Photo by: Charles Ng
Though the sets and the costumes are gone, the man standing in Sturm Auditorium last Tuesday was undeniably the 1980s television icon the crowd of DU students arrived to see.
Dennis Haskins waits for the applause to die down. The applause is for Haskins’ 11 seasons starring as Mr. Belding, the principal of Bayside High, in the 1980s television hit “Saved By The Bell.”
DU is just another stop on Haskins’ new, motivational-speaking college tour. Despite the new title, Haskins could not escape his roots Tuesday night.
The program began with a few opening remarks from Haskins, immediately moving into an onstage interview by DUPB Lectures and Speakers Department member Heather Kraich. During the interview, Haskins went into detail about his experiences with the show, eventually even dealing with the situation involving the nude appearance of Elizabeth Berkeley, who played Jessie, in the film “Showgirls” after the cancellation of “Saved by the Bell.”
“Just for the record, Elizabeth did not ask my opinion on the issue so I cannot judge her for it,” he said. “Sometimes we make choices, and they may not be the best choices, but we have to take responsibility for those choices.”
Haskins was quick to point out that Berkeley recovered from the situation to begin a successful career. Though Haskins elected to answer the risquCB) Berkeley question on his own, the interview was completely devoted to his personal life and times on the show. He revealed his close relationship to Mark Paul Gosselaar, Zach Morris, his most embarrassing show moment-becoming a human milkshake with Screech, and some interesting “Saved by the Bell” facts, such as that the show was the first American television show ever to air in Romania.
The actor engaged the audience, telling everyone who left “goodbye” and taking the constant interruptions caused by four unidentified and intoxicated female DU students in stride.
“What, did you bring a pitcher here?” Haskins joked. “Have you got enough for everyone?”
The former Mr. Belding spoke fondly about the original class of Gosselaar, Berkeley; Mario Lopez, who played Slater; Tiffani Amber Thiessen, Kelly; Dustin Diamond, Screech; and Lark Voorhies, Lisa. He also appeared in the “College Years” episodes and in “Saved By The Bell”: The New Class. He revealed that Gosselaar and his wife had a child five or six months ago and that Lopez was recently married to model and former Miss USA Ali Landry in Mexico.
From his first role as Candlewick in a sixth grade production of “Pinocchio” to a recent appearance on USA Network’s “JAG,” Haskins took the rowdy audience through his lengthy acting career. He stressed that, just as he was living his dream, so could the students present.
“I want to encourage you to pursue your dreams,” said Haskins. “Just consider it. You don’t have to do something solely for money.”
After the interview came the “Saved By The Bell” trivia, marred by the shouted answers from the drunken students in the back. Haskins once again took this in stride, simply telling the girls “not to shout out the answers” and eventually to “shut up.” After the onstage trivia, Haskins ended the program to begin signing autographs and taking pictures, but not before leaving students with some more advice.
“There are all kinds of things you can do that will lead you to what your future is,” he said. “Take advantage of them because you are our future.”
However, the program did not go off without a hitch. In addition to the interruptions from the intoxicated students, the projector/VCR that was supposed to show a clip at the beginning of the program never worked, instead, it destroyed the tape.
