Mark-Paul Gosselaar played Zack Morris at Paul F. Tompkins' request, and the result was pretty glorious

Paul F. Tompkins’ Speakeasy interviews are always interesting, from his chat with Bob Odenkirk about Alvin And The Chipmunks to his talk with Tony Hale about the evolution of the Buster Bluth character. For this week’s episode, though, he may have outdone himself on the weirdometer. Tompkins sat down with Franklin & Bash’s Mark-Paul Gosselaar to talk about, yes, a TNT show only some people watch, but also about how he got started as a child star. Things really get going though when, two Manhattans in, Tompkins asks Gosselaar to strap himself into his old Zack Morris jeans and react, as Morris, to some 2013 situations. To Gosselaar’s credit, he handles the challenge with grace and skill, and remembers details about the show that only the nerdiest nerds would recall. He also says he thinks Jessie Spano was a lesbian, which, come on, of course she was.