Tiffani Thiessen Explains to Us When She Realized That Plenty of People Had a Crush on Her
On today's Pardon My Take, it's a twofer Friday to send you into a loaded sports weekend. Andy Staples of The Athletic hopped back on the show to discuss Conference Championship Weekend in College Football. On top of that, actress Tiffani Thiessen was a very special guest. Known for her roles in Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills, 90210, Mr. Cat, Mr, Commenter, and Thiessen discussed her new show, Deliciousness, her acting career, and much more. Mr. Cat also asked Thiessen about her popularity among young ones out there who were fans of her shows. Here is how that went down:
Mr. Cat: This is kind of a weird question, but did you consciously know at a certain point in time in the 90s, that like, I don't know, 95 percent of young boys had a crush on you, like, more than a crush, like you were the center of our lives. Not weird, right?
Tiffani Thiessen: I mean, you know, not weird now, and I don't think I really realized it during it. And I do remember, it wasn't until Mark-Paul and I, who played Zack, would actually, they started getting us to travel around the country. And then we actually ended up going to Europe to do like those mall signings, you know, like what New Kids on the Block was basically doing at the time. And we were doing these mall signings, and I think it wasn't until then that I realized the impact of the show itself, because I would see how girls were with him, and then I would see how boys were with me. And that was really kind of the turning point of like, oh, this is kind of weird. This is kind of crazy, you know. And then the fan mail started getting a little creepier...
Mr. Cat: Uhhhh, sorry about that. I probably sent something.
Mr. Commenter: Can I have my shoes back?
Tiffani Thiessen: Exactly. And then, like, I also remember transitioning into 90210 and then playing a role that wasn't as "sweet." And then I remember, like again, that next sort of wave of different sort of fans that have kind of grown up with me, but also older ones, and then I remember that sort of conversation, people were like, "Howard Stern's talking about you." And I'm like, "Huh?" It's definitely evolved into a different sort of ways in my career, you know, depending on what I was doing.
Mr. Cat: I also think that, and this is just a theory based on just my own brain, but the name Kelly Kapowski was a hot name. And then when you find out that the actress is Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, you're like, wait, that's even a hotter name.
Tiffani Thiessen: I never think my name was that hot, just because it was hyphenated, you think?
Mr. Cat: I think Tiffani and Amber, it was just like, "Oh my God, this is crazy. Like, this is the hottest name ever." So, I think that also got people, like, because usually if your name was Ruth or Dorothy, people would be like, ah, yeah, OK. Kelly Kapowski's hot, but Dorothy, whatever. Dorothy Thiessen, who cares? Tiffani-Amber, that was hot. That was big time hot.
And that, folks, was "Name Anatomy 101" with Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter. It was interesting to hear that it wasn't until the mall signings when Thiessen knew how popular she was among the younger generation. But in a time without social media, that totally makes sense.