Episode 15
Episode 15 is called King of the Hill. This was the original pilot. It is the first day of school and Zack is obsessed with Kelly. We find out Slater is new to the school and he is competition for Zack. The scenes in King of the Hill are long, but are needed to set up the show. The production crew wasn’t the normal crew and didn’t a great job. We can see the Ferris Bueller inspiration from the beginning with breaking the fourth wall and everything.
Dashiell Driscoll noted the busy hallway complete with Skateboarders. It gives it a cool California feel, which is different from the Good Morning Miss Bliss setting of Indiana. There are pop culture references as well. Slater says, “I’m Roger Rabbit.” That was a popular movie that came out not too long before the show.
Screech pulls out a Dustbuster and cleans his locker. This prompted a discussion about vacuums. The Dustbuster came out in 1979 from Black and Decker. It was designed for Astronauts. Mark-Paul has many vacuums. Dashiell Driscoll has three vacuums total. Mark-Paul didn’t like the Rumba he had. He prefers to vacuum himself.
Dashiell notices Mr. Dewey is back or rather this is the first time we would have seen him if the episodes had aired in order. The wave from Kelly is kind of awkward. This same awkward wave is repeated in Fatal Distraction.
Why do the kids all go the Max for lunch instead of the cafeteria? Seems a bit expensive. Jessie does make a comment about it in the pilot, but it is never brought up again. Ed Alonzo makes his first appearance as Max. His is in the first few seasons, but not all seasons. He is in roughly 20 episodes total.
Ed Alonzo was the special guest for this podcast. He talked about choosing Saved By The Bell over a pilot for another show. He felt he chose correctly since Saved By The Bell went on to be a hit. The jokes or gags that Dashiell Driscoll complained about were all written by writers who didn’t know magic. Ed Alonzo just had to make the best out of what they wrote. It was agreed that The Max was modeled after Ed Bedevils 1950s Themed Restaurant
Ed Alonzo recalled teaching Mark-Paul to drive in the parking lot. Mark-Paul confessed that he had already known had to drive at the time. He sometimes took his Mom’s car and drove it around without permission or a license. He felt like since his paycheck helped buy the car, he should drive it.
Ed Alonzo also talked about how he often said, “Oh, quit that.” And Dustin Diamond stole the line. The writer’s gave that line to him instead of Ed Alonzo, which frustrated him. He was also frustrated with Dennis Haskins. Although they generally got along, Dennis didn’t seem to like having more than one adult in a scene. He was kind of distant during the taping of the show, but then friendlier once the show ended. Alonzo also remembered how he messed up Peter Engle’s birthday cake He thinks that is part of why his part on Saved By The Bell came to an end before the show ended.
Dashiell Driscoll mentioned that the actress who played the Shakespeare teacher, Pamela Cosh, had recently passed away. Then they announced a brief break over Thanksgiving before returned to the Podcast for Season 2 of Saved By The Bell.
