 Surf dudes with attitude, feeling mellow Welcome everybody to another 90s Tastic episode of the web show. I am so excited about this one, I'm excited about every web show, but I'm really excited about this one. I grew up with a show called California Dreams, If You Know You Know, Saturday Morning, Saved by the Bell, Hangtime. So today Aaron Jackson joins me, he played the wonderful Mark Winkle on the show. There is also some very exciting news for California Dreams fans, the band are getting back together New York City, October 13th, so Aaron kindly chatted to me not only about California Dreams and his experience on the show, but also this epic reunion that is not to be missed. So Aaron, welcome to the web show. Aaron welcome to the web show, it is so wonderful to have you here. I'm a huge fan of California Dreams, I grew up with it, it was a staple of my Saturday mornings. It just celebrated its 31st anniversary of the premiere, it's first aired in 1992. Why do you think the show is still so popular all these years later? I think Peter Ingle, our executive producer, I think when he kind of came up with a concept of Saved by the Bell, then he kind of veered off to this centralized idea of having this group of kids that had this common bond and that was of music. We were a family very quickly on the show and off the show, so I think that's part of what it was. I think that Peter also and our amazing writing staff had a unique way of writing each character individually so that they had their own mark, if you will, that allowed the audience to connect with them. You had the tough kid of Jake and then you had the sweet kindness of what Tiffany was and then all of a sudden Mark comes in and he was this kind of all-American kid that was, I don't know, I was the 1990s nerd without being a nerd, without having the pocket protector and everything else. I was always the butt of every joke or what have you and then you bring in the sly character that was just like the cut-up and then you had the Tony and Sam relationship. I think that's what it was and then also the storylines that our writers wrote because they were, you know, we did everything from drugs to drinking, to prejudice, to cheating on tests, like everything that high school and middle school A-level kids were going through, so I think they could connect that way. I think it really shows on screen that you did have that really strong friendship with the other cast members off-screen when you were filming. How important was it to you to try and keep contact with the other cast members and still be like a family? We're talking 30 years. You know, I just turned 50 this past June and, you know, 30 years of any relationship, right? And for us to have been blessed 30 years ago to have gotten cast on a television series in, you know, Los Angeles, California and from all different walks of life. You know, I mean, J being from Maryland and William being from Chicago and then Kelly and Michael grew up in California. And then I was from a small town in Pittsburgh, you know, Pennsylvania. And it was like we all kind of like ascended on this area of California. And, you know, they had done two seasons without me. And then I got a call from my manager and was like, hey, so you got this audition for this, you know, show and it's a, you know, it's a lead role. And, you know, it's not a reoccurring. It's not a guest spot, you know, they're looking for a series regular. And I went in there and when I got cast, I mean, it was like this immediate family bond, like, and they had already had, I was the new kid on the block and they had already had this connection. And then when I came in, I mean, it was, it was as if I was there the whole time. So yeah, so I mean, it's, it was, it was a job at first. And then it turned into a family. It really did. I mean, in my studio that I'm in just now, I mean, at any angle that I look at right now, I can see pictures of us as a cast. I mean, I'm just counting one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, I've got 12, 12 pictures of my cast in here, plus, you know, old California Dreams memorabilia from the sharkies menu to the drumhead of our bass drum. So yeah, we were a family, definitely. I was very much a nineties teen. I religiously bought all the magazines. I had Tiger Beat, 16, Bob, Teen Beat, all of them. So I appreciate seeing the level of fame that you had. What was it like as an actor and as a person to have that level of fame so young and so quickly? For me, it was an overnight success to be to be quite honest with you. I had done a handful of pictures before that. I had done a handful of of commercials and done some stuff. But nothing, nothing to this magnitude. And then I remember Tiger Beat, you know, after I got cast, Tiger Beat was the first one that came out and asked me, you know, hey, would you like to do a spread in our magazine? And I'm like, I don't know what that is, but yeah, that sounds great. You know, and then I did it. And for some reason, and I don't know what it was, the magazines gravitated towards me. And I'm not going to say they didn't gravitate towards the rest of the cast. But I was very, it sounds egotistical or selfish, but I was very kind of in touch with what was going on at my career and I wasn't really so in touch with what was happening outside of the studio with everybody else. And then I was getting all of these requests, you know, and I've got, you know, framed copies of magazines over here on my left of the Big Bopper, 16 Bop and Teen Machine, that those are the first four covers of magazines that I was on. You know, and I'm looking at the people that are on there with like Jonathan Brandis and I'm looking at Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Ryder Strong and Zach and Kelly from Save by the Bells. And then, you know, so I'm looking at that. And it was it was overnight. And I'll tell you the first time I ever got recognized, I was in England, ironically enough. And I was I was just over there on holiday with my family, with my dad. And and I think it was just my dad and my sister. And I remember someone coming up to me on the street saying, hey, wait, you're Mark Winkle from California Dreams. And I'm like, yeah, how do you know? And the show had just started airing in the States, not six