Jump to content
TSM Forums
Sign in to follow this  
Zack Malibu

I met Mr. Belding last night~!

Recommended Posts

Yes, last night, your resident teen show mark got a chance to meet Dennis Haskins, who played principal Richard Belding on Saved By The Bell. Haskins appeared at a "Saved By The Bell Night" as part of the University of Rhode Island's Spring Fest. He talked for a while about his career, and some SBTB gossip, such as:

 

None of the cast get royalties for the DVD's.

 

The guy who played Johnny Dakota was dating Tiffani Amber Theissen at the time, and there was tension between he and Mario Lopez (who liked Tiffani) behind the scenes.

 

The reason for so many New Class cast changes was due to some kids having holier than thou attitudes, and some just plain not being able to act. He said that the first New Class (the worst, IMO) was pretty much hired strictly for their look.

 

There probably will not be a reunion special anytime in the near future, as everyone has gone on to other things, and there are some issues from when the show was on that don't sit well with former cast members (mostly contract situations, etc.)

 

There was a bunch of other stuff, and he was really accomodating to everyone. They did trivia (I didn't get picked), but if I had, I would have blown them away, because these people were missing the simplest questions (name Screech's robot, etc.) Then some of the questions were so general (name any 2 New Class members) that if anyone missed them, it would have been sad.

 

After the show was over, he stuck around to sign 8x10's and take pictures. So I bought an 8x10 of him with the original cast, and went to have it signed. He admired my Zack Attack shirt that I had bought a while ago and was talking to me for a good 5-10 minutes (we agreed that the last New Class season wasn't the best way to end, and he even said it was his least favorite time out of the whole run), signed my picture (he put "To Chris, the other Zack", which was awesome) and took two pics with me, which I'll scan as soon as I finish the camera off. All around, an awesome experience for me last night.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
He said that the first New Class (the worst, IMO) was pretty much hired strictly for their look.

I thought 95% of Hollywood was cast that way

 

 

 

Kudos on the meeting though, would like to see the pics in due time.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest The Winter Of My Discontent

Zack, that was all the dirt Belding mentioned? There had to be more...more...MORE!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Banders Kennany

How did your school decide to have a "Saved By The Bell Night"? That seems an odd choice. And I am in agreement with the guy who wants to know some more dirt.....c'mon, Mr. Belding had to talk about more than a couple tidbits on Johnny Dakota.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

He's coming to my campus on May 19... I've seen most of the SBTB episodes, but most of my friends are total marks for that show like you wouldn't believe. We'll all be there. If the rest of you have any questions, post 'em and I'll do my best to ask.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest cobainwasmurdered

I can just imagine how excited Zack was. I hope he didn't embaress himself too bad.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes
I can just imagine how excited Zack was. I hope he didn't embaress himself too bad.

I could just imagine...Zack quivering all over his body, and asks the guy to sign his special homemade Mr. Belding underwear.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Who was Johnny Dakota?

He was a teen-idol type character they brought in to film a "Say no to drugs" PSA at Bayside. He started macking on Kelly midway through the episode and near the end, the guys find him in the bathroom getting high, making him a total fraud for the commercial he was about to shoot.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Who was Johnny Dakota?

He was a teen-idol type character they brought in to film a "Say no to drugs" PSA at Bayside. He started macking on Kelly midway through the episode and near the end, the guys find him in the bathroom getting high, making him a total fraud for the commercial he was about to shoot.

Actually, Zack and Slater found a joint in the bathroom, and Johnny found them with it, thinking it might be theres. Later in the ep, at a party Johnny had, they found out he smoked pot and they walked out on him, and purposely drove him out of Bayside.

 

URI isn't my school. My sister and a lot of friends go there, so I hang out there fairly often. The SBTB Night was open to the public.

 

No, I didn't embarrass myself. I just talked to the guy, but yeah, it was pretty cool to chat it up with someone from my favorite TV show.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Zack, that was all the dirt Belding mentioned? There had to be more...more...MORE!

Here's some more gossip from "Mr. B", since I didn't have much time when I put the first post up:

 

His favorite episode to do was the episode where his brother came to sub at the school. He actually came up with the idea for the episode, took it to the writers, they came up with the Rod Belding character, and the ep got made. His other favorite ep was the Graduation episode.

 

When they were casting for Good Morning Miss Bliss, he was told they were looking for someone who was "50 and black" to play the principal. He wound up pursuing it anyways, made it to the final four of casting, then called the producer (I assume he means Peter Engel) and asked how he did. Because he was concerned with how he was progressing, Engel hired him for the role. I'm going to guess that the plan of having an older principal of another race led to the character of Ms. Noble being created for City Guys, but didn't ask about it.

 

He said he never really watched The College Years, but did the one guest role (on the Thanksgiving ep). He said he pitched the idea that on the first ep, the gang were called to the deans office, and when they entered the chair would be turned around, and it would spin to face them and it would be Mr. Belding (who would have gotten a new job and left Bayside), but was told they needed him to do The New Class.

 

While on The New Class, they got to visit the White House. They were on the tour of it when Dustin Diamond buddied up to a security guard and said he needed to use the bathroom. The guard then led them through several other areas of the building that they wouldn't have normally seen, all because Dustin feigned having to go take a leak.

 

He just finished filming a movie down in South Africa with Lou Diamond Phillips and Coolio, and said you haven't lived until you've been on a movie set with Coolio.

 

Mario Lopez got married in Mexico last weekend to Ali Landry (the Dorito's girl).

 

He wasn't fond of the writing towards the end of The New Class.

 

Because Dustin was so much younger than Mark-Paul, Mario, etc. he would hang around with guest stars and extra's more than the actual cast.

 

He's done recent guest starring roles on 7th Heaven and The West Wing, amongst others.

 

That's all I can think of, but if something comes to mind, I'll add it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I would find it hilarious if someone called him Mr. Belvedere by mistake.

Though shalt knock Brocktoon!

 

hewett-bw1.jpg

"I shall not want to masturbate while watching Mr. Belvedere..."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am happy for him. He probably he had a great time!!! It is also awesome that URI had a Saved by the Bell Night that must have been something else!!!

Thanks.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Mr. Belvedere played a teacher on California Dreams in one episode.

Yeah the ep were a job test said that Jake should work in a flower shop or something like that. He also guess stared on the short lived FOX show Ned and Stacy were he played himself.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I wish Mr. Belding would come to my campus. Oh wait I just go to a tech school.......still though.......hahahahaha.

 

Sounds like you had fun Zach.

 

I am also a mark for SBTB, always have been, always will be.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×