Tiffani Thiessen Makes Blunt Confession About ‘Saved by the Bell’ Earnings
What To Know
- Tiffani Thiessen revealed that her Saved by the Bell castmates earned very little from the show and receive almost no residuals.
- She stated that the cast had no influence or special privileges on set, and only began making significant money after joining Beverly Hills, 90210.
- Thiessen’s comments were echoed by costar Mark-Paul Gosselaar.
Tiffani Thiessen just made a blunt confession about her Saved by the Bell pay and residuals 23 years after the show ended.
In an interview with SiriusXM’s Page Six Radio published on September 24, the actress who played Kelly Kapowski in the ’90s sitcom got real about how much she and her castmates made.
“We got nothing,” she admitted. “When we went primetime for one season, we got a little bit more. But yeah, I didn’t start making real money until I went to 90210.”
Unsurprisingly, the Saved by the Bell co-stars aren’t raking in dough on residuals from the show, either.
“I think it’s dried out,” she admitted, joking, “It’s like, negative now. It probably costs more to print the check than it does what’s on the check.”
Additionally, Thiessen said she and her Saved by the Bell co-stars didn’t have access to early screenings of episodes.
“We didn’t have any pull,” she shared. “We didn’t have pull on that show at all. We made nothing, and we just did our job. But we would watch it when it came out.”
During a 2019 interview on Watch What Happens Live, her Saved by the Bell costar, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, 52, echoed her sentiments about their pay. He conceded that they “made really bad deals.”
“Poor deals, back then,” he reiterated. “It is what it is. And you know, you move on, you learn. Great experience.”
Saved by the Bell aired for four seasons from 1989 to 1993. In addition to Thiessen and Gosselaar, the show starred Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, Lark Voorhies, the late Dustin Diamond, and Dennis Haskins.
Meanwhile, Beverly Hills, 90210 ran for 10 seasons from 1990 to 2000, with Thiessen portraying Valerie Malone in Seasons 5 through 9.
Since then, Thiessen has appeared on shows like Alexa & Katie, White Collar, Deliciousness, Two Guys and a Girl, Fastlane, Good Morning, Miami, and more. She also reprised her role as Kelly in the Saved by the Bell revival series, which aired for two seasons from 2020 to 2021.
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This is surprising, and a shame. Saved By the Bell was one of the regular great TV shows that I grew up watching. A show like that, created the cast as stars! Likewise, they were stars and should've been paid and still making a living from the show that discovered them. And although it sounds like I'm crediting the show for making the phenomenal cast as stars, it's the other way around. The cast made the show! It's a shame to know about this! Tiffany-Amber Thiessen also did several TV movies that aired on the Lifetime channel. Those movies were good, BECAUSE of her.
I watch a little bit of everything, but I've never seen an episode of 9O21O. Growing up, I had a few regular TV shows that I watched about daily, but as shows and airing schedules changed, so did my few regular TV shows. I don't even have cable TV, satellite TV, nor (currently) subscribe to any streaming services.
I have the Saved By the Bell series on DVD, including the first season (Good Morning Miss Bliss) with 4 of the Saved By the Bell cast members, and Hayley Mills as Ms Bliss, and I also have the Saved By the Bell: The College Years set which featured 4 of the original cast members again, in college. Tiffany Thiiessen was in the college years season(s) as well! And the series finale brought back everyone from the original series for the final episode where Zack and Kelly finally get married.
But the stars of the show, made the show one of the great TV shows of the 1990's. It's a shame that this show, also "type casted" the stars in a way. Most of them was still able to use that "type" of star, in other ways/characters. But, being "type" casted like that, really can limit your life as an actor. You know that when Tiffany Thiessen walked into an audition, it was looked at as "can Kelly Kapowski be this character"?!
Pay them the royalties that they're type casted to! It's horrible that they are not!
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P
It was a much to watch that show in those days. To say it was awesome was an understatement. Everyone watched that show, not just teens and incidentally I loved the theme song.
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P
Both Tiffany, Paul and the cast were talented! On sbtb, they were funny. And depending on shows theme, like Jesse being addicted to pills to get thru her exams and Zack being there when she crashed. Made you cry. Hey Zacks a good guy and good friend!
I like everything Tiffanys been in. Her new show that's coming up I want to see because I like her as an actress and a person. I enjoyed watching her cooking show. Dinner at Tiffany's. Shed cook. Entertain and shed have friends on to eat w her! Best of luck in all you do Tiffany! Your fan and friend Peggy
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M
Many entertainers do not collect royalties. Take the Dave Clark Five. He paid the other members of the band a very small salary while he kept all the royalties. He became wealthy. He wasn’t even a very good drummer. Someone else played the drums on recordings. No wonder he was glad all over. For many actors getting a part on any show could launch their careers. It’s the name of the game.
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N
They may not have made paper money but Tiffany amber thesson made a name for her self and if it wasent for that show she most likely wouldn't have gotten the role as vallery on 90210. Everyone loved her her cuteness and wanted to see more of her . I say she made out pretty well . Mario lopez to be did and does pretty well for himself on TV now . Zac morris he did alright . Good thing they are humble about it if it wasent for that show I t could have been none of them acting in their future
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O
I remember watching this show when it came out, it does suck that they didn't get a good check but the show put all the characters on the map for bigger shows and movies. The show probably didn't make much money as is but when watching it today it does seem more young audience oriented but not put together poorly even if they tried to get something I doubt the show made enough to even chase
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J
I love how she says this while having a net worth of $ 10 million dollars
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O
Where do you think she got that money from, Save by The Bell put all of the cast on the map for bigger rolls
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N
Pretty sure that was his point man.
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Z
10 million isnt crap for a celebrity. We have politicians worth more than that
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It's so sad that those actors who MADE the show, got so little from it. At least they all stayed friends over the years!
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P
I mean it was originally a cable show for Disney where the kids had relatively small parts budgeted for cable, it became a show made for Saturday morning on a budget less than a cartoon.
Saved by the bell movies and primetime was negotiated im sure a little better than scale, the agents were so impressed in the difference between the 2 that they didnt bother to go for higher money, which I'm sure NBC was like some of cast will be enough, so the agents, went for down the road money vs up-front money.