We’re So Excited About Elizabeth Berkley and Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s Podcast Reunion

If Peacock’s Saved by the Bell reboot hasn’t been enough to satisfy your nostalgia for all things Bayside related, you’ll be delighted to know that Zack Morris himself, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, is the co-host of a podcast called Zack to the Future in which he watches episodes of the original series for the very first time—yep, really. As he explained to co-host Dashiell Driscoll, he’s not a big fan of watching himself on screen and he claims to never have seen a full episode of the teen sitcom that made him famous.

In the February 10th episode of the podcast, the pair discussed “Jessie’s Song,” which has arguably become the most famous (and memeable) episode of the series in the 30 years since it debuted (feel old yet?), so of course, Gosselaar’s longtime pal and co-star Elizabeth Berkley joined them for the discussion. And yeah, we just have to say it, we were—ahem—so excited to hear their thoughts on the iconic episode.

Though Berkley’s character Jessie Spano famously developed a caffeine pill addiction in the episode, it seems the actress herself has never actually had a full cup of coffee. As she told Gosselaar, “I have never actually had a cup of coffee in my life. Is that insane?” 

She clarified that she has tried coffee, but said she’s simply more of a matcha girl. Relatable!

As for Gosselaar, he himself is a “bit of a coffee snob,” and prefers the ritual of drinking his java black, straight-up, first thing in the morning before he goes to work. Although he did have one unfortunate incident with caffeine overload, sharing that around the time 5-Hour Energy Shots became popular, he used to drink one before long overnight drives with his kids. One time, he genuinely thought he was having a heart attack and had to pull over, believing that he was going to die with his children in the backseat. Needless to say, he never tried it again—and fear not, they made it to their destination safely.

The pair shared all kinds of fun tidbits about the episode (those caffeine pills were actually Red Hots cinnamon candies) and lightly alluded to the fact that they dated IRL during the show. Though Gosselaar doesn’t remember kissing Berkley on screen during the “Snow White and the Seven Dorks” episode, he did remember their shared off-screen romance. Ahh, young love.

They looked back fondly on the episode that ended up becoming so famous, sharing that even though it’s largely seen as a joke that Jessie became addicted to caffeine pills, the young cast “didn’t take it lightly” and treated the storyline very earnestly, as Gosselaar explained.

“It was not something [people] really talked about much back then—anxiety or perfectionism or any of those themes—and Saved by the Bell was the first show that really dealt with it,” Berkley said of the episode’s candid discussion of the pressures Jessie felt to get into a top college.

Check out Zack to the Future for more fun surprise guest stars, including Tiffani Thiessen and Mario Lopez.