NEED TO KNOW
Jessie Spano was just a girl who wanted to have it all.
One of the most unforgettable episodes of Saved by the Bell comes in the show’s second season, where the Bayside High gang is making the most of their high school experience. The episode, titled “Jessie’s Song,” follows Elizabeth Berkley’s character, Jessie Spano, as she juggles school with a new band she’s started with best friends Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies) and Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen).
When Hot Sundae’s audition for a local record executive clashes with a big test, Jessie finds herself stressed. What starts as experimenting with caffeine pills turns into one of the most iconic character meltdowns in television history, as Jessie oversleeps ahead of her performance. She wants to quickly wash her hair when Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) tells her there’s “no time.”
“No time! There’s never any time!” she begins to scream. “I don’t have time to study. I’ll never get into Stanford. I’ll let everyone down.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Jessie reaches for her caffeine pills out of desperation and when Zack stops her, the two struggle over the bottle as Jessie tries to prove she can go ahead with the show.
She frantically sings The Pointer Sisters’ classic. She belts, “I’m so excited! I’m so excited!” but as she tries to continue, she admits, “I’m so scared” and tearfully melts into her concerned friend’s arms.
The explosive moment in what was normally a lighthearted sitcom made its mark on television. 35 years after it aired, here are some of the things you may not have known about Jessie’s manic meltdown.
The cast was excited to sink their teeth into something serious
Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal/Getty
In 2020, Berkley told Today why she and Gosselear looked forward to filming the episode.
“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,” she shared.
“So it was fun for us, as a change, to go a little bit deeper on the show. But we all loved each other and had such a great time. It’s amazing to us that all these years, all different generations have appreciated it and it’s had an impact in pop culture.”
Berkley didn’t know which take they used for the episode
Alice S. Hall/NBCU Photo Bank
Making great television often requires actors to do numerous takes of a scene, which can be difficult when it’s emotionally demanding. During that conversation with Today, Berkley recalled how they got the moment just right.
“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 recalled. “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.”
“Jessie’s Song” initially dealt with harder drugs
Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank
In an excerpt of I Was Saved by the Bell: Stories of Life, Love, and Dreams That Do Come True that was first published by Vulture in 2016, executive producer Peter Engel explains he and writer Tom Tenowich originally intended Jessie to become addicted to speed. The network found that to be a bridge too far for the show, however.
“Standards and Practices, the censorial department of NBC, vetoed it, saying speed was too serious for Saturday mornings,” he wrote. While they pushed back, executives wouldn’t budge.
“We compromised,” admitted Engel. “We kept the episode virtually the same, but swapped out the speed. I wasn’t pleased about it — after all, the average caffeine pill was the equivalent of a cup of coffee, if that, so we might as well have had Jessie get addicted to Earl Grey, or breaking into the Max to snort coffee grounds. But hey, we had to start somewhere.”
Jessie’s caffeine pills were actually candy
NBC
In a 2020 interview with Esquire, Berkley revealed the caffeine pills were a mix of “Red Hots and Tic Tacs.”
Berkley continued to provide fans advice after Saved By The Bell concluded
JC Olivera/Variety via Getty
The actress’ time as Jessie Spano was never far from her heart. In 2006, she founded Ask Elizabeth, an online advice resource for adolescents. Five years later, she released a book by the same name, working with a panel of experts to advise teen girls in matters of sex, nutrition, fitness, body image, personal relationships, and other areas of interest.
