Hollywood Demons S02E03 After the Bell_1280x720

Estella Cline

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Transcript

00:00:01First, I wanted to say thank you so much for making my childhood.

00:00:04Teaching me how to be cool in high school.

00:00:06He's the young heartthrob who has teens across the country.

00:00:10Saved by the bell.

00:00:11Saved by the bell.

00:00:14Saved by the bell, right?

00:00:17How you doing?

00:00:18How you doing?

00:00:19There's a lot of people that watch this show.

00:00:28Stalking.

00:00:29Criminality.

00:00:30The price of fame.

00:00:32911, what's your emergency?

00:00:34To be totally honest, it was pretty bananas from the jump.

00:00:38He alleged his parents were stealing his money.

00:00:40He had a small puncture wound on his chest.

00:00:44Excuse me a second.

00:00:45Yeah.

00:00:47It was overwhelming.

00:00:49It was fake.

00:00:52She had a psycho fan.

00:00:56How did Saved by the bell shape you?

00:01:03Ellen, what's the risk?

00:01:04Right there.

00:01:07But I've seen the tape.

00:01:09You're going to die.

00:01:12This situation will never be repeated again.

00:01:25I remember sitting in my little pajamas.

00:01:29I was on my couch in my living room in Miami, Florida.

00:01:33The Saved by the bell theme came on.

00:01:37When I wake up in the morning and the alarm gets out of the morning, I don't think I...

00:01:41It kind of just grabbed you with those rainbows of colors.

00:01:45Lots of 90s pop art graphics.

00:01:53It had that kind of bam, bam, bam.

00:01:56Lots of neon, geometric shapes whizzing past.

00:02:02How can you not move to this groove?

00:02:05It just draws you in.

00:02:08Because I'm Saved by the Bell.

00:02:13Saved by the Bell ran from 1989 to 1993.

00:02:16It's part of millennial core.

00:02:22It was so popular that I don't think you would have been able to find a teen in the 90s

00:02:28who didn't have a favorite character on that show.

00:02:30Every girl you knew had a crush on Zack Morris or A.C. Slater or wanted to be Kelly Kapowski

00:02:37or Jesse Spano or Lisa Turtle.

00:02:39Saved by the Bell is a comedy meets sort of melodrama sort of fantasy about high school with a group

00:02:46of kids.

00:02:46It was colorful, vibrant, somewhat bubblegummy.

00:02:50Viewers might say that it's the school they wish they had attended where everybody gets along, everybody has an identity,

00:02:57everybody has a good time.

00:03:03But it's really about that cast and they could do almost anything.

00:03:08Saved by the Bell followed this group of six friends and their daily lives at Bayside High.

00:03:13And the cast was made up of actual teenagers.

00:03:20It felt authentic.

00:03:21There was that age element that connected us to these characters.

00:03:26Bring them out to the stage.

00:03:27Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopez, and Mark Paul Gosselaar.

00:03:31The show was named one of the 20 best school shows of all time by AOL TV.

00:03:36Hi, great to be here.

00:03:39Hello, everyone.

00:03:40People remember it with great affection.

00:03:45But that sort of glossy, lovely quality, behind that there were a few other things that were going on.

00:03:55It's a very different, more complicated and darker story.

00:03:59The executive producer who was our showrunner, a guy named Peter Engel, was a very strong born-again Christian at

00:04:05the time.

00:04:06Peter Engel is the writer and the executive producer of Saved by the Bell.

00:04:11Before that, he was in Hollywood, in the more darker, difficult parts of Hollywood.

00:04:18Into a decadent life, doing drugs, dating adult film stars.

00:04:22And suddenly, one day, he saw a vision of Jesus on the beach.

00:04:29And decided he wanted to be a force for the good.

00:04:36And his quote about that,

00:04:38No one said a word when I did a thousand bucks of cocaine.

00:04:41But when I saw Jesus in Malibu, everyone said, are you crazy?

00:04:47However, I don't care if it was a cocaine psychosis.

00:04:50It was something came through and delivered a moment of clarity for him.

00:04:53So we weren't even allowed to cuss.

00:04:55But I think that's part of the innocence that made it sort of charming and maybe resonated because it was

00:05:00a big escapism.

00:05:01In order to understand Saved by the Bell, you actually have to go back to how the show originally started,

00:05:06which was a very different show.

00:05:11Before Saved by the Bell, Peter Engel produced a Disney show called Good Morning, Miss Bliss.

00:05:21So Good Morning, Miss Bliss was going to be a Saturday morning kids show.

00:05:25And it was about Miss Bliss and her dealing with these young adolescents in middle school.

00:05:30You know, at that time, the Disney Channel was looking for more live action shows that they could put on

00:05:35their network.

00:05:37Hayley Mills was attached, which I love Hayley Mills.

00:05:39I'd grown up watching her in Pollyanna and Parent Trap.

00:05:42Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which is a show really about the teachers.

00:05:46And the children are there, but they are secondary characters.

00:05:48There are three cast members in this cast that you'd be more familiar with at Saved by the Bell.

00:05:54I was tasked with finding all the kids, the principal and the other teacher.

00:05:57They were very specific for the main character, Zach.

00:06:00They wanted a Ferris Bueller-type kid.

00:06:03I'm like, oh, okay.

00:06:05But I was not finding that personality.

00:06:08But then I remember when Mark Paul came in.

00:06:12And he read, and he was the one.

00:06:15He was the kid.

00:06:17His perfectly coiffed blonde hair, which I later found out, was not a natural shade.

00:06:24His dimples, his smile.

00:06:27He had swagger.

00:06:29I mean, if you can say that about a teenager at the time, Zach Morris had swagger.

00:06:40Hi, everyone.

00:06:41I'm Max Patimo, and I'm formerly from Good Morning, Miss Bliss.

00:06:45And Micah Gonzalez was my character.

00:06:47And it's nice to be back on camera after 35 years.

00:06:53I just remember going in and, you know, starting out meeting the casting director,

00:06:57going back for the second and third auditions.

00:06:59And I remember telling my mom, if I get on the show, you owe me a box of C's chocolate.

00:07:05It's a really big one.

00:07:0613 auditions later, I think it was, I was on Good Morning, Miss Bliss as a 13-year-old.

00:07:12I was Micah Gonzalez, Zach's best friend.

00:07:25And this is Lark as a little baby.

00:07:30I think she's like three months in here, smiling for the camera.

00:07:36She grew up in Pasadena.

00:07:39Here's Lark at four, ballerina.

00:07:44She loved doing that.

00:07:47Lark had been a strange relationship between her and her dad.

00:07:52We were divorced when Lark was about three, four years old.

00:07:56Lark was a quiet little girl, shy.

00:08:00When I put her in ballet, she would just light up and just show off.

00:08:08I worked at Columbia Pictures.

00:08:10I became an executive secretary.

00:08:12And my daughter showed interest in getting into show business.

00:08:17She wanted to do commercials.

00:08:18She's turning 11, 12 soon.

00:08:22And I just started to get my daughter an agent and go from there.

00:08:27What's your problem?

00:08:28Well, uh...

00:08:30What do you want?

00:08:32Your deed is sweet.

00:08:33I remember this scene.

00:08:37What?

00:08:38Doing that really reinforced her desire to be an actress, a performer.

00:08:45And then there was a good dry spell, six to nine months.

00:08:50And she was becoming discouraged because she wasn't getting anything.

00:08:54And then she auditioned for Good Morning, Miss Bliss.

00:08:59Lisa Turtle was the most stylish friend of the group.

00:09:04It was between Lark Voorhees and Tiffany Thiessen.

00:09:07And then in the room at the testing, I did bring up,

00:09:11hey, we don't have anybody of color in this piece.

00:09:15And on the seventh call back, she got the part of Lisa Turtle.

00:09:21And there you're also reading the other characters.

00:09:23I thought Heather Hopper was very funny.

00:09:25She was cast as a girl named Nikki.

00:09:28And the last role to round up the ensemble is a character named Samuel Screech Powers.

00:09:33He was dorky, he was goofy, and just kind of more the comedic relief.

00:09:41We ultimately ended up doing an open call.

00:09:44And that's where we found Dustin Diamond.

00:09:46And I remember his father being there.

00:09:48I remember his voice was kind of screechy, you know?

00:09:52Can anyone tell me where the Lost Colony is located?

00:09:56No one knows Miss Bliss.

00:09:58That's why it's lost.

00:10:01Dustin starts on Miss Bliss at age 11

00:10:03and begins playing a character who's three years older than he actually is.

00:10:08And he is the only one that's not playing his actual age.

00:10:11It's tough for a child actor.

00:10:13I mean, it's tough for an adult.

00:10:14It takes a lot of energy and a lot of work.

00:10:17Being on set as a child actor in a typical week, Monday through Friday,

00:10:21I think we'd had to be there at 8 a.m.

00:10:23Monday was the table read.

00:10:24You would sit down and go over the script.

00:10:27Tuesday and Wednesday were rehearsals.

00:10:30Thursday was the dress rehearsal, and then Friday we would film.

00:10:33And every day in between doing all of that,

00:10:37there was a mandatory three hours of school.

00:10:39So it was demanding, and it was a job as a child,

00:10:44which I think makes children grow up differently.

00:10:49On weekends, I was exhausted and recovering and ready to go back on Monday.

00:10:54To me, it feels no different than when you're training a puppy.

00:10:58The puppy doesn't really know what it's doing.

00:11:02In the beginning, I think it's fun for the kid.

00:11:06But I think after a while, it's not just chasing the ball for fun and getting a little treat afterwards.

00:11:13It's like, oh, and we're going to do it again?

00:11:15It's like, how many times can I do this?

00:11:18Peter Engels tried to keep the set wholesome, made sure the parents were around,

00:11:22and made sure language was appropriate for this age group.

00:11:26But child stars are pushed into an adult environment prematurely

00:11:30and missing the normal developmental milestones of childhood.

00:11:35I was away from my friends.

00:11:37You're not interacting with different people.

00:11:39You're not going outside to do P.E.

00:11:42If you're coming back to regular school from being a child actor,

00:11:45nobody's going to know who you are.

00:11:47It's like, you've been absent.

00:11:48Like, you're an outcast.

00:11:49You're a new person.

00:11:55Lark took it in stride, and she knew that this was what she wanted to do.

00:12:01But we didn't know how the show was going to do.

00:12:04There was no way to know.

00:12:07Because most Saturday morning shows were cartoons,

00:12:10and they were trying to introduce something different.

00:12:13We have here a classroom based on mutual respect.

00:12:17There are three things I ask of you.

00:12:19The Miss Bliss character was overly saccharine,

00:12:22and that doesn't make for an interesting TV character.

00:12:27So we filmed 13 episodes, which was one season back then.

00:12:30Ultimately, I got the call.

00:12:32It wasn't picked up for a second season on the Disney Channel,

00:12:35and, you know, that was the end of Good Morning, Miss Bliss.

00:12:41We didn't get a lot of information from Disney.

00:12:45Basically, what we were told was

00:12:47Disney didn't want to continue the show,

00:12:49and what they did was they sold the rights

00:12:52to a few of the characters to NBC,

00:12:54and NBC was going to package it as a new show.

00:12:57It was a welcome surprise that it was picked up,

00:13:00but you feel vulnerable.

00:13:02They can decide to not pick you up the next season.

00:13:06So only three of the students from Good Morning, Miss Bliss

00:13:09make it over to NBC.

00:13:13Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond,

00:13:15and it's Lark Voorhees.

00:13:18It was devastating, I would say.

00:13:21It was tough to process as a child

00:13:23because, you know, you feel the rejection

00:13:25of not continuing after, you know, a year of doing this.

00:13:29And I think my response was to take a break

00:13:34and go be a regular kid,

00:13:36and lo and behold, I never looked back.

