Mario Lopez reveals Saved by the Bell royalty cheques are worth less than postage
The former teenage sitcom star has backed Tiffani Thiessen’s claims about their dwindling residual payments from the hit show, as revelations emerge about the huge advertising revenues generated by the NBC comedy.
Mario Lopez has revealed the royalty cheques he receives from Saved by the Bell are sometimes worth less than the cost of posting them.
The actor and television presenter, 53, played popular high school wrestler A.C. Slater in the NBC comedy, which ran from 1989 to 1993 and helped launch the careers of several young stars.
He has now spoken out to back claims made by his former co-star Tiffani Thiessen, 52, that the cast received poor financial deals during the show's original run and now earn negligible residual payments from repeats.
He suggested the programme's Saturday morning scheduling, rather than a lucrative primetime slot, could explain the difference between their earnings and those of other sitcom stars.
Mario told the Daily Mail the cast’s residual cheques were “sometimes less than the postage”, explaining the actors had not secured “the best deal” when they signed up for the programme.
He suggested the distinction between Saturday morning television and primetime broadcasting had made a “big difference” to the money cast members could expect to receive.
Mario added: “A lot of people think just ’cause you come out of TV and stuff, you’re set. That’s not always the case. Not everybody’s making that sort of Seinfeld, Friends-type money from that era.”
Despite his disappointment over the financial arrangements, Mario insisted he remained grateful for the opportunities the programme had created.
He said: “I have nothing but pleasant memories and a great experience. It provided a lot of the opportunities that I’m able to kind of have today.”
His comments follow similar revelations from Tiffani, who played cheerleader Kelly Kapowski, one of the show's central characters and the on-screen love interest of Zack Morris.
Speaking on Page Six Radio in September, Tiffani claimed the money she once received from the programme had effectively disappeared.
She said the Saved by the Bell money had “dried up”, adding: “It’s, like, negative now. It costs more to print the check. We didn’t have pull on that show. We made nothing and we just did our job.”
Tiffani also explained the cast briefly benefited from improved payments when the programme moved beyond its original Saturday morning format.
She said that when the series “went primetime for one season, (they) got a little bit more”.
Mario subsequently shared her remarks on X, describing his former co-star's comments as “real talk”.
The former Extra and Access Hollywood presenter told the Mail Tiffani “wasn’t lying” about the payments, adding that the two actors “always laugh about” the situation.
He also admitted he had not expected their remarks about residuals to be “picked up everywhere”.
The renewed discussion about the cast's earnings follows revelations about the money generated by the programme during its original run.
Denise Simon, a former child star manager whose comments featured in the documentary series Hollywood Demons, claimed that Mario initially earned approximately $1,500 per episode.
According to Denise, the programme was generating roughly $15 million in advertising revenue after its second season, despite the relatively modest salaries received by some of its young performers.
The sitcom, set at the fictional Bayside High School in California, followed a group of teenagers navigating friendships, relationships and school life.
Alongside Mario and Tiffani, its principal cast included Mark-Paul Gosselaar, 52, as Zack Morris, Elizabeth Berkley, 52, as Jessie Spano, and Lark Voorhies, 52, as Lisa Turtle.
Dustin Diamond, who played Samuel “Screech” Powers, died in 2021 aged 44.
