Welcome back to The Future, I'm your co-host, Stachel Driskell, joined today by Mark Paul Goslar. Hello, Martha. Hi, Daniel. How are you? I'm doing great. You hesitated on the great. I'm beginning to wonder if you know, it's still 20, 20.

Sure. And, you know, I mean, how good are any of us doing? We're doing great.

But I'm happy to be here sitting across from you and and hopefully have a light conversation about the episode that I got to watch. Hopefully that would be the goal, certainly on my end as well. Now, did you do your homework? The most fun question of the week. What if I said, fuck you, I didn't do my homework? And, you know, that would be the end of the show?

No, it wouldn't, because I prepared a brief summary. So in a sensible world, you might be the one doing the summary because it was your homework. But, you know, we're not living in that world. Like you said, it is 20, 20. So I'm glad you did do your homework, which was to watch the gift. But in case you're listening and you didn't, which is fine, please allow me to briefly summarize what happened in the episode.

Take it away. It is. Mr. Testaverde is midterm week. Everyone stressed out. Zach loses his ham radio to a bet with Slater when he has to disconnect the radio from the roof. Screech gets struck by lightning, which he soon discovers lets him see into the near future. Zach uses screeches power to win a double or nothing bet with Slater. Then, right before Zach is getting the questions to the midterm, Zach accidentally electrocute screeches powers away.

Zach makes a bet with Slater that he's going to ace the midterm and plans a study date with Kelly. Jesse and Lisa crashed the date and Zach tells them all the questions he got from scratch. Scratch Zach. His powers are gone. Zach hatches a plan to keep Mr. Testaverde at home and have building deliver a midterm with screeches questions only it blows up in his face. Zach fails the midterm and becomes a slave for a week per their most recent bet, The End.

So in going through this episode and, you know, I've kind of asked some questions about what you remember about specific things, but I'd just like to open it up by saying, were there any big memories that were rattled loose from watching this, anything at all?

No, not in this particular episode. There was there was nothing that I that I could point to the that are moments. No, not on this one.

I really enjoyed this episode, though it seemed more in line with just being a light fun, dare I say, typical, say, by the Bell episode compared to the one we watched last week. Sure.

Yeah, it is definitely light and fun. And it also is like one of the one like the paranormal episodes. It's like a little it's a little out there in, in a subject matter which is, which is fun and saved by the bell, has certainly some out there subject matter, but it doesn't always get into like these super powers realm. So that was a it's a fun one. This was written by Bennet Tramer and I remember him being one of the more prolific writers on our show.

Bennett, I believe, did over one hundred of the new class as well. So he went on to to Coixet could have produced for that. I do remember him more than some of the other writers. No offense to the other writers. I guess I shouldn't say that, but I well, it's my memories. But I do remember Bennett. I don't remember this director. This director was not Don Barnhart, not Don Barnat. A rare not yeah.

Rare. Not Don Barnat. But other than that, yeah. I just I feel like this was a very formulaic episode for us where Zach has to kind of dig his way out of the mess that he's made.

But I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the cast in this. I this is the younger version of us because we shot these out of order.

My hair was, you know, still the the dye job just cracks me up because I remember the process that I used to have to go through in this particular process was a cap that they used to put on my hair, on my head. And the cap has tiny little holes in it. And they take this little pick and they pick out little pieces of your hair. So you look kind of like a porcupine under this cap.

And then they put the the compound on your, you know, the dying compound on your head. And then they let that sit. You go under a hair dryer and then they take that cap off and then you go wash it and voilà. And that's that's the magic.

That's the magic. So with the shorter hair, you can kind of see my hair has sort of like a game, a game bird looked like a like a pheasant in the back look. And that's because of this this cap that they used for for dying my hair because I know it's crazy, Daniel, but that wasn't my natural hair color.

You know, you keep saying that, but I don't believe you. And and the more you say it, the less I believe you. So you can keep saying it. But it actually has the opposite effect, which I don't believe is intended.

But I know for four years I had to sit every two weeks and get my hair. One had to get my hair did it's 11, you know, it's a paycheck that it was you know, it was we didn't get paid the big dollars like some of our prime time peers. But, you know, we've got to understand, this was Saturday morning.

You know, I'm glad you mentioned that because this episode was actually Friday night. I had to kind of follow the numbers here. But you premiered on E on Sunday, then a Friday, and then you had a I was confused. Then you had a Saturday morning, then this was Friday night. And then you had an episode immediately the next day on Saturday morning. So they like stack you one, two on a Friday, Saturday.