00:13:40But for some of these actors,

00:13:43there were some strange outcomes for some of them,

00:13:48including stalking

00:13:53and criminality.

00:14:03We'll do zoom-ins on him, too.

00:14:05I'm Robin Lippin.

00:14:07I'm the casting director of Saved by the Bell.

00:14:10Producers decided to shift the focus

00:14:13away from this teacher, Miss Bliss,

00:14:16and cast three new teen actors

00:14:19to go alongside Zach, Screech, and Lisa,

00:14:21who will now be in high school

00:14:23at a completely different school.

00:14:25I was casting A.C. Slater,

00:14:28who was the jock

00:14:29and kind of the Fonzie, John Travolta type.

00:14:32It was hell on wheels.

00:14:34To find someone with that personality

00:14:36and the look and the comedy,

00:14:37it was really hard.

00:14:39Until Peter said,

00:14:40let's open it up and he could be any ethnicity.

00:14:44Then all I remember is Mario Lopez walking in.

00:14:47See, you have to understand,

00:14:49we're both like this one girl, right?

00:14:51And we're both kind of little, we're leaders.

00:14:53And I remember calling Peter and saying,

00:14:55I found him.

00:14:57They weren't necessarily looking for, like,

00:14:59a Latin guy to play the role,

00:15:00which I thought was really cool,

00:15:02which I thought is the way it should be.

00:15:03Should be people that look like you and me

00:15:05be able to play roles.

00:15:07I was casting Jesse Spano,

00:15:09who was the feminist.

00:15:11Elizabeth Berkley had confidence,

00:15:13but there was also a vulnerability about her.

00:15:15I don't believe a woman should be displayed

00:15:17like a side of beef.

00:15:20However, I am wearing a swimsuit underneath,

00:15:22and for those of you who enjoy that sort of thing,

00:15:24it's blue with pink stripes, okay?

00:15:28And then I was casting Kelly Kapowski,

00:15:31the cheerleader.

00:15:33Tiffany just had that look.

00:15:34B-A-Y-S-I-D-E,

00:15:36go this side!

00:15:37Woo!

00:15:38In addition to six young actors,

00:15:40there were only a couple of adults

00:15:42as series regulars.

00:15:43A guy named Max,

00:15:45who's a very great magician named Ed Alonzo.

00:15:47He's always entertaining us.

00:15:48Right.

00:15:49I played Max, the owner of the diner,

00:15:51where the kids hung out.

00:15:53We're just sort of there

00:15:54to keep the scene moving

00:15:56when we had the episode with buddy bands,

00:15:59and they said,

00:16:00make the buddy bands appear,

00:16:01and I made them appear,

00:16:02and I gave one to each kid.

00:16:05That kind of stuff sort of brought, like,

00:16:08you know, like,

00:16:08I'm here to always help you guys out.

00:16:10But the attention really needs to stay

00:16:13on the core of the six kids.

00:16:15That's the show.

00:16:21When we watched the pilot episode,

00:16:23I thought,

00:16:24oh, what a refreshing show this is.

00:16:27The show started to dominate

00:16:29Saturday morning kids' programming.

00:16:31Saved by the Bell garnered more ratings

00:16:33than the Bugs Bunny and Tweety show,

00:16:35the Smurfs,

00:16:36and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

00:16:37I don't think any of us imagined

00:16:39what it would have become.

00:16:41During the original run

00:16:42of Saved by the Bell,

00:16:43it attracted more teenage viewers

00:16:45than the Cosby show.

00:16:46At that time,

00:16:47they hadn't seen a Black young actress

00:16:49perform that way.

00:16:50You want to know

00:16:51who boosted my confidence

00:16:52as a little Black girl

00:16:53growing up in the 90s?

00:16:55Lisa f***ing Turtle.

00:16:57Lark was a fan favorite

00:16:58and a breakout character.

00:16:59Lisa Turtle was hashtag soft life

00:17:01before hashtag soft life

00:17:03was a thing.

00:17:04Not only was she the fashionable one,

00:17:07but both of her parents were doctors.

00:17:09That is a flex.

00:17:11We started to see

00:17:12a real fan base of kids.

00:17:15People were showing up to NBC

00:17:18to try and get a glimpse

00:17:20of Mark Paul or Mario.

00:17:23We started touring

00:17:24and doing, like, mall tours.

00:17:25When I saw that crowd of people

00:17:29that I was like,

00:17:31oh, wow,

00:17:32there's a lot of people

00:17:33that watch this show.

00:17:35It was just,

00:17:36it was very strange to me

00:17:38where I was coming from junior high

00:17:41where kids, you know,

00:17:43were horrible and mean

00:17:44and, like, would pick on you

00:17:45or say horrible things

00:17:47and then you've got

00:17:47a group of, you know,

00:17:495,000 kids

00:17:50who are all wanting your autograph.

00:17:53There were giant bags

00:17:55of actual fan mail coming in.

00:17:57But I know that Dustin

00:17:59seemed to be getting

00:18:00the most letters from fans.

00:18:03Some members of our audience

00:18:05showed up today

00:18:06with something special.

00:18:07Where are you?

00:18:07On this talk show,

00:18:08there are a few teenagers

00:18:11in the audience.

00:18:12Over here,

00:18:13would you stand up

00:18:13and show Dustin what you did?

00:18:16Wearing T-shirts

00:18:17with the letters

00:18:18Screech on him.

00:18:21Do you consider yourself

00:18:22sort of a teen heartthrob?

00:18:25Well, not usually.

00:18:28All right, of all the guys.

00:18:30And we can't forget

00:18:31there was a massive

00:18:32Screech fan base out there.

00:18:35And he seems taken back by this.

00:18:39After season two,

00:18:42syndication really made

00:18:43the show blow up.

00:18:45That is when you're able

00:18:47to be sold to other stations

00:18:49across the country

00:18:51so it can be played

00:18:52in the local Channel 5 markets

00:18:55or the local Channel 9s

00:18:56or 11s and 13s.

00:18:58Then Saved by the Bell

00:18:59was basically playing

00:19:01five times a day,

00:19:03seven days a week

00:19:04in different time zones,

00:19:06not just one episode

00:19:07every Saturday morning.

00:19:09And then it started going

00:19:10into all these other countries,

00:19:11which is why I ended up

00:19:12traveling through

00:19:13all these other countries

00:19:14because of the show.

00:19:20What can be great

00:19:21about being a young actor,

00:19:23a successful young actor,

00:19:25is fame and fortune.

00:19:26What can be really bad

00:19:28about being a young actor

00:19:30is fame and fortune.

00:19:33I think that the public

00:19:35doesn't realize

00:19:36how really unglamorous

00:19:39this industry is.

00:19:43Mario Lopez said

00:19:44he started out making

00:19:45about $1,500 an episode.

00:19:47That's a lot of money

00:19:49to a kid.

00:19:50But after a second season,

00:19:52in 1991,

00:19:53Saved by the Bell

00:19:54was pulling in roughly

00:19:54about $15 million

00:19:56in advertising.

00:20:00If it's a union show

00:20:01and they were really

00:20:02paying them low,

00:20:03somebody was cashing in on it.

00:20:08Generally speaking,

00:20:09the executive producers,

00:20:11the higher ups

00:20:11make a lot of money.

00:20:14As a 12-year-old,

00:20:15you probably don't have

00:20:15any credits behind you.

00:20:17Chances are this is going

00:20:18to be your first big job.

00:20:20I've seen deals that are,

00:20:22this is what we're offering,

00:20:23take it or leave it.

00:20:24And if you leave it,

00:20:25we'll have somebody else.

00:20:27Look, when you're offered

00:20:28your first job,

00:20:28you don't say no.

00:20:29You have to start somewhere.

00:20:32You feel fragile

00:20:33and you feel vulnerable.

00:20:35So you don't feel strong

00:20:37in a position of negotiation

00:20:39because they're in charge

00:20:42and they can make a decision

00:20:43that can change

00:20:45your child's life.

00:20:46And you don't want

00:20:48to be responsible

00:20:49for doing something

00:20:51or saying something

00:20:52that jeopardizes that.

00:20:56These actors just

00:20:57didn't get good deals

00:20:59and even worse,

00:21:01Dustin Diamond alleges

00:21:02his parents misused

00:21:03his money.

00:21:04My dad is not good

00:21:06with money.

00:21:07He bought all this stuff

00:21:08with my money.

00:21:10So in the 1990s,

00:21:12the law requires

00:21:14that 15% of a child's earnings

00:21:17needs to go into

00:21:18a blocked trust account.

00:21:20Legally, the parent

00:21:22cannot touch that money.

00:21:24However,

00:21:25a child can't legally manage

00:21:27their own money,

00:21:28which means that a parent

00:21:30or guardian

00:21:31has to manage

00:21:33the other 85%

00:21:36responsibly

00:21:36and in the best interest

00:21:37of the child,

00:21:38not theirs.

00:21:40Is that enforceable?

00:21:45I met Dustin

00:21:46in like 2017, 2018.

00:21:49I came into his life

00:21:51much later.

00:21:53Dustin started to tell me

00:21:54more about how much

00:21:55he made

00:21:55or how much

00:21:55he didn't really make.

00:21:56He made about $1,250

00:21:57per week

00:21:59working on NBC

00:22:00on Saved by the Bell.

00:22:02Dustin had alleged

00:22:03that, you know,

00:22:04his parents were stealing

00:22:05his money

00:22:05or taking his money.

00:22:06You know,

00:22:07my parents wasted

00:22:08so much of my hard work.

00:22:09If a child is now

00:22:10approaching adulthood

00:22:10with nothing,

00:22:12nothing to show

00:22:13for hard work

00:22:15and long hours,

00:22:16if I just found out

00:22:19after 10 years

00:22:20of working

00:22:21that I had nothing

00:22:21in the bank anymore?

00:22:28that's tough.

00:22:33My name is Mark Diamond

00:22:34and Dustin Diamond

00:22:35is my son.

00:22:37You might know

00:22:38Dustin Diamond

00:22:39as Screech

00:22:40from Saved by the Bell,

00:22:41but there were

00:22:42a lot of other aspects

00:22:43to Dustin.

00:22:51Well, one of the things

00:22:53that was a big part

00:22:54of our life

00:22:54that almost nobody

00:22:56knows about

00:22:57is that our family

00:22:59was dealing

00:22:59with hard things.

00:23:04Yeah, I've had

00:23:05a lot of loss.

00:23:07I've basically lost

00:23:08everything and everyone

00:23:09I ever cared about,

00:23:11you know,

00:23:12except for a couple

00:23:12of friends.

00:23:16Yeah, yeah,

00:23:17my sister was murdered

00:23:18when she was 16.

00:23:20Yeah, she disappeared

00:23:21on her way home

00:23:23from school

00:23:23and a hunter found her

00:23:25in a field

00:23:25three days later.

00:23:34They wrote it off

00:23:36as a suicide.

00:23:38But, I mean,

00:23:39my sister was right-handed

00:23:40and she was shot

00:23:41in the left temple.

00:23:45Dustin and his dad

00:23:47had already had

00:23:48a bunch of loss

00:23:49and grief

00:23:49around his family.

00:23:51The death of someone

00:23:51close to you

00:23:52is always hard,

00:23:53but the impact

00:23:54of not having closure

00:23:55or really accepting

00:23:56how they died

00:23:56can impact

00:23:57not just Dustin's dad,

00:23:58but the whole family.

00:24:04Generational trauma

00:24:05is the idea

00:24:05that, you know,

00:24:06your parents

00:24:07or your grandparents

00:24:08experienced a trauma

00:24:10and it shaped

00:24:11the way

00:24:11that they then

00:24:13treat the next generation.

