Zack Attack! Mark-Paul Gosselaar Looks Back at 10 Roles

NYPD Blue (2001-2005)
Det. John Clark Jr.
Gosselaar first met show creator Steven Bochco when he auditioned for his 2001 ABC legal drama Philly. (That role went to his Dead Man on Campus costar Tom Everett Scott). Three weeks later, Bochco phoned him and said he had an idea to put him on NYPD Blue and cast him as a new partner for Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz). While Bochco was unaware of Gosselaar's SBTB past, the actor still hadn't escaped it, which he found out when he shadowed police to research his role: ''We made a drug raid at midnight. It's dark, and I have a bullet-proof vest and hat on. We crash through the door, apprehend the suspect, blah, blah, blah, and as we're standing outside, these two neighbor girls, probably 13 or 14, ask, 'Is that that guy from Saved by the Bell?'''