So you're saying the Lisa card, which we reviewed last week? Yes. That was on a Saturday. That was not a Friday night like you initially. It's correct. Yeah. I got my numbers confused, but I know it's it's amateur hour over here. I'm wow. I wish I could say I'm sorry, but I'm just I'm just doing my best. It's twenty twenty. Wow. So this was a Friday night show. Yeah. This was a Friday night episode, which is interesting because it definitely is one of the more like Saturday morning kind of feel to it, you know, like struck by lightning.

You get superpowers. It's basically a comic book show. Yeah. It was Friday night.

Well, all I saw was that the cast was having a lot of fun in this particular episode. I know we open up in the hallway right away. We see the twins, twins. There's a there's a lot of extras that that we that we have become familiar with. And we'll get into that later on in the season. Things that stood out to me was in this particular episode was Dustin Diamond almost on the verge of breaking character in specific scenes.

And in this one, we do this water balloon gag. And by the way, anyone notice how Mario's holding those water balloons? I didn't. He seems like a pro. That's all I'm going to say. It's the hold of a man who held many water balloons before. I'm not saying a word. I'm just I kind of got a chuckle when I saw him, like fondling those water balloons. Oh, OK. I see where this is going.

I'm going with that. But anyway, going back to Dustin, so he almost breaks character when he gets hit by these water balloons. And that's a thing. I'll point it out in a few other scenes when we when we get to them. But, Dustin, you know, we were just we're having fun. We were we were we were kids. Yeah.

You're playing with water balloons. At the end of the day, you know, it's going to work, but it's still fun. And that is a that that opening scene is is a nice insight into sort of the gambling that goes on at Bayside. There's like a lot of gambling. Like over the course of series, you will find all kinds of bets and wagers. And this one seems to be on like a water balloon quickdraw, which seems like a a very specific odd game that they're they're playing every morning.

But Zach is like a good friend to screech in this moment. He is he shows mercy. He refuses to to pelt him, even though Screech was like in cahoots with Slater, which I thought was was funny. They're like doing like a racketeering scam on like a reverse scam on Zach. Yeah. And then slaters sort of pays screech like he's on a corner and he's he just made a score. I don't know if you noticed that one where he gives them the money and he looks around and then he kind of like walks slinks off.

Yeah.

It's definitely like illicit activity. Like you're not supposed to be dealing in money and gambling and throwing water balloons. And again, I know you didn't go to an actual school school like most people think of school, but I promise you, there was there was almost no water balloon throwing in the morning. From what I can remember of high school.

I'm sure there was zero tolerance for gambling as well. There was actually at my high school for a brief glimmer of like two months, an underground blackjack ring like exploded and had to be shut down by the administrators, as is this the school that I know you went to? This is the school, you know, I went to. Wow, a real thing happened. And, you know, there had to be like an announcement like like a school announcement to like debts are forgiven because some kids got in, like, way too deep.

It was it was a whole thing. It was quite a moment in time. So I actually did experience some high school gambling. Oh, that's amazing. Zach Morris would've loved it. He would have been all over this thing. You would have had all kinds of juice going in the streets.

And, yeah, it would have been great. I'm not a big gambler. I've never been a big gambler in my life. I've no I really don't like throwing money away. Sure.

Yeah. No, it's not it's not fun to lose money in almost any capacity. Yeah.

I just don't like to lose and then to lose money on top of that. I mean I've gambled a few times but maybe I mean I could probably say over the course of my life I may have gambled between a thousand and two thousand dollars my entire life.

Oh wow. That's yeah. That's like that. That could just be one bad afternoon in Las Vegas. A very quickly after like one I just think of like what I can do with a thousand dollars or two thousand dollars. Right. And I just you know, I'm not a very good I like the game. Yeah. You win. Texas Hold'em was big about ten years ago. You know, I really loved playing the game with buddies and and things like that, but for low stakes.

But I enjoy the physics of it all. But I don't I don't enjoy the aspect of losing money. Well, once again, a testament to your acting, because Zach sure does seem to relish this thing.

I did notice in this scene that Mario missed his mark while he's talking to me at the lockers. My face is completely shattered. And what that means is someone. Mr. Mark, now, I couldn't have missed my mark because I was just standing there and Mario came in and walked towards me. The process is on a Thursday we do a a rehearsal of all these scenes and the camera department is there, the electricians are there, the lighting department. And we put marks out for every actor where we need to stand so the camera knows where we're going to be.

And the lighting is set up for that specific scene. If you miss it, you will shadow somebody. And that's what happened in that scene. No one else probably notices it, but I notice that my face was completely shadowed while Mario was talking to me.