00:24:14So, for example,

00:24:16if your grandparents

00:24:17were alive

00:24:18during a war

00:24:19and they experienced

00:24:20like a wartime trauma,

00:24:21you know,

00:24:22for their children,

00:24:24they may end up

00:24:25being very protective

00:24:26of them.

00:24:27And so that shapes

00:24:28the way they see

00:24:29the world,

00:24:30how they attach

00:24:30to each other

00:24:31and how they operate

00:24:32in the world.

00:24:34My first son

00:24:35was named Ryan.

00:24:37He was born

00:24:38on my sister's birthday

00:24:39March the 4th.

00:24:41He had the same

00:24:42day of the week,

00:24:44same time,

00:24:44same minute.

00:24:46So, you know,

00:24:47people were telling me,

00:24:47well, your sister's

00:24:48been reincarnated.

00:24:51But he had

00:24:52Down syndrome.

00:24:53He had

00:24:54an enlarged heart.

00:24:56He had

00:24:56exterior connections.

00:24:58It's called

00:24:58ductus arteriosus,

00:25:00I still remember.

00:25:01And that's like a,

00:25:03that's like a leak

00:25:04outside your heart.

00:25:06And most of these kids

00:25:08don't live past a year.

00:25:10When Dustin was born,

00:25:11he was two years younger

00:25:13than Ryan.

00:25:15We were really,

00:25:16really worried

00:25:17that he might have

00:25:18Down syndrome,

00:25:20that he might have

00:25:20similar problems,

00:25:21but he was born healthy.

00:25:25But the thing was,

00:25:26Ryan couldn't crawl.

00:25:29He couldn't stand.

00:25:31He learned to roll around.

00:25:34And Dustin used to

00:25:35entertain him

00:25:37and play with him.

00:25:38And I think that was

00:25:38the beginning

00:25:39of his creativity.

00:25:42But then Ryan

00:25:43got the measles.

00:25:45He got them

00:25:46in his lungs.

00:25:47And his lungs

00:25:48were already compromised.

00:25:51He died in 1983

00:25:53at the age of eight.

00:26:01Dustin had been

00:26:03perky, outgoing kid.

00:26:05He was getting good grades.

00:26:06Suddenly he was morbid

00:26:08and failing in school.

00:26:14I feel like I bonded

00:26:16with Dustin

00:26:17in grade school

00:26:18before I was

00:26:19saved by the bell.

00:26:20In fifth grade,

00:26:22our teacher

00:26:23said we were going

00:26:24to be getting

00:26:25a new student.

00:26:26I immediately liked him.

00:26:28You know,

00:26:29he liked to be

00:26:30a little goofy.

00:26:31We constantly

00:26:33were creating a ruckus

00:26:35and we were just

00:26:37great friends

00:26:37and enjoyed

00:26:38our company together.

00:26:40Dustin didn't talk

00:26:42about his brother

00:26:43that much.

00:26:45Dustin just didn't

00:26:46really want to talk

00:26:47about the pain

00:26:49from losing a brother.

00:26:52I know that Dustin

00:26:53definitely wanted

00:26:54to be an actor.

00:26:56Dustin got involved

00:26:57with going on auditions.

00:26:59We did two episodes

00:27:01of The Wonder Years

00:27:03with Fred Savage.

00:27:05This is The Wonder Years,

00:27:06The Glee Club.

00:27:07He really enjoyed this,

00:27:10not because it was

00:27:11a primetime thing.

00:27:12He just liked

00:27:13the opportunity

00:27:14to work with

00:27:14all these other kids.

00:27:15That'd be great,

00:27:16Miss Hancock.

00:27:17We'd love to sing

00:27:18in the spring scene.

00:27:19So Dustin

00:27:21looked to acting

00:27:22as a way

00:27:23to solve his grief

00:27:24and now here he is

00:27:27in a community

00:27:28and a family

00:27:29where everyone else

00:27:30feels a part

00:27:31of something.

00:27:32I was the one

00:27:33taking Dustin,

00:27:35going on auditions

00:27:36and quite frankly,

00:27:38I thought

00:27:38he'll get tired of it.

00:27:41But he gets cast

00:27:43and saved by the bell

00:27:44and by law,

00:27:47you can't have

00:27:49a minor

00:27:50on the set

00:27:51completely unsupervised.

00:27:53It was a legal requirement

00:27:55that either a parent

00:27:56or a guardian was there.

00:27:57So a guardian

00:27:58you would have to pay.

00:27:59I think all of the parents

00:28:01that were on

00:28:01Saved by the Bell,

00:28:02we were all determined

00:28:03to be there.

00:28:05Mark Paul's mother

00:28:06was always there.

00:28:07If I wasn't there

00:28:09because I was working sometimes,

00:28:12my mother was there.

00:28:14Dustin's mother

00:28:15was working for

00:28:16what had been

00:28:17the phone company.

00:28:19But when Ryan

00:28:20had his medical bills,

00:28:22we were forced

00:28:23into bankruptcy.

00:28:24We just don't have

00:28:25the income

00:28:26we used to have

00:28:27and we got to a point

00:28:28where we had to make

00:28:29a decision.

00:28:30I gave up my job

00:28:31so I could leave

00:28:32and go to the set.

00:28:36Any regrets?

00:28:40Just with my life,

00:28:43working for Columbia Pictures,

00:28:46I was offered a position

00:28:47to something better.

00:28:49I didn't accept it

00:28:51because Saved by the Bell

00:28:54was just getting popular

00:28:56and my whole point

00:28:58was to forward

00:29:00my daughter's career.

00:29:01So I said no

00:29:03to the position

00:29:04that I wish

00:29:05I had said yes to

00:29:09and hired somebody else

00:29:11to be on the set.

00:29:14His daddy gave that up

00:29:15to go make sure

00:29:16that Dustin

00:29:17became successful.

00:29:19He tells the press

00:29:20that my parents

00:29:21took my money.

00:29:22Yeah, yeah.

00:29:23How did it feel

00:29:24that he was blaming you?

00:29:26Well,

00:29:27it really made me upset

00:29:30and I told him,

00:29:33why are you throwing me

00:29:34under the bus

00:29:35when I can't pop myself

00:29:36on television

00:29:37and go,

00:29:37uh, no.

00:29:40Dustin's agent

00:29:41would take out

00:29:41her 10% commission.

00:29:44Anything left over,

00:29:45we had to cover

00:29:46certain things

00:29:47like taxes,

00:29:48gasoline, obviously,

00:29:50headshots.

00:29:51Every fan letter

00:29:52wanted the same thing.

00:29:54Can you send us

00:29:54an 8x10 picture,

00:29:56autograph,

00:29:57thousands of letters.

00:29:59Let's see,

00:29:59we had to pay for that.

00:30:00This didn't leave

00:30:02much money

00:30:02for us to do anything.

00:30:04In fact, nothing.

00:30:06So it wasn't like

00:30:07he was taking money

00:30:08from Dustin.

00:30:12The parents do have

00:30:13to give up their careers

00:30:14and they don't get paid.

00:30:17So the parent may think,

00:30:18well, if I become

00:30:19their manager,

00:30:19I can take 10%

00:30:20of whatever they make

00:30:23as opposed to giving it

00:30:24to another manager.

00:30:26That was the case

00:30:27for Mark Paul's mom.

00:30:29Look, it's tough.

00:30:30I do feel bad

00:30:31for parents,

00:30:32but the money,

00:30:33I think it really

00:30:35messes up

00:30:35that sacred relationship

00:30:37with a child and parent.

00:30:39The public tends to think

00:30:40success,

00:30:42particularly fame,

00:30:44will solve

00:30:45all the problems.

00:30:47Not only does that

00:30:48typically not solve problems,

00:30:50it makes them worse.

00:30:51We had no idea

00:30:53that Saved by the Bell

00:30:54would be such a success.

00:30:56And you can have

00:30:58some fans that are

00:31:01very dark themselves

00:31:03and obsessed.

00:31:05And Lark had one

00:31:07in particular

00:31:07that was very dark.

00:31:10He sent many letters.

00:31:12He was very demanding.

00:31:15It was during the time

00:31:17when Rebecca Schaefer,

00:31:18she was killed

00:31:19by a psycho fan.

00:31:22And Lark had a psycho fan.

00:31:25Just by the things

00:31:26that he would write.

00:31:28He was going to be

00:31:30her husband

00:31:30and nobody else would be.

00:31:33And he would kill anybody

00:31:34who tried to get

00:31:35in the way of that.

00:31:45It was a period of time

00:31:46when I wouldn't allow

00:31:48Lark to answer

00:31:49the door.

00:31:54I was afraid one day

00:31:55he would show up

00:31:56at the door.

00:31:59He sent many letters.

00:32:02A lot of them,

00:32:02I didn't show them to her

00:32:04because I didn't want her

00:32:05to have that kind of fear.

00:32:08But I did tell her

00:32:09that there was a fan

00:32:10that was crazy.

00:32:12And we want to be

00:32:14on the lookout for that.

00:32:17As long as she was

00:32:19on the set

00:32:20at the studio,

00:32:22it would be harder

00:32:23for him to get to her

00:32:25because he's got

00:32:27to go through

00:32:29these layers

00:32:30doors of security.

00:32:33Dustin had a stalker too

00:32:35and we were actually

00:32:37afraid for his life.

00:32:41The guy called

00:32:42on the phone.

00:32:43This guy said,

00:32:45you're Dustin's father.

00:32:46I said, yes.

00:32:47Who is this?

00:32:48And he said,

00:32:49I want Dustin.

00:32:50You will bring me Dustin

00:32:53or you're going to die.

00:32:55We never had

00:32:55any kind of contact

00:32:56or anyone following

00:32:58us around anywhere,

00:33:00anything like that.

00:33:01And then we ended up

00:33:02in a house,

00:33:04which was in another city.

00:33:06I'm sure this was,

00:33:08I mean,

00:33:09unsettling is not

00:33:10a strong enough word

00:33:11for a young adolescent

00:33:13to be dealing

00:33:14with something like that.

00:33:17The young performers

00:33:19really have no sense

00:33:20of what fame

00:33:21is going to be like

00:33:25for them.

00:33:26In 1993,

00:33:28a woman accused

00:33:29Mario Lopez,

00:33:30he was 19 at the time,

00:33:32of raping her

00:33:34at her home

00:33:34in Chula Vista.

00:33:35She was 18.

00:33:36Shortly after

00:33:37those allegations surfaced,

00:33:39a second woman

00:33:40comes forward

00:33:41and claims that

00:33:41Mario Lopez

00:33:42raped her in 1991.

00:33:44Reporters were calling me,

00:33:46asking me,

00:33:46is this possible?

00:33:49Listen,

00:33:50just because somebody

00:33:51has a squeaky clean

00:33:53character and history

00:33:54doesn't mean

00:33:55these things

00:33:56shouldn't be taken seriously.

00:33:57They should be,

00:33:57they should be

00:33:58investigated carefully.

00:33:59Also of note,

00:34:00during these rape allegations,

00:34:02Mario Lopez

00:34:03was completely cooperative

00:34:05with detectives

00:34:05and denied

00:34:07any wrongdoing.

00:34:08I believe Mario

00:34:09is suffering

00:34:10the unfortunate consequences

00:34:12of having a high profile

00:34:13in the community.

00:34:15The deputy district attorney

00:34:17announced that

00:34:18there was no evidence

00:34:19to support either allegation,

00:34:21the 1993 rape allegation

00:34:22or the subsequent

00:34:241991 allegation.

00:34:25Mario is not

00:34:26the first person

00:34:28who has some celebrity status

00:34:30to suffer

00:34:31this type of allegation.

