Berkley, 48, will once again walk the halls of Bayside High. The return of Saved by the Bell, the teen hit series that ran from 1989 to 1992, “feels like coming home”, she says.
Berkley played overachieving class president Jesse Spano. The cast is reprising their roles in the upcoming reboot of the series. Her former co-stars Mario Lopez, Tiffany Theissen, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, and Lark Voorhies will be back, but with a modern twist.
Berkley (also a producer on the show) plays a school counselor and best-selling author.
When Saved by the Bell made its debut in 1989, the most problematic drug that schools were dealing with was marijuana. The teen comedy’s season 2 episode “Jessie’s song” dealt with her caffeine pill addiction.
In the episode, the overachiever was under a tremendous amount of pressure to succeed. She used the extra energy from the pills to help her manage her school workload and the responsibilities of her new singing group.
Eventually, an exhausted Jessie breaks down in front of her best friend Zack Morris when he arrives to take her to a talent competition. He confronts her about her addiction.” I’m so scared” she cries as Zack comforts her.
Supporting young women has always been a worthy cause for Berkley. She hopes fans of the show recognize the importance of Jessie’s experience from the popular episode.
“People laugh at some of Jessie’s moment’s from that episode and make funny memes. I’m the first person to laugh at it too, but let’s not forget these are very real situations,” she says.
“I have a great sense of humor about it but those moments were rooted in something passionate and sometimes can feel over the top”. I think the reason why people are obsessed with that episode is that it must’ve struck some sort of chord.”
The much-anticipated re-boot has been called “a fresh take on the original” and began streaming on November 25th.
