Tag Archives: Saved by the Bell: The College Years

Haskiri Velazquez to Star in Peacock’s “Saved by the Bell” Reboot

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Haskiri Velazquez has been saved…

The Puerto Rican and Dominican American actress has been cast as one of the leads in Peacock’s upcoming Saved by the Bell reboot, alongside Mitchell Hoog, Alycia Pascual-Pena and Belmont Cameli.

Haskiri Velazquez

They join previously announced original-series cast members Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopezand Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who are returning for the reboot, along with new leads Josie Totahand Dexter Darden.

In the new Saved by the Bell, California Governor Zack Morris (Gosselaar) gets into hot water for closing too many low-income high schools and proposes they send the affected students to the highest-performing schools in the state, including Bayside High. The influx of new students gives the over-privileged Bayside kids a much-needed dose of reality.

Velazquez will play Daisy, a smart, ambitious sophomore who’s excited at the prospect of attending Bayside High after her local school gets shut down. 

Hoog will portray Mac Morris, the handsome, charming, privileged son of Governor Zack Morris. 

Pascual-Pena plays Aisha, Daisy’s fun-loving but ultracompetitive best friend. She grew up playing on boys’ sports teams and causes a stir when she tries to play football at Bayside. 

Cameli plays Jamie Spano, captain of the Bayside football team and Jessie’s sensitive man-child son.

The original Saved by the Bell ran on NBC for four seasons from 1989-92. It starred Gosselaar as Zack Morris, the fulcrum of a group that included A.C. Slater (Lopez), Jessie Spano (Berkley), Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen), “Screech” Powers (Dustin Diamond), Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies) and Dennis Haskins as Principal Belding. A spinoff, Saved By the Bell: The College Years, ran one season in 1993-94.

 The series is produced by Universal Televisionfor Peacock.

Velazquez’s most recent credits include the series regular role of Charlotte in Facebook Watch’s The Birch, the role of Rosa in the feature film The 40-Year-Old Version, which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and the guest starring role of Melissa in Blue Bloods

Pascual-Pena recently wrapped filming as one of the leads in Amy Poehler’s Moxie for Netflix, which is set for release this summer. 

Lopez to Pen His Memoir

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Extra! Extra! Read all about Mario Lopez…

The 40-year-old Mexican American actor and Extra host is writing his memoir, entitled Just Between Us.

Mario Lopez

The book’s publisher Penguin will release Lopez’s book on September 30.

Lopez is best known for playing athletic hunk A.C. Slater on NBC’s Saturday morning teen sitcom Saved by the Bell, which aired from 1989 to 1993. Saved by the Bell: The College Years, a primetime spin-off, lasted one season (1993-94). Other members of the cast included Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley and Lark Voorhies.

Specific details about what Lopez will cover in the book haven’t been released but Penguin is touting the book as “a behind-the-scenes look into his successes and disappointments in the entertainment industry” and the “most intimate never-before-told stories, including the details of his often tumultuous and largely public love life—giving readers a look at the ups and downs of his romantic past leading up to a happily-ever-after with his beautiful wife and their two children.”

Added Lopez in the statement, “I share my most intimate stories and pivotal moments, some of the best and most important times of my life and the heartbreaking mistakes that still haunt me. There are no do-overs in life, so I had to learn to pick myself up and move forward, never forgetting the hard-won lessons.”

Post-Bell, Lopez has been the host of the entertainment news show Extra since 2008. He was also a contestant on Dancing with the Stars in 2006, finishing second to former NFL great Emmitt Smith. He was also the subject of the VH1 unscripted series Mario Lopez: Saved by the Baby about the arrival of his first child with wife Courtney Mazza. He was also briefly married to Ali Landry in 2004.

Just Between Us will be published via Penguin’s Hispanic celebrity imprint Celebra, which has done books by Ricky Martin, Pele, George Lopez and Soledad O’Brien among others.

Lopez has previously published two health and fitness books with Celebra. Both were New York Times bestsellers.