00:34:34Even though

00:34:35there were these things

00:34:36that were going on

00:34:37behind the scenes,

00:34:38season four

00:34:39did very, very well.

00:34:42Well, this is

00:34:44Mario, Tiffany,

00:34:46Mark Paul,

00:34:47and Lark.

00:34:49Sometimes

00:34:50after

00:34:51the show

00:34:52ended,

00:34:53she would get

00:34:53into a dark mood

00:34:55and it's as if

00:34:57she had been

00:34:58fighting that whole day,

00:34:59whatever is going on

00:35:01in her head.

00:35:02And then

00:35:03after the show,

00:35:05she would just

00:35:08give in to that space.

00:35:13She had anger moments,

00:35:15but they would be

00:35:16short-lived.

00:35:19And I didn't know why.

00:35:26Stay by the Bell

00:35:27was on for four seasons,

00:35:29and then it ended,

00:35:30and it had been

00:35:31a long time coming.

00:35:32All the kids

00:35:33grew up

00:35:34and Peter

00:35:35wanted age-appropriate kids.

00:35:38Saved by the Bell

00:35:39did end.

00:35:40It ended

00:35:40on a high note.

00:35:42They were

00:35:43doing this

00:35:44graduation show,

00:35:46and that was

00:35:46going to be it.

00:35:47We had said goodbye

00:35:48after we graduated

00:35:49on Saved by the Bell,

00:35:50and then

00:35:50I was going back

00:35:52to school.

00:35:52I was like,

00:35:53I wasn't really sure

00:35:54if I was going to

00:35:55become an actor

00:35:55or continue being an actor.

00:35:57And then Peter

00:35:58wanted to do

00:35:58a couple of TV movies.

00:36:01There was Las Vegas.

00:36:04It was

00:36:05Hawaii-style.

00:36:07Peter Engel

00:36:08definitely carved out

00:36:09his own niche

00:36:10on television

00:36:11in the 90s.

00:36:13After Saved by the Bell

00:36:15ends,

00:36:15he created shows

00:36:16like California Dreams,

00:36:17USA High,

00:36:18Malibu, California,

00:36:20all shows about

00:36:21teenagers based

00:36:22in California.

00:36:24Yoo-hoo!

00:36:24Dr. Drew over here!

00:36:26Hi!

00:36:27I was actually

00:36:28a guest appearance

00:36:30on one of the

00:36:31Peter Engel shows,

00:36:32Hangtime.

00:36:33We all get jealous

00:36:34sometimes,

00:36:35and it's usually

00:36:35when we have a lack

00:36:36of self-confidence

00:36:37or feel inadequate

00:36:37or insecure.

00:36:39Talking to young people

00:36:40about relationships

00:36:41to probably bring

00:36:43that educational,

00:36:44informational element in.

00:36:46And then comes

00:36:46the spinoff

00:36:47The College Years.

00:36:48This wasn't a kid's

00:36:49show anymore

00:36:50because it aired

00:36:51during primetime

00:36:52on NBC.

00:36:53Executives were smart

00:36:54enough to still cater

00:36:55to the audience

00:36:56that grew up

00:36:57with this cast

00:36:57with the same type

00:36:59of quirky

00:37:00and fun storylines

00:37:01the viewers

00:37:01came to know

00:37:02and love.

00:37:03The college years,

00:37:04that's the one

00:37:04that I was really proud of.

00:37:05It has all the elements

00:37:07of a primetime

00:37:08adult show.

00:37:11But just like

00:37:12when Good Morning,

00:37:13Miss Bliss

00:37:13became Saved by the Bell,

00:37:14the entire cast

00:37:15was not invited back.

00:37:19The three guys,

00:37:21Mark, Mario,

00:37:22and Dustin

00:37:22all go on

00:37:23to that show.

00:37:25Tiffany Amber Thiessen

00:37:26is also brought back,

00:37:27but not Lark

00:37:28and Elizabeth.

00:37:32They said,

00:37:33they don't want Lark.

00:37:37And I told them,

00:37:38I said,

00:37:38this is the first time

00:37:41that I no longer

00:37:43believe in the show

00:37:46because I'm almost

00:37:47ready to cry.

00:37:49But it hurt her.

00:37:52It was a stupid decision.

00:38:03They did exclude Lark.

00:38:05And I didn't know why.

00:38:07You don't know

00:38:07if you're negotiating

00:38:09where they can exclude you,

00:38:11exclude your child

00:38:12or that character.

00:38:14That's part of the business.

00:38:19A lot of people

00:38:20in the black community

00:38:22resented not having

00:38:24Lisa Turtle on there.

00:38:25That was their

00:38:27black identity

00:38:28on Saved by the Bell.

00:38:31And then it was

00:38:32suddenly gone.

00:38:34Lark Voorhees

00:38:35did go on

00:38:35to perform

00:38:36in soap operas

00:38:37and movies too.

00:38:39She did

00:38:40How to Be a Player

00:38:41in 1997.

00:38:44And then she did

00:38:45How High

00:38:46in 2001.

00:38:48In 2008,

00:38:49she stars in a movie

00:38:50called The Next Hit.

00:38:52She's in her early 30s

00:38:53by this point.

00:38:562001.

00:38:57And the next thing

00:38:58that she does

00:38:58is 2008.

00:38:59That's seven years.

00:39:00That's a long time.

00:39:02What was going on

00:39:03during that time?

00:39:07A lot of conflicts

00:39:09with

00:39:11things that she

00:39:12was going through

00:39:14emotionally,

00:39:14mentally.

00:39:17She went through

00:39:18bouts of anger.

00:39:21Sometimes

00:39:22we'd be slamming

00:39:23the doors

00:39:23or yelling

00:39:25out of frustration.

00:39:27She would run

00:39:28out of the house

00:39:29and I didn't know

00:39:31where she was.

00:39:34I thought maybe

00:39:35there were things

00:39:35in her childhood

00:39:36that I didn't

00:39:37know about.

00:39:39I was seeing

00:39:40something impacting

00:39:41my daughter

00:39:42that wasn't

00:39:43healthy.

00:39:45That wasn't

00:39:46good.

00:39:47The controversy

00:39:48surrounding

00:39:49Lark Voorhees

00:39:50from Saved by the Bell.

00:39:51Kevin Frazier

00:39:52was first to talk

00:39:53to Lark

00:39:54and her new husband.

00:39:55In this ET interview,

00:39:56she was described

00:39:57as odd

00:39:58and rambling

00:39:59by the press.

00:40:00How did your mom react?

00:40:02The support

00:40:03was there

00:40:06specific, necessary,

00:40:08exact.

00:40:10And

00:40:12it's all celebratory.

00:40:14So it's a very

00:40:16strong, powerful

00:40:19ongoing

00:40:19and we carry

00:40:21that through.

00:40:23Her speech

00:40:23is just confusing.

00:40:25It's hard to follow.

00:40:26I have no worries

00:40:27myself

00:40:28nor do I

00:40:31exude,

00:40:32exhibit

00:40:32or

00:40:33possess

00:40:34within my

00:40:35living

00:40:38stratus.

00:40:39I had leadership

00:40:40positions in a

00:40:40psychiatric hospital

00:40:41for over 30 years,

00:40:42saw tens of thousands

00:40:43of patients

00:40:44with a variety

00:40:45of serious mental

00:40:46illnesses

00:40:46illnesses.

00:40:47And there's

00:40:48something odd

00:40:48about this.

00:40:49And when there's

00:40:50an odd presentation,

00:40:51you have to worry

00:40:52that there's some

00:40:53sort of thought

00:40:54disorder,

00:40:55schizophrenia,

00:40:56mania,

00:40:56something in there

00:40:57that's just not

00:40:58where the thinking

00:41:00isn't lining up.

00:41:02Certainly drugs

00:41:03could also cause

00:41:03something very similar,

00:41:04for sure.

00:41:05But she didn't

00:41:06look intoxicated.

00:41:07Let's just set

00:41:07the record straight

00:41:08once and for all

00:41:09and clear this up.

00:41:10Are you bipolar?

00:41:11Have you ever

00:41:12been bipolar?

00:41:13No.

00:41:14I have always

00:41:15been mentally

00:41:16healthy,

00:41:17100%

00:41:18stable.

00:41:19Even though

00:41:20that's what

00:41:20she's claiming,

00:41:21it's clear that

00:41:22there's something

00:41:22deeper going on here.

00:41:24You and I

00:41:25have to talk.

00:41:26I'm pregnant.

00:41:31Time out.

00:41:34More than 20 years

00:41:35since the show

00:41:36wrapped,

00:41:36the Saved by the Bell

00:41:37cast reunited

00:41:38and Lark

00:41:39and Dustin

00:41:41were both excluded

00:41:42from this reunion

00:41:43on the Jimmy Fallon show.

00:41:47Dustin did get invited

00:41:48and that kind of

00:41:49hurt him a little bit.

00:41:50He goes,

00:41:50man,

00:41:50how do you not

00:41:50have Screech?

00:41:51How do you not

00:41:52have Screech?

00:41:53Like, come on.

00:41:54That's ridiculous.

00:41:55I don't know why

00:41:56they didn't contact

00:41:57Lark as well.

00:41:59I know

00:42:00she was hurt.

00:42:02Disappointed.

00:42:03There's just a lot

00:42:04of speculation

00:42:05around

00:42:06what was happening

00:42:07to Lark Voorhees.

00:42:08It was a mystery.

00:42:11First,

00:42:12I was told

00:42:12she was bipolar.

00:42:13Then the recent

00:42:15diagnosis

00:42:16is that

00:42:17she's

00:42:17schizoaffective

00:42:18thought disorder.

00:42:23So here are signs

00:42:24and symptoms

00:42:25of schizoaffective.

00:42:27Hallucinations,

00:42:27delusions,

00:42:28disorganized speech.

00:42:29We saw that.

00:42:31But do not get

00:42:32schizoaffective disorder

00:42:33confused with schizophrenia.

00:42:34They are very different.

00:42:36Schizophrenia is a

00:42:37progressive,

00:42:38disabling,

00:42:39specific syndrome.

00:42:41Schizoaffective disorder

00:42:42is not progressive.

00:42:44It's not as disabling

00:42:45as schizophrenia

00:42:46and same with

00:42:47the mood disorders

00:42:47that can be

00:42:48relatively mild.

00:42:49But it doesn't

00:42:50have to be traumatizing.

00:42:52It makes me wonder

00:42:53how she's doing today.

00:42:55Let's be it all around,

00:42:56Derek.

00:42:57Cool.

00:42:58So just a little

00:42:59quick powder.

00:42:59I don't like that.

00:43:15So, what are you?

00:43:17Honestly.

00:43:18How are you?

00:43:18I'm grand.

00:43:20Tell me who you are.

00:43:25I am Lark Voorhees.

00:43:30You might recognize me

00:43:31from Taha'i.

00:43:32That was a lot of fun.

00:43:35And Lisa Turtle,

00:43:36Save by the Bell.

00:43:37And it was the best

00:43:39feeling in the world.

00:43:40The best.

00:43:42It is great to bring life

00:43:44to these characters.

00:43:45And when you know

00:43:46you've hit that character,

00:43:47there's nothing like

00:43:48that rush in the world.

00:43:49Because you can see

00:43:50the boom that it's going

00:43:51to bring to everybody

00:43:52else in the audience.

00:43:54One of the movies

00:43:55that I really loved doing

00:43:57was Save by the Bell,

00:43:58Hawaiian style.

00:43:59Got to splash each other,

00:44:00ride bicycles,

00:44:02get bit by mosquitoes.

00:44:04And naturally,

00:44:04we're in Hawaii,

00:44:05so we had a good time.

00:44:06My favorite episode

00:44:08on Save by the Bell

00:44:09is called The Mall.