While I am still upset by Dashiell, I don't like to be overshadowed. No, I mean, I wasn't going to ask if you're over it because I know the answer. But no, I did not notice that. That is a that is a very interesting like I for technical stuff that I wonder if you're the only person who's that laser focused in on what's what's going on there.

You know, I've always been that way my entire career. I think I talked in the previous episode about the red light and and being very aware of when you're on and when you're not on knowing your angles. You know, I'm still like that to this day. It gets in the way sometimes because I'm hyper aware of everything that's going on set. But it's the way that I think Saved by the Bell specifically trained me to be that because it is so technical.

There are four cameras on set. And like I said, there's a director in a booth and he's telling the technicians in this booth when to go to camera. No one wanted to go to camera number three. And it's a very orchestrated dance when you when you do these specific four camera sitcoms.

Yeah. And a lot of people's time can get wasted very quickly if you're not on point. Well, so you you lose to Slater, you lose a ham radio, which is a whole other that's a whole other thing. Why why. Zach loves his ham radio and has his show. He broadcasts as Elvis to to someone who speaks up in German. Did you catch that. I did catch that.

There's a there's a bit of a bit of German. Yeah.

Like in this they basically establish a world where where Zack Morris is like pretending to be Elvis on a ham radio and also had to learn German for it. And they never really like, why was he doing this? Or I'm also confused why Elvis is so important to these kids. Like, I think we're at our third episode and Elvis has been mentioned almost every single one or referenced in some capacity between like Belding's dancing and just just the writers really seem to be leaving their love of Elvis all over the show.

Yeah. And so in your bedroom, screech get struck by lightning, which is a it should be a serious thing. You would think that if someone outside your window got got struck by lightning, it would be probably go to the hospital. But screech handles like a pro.

Did you notice that there was thunder and then lightning like the noise and then the flash, you mean.

So I hear the thunder and I go, screech, screech. There's a storm coming. Isn't it supposed to be lightning and then thunder like the lightning strikes.

And then it takes a while for the sound to hit your ears. Correct.

Because don't you do that whole thing where you count and then depending on how many seconds, that's how many miles away it is approximately.

This might shock you, but I don't spend a ton of time outdoors, so I haven't quite learned yet. I'm glad you're sitting down. Yeah, but I believe the flash would come first and then the noise. But because it's television, thunder came before the lightning.

Well, you want to prime the audience to realize, oh yeah. You want to hit them with the noise and then the big flash and it's a big special effects screech comes down with his hair and it's fun.

And he gets a big reaction from the the live audience. And this is another moment where I feel Dustin is almost about to break character. He comes home with with a pretty big grin on his face that made me chuckle when I saw him, because I this happened quite a bit with Dustin, by the way. He would he would find things funny while we were filming that we're not in character.

Yeah. It kind of works, though, just because Screech is like an oddball or like a he's like goofy. So if he's kind of smiling and like it, it plays. But yeah, that is that is funny to pick up on. And Screech gets his superpowers and she saves your life. He uses his powers to save Zack's life in the hallway when a light almost falls on his head. And I wanted to point out for a minute that electrician is played by Roger Reinhardt.

And I took the time to look up Roger Reinhardt. And what stood out to me is this one guy who did, I think, nothing else on Saved by the Bell. He was a session director for casting auditions. He's worked with the Coen brothers. He's worked with Ridley Scott. But before that, he dropped a light in the halls of Bayside.

That's interesting. Yeah, that that was a neat fact. Also from his IMDB bio, his other love is singing and writing blues music and. An awesome band called the Blue Zone Band, and I'm inclined to believe he wrote that bio because I don't know who else would call someone else's band awesome. He also says he likes to spend time with his awesome family. So in addition to dropping lights and working with the Coen brothers, he he writes his own bio.

And I'm nothing wrong with that. Are you offering to write his bio? Certainly not. I mean, I. I mean, I do have the time, but I'm not offering. No, but I'm sure his band is awesome. Go check him out.

I'm sure they're great in this particular scene too.

I just I thought my the classic wardrobe for Zach, the the the high top sneakers and the rolled up jeans or the pants with a little cuff at the bottom with a large button down shirt open with a t shirt on.

I thought that was that's like the classic image of Zach.

Yeah. If you were doing like a like a costume party kind of thing, you could you would you could totally nail it and wasn't happy about the dirty convers though.

Sad, dirty white shoes. I don't think that that's a thing we do nowadays. And I don't think I did it later on either.

But that first season, for some reason, they put me in Dirty Converse.

Well, now they're kind of back in style. I think, like all the fashion of Bayside Wood would work.

Now, like, if you look at your dirty shoes, like dirty white shoes, I think because, you know, onsets sets, this is another thing is that white kind of pops on on screen and they sort of tone it down. I think they they tone my shoes down a little too much.

