As the 30th anniversary of Saved by the Bell's TV debut rolls around, one cast member has spilt on all drama both on and off the screen. Photo / Getty Images
It was the school that '90s kids all over the world wanted to attend.
Over four smash seasons, Saved by the Bell entertained us with the lives, loves and dramas of six students at the fictional Californian, Bayside High School.
And this year the iconic TV show is celebrating a huge milestone — 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the original show's small screen debut.
Yet despite three decades having gone by, it's clear that audiences across the world still haven't forgotten about the adventures of Zack, Kelly, Lisa, Slater, Jessie, Screech and, of course, the bumbling, warm-hearted principal, Mr Belding.
Played to perfection by Dennis Haskins, the actor is synonymous with the series and he's more than happy with his long-time association.
"I had no idea that 30 years later we're still be talking about it," a beaming Haskins tells news.com.au.
"I'm grateful for the fact that the show meant so much to so many people around the world.
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"Just the other day I had someone come up to me and say, 'You changed my life.' It really touched people, which is such a blessing. When all of these fans approach me, I almost don't feel worthy. I was in Romania doing a movie a few years back and everyone there knew who I was too — it was crazy!"
Co-starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, Lark Voorhies, Dennis Haskins, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, and Mario Lopez, Saved by the Bell was a surprise international sensation.
Airing from 1989 to 1993, it spawned two spin-off series — Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, and two TV movies, Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style and Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas.
Now indelibly part of pop culture, Haskins has spent decades pondering its staying power.
"I've spent years talking about the show and thinking about its success," he says. "And I think the timing was just right. There wasn't a show made for kids from ages nine to 17 that was theirs. It just clicked. We addressed basic rights and wrongs, issues that kids go through — and still go through — in every episode.
"The time you wanted to ask a girl out but she wouldn't give you the time of day — that's Screech and Lisa. When Zack and Kelly were going to the prom but Kelly's dad lost his job, so she couldn't afford to go … lying to your best friend, lying to your principal and getting caught.
"We did it in a funny way, but also with a real message. I think we were ahead of our time."
Like his onscreen character, Haskins says that the respect and bond between Mr Belding and his students translated off camera too.
"I felt like there was a bond," says the veteran actor. "I did this scene with Mark-Paul and the director took a break and I looked at him and I asked him — actor to actor — what do you think about this scene, and he told me.
"From that point on, I tried to treat them as my peers … I didn't think I knew more than them. Mr Belding respected the kids, just like I did, but he also knew he had to be the authority figure when it came down to it."
And just like a proud dad, Haskins is understandably pleased at the success the rest of the cast have enjoyed over the years.
"I'm happy and surprised at their successes," he says. "Mario's hosting Extra, Mark-Paul has done several TV series, Tiffani did a great job on White Collar and she has a cooking show, and Elizabeth has a recurring role on CSI: Miami. There's a stigma that most child actors don't really transition into adult actors, whereas most of our cast did."
While the rest of the cast escaped the child actor curse, the same can't be said for Dustin Diamond, who played hardcore nerd, Screech.
Since wrapping on the role that made him famous, the star ventured down an increasingly troubled path.
After infamously releasing a sex tape (which he later said featured a body double), Diamond spent three months in jail in 2014 after allegedly pulling out a switchblade knife during a bar fight in which a man was stabbed.
After being released on probation he was arrested once again two years ago after breaking the terms of his parole.
Diamond has also managed to sour relationships with his former co-stars after he penned a revealing book (Behind the Bell) in which he claimed that Tiffani Thiessen was seeing both Mario Lopez and Mark-Paul Gosselaar at the same time, and that some of the young stars smoked marijuana in their dressing rooms between takes.
Gosselaar has also divulged a revelation of his own when he revealed on Anna Faris' Unqualified podcast that he had a behind-the-scenes romance with his co-star, Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie), explaining the fling by saying: "When you're working on a set, and we were young, there's no one around really."
When we ask Haskins about this, he doesn't have any recollections of any risque behaviour going on between his younger castmates.
"I didn't see any craziness going on if there was any," he says.
"But who knows! This was a time before the likes of TMZ — thank god — so nobody was really looking.
"People make mistakes, people learn and grow. Thankfully this cast didn't have to do it in front of the public.
"Besides, because of the ages of the younger cast — 13 to 16 — they had to go to school every day. They'd go to school and then come rehearse, so they were working and studying every day. There wasn't really time to fool around or go crazy."
And while Diamond's Saved by the Bell co-stars were understandably unenthused by the claims in the book, Haskins is more sympathetic towards the troubled star.
"I'm the guy that worked with Dustin for another five years on Saved by the Bell: The New Class, he explains. "Plus, he was only 12 years old on the show and the rest of the cast were 14 or 15. That's a big difference when you're a teenager."
Diamond isn't the only one to have dished the dirt on his time with the show. Former executive producer, Peter Engel, recently released his own account of life behind the scenes at Bayside High.
But when quizzed about whether he'd ever pen a "tell-all" about his time on the iconic show, Haskins is inclined to leave the memories of the pop cultural phenomenon untarnished.
"I know there have been a few things done," he says. "Dustin's retrospective and now Peter's book … I've had people ask me when I'll write one, but you have to have a reason to do it and making money isn't the right reason for me.
"The character I created, the show we created — I have too much respect for it and the people that love it. But if I do find a reason, or something new to share that my fans would like to hear, then perhaps I will."
Despite calling time on his famous screen alter-ego 20 years ago, Haskins has been kept busy with regular work, including bit-parts in the likes of Mad Men, How I Met Your Mother, big screen comedy flick, A Million Ways to Die in the West ("to stand next to Charlize Theron when you act is pretty special!" he says), and most recently Trailer Park Shark alongside another former Bayside student, Tara Reid.
"Tara's first job was on Saved by the Bell: The New Class," he recalls.
"We have a fun connection, I've seen her regularly over the years since and I like her a lot. She's a nice young lady."
Movie bit parts aside, looking to the future Haskins has his eye on the actor's dream: "A supporting regular on a TV series that lasts three to five years," he says, laughing. "For now I'm trying not to look back, but to look forward. I'm grateful for what happened in the past, but I'm even more excited about what's yet to come."
The Kiwi actor has been part of the Star Wars universe for more than 20 years.