00:44:11And I loved it

00:44:12because we got to

00:44:12cut loose

00:44:13and we had all these sets.

00:44:15We had a theater

00:44:16and then we were

00:44:16hiding in a tent.

00:44:18There was all these

00:44:18different storylines

00:44:19going on at once

00:44:20and we do it.

00:44:21And we did that

00:44:22and went to school.

00:44:23Really?

00:44:23Yeah.

00:44:24I remember I was

00:44:25taking my final exam

00:44:26in chemistry.

00:44:28I had to stop doing that,

00:44:30go film my scene,

00:44:32come back,

00:44:32and finish my final exam.

00:44:34And that's your job.

00:44:36That's your job.

00:44:37Full, full days,

00:44:39full days, full days.

00:44:42Schizoaffective

00:44:43is a complicated illness.

00:44:47This stuff comes on

00:44:4818 to 22.

00:44:50So Lark was 19 years old

00:44:52when she finished

00:44:53Save by the Bell.

00:44:54So it was just

00:44:55coming on then.

00:44:56There hardly would have been

00:44:57any noticeable signs

00:44:58during that time,

00:44:59but there are all kinds

00:45:00of stressors

00:45:01around child actors.

00:45:03The exposure to fame,

00:45:04the stress of being

00:45:05in adult roles

00:45:06at a young age.

00:45:07A child also feels

00:45:08a chronic stress

00:45:09to always be performing.

00:45:11This all contributes

00:45:13to developmental problems.

00:45:14It can,

00:45:16to some extent,

00:45:17the stress can be good,

00:45:18but if it's chronic stress

00:45:19over a long period of time,

00:45:21now you're throwing

00:45:22not one day of stress

00:45:24or two days of stress,

00:45:25but an entire, you know,

00:45:27year or more

00:45:28of a stress

00:45:29that they have to live under.

00:45:30That can make them

00:45:31more vulnerable

00:45:32in their later years

00:45:34to other psychiatric conditions.

00:45:36These stressors,

00:45:37these experiences,

00:45:38does not explain

00:45:39a causation

00:45:41of schizoaffective disorder.

00:45:42It's contributing

00:45:43to how it's manifesting,

00:45:44but the schizoaffective

00:45:47has to have

00:45:48some genetic component

00:45:49also.

00:45:56Was a relative

00:45:57that also

00:45:58had similar signs?

00:46:00Her father

00:46:01had indicators

00:46:02of things.

00:46:06When we were married,

00:46:08his anger scared me.

00:46:09When there was one slap,

00:46:11I left.

00:46:12I was gone.

00:46:15When she got older,

00:46:17around 12, 13,

00:46:19she spent time with him,

00:46:21and she talked about

00:46:22his anger fits.

00:46:25He passed away

00:46:26somewhere around 2016.

00:46:28I came to some paperwork

00:46:33on his death,

00:46:34and there was medication

00:46:37which indicated

00:46:39there was some sort

00:46:40of personality disorder.

00:46:43And that's why

00:46:45he and I

00:46:46could not get along

00:46:47in our marriage

00:46:49years ago.

00:46:51And Lark's aware

00:46:52of this too, correct?

00:46:56I don't think so.

00:46:58No.

00:46:59I didn't tell her that.

00:47:03So she'll learn now.

00:47:20I'm the owner

00:47:21of Charlie's Comic Con,

00:47:22and we're looking

00:47:23to have luck

00:47:24come out here.

00:47:26I love it.

00:47:28I love it.

00:47:29Can't get enough.

00:47:30And I'll always

00:47:31be entertaining.

00:47:33We have movies

00:47:34coming up

00:47:35and this and that,

00:47:36and I look forward

00:47:38to working.

00:47:39In 2021,

00:47:41NBC's streaming platform

00:47:43Peacock released

00:47:43a reboot of

00:47:44Saved by the Bell.

00:47:47She was great.

00:47:48She's bright,

00:47:49she's cheerful,

00:47:49she's well put together,

00:47:50she looks great.

00:47:52I hadn't seen them

00:47:53in years,

00:47:54and we got to

00:47:54share our talent again

00:47:55and find that

00:47:56Saved by the Bell method

00:47:58that makes you go.

00:47:59When I wake up

00:48:00in the morning

00:48:01and the dog

00:48:02is outside of the morning,

00:48:02I don't think

00:48:03I'm gonna make it.

00:48:04I don't want to tie.

00:48:05Yeah, all that.

00:48:07Give myself a look.

00:48:09See the bus

00:48:10drive by.

00:48:12You got it.

00:48:13Yeah.

00:48:13I love Saved by the Bell.

00:48:14Yeah, so do I.

00:48:18She can live

00:48:19with this condition

00:48:19if she learns

00:48:20to manage it,

00:48:21learns its symptomatologies

00:48:23and start dealing

00:48:25with this

00:48:25both symptomatically

00:48:26with medication

00:48:27and cognitive behavioral

00:48:28therapy,

00:48:29both very, very helpful.

00:48:31For any young women

00:48:32or young gentlemen,

00:48:33if they're in this business,

00:48:34really in life,

00:48:35period,

00:48:36don't give up.

00:48:38There's so many actors

00:48:39out there now,

00:48:40and so the really strong ones

00:48:42are gonna pull through,

00:48:43and that's what they're

00:48:44gonna be looking for,

00:48:45so don't give up.

00:48:47I've been watching

00:48:48this guy on television

00:48:49since I was a baby.

00:48:51He was like this buff dude

00:48:53with the mullet

00:48:54and the tank top.

00:48:56Whenever you're part

00:48:57of a really big show,

00:48:58you become pigeonholed

00:48:59into that role

00:49:01that you made famous.

00:49:03With Saved by the Bell,

00:49:05though,

00:49:05that actually wasn't the case.

00:49:07Hi.

00:49:08How are you?

00:49:08I'm good.

00:49:09How are you?

00:49:10Tiffany Amber Thiessen

00:49:11became this teen

00:49:12TV show darling.

00:49:14She appeared on shows

00:49:15like 90210.

00:49:16I'm having a real problem

00:49:18working with you.

00:49:19I saw her in a Woody Allen film,

00:49:20and she was excellent.

00:49:22Let's even look at Mario Lopez.

00:49:24Saved by the Bell wraps up.

00:49:25He starts radio announcing.

00:49:27They host Extra for a while.

00:49:28I'm even creeping

00:49:29in your hotel rooms

00:49:30while on vacation.

00:49:32I even went out

00:49:33dancing with the stars

00:49:33because my mom

00:49:34wanted me to do it.

00:49:35Unsafe by the Bell,

00:49:36they dressed him

00:49:37in a unitard.

00:49:38I said,

00:49:38Mario, you're the strongest

00:49:39person I know

00:49:40because he can get on stage

00:49:42and pirouette.

00:49:42He does do it

00:49:43and stay true to his point.

00:49:46Mark Paul became

00:49:47quite successful

00:49:47in adult programming.

00:49:49NYPD Blue,

00:49:50he was a regular cast member.

00:49:51That was a big leap.

00:49:53Many of them

00:49:54did go on

00:49:54to have some success

00:49:55after Saved by the Bell,

00:49:57except for Dustin Diamond.

00:50:01Screech is in a world

00:50:02of his own

00:50:03on Saved by the Bell

00:50:05because you could argue

00:50:06that the other characters

00:50:07were conventionally attractive,

00:50:09whether it was

00:50:11being an athlete,

00:50:13a cheerleader,

00:50:14or having a keen

00:50:15sense of fashion.

00:50:17Screech didn't necessarily

00:50:18have any of those qualities.

00:50:21He was dorky,

00:50:23he was goofy,

00:50:25and he was obsessed

00:50:27with Lisa Turtle.

00:50:29Hey, Lisa.

00:50:30My horoscope says

00:50:31we're destined

00:50:31to dance together.

00:50:32And she did everything

00:50:34she possibly could

00:50:35to get away from him.

00:50:37My horoscope says

00:50:37beware of dorks.

00:50:39Well, Lisa,

00:50:40Screech is easier

00:50:40to get rid of.

00:50:42Goodbye, Miss October.

00:50:45Screech was adorable, okay?

00:50:47Even if it wasn't

00:50:48their favorite character,

00:50:49he's just so memorable.

00:50:52Dustin is the only

00:50:54child actor

00:50:54who is in all

00:50:55the seasons of the show,

00:50:57began with Miss Bliss,

00:50:58and all the iterations.

00:51:00He does

00:51:01Saved by the Bell

00:51:02the college years

00:51:02where the kids grow up,

00:51:03go to college,

00:51:04was 1993 to 1994.

00:51:06And then during

00:51:07the college years,

00:51:08they also launched

00:51:09a new spinoff,

00:51:10Saved by the Bell,

00:51:11the new class.

00:51:12It didn't have

00:51:13any of the original cast

00:51:14except for the principal

00:51:15and Screech.

00:51:16He's literally

00:51:17in every single

00:51:20branded aspect

00:51:21of Saved by the Bell.

00:51:23For me,

00:51:24as a manager,

00:51:25I didn't want my client

00:51:26to get pigeonholed

00:51:27into one character

00:51:30they were going to play

00:51:30and then maybe

00:51:31never work again.

00:51:32I mean,

00:51:33what do you do?

00:51:34You walk away

00:51:36from what has been

00:51:37a successful show

00:51:38and already has

00:51:40an established audience,

00:51:42even though it's

00:51:42a different version of it.

00:51:44There's a good chance

00:51:45you're going to

00:51:46have a chance

00:51:47of succeeding.

00:51:49In 1994,

00:51:50he's 17,

00:51:51and with the new cast,

00:51:53it gets a little

00:51:53uncomfortable.

00:51:57I was there

00:51:58when Screech,

00:51:59Dustin Diamond,

00:52:00returned into that fold.

00:52:04I'm going to be,

00:52:05well,

00:52:06to be totally honest,

00:52:07it was pretty bananas

00:52:08from the jump.

00:52:13So you'd walk

00:52:13in the dressing room

00:52:14and it was immediately

00:52:14a little odd.

00:52:18He had pictures

00:52:19of, like,

00:52:20knives and guns

00:52:21in his dressing room.

00:52:25I will tell you

00:52:26that Dustin

00:52:27did like to carry

00:52:28a pocket knife.

00:52:29We were friends

00:52:31from before

00:52:31he was on

00:52:32the national stage

00:52:33and he liked

00:52:35the Chinese stars,

00:52:36the samurai swords,

00:52:38the knives.

00:52:40He came off

00:52:41the big hit

00:52:42Saved by the Bell,

00:52:43but he's still

00:52:44an insecure teenager

00:52:46at that time

00:52:47who comes in

00:52:48wanting to present,

00:52:49like,

00:52:50I'm the big boss,

00:52:51I've got the gravitas.

00:52:52I'm really the star

00:52:53of this show.

00:52:57I saw him treat

00:52:58a lot of people poorly,

00:53:00to be very clear.

00:53:02We were shooting something.

00:53:04One day,

00:53:04as I recall,

00:53:05it was a promotional video.

00:53:07I was one of the PAs

00:53:08involved

00:53:09and they told him,

00:53:10be natural,

00:53:11have fun,

00:53:11joke around

00:53:12and we'll just capture it.

00:53:13And soon enough,

00:53:15there was an argument

00:53:16between Dustin Diamond

00:53:17and a cast member.

00:53:19I can't even remember

00:53:20what started it exactly,

00:53:22but here's Dustin Diamond

00:53:23saying,

00:53:24I could have you fired.

00:53:26Very quickly,

00:53:27it led to Dustin

00:53:28pulling out

00:53:29a butterfly knife.

00:53:37It's a very

00:53:38physically threatening thing.