So they say, in my opinion, they were like, your shoes are there, they're upstaging you. We're going to take them out back. And was some dirt.

Plus, you don't want new shoes to look new. So you you scuff them up a little. I don't know. Now, now, now you get people pay big bucks for those type of shoes, you know, distressed clothing.

You were ahead of your time. And a lot of ways though, with with distressed fashion. And then we're in we're in Mr. Testaverde midterm. Say his name again. Testaverde you say Verdie. I say Verde. Is it Verdie? Then I say in the hallways I go, Mr. Testaverde, that sounds about right. Maybe I'm thinking I mean, you're saying it maybe the proper way. Verdie Well, yeah, I have some salsa verde at home, so I think maybe I'm like thinking of my salsa verde, but I'd have to look back.

But I thought I said, Mr. Testaverde, that does sound right. Well, you're saying sounds correct. You're just putting FLER on it. You're trying to upstage me. I'm a I'm a fresh pair of sneakers right now. And you're going to scuffs you want. Yeah, no, we yeah. We're recording this in the room where you practice karate. So I, I have no shortage of evidence. How dare you. Karate. It's jujitsu.

Oh sorry. Excuse me. Pardon me. Karate. Whatever it is this the eighties.

So Mr. Testaverde which now does sound right. Another fun little fact about this guy, John Mashita Junior. Did you happen to look him up at all?

I did look him up and I did recognize him immediately. When I when I saw this episode, I was like, oh, there is the guy. The Micromachines man. The Micromachines guy. Yeah, yeah. The FedEx guy. The FedEx. And we knew that while we were filming. I remember he was such a nice guy. Really, really genuine. Just a sweetheart.

And I remember I remember us getting him, you know, just to see this and do that. And we and he was he obliged. I mean, he was just he was a he was he he knew he had a gift and he was sharing it. And it was all light and fun. And yeah, I just have really good memories of John.

Yeah, he is. He is. Or was the Guinness record holder for the world's fastest talker with the ability to say five hundred and eighty six words per minute, which is unfathomable to me. And there are other people who have apparently claimed the record. But John disputes that claim. According to Wikipedia, he disputes that anyone is able to talk faster than him. He he just doesn't believe it.

Yeah, I went into a deep dive when I saw his name on on this particular episode. And a lot of a lot of things you can catch on YouTube. He does dispute it because I guess what they do is he they do it and then they they slow it down when he said it in specific machine. And, you know, I don't know what they used back then, but they slow it down and every word has to be clear and pronounced.

Right. But he also he did a rendition of Michael Jackson's Bad. That's on that's on YouTube as well.

Just really interesting. I mean, that was a big thing, I think, in the eighties to be able to talk fast. It was a great thing. I remember that guy from Police Academy with all the voices like, yes, things like that were novel back then.

Yeah, no, it was I mean, he could be like if he was like a kid doing that now, he'd probably like blowing up on ticktock like able to talk super fast.

But again, I think this goes back to your point of the whole cartoon direction. Yeah.

Trying to corner totally that that that energy and again, a voice that kids would be familiar with from toy commercials. And he was also a voice in Transformers. And they they really max out these teachers as characters. But unlike some of the other teachers who we've met and will meet, this is a one and done he is he is only in one episode and he. Boy, oh, boy. Does he does he make it count. He. Delivers.

Yeah, it's too bad he was really good and we're not to and we have another girl's locker room scene, which is just kind of to set up how all the girls are really stressed out about this midterm, especially especially Jesse, her character really shines, is just perpetually terrified of not getting any. The only thing that really stood out to me about this scene is the cautionary tale that someone who did not a test of today's midterm the is today.

She teaches English to foreign parents, like that's how wrong your life can go.

I rewound that a few times because I couldn't understand what I didn't know if it was parents as in the bird. Right. Parents, parents would make more sense. But parents is like the just the most outlandish thing you can tell someone. And that's what scares Kelly into studying. She's like, I don't want to teach languages to birds. I better take this midterms seriously. Oh, you writers. Oh, you writers.

And then we're back in the hall and you know, Zach uses his he uses crèches, powers to win a double or nothing bet with Slater to get his jacket. And that's when we get that call back. We're like the the German listener, like calls in on his radio. It's just I it is so fun and silly and it's such a quick little joke. It really is. It's good. I like it.

Well, it's also Slater made a reference of a German girl earlier on while while he says, you know, when he's on the stairs and he's making the wager and he goes, the German gymnast, she really flipped over me. A lot of Germany going on a lot of love for Germany in this episode. Yeah. All right. We love to see it. And then then you get that scene with Screech and building, which is like it almost has like a who's on first energy.

