultures or the magpies or the crows from from my era of cartoons, which thankfully they don't play anymore because they were deplorable sometimes.

But Heckle and Jeckle, the two crows, the or the the Magpies look those up. And that that's what that that sort of shot of Zach and Slater reminded me of, like these two guys just ready to pounce, you know, and Zach says, rebound. And it's like, again, we've talked about how shitty Zach can be. It's like, screw her feelings, you know? Let's go in there now. Let's this is our opportunity that our opening.

Yeah. I mean, he definitely seizes the moment. It also has some kind of a little bit.

And now we're looking at the shot kind of night at the Roxbury energy of like the two guys bouncing the the uninterested lady between them. Those are extraordinary comparisons. Well, thank you, Matt. We're evolving. We're seeing the light. Yeah, the show is not the only thing that's a work in progress around here. But, yes, I can they are going to go together. They're front row tickets. You can't let those go to waste. He's touring in support of faith.

Come on the tour that made him rethink his millions of teenage fans. And that's the episode that's beauty in this great. And that ending, I think, is such a good example of why I wanted to wrestle with sort of the enduring nature of the show and this character, because we see Zach's desperation in this episode. I think we we get glimpses of of his struggles, but he doesn't have any consequences. Kelly is not upset at him permanently.

Screech is not upset at Zach trying to sabotage the relationship. And ultimately, Zach still gets to go to the concert. No consequences whatsoever. Yeah, everything works out. Everything works out for for Zach Morris. Hey, guys, don't hate the player. Hate the game. Yeah, I'm just saying that to like the two Zach Morris truthers out there. Well, Matt, thank you so much for joining us.

And some illuminating insight on both the show and Zach Morris, the character. And I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me. Mark, Paul and Gasol. So much fun. I just so appreciate it. It was a pleasure.

Matt, please give another plug for your book and let people know how they can get it. Yeah. Zach Morris three hundred twenty nine times. It is available in paperback. Available in ebook. You can get it through Amazon, Barnes Noble, Wal-Mart, all over the Internet. So check it out. Definitely. It's meant to be a celebration of the show first and foremost from a long time fan. I spent a long time as a critic for the Chicago Tribune's red eye, but this was something that I just did because I thought it would be really fun and and it really was.

So it's it's incredible to talk to you guys about it. And I think people will get a kick out of the book. Thank you, Matt.

I hope that we can have you back on the show again in the future. Love to have your insight. You always have an open door anytime you want to. Come on, please reach out to us.

I love that. Thanks so much. And if you write another book, I'm happy to do another interview. My schedule is it's a little jammed up here and there, but I'm I can I can make the time at and speaking of making time, great transition. There is more homework for next week because there's homework every week on Back to the Future. It is an episode called The Friendship Business. Martelle Shot in the Dark, Wild, Wild. Guess what could that be about?

Well, you said friendship. I remember there being something called buddy bands and friendship bracelets. Is this is this am I am I going down a right path here?

You have chosen wisely. You have chose you just the wisest choice you are. The path you are on is the correct one. You are not cold. You are red hot. Your jackpot.

Finally, finally. Yeah. Every win in twenty twenty you got to you got to put it on the score. And hold on for dear life. I'll take it. So this is going to be about buddy bands. I love it. Yeah, this is about buddy bands. Absolutely. It's about buddy bands. It's about a small business. It's about friendship. It's really all the things the title says it delivers on. So please, Mark, Paul and listeners do the homework.

And thank you again, Matt Pace and we will see you next week. Zach to the Future is a production of Caden's 13. It's executive produced by Michael Goslar, myself and Chris Kaufman Production and direction led by Terrence Mangan, editing and Mastering by Andy Jesuit's. Engineering and Production Coordination by Sean Cherry. Artwork by Kurt Courtney with illustrations by Jeff MacCarthy. Marketing is led by Joseph Francis with PR by Hillary. Thanks to the whole team at age 13 and to you for listening.