00:53:39Everybody's trying to say,

00:53:40back off,

00:53:40everybody cool down.

00:53:42Finally,

00:53:43it ends up with Dustin,

00:53:44he didn't attempt

00:53:45to strike him

00:53:46with the knife,

00:53:46but it ends up

00:53:47with him in tears

00:53:48and he runs off.

00:53:50I have trouble

00:53:51making sense

00:53:52of Dustin's behavior

00:53:53some of the time.

00:53:53That's not good.

00:53:55That's violent.

00:53:56I guess my best read

00:53:58on that situation

00:53:59was that

00:54:00he's pulling out

00:54:01all the stops

00:54:02to display his power,

00:54:03but reached

00:54:04this emotional crescendo

00:54:06with these threats

00:54:07and then the reality,

00:54:08I think,

00:54:09comes in of like,

00:54:10you're not going

00:54:10to stab him.

00:54:11You're not going

00:54:12to be able

00:54:12to get him fired.

00:54:14I think running off

00:54:16and crying

00:54:16was the only

00:54:18route available.

00:54:20They told me

00:54:20that there was

00:54:21something that happened

00:54:23on the set

00:54:23and Dustin threatened

00:54:25somebody

00:54:27and I went to

00:54:28a taping,

00:54:29I think,

00:54:29the next week

00:54:30and we sat down

00:54:31and talked to him.

00:54:33A lot of people

00:54:34don't realize

00:54:34that he was dealing

00:54:35with hard things.

00:54:37He already lost

00:54:39his brother.

00:54:40now,

00:54:41Dustin's mother,

00:54:42she had been

00:54:43diagnosed with cancer

00:54:45and she went downhill

00:54:47pretty quickly

00:54:49and, you know,

00:54:51Dustin saw

00:54:52that happening.

00:54:53In 1996,

00:54:55during the course

00:54:55of the run

00:54:57of Saved by the Bell,

00:54:58the new class,

00:54:59his mother,

00:55:00passed away.

00:55:02Ultimately,

00:55:03it is just

00:55:03Dustin and his dad.

00:55:07The new class

00:55:08lasted seven seasons.

00:55:10That's actually longer

00:55:11than the original

00:55:12Saved by the Bell.

00:55:14And Dustin performs

00:55:15as Screech

00:55:17from age 11

00:55:18to the age of 22.

00:55:20He misses out

00:55:22going to proms

00:55:23to the football games

00:55:25on the weekend

00:55:26and so

00:55:27he was never able

00:55:28to sort of branch out

00:55:29and make friends

00:55:30in the real world

00:55:31with kids.

00:55:32And in the end,

00:55:34this was the demise

00:55:35of his career.

00:55:40In 2001,

00:55:41he declares bankruptcy.

00:55:43He lost his house

00:55:44and lost everything

00:55:45by not paying

00:55:46the mortgage payments.

00:55:47One of the things

00:55:47we see with child actors

00:55:49is they may not get

00:55:50the usual skills

00:55:51that are necessary

00:55:52to be an adult.

00:55:53And certainly,

00:55:54if somebody didn't pay attention

00:55:55to his financial education,

00:55:56he may not at all

00:55:58understand how to handle money.

00:56:01He moved to a small town

00:56:03in Wisconsin

00:56:04and starts complaining

00:56:05that he needs money.

00:56:06You would think

00:56:07if someone who went on

00:56:08and did all these shows,

00:56:09he wouldn't have

00:56:11any issues for life.

00:56:14I think where the money

00:56:15was really to be made

00:56:16were in the residuals

00:56:17and the syndication.

00:56:19Residual payments

00:56:19are payments you get

00:56:21every time

00:56:22the show is aired.

00:56:29So, I got some of the,

00:56:31I believe these are

00:56:32residual checks

00:56:32from Dustin.

00:56:34Like, here's one

00:56:35for $12.74.

00:56:37It says, like, right here,

00:56:38literally reused on TV.

00:56:40So, this was from 2002.

00:56:43So, the series

00:56:44is already over.

00:56:45Yeah, it's $12.74.

00:56:52So, after Saved by the Bell,

00:56:54Dustin finds small roles.

00:56:56In 2001,

00:56:57he is in Made

00:56:58with Vince Vaughn.

00:56:59Did you just let Screech

00:57:00in the club?

00:57:01In 2003,

00:57:02he's in Dickie Roberts,

00:57:03former Child Star.

00:57:05No, wait, seriously,

00:57:05you guys had limos?

00:57:06There's a song called

00:57:08I Do from 98 Degrees,

00:57:10and there's this

00:57:11record scratch moment.

00:57:15Oh, man,

00:57:16I was just with that girl

00:57:16on my living room rug, man.

00:57:17That's my girlfriend.

00:57:19Every time,

00:57:19he plays himself.

00:57:22I met Dustin

00:57:23through our manager

00:57:24at the time,

00:57:25right after the new class.

00:57:27As much as he would say,

00:57:29ah, I'm tired of being,

00:57:30you know, the Screech,

00:57:31he loved it.

00:57:32He loved when people

00:57:33recognized him

00:57:34for being Screech.

00:57:36But at no point

00:57:38in Dustin's career

00:57:39does he gain a reputation

00:57:41for being a skilled thespian?

00:57:43His career is about

00:57:45being Screech.

00:57:51For many years,

00:57:52Dustin actually

00:57:53went into comedy.

00:57:55At one point,

00:57:56he was touring

00:57:57300-plus days of the year.

00:57:59Ready for your head

00:58:00longer enough?

00:58:00Yes.

00:58:01Yes, I am.

00:58:03Ready for Dustin Diamond.

00:58:06What happens a lot of times

00:58:07with child stars

00:58:08is that for so many years

00:58:10of their life,

00:58:10they've been defined

00:58:11by this character,

00:58:13by the expectations

00:58:13of producers,

00:58:14by audiences.

00:58:15Who came out

00:58:16to get drunk

00:58:16and make fun of Screech?

00:58:18Yes!

00:58:19Part of their entire

00:58:20self-identity

00:58:21is tied to being

00:58:23approved of

00:58:24and in hearing

00:58:25the claps

00:58:25and the rewards

00:58:26that they get

00:58:27from people

00:58:27paying attention to them.

00:58:29My career is sailing,

00:58:30isn't it?

00:58:30Most people

00:58:31in my line of work

00:58:31start out stand-up comedy

00:58:32and hope to get a movie.

00:58:34Hope to get a TV series

00:58:35someday.

00:58:37I'm doing it backwards.

00:58:40And later in life,

00:58:41if you're not still acting

00:58:42or getting that same

00:58:43amount of attention...

00:58:44You guys ready?

00:58:45Want to see some questions?

00:58:46Yeah!

00:58:47I'll give you Robert De Niro

00:58:49as Jesus of Nazareth.

00:58:58That's all there is to have.

00:58:59That can also lead to,

00:59:01you know,

00:59:02a lot of substance abuse,

00:59:03risk-taking behaviors.

00:59:04We made it!

00:59:05Yeah!

00:59:06You're thrill-seeking

00:59:08because you're still

00:59:09seeking that hit.

00:59:10In 2006,

00:59:12a sex tape emerged

00:59:14entitled,

00:59:14Screech,

00:59:15Saved by the Smell.

00:59:16Yeah,

00:59:17it was disgusting.

00:59:18Oh, I don't want to,

00:59:21like...

00:59:21Oh, gentlemen,

00:59:25we know that we get

00:59:26three points

00:59:27for every position.

00:59:28We'll tally those up later.

00:59:29At very minimum,

00:59:30him talking to the camera

00:59:32and advising

00:59:34his gentleman viewers

00:59:35of what he has accomplished here

00:59:38suggests that

00:59:40this was not something

00:59:42leaked accidentally,

00:59:43suggests that he intended

00:59:45to put this out.

00:59:46When that hit,

00:59:47it wasn't exactly

00:59:48Kim Kardashian big,

00:59:50but when you hear

00:59:51Screech has a sex tape,

00:59:53come on,

00:59:54everyone's talking about it,

00:59:56you know?

00:59:56Even myself at work,

00:59:58my coworkers,

00:59:59my friends,

01:00:00were like,

01:00:01ew,

01:00:02you know?

01:00:02Like,

01:00:03how could you be

01:00:04friends with someone

01:00:05who put something

01:00:06out like that?

01:00:08And that's

01:00:10what really bothered me

01:00:11about that sex tape.

01:00:13But I've seen the tape.

01:00:14Yes.

01:00:15And you are kind of

01:00:17a jerk in the tape.

01:00:19I was a close friend

01:00:21of Dustin Diamond.

01:00:22I work as a professional wrestler.

01:00:24He loved wrestling.

01:00:26And we have a common interest.

01:00:28We just like to entertain people.

01:00:31But 2006 is a turning point

01:00:33in his life.

01:00:34Now,

01:00:34with every Google search,

01:00:36every person that looks at it,

01:00:37there's an asterisk

01:00:38next to his name.

01:00:39So here's one more challenge

01:00:41that he's got to navigate.

01:00:43One more piece of criticism

01:00:44that he's got to deal with.

01:00:46And this is a big one.

01:00:49Can I be honest, too?

01:00:50I think ever since

01:00:51the sex tape came out,

01:00:52he started to hit rock bottom.

01:00:54If you agreed to combat,

01:00:56I'd fight you.

01:00:57This is...

01:00:57I did not threaten you.

01:01:00Celebrity or Fate Club,

01:01:01the new reality show.

01:01:03This is a Marine sergeant.

01:01:06And Dustin threatens him.

01:01:08You put yourself...

01:01:10No, you got the first act

01:01:11you said you'd kick his ass.

01:01:12You said you'd kick mine.

01:01:14And then this gentleman loses it.

01:01:17He did that,

01:01:18and he got paid extra

01:01:19to be the bad guy.

01:01:20And that's when he started

01:01:22seeing that people

01:01:23didn't like him anymore.

01:01:24He started thinking

01:01:25he was a jerk.

01:01:26And so you started going

01:01:27from the good guy,

01:01:29the funny, dorky kid,

01:01:30to now you're not

01:01:32what we thought you were.

01:01:34You know, there was always

01:01:35a fear of somebody

01:01:35wanting to attack Dustin.

01:01:37You'd always get a lot of hate

01:01:39calling him names.

01:01:41Some people would

01:01:41try to belittle him.

01:01:44There was a time

01:01:45we were walking

01:01:45to New York City,

01:01:46and I think someone

01:01:46threw something at us

01:01:47and stuff like that,

01:01:48and it's just,

01:01:48Scrooge sucks,

01:01:49or something like that.

01:01:52When he's 32 years old,

01:01:54in 2009,

01:01:55Dustin publishes a memoir

01:01:56about everything

01:01:58that he says

01:01:59went on behind the scenes

01:02:00of Saved by the Bell.

01:02:01And there it was,

01:02:03behind the bell.

01:02:05He alleges in this book

01:02:07favoritism,

01:02:08sexual misconduct,

01:02:09sexual acting out,

01:02:11drug use,

01:02:12and most of the performers

01:02:14that I have talked with

01:02:15report no such thing.

01:02:18I was upset.

01:02:19When I read the book,

01:02:20I was thinking,

01:02:21how could you say

01:02:22any of this?

01:02:23And he was going,

01:02:23I didn't, I didn't.

01:02:24They hired a ghost writer,

01:02:26and I said,

01:02:27well, how could you

01:02:27be so stupid

01:02:28as to, you know,

01:02:30hire somebody

01:02:31and not check

01:02:32what they're doing

01:02:32on a regular basis?

01:02:33But I know the answer

01:02:35to that.

01:02:35He didn't want

01:02:36to write a book.

01:02:37He didn't want

01:02:38to take the time

01:02:38to even check on it,

01:02:40apparently.