This was comedy. Gold really was. I mean, this is a really well done scene between two actors. And one of them is like a 12 year old. And his his timing is on point it and a huge reaction from the audience. I'm not sure I'm not sure that the the younger participants in the audience would have understood the in-laws joke, but their parents sure got it. Yeah.

I mean, the whole scene, which is again, is super funny in the way they bounce off each other, is great. It is just like a setup to a mother in law joke, which is like such like again these writer this like a dolt like Screech doesn't know the hassles of a mother in law visiting. But when you're when you're a TV writer, perhaps that's what's on your mind. And you you put that in the episode in that it gets a big laugh at the end of the scene.

I think a lot just scratches face like Dustin's face at the end.

I was just that's in my notes because I write notes. Dashiell, you're taking. No, no, I took notes because this is a classroom and I have I feel like this is a test every week. But no, in my notes I put Dustin's reaction is brilliant that look on his face. I'm not sure if he was about to break right there, but it just plays so well. And he's he's he's really good. They're both they're really good in in that scene.

I really enjoyed that scene. Yeah.

Re watching these now like I have, I'm immediately picking up sort of all these like little Belding kind of battle scenes that take place in his office that just kind of work to like really to show Dennis as a comedy actor. There are a lot of fun there. There's some of the more joyful parts in the whole episode. These like these moments when you're just in buildings office for a fun bit for a few minutes.

Yeah. And for me, watching Dennis, I feel compared to me and a lot of the scenes and some of us and some of the other cast, I feel like Dennis is much more refined as an actor. His his comedy is much more on point. Yeah, I just I really enjoy watching him on screen. That's great.

And then then we get another scene at the max and so. What stood out to me about this is like the the nature. Well, first of all, you're the Zack Morris phone. Yeah, the phone. Is that how the phones work back then?

Because I don't remember which where you pull on the antenna and then you push on the antenna to stop a call like, was it like the flip phones or you like.

Yeah. Does he extend the antenna in this. Well he does in another scene. Sure. But is that how those phones worked? Because here's the thing. While we were filming this, I knew no one that had that phone. I didn't know how a mobile phone worked. We had a car phone at one point because, like I said, we would drive to auditions. And that was a useful thing for us to have, was a phone in the car.

Yeah, but it was attached to our car. You couldn't take it out. This was next level, having something that you could take out of the car and make a phone call pretty much anywhere. But I don't remember how those things work like you'll see in the next scene or that I and a few scenes later in the locker room with with Screech, where I pull on the antenna and I push on it to stop it. That feels.

Yeah, like I wonder. I don't think that's how those phones work.

But I also don't know, I mean, we should probably we should probably track one down and I'm going to chalk it up to no one showed me how to use that phone before we started filming that because I don't think anyone knew how those phones work. It just here's a phone. Go ahead and use it.

You know, it was a it was certainly very cool, like as a as a viewer at the time to see a kid with a cell phone like that. I mean, that's part of the reason it's become kind of iconic because it is like such a luxury item and such like a new techie thing to to have that and to use it for so many schemes that that's why I think people latched onto it so much like, holy crap, this this kid has his own phone.

So I spill water on the phone. Yeah. Do you want to explain it to. I had a hard time understanding what was going on here. So Screech has these powers, but then I spill water or a juice on the phone while he's holding it and that's what shocks him.

Right. So as the scene would have you believe, screeches like holding the phone and then you spill it or it's in the reach across the table, looks like a juice or a some kind of beverage. And it it zaps him like he gets electrocuted. I don't think that's how that would work. But sure, why not? He gets electrocuted and that, unbeknownst to Zach, is just removed his powers. Electricity brought them and it'll it'll take them away again.

One of the more like this is probably about is out there in logic as the whole series gets that there's like psychic powers derived from lightning, that that team gets there, then disappeared by soda. And so then so Screech is now lost his powers in a way that sure will will allow it. And then he makes another bet with Slater just to keep this this hot streak going. That little ace, the midterm, which just seems like showboating at this point.

He's already he's already got the guy's jacket. And he also makes a plan to study with Kelly a thinly veiled study date in his room. And on that study date, you get to see some of your dancing. It seems like a little bit of that dancing you learn and dancing to the max. You kind of like Taurel Kelly there for a minute. And it looks like that choreography, well, it's really paying for it.

According to your logic, though, I don't think that that I don't think that our timeline is off because dancing to the max was shot way later than this particular scene. Oh, so you're saying that was like I was older, Zach and dancing to the max. This is young Zach. So.

So you already had the dancing within you. You just needed it to be awakened. I think of.

