A Series of Thoughts Provoked By 'Zack Morris' on Fallon

Whether or not reuniting the cast of Saved by the Bell is God's work, it's a major part of Jimmy Fallon's bid to become the talk show equivalent of a chain email stating, "You know you were born in the 80's if: you remember the Challenger exploding, or SNAP BRACELETS! Pass this on to at least ten friends or else you will die of AIDS."

Last night, Fallon hosted Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who promoted his TNT series Raising the Bar in the most viral video-friendly way possible: by donning a blond lace-front and gamely playing "Zack Morris," his Bell lead character. Great concept, but to be honest, I wasn't feeling the execution. Was it just me, or did Gosselaar actually seem oddly muted when he should have been amping up his performance? It was as though Saturday Night Live was saddled with a preppie-looking sports host that they decided to stuff in a Saved by the Bell skit, and my principal reaction was, "Oooh, you're close! So close to nailing it!"

Also, Jimmy Fallon: if ever there were a time for you to not notoriously break up laughing in the middle of a skit, it would be when "Zack" puts you in a clock-freezing "time out."

Still, though, points for trying, and the Zack Attack performance at the end was nifty enough. I just can't help but be amused by the fact that Fallon's demographic pandering on the level of "I, too, play videogames and grew up watching Small Wonder!" was effortlessly achieved in NBC late night this past week, but by Conan O'Brien.

Clip below: