When fans think back on Saved by the Bell, they typically think about Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski. More specifically, they think about the on-and-off relationship that had fans invested before Ross and Rachel’s drama ever started. But not every SBTB fan was obsessed with Zack and Kelly back in the day; though, let's be honest, many were.
In fact, a whole slew of fans came out of the woodwork recently to talk about their Saved By The Bell TV crushes. While Zack Morris may have been the dreamy heartthrob most crushed on, that doesn't change his complicated legacy. Even Mark-Paul Gosselaar has apologized for certain problematic Zack Morris episodes and attempted to make Zack less of a jerk in the reboot. His bad boy behavior didn’t stop fans from obsessing over him, such as MagicalMysticalMyth, who had a “Mark-Paul wall” growing up, and CDTmom, who said:
All about Zack Morris! I couldn't wait to watch the show just to look at him.
However, not every fan was crushing on Gosselaar's character. For example, funonthebeach85 was clear about who they crushed on, saying, “Jesse. Kelly was overrated.” These were the fans who lost it when Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley recreated their classic Saved by the Bell dance. (I may have been one of those fans.)
So, who else might fans have been crushing on? The answer was the subject of heated debate among fans on Reddit. However, one fan, Laserdisc123, took issue with the list leaving out who they felt was a key character, saying, “This is Tori erasure.” This refered to new girl Tori, who temporarily filled in when Kelly and Jessie were missing due to behind-the-scenes contract issues. Several fans listed Lisa, Jessie, or even recurring guests such as Leah Remini.
Long before she was married to Doug and living in Queens, Remini played opinionated and sarcastic Stacy Carosi. And yes, she, too, was a temporary love interest of Zack’s. The actor enjoyed her episodes, although she has admitted that she was petrified when she first joined. Despite this and her limited appearance in a handful of beach-themed episodes, she left quite an impression on some fans, such as Top_bake-345, who said:
Absolutely loved her! Probably because she's the most relatable to me.
The fans who did crush on Zack or Kelly have pointed out two key aspects that drew them to the characters. For Zack, it’s his flawed nature, pointed out by Pawspawsmeow, who said, “I can fix him.” In fact, it was rare that Zack and the gang did the right thing. For Kelly, it’s how gorgeous and perfect they thought she was, calling her the only answer to the question. However, some fans didn’t feel a need to pick between any of the characters, such as New-Macaroon-4100:
Before I understood that bisexuality was even a thing, I knew that I loved Kelly and Zack equally!
Fans have never forgotten the A.C. Slater vs. Zack Morris debate. The two occasional frenemies were often competing for Kelly’s attention and one-upping each other’s schemes. This created an interesting dilemma for fans who often had trouble choosing between the handsome jock or the scheming charmer. This continued in the who had a crush on who conversation.
- nochickflickmoments: Slater, so much so, I was convinced my 6th-grade boyfriend looked like him. Looking back, he most certainly did not.
- xLAESOPx: I always had trouble choosing between Zack and Slater, but would probably always pick Zack in the end for whatever reason.
- mtdoubledubs: Zach. Always. And Mark Paul is still ridiculously good-looking.
- openurheartandthen: I had a huge crush on Slater. But in my older years, I’m super attracted to Mark Paul Gosselaar (at his current age).
The love for the show never truly died, and that’s why the reboot remains a must-watch for fans. However, the most surprising part of the debate is the lack of love for Screech, who had only one fan give him a shout-out.
