The cast members had plenty of parties, but nothing too scandalous – leave that to Beverly Hills. In fact, Tiffani Thiessen didn’t have her first drink until she was doing a press tour with Mark-Paul, across the pond in Paris. This was while the show was filming, so Thiessen would have been a teenager at the time, but the drinking age in France was lower.
“We ate crepes, and my first sip,” Thiessen related in an interview. Thiessen and Gosselaar dated for a little while, and Thiessen relates: “It felt at times like we were Barbie and Ken.”
Spending Too Much Time at Fake High School
All of the main actors were dedicated to the show, but none more than Lark Voorhies. While Lisa Marie Turtle was the fashionista daddy's-girl on-screen, her actress worked hard on the set, going so far as to miss her own – real – high school prom, and even her actual graduation. The character probably wouldn't have wanted to miss her graduation – and definitely wouldn't have wanted to miss prom.
This is often seen as an “opportunity cost” for a lot of young actors, who trade possible fame and fortune for what a lot of people would call a more normal life.
Party Hardly
With fame came the chance to have fun. The cast of Saved by the Bell took the opportunity to party, but they – or their parents, or the producers – made sure they never took things too far. These teens still snuck their way into adult clubs long before they were legal. Yet, even in those heady environments, they kept themselves pretty clean.
At least, that's what Mark-Paul relates: “At 16, going to adult clubs. But I didn't abuse it, and neither did my co-workers. I can't stress how good we tried to be.” It's good to hear some kids escaped Hollywood burn-out.
Flying Sparks
Mark-Paul seems to have gotten around a little. But almost everyone on the cast dated around with each other while the show was filming (with the exception of Dustin Diamond, who, again, was a bit young). Inevitably, these relationships fell apart. And while the on-screen couples made up pretty quickly to keep things from being too dramatic, things weren't so easy behind the scenes.
Mario Lopez and Mark-Paul Gosselaar in particular never stuck with their beaus, with several stories mentioning their infidelity. Acting isn't the hardest job in the world, but when you have to pretend the guy who just cheated on you is your best friend, it can still be rough.
Sharing with 90210
Thiessen would later go on to be the bad-girl character Valerie Malone on Beverly Hills, 90210, but the drama series did more than nab actresses from Bell. A lot of the characters got part-time jobs at the beach club “Malibu Sands,” which was the same beach club used in Beverly Hills, 90210. A lot of people see 90210 as a spiritual successor to "Saved by the Bell," though the storylines are much heavier and more dramatic, and there is less humor.
It would have been much more difficult for 90210 to get off the ground if not for the success of the non-cartoon "Saved by the Bell."