I think I was. Yeah, I don't I, I don't remember any I don't remember being as inhibited by this dancing as I was in dancing to the max.

It's a quick one. It's just like this is a quick one. You just kind of like flinger around back and forth on this this like study date trap that you have set, which and I get away with saying things in a scene like sit back, close your eyes and relax your body.

I just said that and I got chills.

Yeah, I almost I looked for the door. I wanted to make sure there was an exit nearby 14 year old me or thirteen year old me.

It comes off as adorable. And then look at I'm going in for a kiss while her eyes are closed and she's just sitting there. Isn't that what you do?

It's like Sleeping Beauty or something, right? Snow-White Does that happen? Disney had a lot of that stuff just like don't do this at home. Kids don't do it anywhere. Now this I mean. Yeah, literally no place should you be doing that. Not good. But back then, lots of fun, different time moving on. And Jesse and Lisa crash the crash this thing and Zach gives up his his answers or questions, I guess that he got from scratch so they know what to study.

And then can we buy that bedspread somewhere like a target now because they saw a bunch of merchandise for Saved by the Bell. That is the iconic bedspread.

Know when people think about like the colors and shapes and stuff, they're thinking, I think about the theme song and all the shapes are like fly at you. But certainly that. Bedspread is like the pattern. Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure there's like a knock off of it. I know there's like officially licensed saved by the bell bedspreads out there, but there there should be I wouldn't know. We don't get much for merchandise on saved by the Bell products.

So might hear this and start making these bedspread.

I'm always amazed that all the products that are out there go out. Yeah, I send you a picture of that cake. There's like a so like supermarkets. Have you did you see that anywhere else before? Because I've seen like several pop up because just to give so people know what the hell we're talking about. I believe it's the Kroger supermarket. They're selling like birthday cakes with a saved by the Bell logo on them. They're yellow and purple. And these people have tagged me in several because I'm the saved by the bell guy for better or worse now.

And people are confused, like, why are these in supermarkets around the country right now? Yeah. Why now? Whose idea was that? And who who signs off on like, you know, what we need is nationwide rolling out.

It was 30 years ago. Yeah. But I guess I'm I'm honestly and earnestly confused by it. But if you've had one and you would like to send us a review of these cakes, please, we would by all means love to know how they taste. What's going on in there. I'd love to hear from you if you've eaten one of these, say, by the book.

I remember that in that scene while I was watching it, the the basketball hoop, the mini basketball hoop on the the closet door, many, many hours of of playing with that on set just to pass time. Right.

It's a toy. I mean it's a profit. It's a toy.

It was a prop. It was a toy. It was, it was used for for many, many sessions of fun.

I'm glad you mentioned basketball because in referencing we'd love to hear from the listeners any time. I have just been eviscerated over the first episode for not clarifying. When I asked you what sport Zach plays, then I would have also accepted basketball as an answer. Oh, I did.

You did. In one in one episode. You did. We were about to play basketball and I neglected to say we also would have accepted basketball. And I am I'm not exaggerating when I say maybe once a day since that episode, someone will take the time to track me down and say, you know, he also played. So yeah, I know. He also played basketball. Thank you. Good. I'm glad they're keeping you honest. Stachel Yeah.

I mean, someone you're supposed to be driving this and the fact that you said that, you know, the Lisa Card aired on a Friday when it really aired on a Saturday, that's that's. You should be ashamed. Oh, man. That's the truth. I should be ashamed.

I love it. I love they're going after you. Oh, they really are. With great joy. And I'm sure now that I'm now that I've acknowledged it, I'm sure it'll only get worse. You suck. You're terrible. Yeah. No, I know I'm the one who has to live with it. So after this reveal that Screech is is not psychic and he does not have the answers and he's probably go to like a hospital and get an MRI, but he should probably be talking to a real doctor at this point.

But that's OK. And you get Zack's phone again in the bathroom with this, like, bonkers scene where he's he's like a it's a double phone scam of like calling Belding, as you're calling Testaverde is building and then Verdie Verdie. And then, like, that scene is is nuts. Yeah.

While I was watching this, the first thing that popped in my head was Ferris Bueller. Yeah. And I thought of that scene where they called Ed Rooney because they got to get Sloane out of school. And it's Ed Peterson. Yeah. You know, Rooney. Peterson, Cameron. Yeah, I'm bringing it home. Yeah. And so my when Zach gets on the phone and he goes, Mr. Just Verdie, it just it just brought me back to a a Ferris Bueller, that particular call.