01:02:42I never read the book,

01:02:43and the only thing

01:02:44I know about the book

01:02:45was what he told me,

01:02:46I think he got

01:02:47about $50,000

01:02:48for that,

01:02:49and so that may not

01:02:51have been worth it.

01:02:54Cast members,

01:02:55they hated it.

01:02:56They really felt betrayed.

01:02:59He was just going,

01:03:01doing, getting in trouble

01:03:02one after the other.

01:03:04My intuition said something.

01:03:07Something's not right

01:03:08with him,

01:03:09and something else

01:03:10is going to happen.

01:03:20It's December 25th, 2014.

01:03:23Dustin and his fiancée

01:03:25at the time

01:03:25were in Wisconsin

01:03:26in a bar.

01:03:28There was an argument,

01:03:29and he actually

01:03:31stabbed someone.

01:03:36Jesus.

01:03:39This is the knife,

01:03:41and this is the damage done.

01:03:50There are two sides

01:03:52to every story.

01:03:53When I met Dustin

01:03:55for the first time

01:03:55in jail,

01:03:56he explained to me

01:03:57what had happened.

01:03:59It was December 26th.

01:04:02He and his fiancée,

01:04:04Amanda,

01:04:06normally don't spend

01:04:07a lot of time

01:04:07socializing outside

01:04:08because they get

01:04:09strange reactions,

01:04:10but they decided

01:04:12to have a little

01:04:13Christmas cheer

01:04:13and go to the

01:04:15local establishment

01:04:16to have a drink.

01:04:20We went to the bar

01:04:22and sat down.

01:04:24People noticed

01:04:25that he was there,

01:04:26noticed that he was

01:04:27a star,

01:04:29and began

01:04:30trying to covertly

01:04:31take pictures of him.

01:04:35But Amanda,

01:04:36at some point,

01:04:37said,

01:04:37hey, guys,

01:04:38we're just here

01:04:39trying to have a drink.

01:04:40Can you leave us be?

01:04:43It never was a problem

01:04:46until later.

01:04:47I started taking pictures

01:04:48and laughing

01:04:49and making it a game

01:04:50to bump into us

01:04:51and try and capture it

01:04:52on video or camera.

01:04:53And Dustin noticed

01:04:54this happening,

01:04:55and Amanda was actually

01:04:57going to the bar

01:04:58to get the check.

01:05:00And somebody did

01:05:02body check her

01:05:03for the video.

01:05:07And she turned around

01:05:08and it became

01:05:09a pushing match.

01:05:11His fiance scream.

01:05:13Dustin looked

01:05:14at the commotion

01:05:14and saw two men

01:05:15were holding her back.

01:05:19And there was blood

01:05:20actually coming down

01:05:21from her nose.

01:05:22And at that time,

01:05:24he intervened.

01:05:24Dustin said that,

01:05:26this guy,

01:05:27Casey Smet,

01:05:28makes contact

01:05:29with Diamond

01:05:29and attempts

01:05:31to push him

01:05:31away from the group.

01:05:34Dustin was

01:05:36very protective

01:05:37of Amanda.

01:05:40And he said

01:05:41he remembered

01:05:41he had this pocket knife.

01:05:43And that's when

01:05:44his knife

01:05:45caught the kid's shoulder.

01:05:49He had a small

01:05:50puncture wound

01:05:51about a centimeter

01:05:52long

01:05:53on his right,

01:05:54the right side

01:05:55of his chest.

01:06:04Here's a police photograph

01:06:05of the injury

01:06:07to Casey Smet.

01:06:09And this photo,

01:06:10I don't think

01:06:11that's all blood.

01:06:12Looks like he's been

01:06:12wiped with iodine,

01:06:13which makes a bulk

01:06:15of that color

01:06:16on him.

01:06:18Dustin was charged

01:06:19with second-degree

01:06:21reckless endangerment,

01:06:22which is a felony

01:06:23in Wisconsin.

01:06:24So he was facing

01:06:25up to 10 years

01:06:26in prison for that.

01:06:28But he was also charged

01:06:29with carrying

01:06:30a concealed weapon.

01:06:31At the time,

01:06:32the knife that he had

01:06:34was not legal

01:06:35for him to carry.

01:06:36Since that time,

01:06:36it's now legal

01:06:37to carry the same knife.

01:06:38But he was also charged

01:06:39with disorderly conduct.

01:06:44We don't know

01:06:45exactly what happened

01:06:46because this is

01:06:47a classic

01:06:48he said,

01:06:49she said situation.

01:06:52And when you look

01:06:53at the surveillance footage,

01:06:55it's really hard

01:06:56to tell

01:06:56who was the aggressor,

01:06:57who was defending

01:06:58themselves.

01:07:00Dustin and Amanda

01:07:02told me

01:07:02that they don't

01:07:03go out very often.

01:07:04He said,

01:07:05Tom, let me give you

01:07:05an example.

01:07:06If I go out

01:07:07during the daytime

01:07:08and I'm at the store,

01:07:09I get one of two reactions.

01:07:11One is somebody,

01:07:12this person

01:07:13I've never met before,

01:07:14will run up to me,

01:07:16throw their arms around me

01:07:17and hug me.

01:07:17I love you, Dustin.

01:07:18I love you.

01:07:19What Dustin said,

01:07:20the other thing

01:07:20that happens

01:07:21is somebody will

01:07:22take their cell phone,

01:07:24hit record and say,

01:07:26what's it like

01:07:26to be a D-bag?

01:07:29As I got to know

01:07:30Dustin over the weeks

01:07:32and months

01:07:32where we were preparing

01:07:33for trial,

01:07:33I learned that

01:07:35Dustin was a young man

01:07:36when his brother died.

01:07:37He also was a young star.

01:07:40And essentially

01:07:41half of his childhood

01:07:42was spent working

01:07:44on this show.

01:07:46And being a star

01:07:47took away

01:07:48some of his normalcy

01:07:50growing up.

01:07:51Something Dustin Diamond

01:07:52dealt with constantly

01:07:53was being the punchline.

01:07:57Yeah, you've been called

01:07:58a lot of things.

01:07:59You idiot.

01:07:59Get lost, creep.

01:08:00You're a strange

01:08:01and weird person.

01:08:02Air nerd is more like it.

01:08:04Get out of here.

01:08:06Back when bullying

01:08:07was cool.

01:08:08Screech, you've got

01:08:09a dummy, you dummy.

01:08:10It's the Beatles,

01:08:11you idiots.

01:08:11He's not our kid,

01:08:12you goof.

01:08:13Let's call me a tweep.

01:08:14So stupid.

01:08:16I'm just a simp.

01:08:17I'm a tweep.

01:08:18Simple, huh?

01:08:19There is no stable,

01:08:20you dork.

01:08:21I didn't do anything,

01:08:22you twink.

01:08:23Screech, you're an idiot.

01:08:24But we allowed this

01:08:25as entertainment.

01:08:27It's not a pretty picture.

01:08:29This dink

01:08:30is frying my brain.

01:08:31That's the royal doofus.

01:08:33After a while of repetition,

01:08:34you keep hearing this,

01:08:35you start to believe

01:08:36that you're those things.

01:08:38Stupid, goofball, idiot.

01:08:40I mean, I love

01:08:41Saved by the Bell,

01:08:42but I mean,

01:08:42it was always funny

01:08:43when we see it,

01:08:44you know?

01:08:45But listening to that

01:08:46over and over,

01:08:47it makes me sad for him.

01:08:57Makes me sad for him.

01:09:00Sorry, I just...

01:09:04Now I get it.

01:09:05I get why he was so...

01:09:0950-50 with the show,

01:09:11you know?

01:09:12And sometimes he got it

01:09:13in real life, too.

01:09:15And you know what's funny

01:09:16is I was always nice

01:09:17to Screech in real life.

01:09:18I think I was the only one

01:09:19that was really nice.

01:09:19He was.

01:09:20I gotta say,

01:09:21you put up with a lot.

01:09:22I was really nice to him.

01:09:24Not really.

01:09:25Not really.

01:09:27Not really.

01:09:29I can say

01:09:29I was not very nice.

01:09:31You were.

01:09:31I was not.

01:09:32The thing with Dustin, too,

01:09:33is that we were all

01:09:35three years older than him.

01:09:36So at that point

01:09:38in your life,

01:09:38that's a big gap.

01:09:40Like three years now,

01:09:40if you're 30 or 35

01:09:42or whatever,

01:09:43that's not a big gap.

01:09:44But when you're 15

01:09:45and someone's 12,

01:09:46that's a huge thing.

01:09:47So he was always ostracized.

01:09:49He was always in the...

01:09:50You know,

01:09:51kind of trying to follow

01:09:52what we were doing.

01:09:53And as teenagers,

01:09:55you're like,

01:09:55hey.

01:09:57Hey.

01:10:00Dustin was so separated

01:10:02from the other cast

01:10:03because of the age,

01:10:04and so he would always

01:10:05hang out with

01:10:06the background people.

01:10:07When Dustin was in school,

01:10:10you know,

01:10:10it was between the ages

01:10:11of like six and ten.

01:10:14Nobody has really developed

01:10:16into nerd, bully.

01:10:18So he didn't really experience

01:10:21being bullied so much

01:10:23until later

01:10:26because he was a nerdy kid

01:10:28in his television

01:10:30high school role.

01:10:32Like the real bullies

01:10:34of the world

01:10:34sort of made up

01:10:35for his lack

01:10:36of not being bullied

01:10:37in school.

01:10:50First verdict

01:10:51that has been signed

01:10:52by Mr. Nichols

01:10:53reads,

01:10:53we the jury

01:10:54find the defendant.

01:11:08Dustin was found

01:11:10not guilty

01:11:11of the serious

01:11:12felony charge

01:11:13which left

01:11:14the other two charges.

01:11:15We the jury

01:11:15find the defendant

01:11:17Dustin Diamond

01:11:18guilty of carrying

01:11:19against him.

01:11:28A few days

01:11:29after being discharged

01:11:30he gets picked up

01:11:31for parole violation

01:11:32because his urine drug screen

01:11:34shows Oxycodone.

01:11:36He was sentenced

01:11:37to another 60 days

01:11:39in jail.

01:11:40That tells me

01:11:41that that is not

01:11:42a incidental interaction

01:11:45with opioids.

01:11:46Somebody who is

01:11:47on probation

01:11:47and goes back

01:11:49to opiates

01:11:49is an opiate addict

01:11:51by definition.

01:11:59I've been doing

01:12:00car insurance

01:12:01since 1999

01:12:01in Rock, Illinois

01:12:03and I started

01:12:04working with Dustin

01:12:05through TV commercials

01:12:06for my company.

01:12:10Do you realize

01:12:11it's illegal

01:12:12to screech your tires?

01:12:13Yeah,

01:12:14but it's kind of my thing.

01:12:15He can't,

01:12:16you punk.

01:12:16Get covered.

01:12:17I am covered.

01:12:19Hmm?

01:12:20Billy!

01:12:21That paid him

01:12:21more money

01:12:22than Saved by the Bell.

01:12:23It was a lot more

01:12:24than the $1,200

01:12:25per week.

01:12:25You know where I can get

01:12:26cheap car insurance?

01:12:27Yeah, that's easy.

01:12:28Insurance King.

01:12:29And when we started

01:12:30doing these commercials

01:12:31with Dustin,

01:12:31that's when we started

01:12:32to really, really grow.

01:12:36And that's what

01:12:37started our friendship.

01:12:43I did a lot of things

01:12:44for Dustin

01:12:45that people probably

01:12:46don't know about.

01:12:48After his girlfriend

01:12:49Amanda had moved

01:12:50back to New York,

01:12:51I started realizing

01:12:52he needed more help.

01:12:53Like, um,

01:12:55I bought him a vehicle.

01:12:56You know,

01:12:57I remember one time

01:12:57I made a deal with him

01:12:58to meet his dad.

01:13:01And that's because

01:13:02I had found out

01:13:03that it had been

01:13:0415-plus years

01:13:05before the last time

01:13:06I'd seen him.

01:13:08He was always traveling

01:13:08all the time

01:13:09for comedy gigs

01:13:10or commercial shoots.

01:13:12They just didn't

01:13:12see each other.

01:13:13So we met with Mark.

01:13:17When Dustin finally

01:13:18went to see his father,

01:13:19they were able to hash out

01:13:20everything from the past

01:13:21and make amends.

01:13:22When Dustin came out

01:13:24to California,

01:13:25one of the things

01:13:26he wanted to visit

01:13:27was there's an old

01:13:29cemetery up in this area

01:13:31where they have some

01:13:32people that

01:13:34fought in the Civil War

01:13:35and he wanted to see

01:13:37this one that we had

01:13:38shown him when he was

01:13:39a kid.

01:13:41It says,

01:13:42Remember, man,

01:13:43as you passed by,

01:13:44as you are now,

01:13:45so once was I,

01:13:47as I am now,

01:13:48so you shall be

01:13:49prepared for death

01:13:50and follow me.

01:13:53So in 2018,

01:13:55things started to kind of

01:13:56spiral a little bit

01:13:57for him.

01:13:58We would go out

01:13:59to dinner and things

01:14:00and he would eat himself

01:14:02under the table

01:14:04and then get violently

01:14:05ill.

01:14:07I asked him,

01:14:08you know,

01:14:09is it pain pills?

01:14:10What's going on?

01:14:11You know,

01:14:12and there's a point

01:14:13where he kind of

01:14:13shut down.

01:14:14He was afraid to go

01:14:15get help

01:14:16because he didn't want

01:14:16to be that child star

01:14:17that had that problem,

01:14:19you know,

01:14:19that looked at another

01:14:20one on drug addiction

01:14:21or something like that,

01:14:21you know.

01:14:23When the child performers

01:14:24end their run,

01:14:26it can be very disorienting

01:14:28to them

01:14:28and hard to lose

01:14:30the dazzling fame

01:14:32and lifestyle

01:14:32that was so gratifying

01:14:33for them.

01:14:34And sometimes that's

01:14:35when you see people

01:14:36retreat into drugs.

01:14:39I brought him

01:14:40to the hospital

01:14:40for MRSA.

01:14:42MRSA,

01:14:42the staph infection,

01:14:43is basically like

01:14:44a bacterial skin,

01:14:45flesh-eating disease,

01:14:46basically.

01:14:48Dustin had a surgery

01:14:49and he had it removed.

01:14:52There was a point

01:14:53after the surgery

01:14:54where the surgeon

01:14:54came up to talk to him.

01:14:56So he was in there

01:14:57for 30 minutes,

01:14:5845 minutes,

01:14:58something like that.

01:14:59It was a long time.

01:15:01And I knew

01:15:02that the surgeon

01:15:03didn't have

01:15:04a 45-minute conversation

01:15:05about,

01:15:05you gotta pay us

01:15:06your bill.

01:15:06So we get back

01:15:08to his house.

01:15:09I had made

01:15:09some payments for him.

01:15:10And he says,

01:15:11give me a one-way

01:15:11plane ticket to Florida.

01:15:14People that were

01:15:15close to him,

01:15:16eventually they would

01:15:17break apart.

01:15:20It's just sometimes

01:15:21Dustin wanted to

01:15:22just kind of push us

01:15:22away a little bit.

01:15:23And I'm gonna put myself

01:15:24in that category.

01:15:25He pushed me away, too.

01:15:27He wasn't used to people

01:15:29caring about him.

01:15:34What people don't

01:15:34understand about

01:15:35being a celebrity

01:15:36is that they have

01:15:37problems just like

01:15:38you and I.

01:15:41Difference is,

01:15:42when you have a problem

01:15:43or I have a problem,

01:15:44our family knows,

01:15:45our coworkers know,

01:15:46our people around us.

01:15:48When they have a problem,

01:15:49the whole world knows.

01:15:53So they become

01:15:54reclusive.

01:15:57Especially when I think

01:15:58that he found out

01:15:59during that interview

01:16:01with the MRSA,

01:16:02I think he found out

01:16:04that he had something

01:16:05and he was afraid

01:16:06to deal with it.

01:16:07He was just too nervous

01:16:08to even go to the hospital

01:16:10or to a doctor

01:16:11to get checked

01:16:11because he thought

01:16:12that the next day

01:16:13he would be in the

01:16:14tabloids of like,

01:16:15oh, he must have

01:16:16some something wrong.

01:16:19He was getting ready

01:16:19to film in August.

01:16:21Dustin said,

01:16:21I can't.

01:16:22I'm like, why?

01:16:23He goes,

01:16:23I just won't look right

01:16:24for television.

01:16:25I'm like,

01:16:26is it MRSA?

01:16:27And he goes,

01:16:27no, this is way worse.

01:16:28I'm like,

01:16:29what is it?

01:16:30He goes,

01:16:31I don't know yet.

01:16:32I'm going to go get

01:16:33a biopsy

01:16:33and we're going to

01:16:34start figuring this out.

01:16:36So then he finally

01:16:37did get in

01:16:38to do a biopsy

01:16:39and then he called me.

01:16:41He's like,

01:16:41yeah, come down here

01:16:42and help me

01:16:42with this stuff.

01:16:44Right?

01:16:45Did you know

01:16:45what it was

01:16:46by the time you got there?

01:16:47We knew it was cancer.

01:16:48Yeah, we knew.

01:16:50It was a really large

01:16:51tumor on his neck.

01:16:55He called me

01:16:56and he said,

01:16:57I'm dying

01:16:59and I wanted

01:16:59to go back there

01:17:00and see him.

01:17:01He was afraid

01:17:02that he was going

01:17:03to go out

01:17:04like his mother did.

01:17:07So we had heard

01:17:08that he had

01:17:08maybe six months,

01:17:11maybe six weeks.

01:17:12We didn't think

01:17:13it was six days.

01:17:18We would take

01:17:18some band letters

01:17:19and read some of these

01:17:20letters to him

01:17:21in the hospital.

01:17:22Some were really

01:17:24touching about how...

01:17:30I remember reading

01:17:31one of them

01:17:31from a fan

01:17:32that said

01:17:33he saved his life.

01:17:41Yeah, he said

01:17:42he was going

01:17:42to kill himself.

01:17:51See, he was getting

01:17:52bullied in school.

01:18:05I get home

01:18:06and my boyfriend

01:18:07at the time

01:18:08I walk in

01:18:09and he says,

01:18:10I got news for you.

01:18:11I said, what?

01:18:12He says,

01:18:12did you hear?

01:18:13I said,

01:18:14what are you talking

01:18:14about?

01:18:15Hear what?

01:18:15He said,

01:18:16Dustin Diamond passed.

01:18:24And I said,

01:18:25what?

01:18:26He said,

01:18:27Dustin passed.

01:18:27I'm sorry.

01:18:44He didn't want to be buried.

01:18:46He actually did not

01:18:47want a grave marker

01:18:48at all

01:18:48because he didn't

01:18:49want to be

01:18:49messed with

01:18:50in the afterlife

01:18:52as he was

01:18:53when he was in life.

01:18:55What's the world

01:18:56missing not having

01:18:57Dustin in it?

01:19:15I miss having the fun.

01:19:18I can remember

01:19:18to have fun.

01:19:24Just give me a second.

01:19:25Yeah.

01:19:29Hey, this is the B-man.

01:19:30Give me a call

01:19:31when you get this.

01:19:32Yeah, dude.

01:19:33You're awesome.

01:19:35I need to talk to you

01:19:36about upcoming work

01:19:38and stuff like that

01:19:39and ideas that I have

01:19:40and things that we

01:19:40might be able

01:19:41to put together

01:19:41and some stuff.

01:19:43I also had an idea

01:19:45for something with...

01:19:46He wasn't done

01:19:47doing the things

01:19:48he wanted to do.

01:19:50He's gone a year later.

01:19:53Do you miss Dustin?

01:19:55All the time.

01:19:58Yeah.

01:20:03All the time.

01:20:13Yeah.

01:20:23It was really cool

01:20:24to go out there

01:20:25and be a part

01:20:25of the memorial episode.

01:20:27Yep.

01:20:28The only one

01:20:28I didn't get to meet

01:20:29was Lark.

01:20:31From what I understand,

01:20:32she was just

01:20:32too emotional

01:20:33and she had to keep

01:20:34going back to makeup

01:20:35and she was crying

01:20:36during the shoot

01:20:36and she had a hard

01:20:37side with that.

01:20:38Yeah.

01:20:39Well, he died of cancer.

01:20:41That hurt.

01:20:44Even with Dustin gone,

01:20:47we still carried it on

01:20:48in the name of

01:20:50Save by the Bell,

01:20:51Peter Engel,

01:20:51all of the writers

01:20:52and producers

01:20:53and Dustin.

01:20:55And we all got

01:20:56to celebrate him.

01:20:57To Screech.

01:20:59Screech.

01:21:00Screech.

01:21:01Screech.

01:21:01I'm glad we got

01:21:02that on footage

01:21:04because he matters.

01:21:06Yeah.

01:21:09I got some stuff

01:21:10that we found

01:21:11in Dustin's dad's house.

01:21:15This was one

01:21:16of his first headshots.

01:21:18This was one

01:21:19of his report cards

01:21:20from on set

01:21:22from the Valley

01:21:23Professional School

01:21:24and he did get all A's.

01:21:26Right?

01:21:27So,

01:21:28that was pretty cool.

01:21:30I found

01:21:31an unopened

01:21:32fan letter

01:21:33Do you want

01:21:33to open it?

01:21:34Okay.

01:21:391994.

01:21:40Dear Dustin,

01:21:41I watch all

01:21:42of your TV shows.

01:21:43I like them all.

01:21:45You're very,

01:21:47very, very funny.

01:21:48I know you're busy

01:21:49but maybe

01:21:50could you send me

01:21:51your signed picture?

01:21:53I know you're famous

01:21:55but please,

01:21:56I'm nine,

01:21:57I love Save by the Bell

01:21:58and my favorite animal

01:22:00is a pig.

01:22:01What's yours?

01:22:03Well,

01:22:04it was definitely a dog.

01:22:05He ate a lot of dogs.

01:22:07Do you in real life

01:22:08like Lisa?

01:22:10From your fan,

01:22:11Danielle.

01:22:13Right?

01:22:16It's kind of cool.

01:22:17So,

01:22:17I can tell you,

01:22:18Danielle,

01:22:19that he absolutely

01:22:20did like Lark.

01:22:23she was a really good person

01:22:25and she left

01:22:26a voicemail for him

01:22:27and we played it

01:22:28for him before he died

01:22:29and he enjoyed it.

01:22:32She was the only one

01:22:33that really reached out

01:22:34to him

01:22:34and is really heartfelt

01:22:38and I know

01:22:38they had a connection.

01:22:42That was my very good friend.

01:22:47I miss him.

01:22:54These celebrities

01:22:55have to get the drugs

01:22:59from someplace.

01:22:59He's part of the drowning.

01:23:01Responsible for Matthew Perry's death.

01:23:02The physician

01:23:03added to his demise.

01:23:05He was known

01:23:06as Doc Hollywood.

01:23:07I have the power

01:23:08of all the doctors.

01:23:08Somebody should be held

01:23:09accountable

01:23:10for killing somebody.

01:23:12You know.

01:23:13You know.

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