Elizabeth Berkley Reveals Secrets Of Saved By The Bell's Iconic Caffeine Pill Episode
Who will ever forget actress Elizabeth Berkley as Jessie on Saved by the Bell manically dancing to the song "I'm So Excited" in her bedroom, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar's Zack Morris looking on in shock? What had happened to the pulled-together, school-focused Jessie? Well, as viewers would learn, Ms. Spano was struggling with an addiction to caffeine pills due to the pressure of getting into Stanford, according to Today. Despite the heft of the topic, Berkley told the outlet this was her favorite episode of the campy sitcom that remains iconic almost three decades after Saved by the Bell ended.
"I especially loved it because Mark-Paul and I have always been so close. He's such a good friend, dear friend. And we got to really get more dramatic and juicy with it. So it was fun for us, as a change, to go a little bit deeper on the show," the actress said. But she revealed more about what led to perhaps one of the most famous scenes from the show.
Elizabeth Berkley knows not everyone loved the scene
"When we were filming the meltdown scene, I just remember our director — we had done a few takes and it was good, it was getting there," she told Today. "But I remember the director just saying, 'We got it. Now just go for it.' And so we did. And that's the one they kept. And that's the one that everyone seems to still like, you know, quoting and acting out. I mean, I see things on Instagram in memes and you name it. People kind of love it."
It's true — we can all quote the scene, when Jessie sings, "I'm so excited. I'm soo...scared." Of course, many make fun of what they perceive to be a slightly melodramatic take on the topic of pill addiction. But even Berkley acknowledges, "Some people might say it was over the top. But it was intense. And Jessie was a little unhinged."
To be fair, as director Don Barnhart told Thrillist in 2015, "It was a stretch for the show. You gotta remember something. In those days, drug addiction and drug use on shows was very, very rare on a half-hour comedy."
One thing is certain — no matter your take on her performance, you remember it, all these years later.