Mario Lopez Shares His Perspective on Tiffani Thiessen’s Claims “Saved by the Bell” Residuals are ‘Negative’ Now

Mario Lopez Shares His Perspective on Tiffani Thiessen’s Claims “Saved by the Bell” Residuals are ‘Negative’ Now https://ift.tt/mKS8bO2

The cast of the beloved series were huge stars, but say their earnings are not quite what some may expect

Mario Lopez (left), Tiffani Thiessen
Credit: ANGELA WEISS / AFP/Getty; Monica Schipper/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

• Mario Lopez is responding to a conversation started by Saved by the Bell costar Tiffani Thiessen
• During a recent interview, Thiessen admitted that she didn’t make much money from the beloved series during or after it aired, despite years of syndication
• Lopez agreed with Thiessen’s assessment that the residuals from the series have “dried up”

Mario Lopez is quietly contributing to the conversations around sitcom pay.

The Saved by the Bell actor, 52, has chimed in in response to costar Tiffani Thiessen‘s recent discussion about the cast’s residuals. Sharing a quote where Thiessen said, “I don’t think [I get residuals] for Saved by the Bell anymore. I think it has dried out. It’s like, negative now. It costs more to print the check,” Lopez tweeted, “Real talk!”

Thiessen made the admission during a recent interview with Page Six and SiriusXM. Asked if the cast ever got to preview episodes before they aired, Thiessen said, “No, we never got — I mean, we didn’t have any pull on that show at all. We made nothing and we just did our job. We would watch it when it came out.”

Tiffani Thiessen as Kelly Kapowski, Elizabeth Berkley as Jessie Spano, Leanna Creel as Tori Scott, Dennis Haskins as Mr. Richard Belding, Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Zack Morris, Dustin Diamond as Screech Powers, Lark Voorhies as Lisa Turtle, Mario Lopez as A.C. Slater from ‘Saved by the Bell’
Credit: Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal/Getty

Later in the discussion, she admitted, “I didn’t start making real money until I went to [Beverly Hills] 90210.”

The subject of the cast’s compensation was brought up earlier this year, as part of ID’s Hollywood Demons: After the Bell, which aired in May. The special delved into how much the cast, which also included Lark Voorhies, Dustin Diamond, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Elizabeth Berkley, made.

As Denise Simon, child star manager, explained, “I think the public doesn’t realize how really unglamorous this industry is.”

Using Lopez as her example, she continued, “Mario Lopez said he started out making about $1,500 an episode. That’s a lot of money to a kid. But after a second season, in 1991, Saved by the Bell was pulling in roughly $15 million in advertising.”

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Lark Voorhies as Lisa Turtle, Ed Alonzo as Max, Tiffani Thiessen as Kelly Kapowski, Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Zack Morris, Dennis Haskins as Mr. Richard Belding, Elizabeth Berkley as Jessie Myrtle Spano, Dustin Diamond as Screech Powers, Mario Lopez as A.C. Slater in ‘Saved by the Bell’
Credit: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Simon continued, “If it’s a union show and they were really paying them low, somebody was cashing in on it. Generally speaking, the executive producers, the higher-ups, make a lot of money.”

The documentary also featured comments from Diamond’s close friend, Dan Block, who said that when he started spending time with the late actor in 2017, he was told the actor “made $1,250 a week” during his Saved by the Bell run.

Mark Diamond, Dustin’s dad, noted that the earnings from Saved by the Bell weren’t enough to to cover the necessities of being a working actor, let alone to mitigate his family’s complex financial situation. After taxes, gas and headshots, he claimed it “didn’t leave a lot of money to do anything.”