Mario Lopez
His first role at the age of 11 was as the drummer on Kids Incorporated in 1984. Lopez is a capable drummer and has been seen in his many television roles playing the instrument. Lopez became known in the early 1990s as A.C. Slater in the popular television sitcom Saved by the Bell. Lopez’s character was a muscular, athletic student, which helped garner the actor a sizeable teenage-girl fan base. He also maintains a close friendship with fellow castmate Mark-Paul Gosselaar.
Since his stint on Saved by the Bell and the show’s spin-offs, Lopez has enjoyed a career as host of a variety of television contest shows. He hosted Pet Star on the Animal Planet channel and was co-host of ESPN2’s ESPN Hollywood. He is the captain of the L.A. Armed Response team on GSN’s Extreme Dodgeball. Like fellow Saved by the Bell actor Dustin Diamond, he was also featured as a celebrity guest on The Weakest Link.
Mario Lopez has become something of an icon to the gay community as a result of his portrayal of Greg Louganis, as well as his rather flamboyant personality in general. He played off this notoriety in a parody of the film Brokeback Mountain that aired on the Comedy Central show Mind of Mencia. Furthermore, there exists an Internet subculture devoted to extreme homosexual innuendoes of all things Saved by the Bell-related. The character of Slater plays a central role in many of these stories, which often possess scatological conclusions. The character became somewhat of a phenomenon on the Internet after the distribution of a SBTB clip of Slater fighting Zack with heavy metal music with the caption, "Don’t Mess With A.C. Slater!" (Although the most popular caption is "Don’t F**k With A.C. Slater!")
A parody of Lopez started on the Internet after syndicated SBTB reruns began airing. The internet series is titled 28 Day Slater, which is a play on the name of a 2002 horror film 28 Days Later. The series is created by Team Tiger Awesome and can be viewed on their website, on Channel 102 (where the series originated, or on YouTube. The series is basically about Mario Lopez’s life (played by a look-a-like named Derek Alvarado), who thinks he is still A.C. Slater in Saved By The Bell.