But I was I was giggling also because I'm hopping around in this scene while I'm on the phone. I don't know why I'm hopping. I almost trip up Dustin as well to when he's coming out of the stall. Dustin almost goes down because I'm not walking in the scene. I'm hopping. Yeah.

It's like some nervous energy. It's like it just kind of bouncing around kind of thing. I don't know. We talked about pre taping scenes. This had to be a pretaped scene without the audience. We must have done this before the audience actually got there because of the stunt of the water. All those you know, we're not we're on a set. And yeah, those were all hooked up to hose spigots. And we must have done that before the audience got there.

I guess that makes sense.

I don't want the audience and in the sports we enjoyed actually when we when we appreciate those things because we can actually watch it back with the audience and kind of enjoy it for that for that moment that we weren't actually filming.

Yeah, it's like you're there with you don't get to be with an audience when they watch your finished product usually. So you got to kind of experience that. That's what fun.

But I again, it does that is that how a phone like that works like the extending and I can see it now that you're describing it, I can kind of see the the motions of Zach's hand on the antenna. And I'm thinking of like cordless phones from the eighties and nineties. You. Have in your home you like you could it could be a model where you like you may have been using the same kind of body motions you'd use on a home cordless phone, maybe.

But even my dialing my dialing was was not your critiquing your. I'm critiquing, my darling. I think you're acting as a director.

I would've said, hey, Mark, Paul, can I call you Mark Paul or is it markers? Paul, could you maybe click the buttons as if you were really dialing rather than what you were doing? Because that doesn't look real.

Do it like you do, like a human. Do it like a human. Yeah, that's a good note to give because I don't do it. You do it like an alien.

You look like someone who's never seen a phone, you asshole. No, I didn't even notice it. I, I look, I think I don't dial like a human. OK, we just come up with that conclusion.

I think you're overly critical on both your face shadows and phone dialing. But I love that your look at you, you're really taking it seriously with doing your homework and taking your notes.

Yeah, well, and I wasn't like that.

Zach includes like part of his scam is is a a bandana over the phone because like I know I can't say his name now, now, now.

No way. I say this to somebody Testaverde Verdie. It just it it all sounds like gibberish in my head now the way Zach does his voice, he like puts a bandanna over the phone, like that's going to make the difference because he has laryngitis.

Maybe he's doing a scratchy thing.

Yeah. Like I guess.

But then as soon as he he hooks Belding he drops the voice. I don't know if you caught that like when he's like and these are the questions on the midterm. He just kind of says it in his plane. Exactly. I blame this director for not coming up to me and saying, can I give you a note? No state maybe. I just told him to go fuck himself. Yeah, you came up to me. He goes, hey, look, you're dropping the character before the end of the call.

And I was like, you know what? Go back to your booth.

Is your name Don? Because I listen to one director on this job. And if if your name is not Don, you better get the hell out of my face. Take a walk. Take a walk, buddy, and end. Yeah. So what happens to Zach's insanely clever plan? It, of course, just blows up in his face before they get to take the midterm. Mr. Testaverde shows up.

And why does he come to the classroom? Why didn't he just go straight to the bathroom? He comes running in the classroom as if the classroom was flooded. I mean, he's like dressed like Super Mario or something. He's like he's really he really had all that stuff ready to go.

It's like plumbing is his passion. No, he said plumbing is my hobby. It's again, it's a shame these characters get introduced and not explored further in later seasons because he really was like so on the spot with that. And most people, by the way, would not even I would imagine plumbing is your hobby you wouldn't like. It sounds like a disgusting mess. Like does that really what you live for is a plumbing hobbyist?

All questions. I don't have the answers to me neither. But did you notice my eyeline when he came through the door? Did you notice? I didn't. He didn't know. What am I looking at? That's not that's not if I rewound this a few times. It's an odd place to look. He comes through the door, they cut to Zack for his reaction. I look what should be in the direction of Mr. Testaverde. But it's off the I'm not I'm looking because I see Jesse's head and I'm looking past that.

So I don't know. I think that cut was wrong again. I don't know. Maybe it's the director. No, I get skewered by this guy. Yeah. He's going to track you down. He's going to track me down. Yeah. Don is a man of class. He's a gentleman. But this guy is he's he's lawless. And he will find you for these words that you said. And yes, you get this this game that blows up, which is, again, like you said, this episode feels very formulaic and kind of archetypal of what's saved by the bell, what people remember, which is Zack digs himself in and he almost digs himself out, but then he doesn't gets in trouble because his phone gives him away.

His phone. Yeah, the phone and then the plunger to the head. Yeah, I almost broke character there. I had a bit of a smile on my way up from that phone. I mean, I hope he cleans those times, but I thought about that now.

I didn't think about that then. Yeah, I really didn't. To my to my recollection I don't think I, I thought about who is that. Is that a, you know, a new plunger that we're using on my head. But it is something the current me thought of when I saw that plunger to my head. Oh that. I mean, look at what they did to your new shoes. You think they're going to get a clean plunger on something?

That's true. Yeah, that's true. But then they they find the phone and then Zach continues with his call. Yeah. They don't take the phone away. Right. They and they let me conduct business as usual, presumably part of like your expanding criminal enterprise. And I also like that there. It's just kind of fun, like a detective work on the between between the two between the two adults to realize they call each other by their first names.

But this this fraudster used their last names. I thought I was just like fun, fun, little kind of like almost like Hardy Boys or something like an Encyclopedia Brown, just like we're going to solve this little riddle. I thought that was fun. And you lose the bet and now you're slaters, your slaters slave and you order a pizza, but it's really spicy, really got the drop on Slater and that's it. That's the episode.

Did you notice this last frame that they've they've frozen I. Do you have your phone on you? Sure. Go as if you were to text me. OK. All right. There I am.

OK, now go to that little red symbol as if you were going to find an image. OK. Right way to read. I'm at your, like, the info button. Oh, don't make it so. I know, I know, I know what you're saying. I get it now. Sorry. It's my first time using a phone. Yeah, a little a little red like magnifying glass, I guess right now and find images.

Put Zach Morris. OK, I see what's going on. Something. So you do this every day, right. This is how you get time all day. Every day I send all these images to all my friends.

So when I do that I actually oh I, I don't think I see the same things you do because I have my first like two results aren't even saved by the bell related. What. Yeah. Did you put in Zack Morris.

I did. I spend Zakar spelled it right.

Hmm. I don't know. That's weird. Yeah. Well you're an experiment failed. Yeah.

I mean we're you know I, I wonder if different people get different things based on like the gifts and images they use, like if it's like well this comes up on mine, this particular one right there.

Yeah. Is that and that's, that is the that's the one that's the, the freeze frame of this episode. I feel like the fashion is saved by the bell is still like so like I feel like all these clothes are clothes. You would see if music festival still existed I would see that guy there but with a much smaller phone you would see this at Coachella.

You could easily see that.

Yeah, pink stripes are for sure that pretty much every day, like any say by the bell fashion, I feel like Wood would work very well at Coachella Way, the end of the show like that where the experiment didn't work.

Well, you know, but that's that's what we're here for. The raw, gritty experience of searching for gifts on our respective phones and comparing notes. Now, I know you think this was the last say by the Bell episode that was ever made.

But there's there's more really there's so much more, including one for next week. What do you have for what's in store?

I'm so glad you asked. It's an episode called Fatal Distraction. This aired the next day. So on Saturday morning. And then this would be the beginning of your of the shows, you know, rain on on Saturday morning. They were done testing you on prime time. They give giving people enough samples. And it was a time just in time to see it, you know, when the rubber hits the road, as they say. Do you have any guesses what fatal distraction might be about?

It's a play on Fatal Attraction, a movie not for kids, movie not for kids. Maybe we get a reappearance by the teacher, Mrs. Wentworth, the sex ed teacher, maybe.

Fingers crossed, maybe. Maybe I have a fatal distraction there.

Someone may have skipped ahead a few chapters in there and they're in their homework book. Is that really what happens? I guess we'll just have to see. OK, I guess we'll have to watch. Season one, Episode four of Saved by the Bell called Fatal Distraction. And again, if you're watching on streaming platforms, it's in season two. It's just a little confusing.

But again, you should have really figured that out by now and send Dashiell lots of comments, please. Anything on social?

Yeah, my handle is at NPG on Twitter. So anything you want to say, please direct it there. And I'd love to hear it, but I think it'd be fun to hear things that our listeners catch from watching these episodes as well. Yeah, no, I miss things all the time and I'm frequently wrong about just across the board stuff all over my life. You're wrong all the time. All the time. Yeah, that's a guarantee. So please point it out.

I love to hear from it. And thank you so much more, Paul, for doing your homework and taking so many notes. I love it. And thank you to Listener for listening. Well, we'll see you next week. Thank you, Zach. To The Future is a production of Caden's Thirteen. It's executive produced by Mark Paul Goslar, myself and Chris Corporan Production and direction, led by Terrence Mangan, Editing and mastering by Andy Jasco. Its Engineering and Production Coordination by Sean Cherry.

Artwork by Kurt Courtney with illustrations by Jeff MacCarthy. Marketing is led by Josephine Francis with PR by Hilary Suf. Thanks to the whole team, it changed their team and to you for listening.