Saved By the Bell: People Magazine Scoops Jimmy Fallon; Tiffani Thiessen Too Busy for Show

As you probably know by now, Jimmy Fallon has been trying to reunite the cast of the old Saturday morning show for its 20th anniversary. Now, People magazine has beaten him to the punch.

Fallon started campaigning for a Saved By the Bell cast reunion last March. Dennis Haskins (Mr. Belding) was the first give the thumbs up and that was followed by okays from Lark Voorhies (Lisa) and Mario Lopez (Slater).

In early June, Mark-Paul Gosselaar stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in an unforgettable tribute to Saved By the Bell. For the entire segment, Gosselaar played his Zack Morris character as if he was a real person and sprinkled the interview with numerous inside references. While on the air, “Zack” got a call on his vintage cell phone from former classmate “Jessie” (otherwise known as Elizabeth Berkley) and they both happily agreed to the reunion.

That left just Tiffani Thiessen (Kelly) and Dustin Diamond (“Screech”).

There hasn’t been any news from Fallon for almost two months on his campaign and People magazine apparently decided that it’s time. The publication has scooped the late night host and reunited Voorhies, Lopez, Gosselaar, Berkley, and Thiessen for the cover story of this week’s issue.

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According to People, the story and photo shoot has actually been in the works for more than a year, well before Fallon announced his plans. It also turns out that Lopez actually almost missed the photo shoot. The actor has a crazy schedule right now and flew seven hours from Canada, arriving just in time for the Los Angeles reunion.

One person you won’t see in the pages of People however is Diamond. His image was even Photoshopped out of the magazine cover’s retro picture. The former child star has had a litany of well-publicized financial troubles over the years and even starred in his own sex tape. He’s currently in the midst of releasing a scandalous tell-all book about the cast’s days on the Saturday morning show called Behind the Bell.

It’s still unclear as to why Diamond wasn’t part of the People photo shoot. Some have assumed that he simply passed on the reunion or wanted too much money to take part. There’s also a rumor that the rest of the cast wouldn’t agree to pose if he was involved. The People article simply says that he “is no longer close with [his] castmates.”

While the Fallon on-air reunion may still happen, Thiessen claims that she’s just too busy. The actress recently shot a humorous video to illustrate just how jammed her schedule is. She says, “The Saved By the Bell reunion is a great idea, but I have a hundred to 150 great ideas in front of that one! Would you ask Angelina Jolie to slow everything down, just to have a reunion with the Girl, Interrupted cast?”

All kidding aside, would you still like to see the cast reunite on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon? Are you upset that Diamond isn’t part of the People reunion? Does that matter?

More about: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Saved by the Bell

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