months past and and I was in Coving Garden. I mean, I remember it as clear as day, you know, it was a Sunday afternoon. And we had just started airing on the Trouble Channel, you know, and it was and then shortly thereafter, I did the Big Breakfast. And then I did I did a handful of other talk shows in England. And it was just so so the fame. It hit me quick. You know, we we were we were a big show for a long time. And I think we all as a cast took it in good stride. I don't think any one of us let it go to our heads. And we were when we would go to our autograph signings and everything. You know, we were the we were the show that people we would stay there until everybody got an autograph. It was never about, oh, we were contracted for an hour. We were contracted for three hours. We would stay there until every last person got their autograph for their handshake or their hug. There wasn't selfies back then. You know, this was still when they were doing the. You know, cameras and that was like a big deal, you know. So yeah, it went big quick. It really did. Well, speaking of fans and autographs, I think that's a very nice segue into a certain reunion that is happening this month in New York City, October 13. Could you talk about them? Yeah, of course, October 13th at the the Stitch Bar in Blues. We're doing all day kind of a meet and greet and a Q&A. And then that evening we're doing a concert at the bar. And it is the first time in in my 30 years that all nine of us will be in the same place at the same time. You know, my my cast, you know, and that sounds, you know, like a selfish but my cast that I was a part of, you know, we've done some meet and greets. But the last meet and greet we did was in 2019. And we had everybody but Jay, because Jay was living, you know, lives in Australia. So we didn't have him. So it was it was a family, but it was almost a family divided, right? And then the other ones we've done before that, you know, someone was always missing. And I've only met Brent Lee once and I met him at the rap party of our show. And there's one picture of us in one of the magazines. I have it over there on this side that shows all of us kind of like in this huddle, you know. And I didn't even realize at the time that that was Brent Lee to be quite honest with you. Like, and I just remember seeing it many, many years later. And I'm like, wait, I did meet Brent Lee, you know, and we're friends on Facebook. You know, we message back and forth, you know, between Instagram, etc. But never really had a conversation with them. And now, you know, with with the hype of the show again and over the years we have. And then Heidi, I've never never met Heidi. You know, Heidi, Heidi left at the end of the first season, you know, give or take first, second season, and then I came in the beginning of the third season. So like our paths never crossed. So it was so it's amazing that that all nine of us can descend, you know, on onto New York for the two or three days that we're going to be there and and get together with some amazing fans. And I don't know that they're fans to us as much as they are just part of the family because they've been on this journey with us for 30 years, you know. So it's, you know, it's it's it's more than just a a reunion concert for us. It's a reunion concert for all of us to get together. And I believe there is a certain American Pie actor with his band that it's going to be performing as well. And Thomas is going to be there. I'm such a fan girl myself. Like, I loved American Pie and I truly did. Just because it was stupid American comedy, right? It just like it was it was it was so perfect for its time. And his co-star, Thomas is was Tara Reid, right? And Tara Reid was my girlfriend of my show. When this film came out, I was like, oh, wow, this is cool. Like, you know, that was my girlfriend of my show. And now she's in this what turned out to be just a massive, just a massive, you know, three series of a film for them. So when Thomas signed on to do this with us, those those pretty exciting, you know. So so I'm I'm jazzed to meet him. I'm like, it's kind of cool, you know, because like I to me, it's I mean, we all get up in the morning and put our pants on the same way. But when you meet someone like Thomas or when someone gets to meet me or, you know, or anybody else, like, that's a big deal to those people, you know, because it's not a part of their everyday life. Well, it's just as a big deal for me as well. You know, Thomas's life and my life are two very different lives. He's I'm I know it's not like a fangirl. I'm like, I'm going to cry. But no, it's like I'm super excited to meet Thomas. Really am. So the link to get the tickets is on screen at the moment. It's also pinned in the comments 13th of October, New York City. So exciting. Is this going to be the first of many more reunions? Or can you not say? I would love to give you an ankle and say, yes, there's going to be this whole plethora around the world. We're taking the we're bringing the band back. I don't know what's next, to be honest with you. You know, I would love to to to ankle something and and give hope out there. But I don't know. I mean, we've all it's 30 years, you know, and it's it's been a wonderful 30 years. And I will all ride this wave as long as we can. But eventually, at some point, you have to you kind of got to put it to bed, you know, and I don't know that I don't know that this is I don't know that we're putting it to bed just yet. We're all like we're all like 18 year old kids again. Like, you know, like we're Facebooking and Instagramming and texting each other. Like, oh, we got to go to see you. It's going to be so much fun. You know, and it's like it's it's it's cute and it's fun. So we'll see, you know, it's it's it's it's a lot of work to put on one of these gigs. It really is. And Jenny Juan is just she's she's killing it right now, just setting all this up for us. And, you know, it's not just like, oh, let's all just get together. You know, it's nine people with, you know, nine hotels and then their families and then rehearsal hall and then an autograph space and then photographers and this. I mean, it's it's it's a production that she's putting together for this. So if Jenny's watching this, thank you, kiddo. Appreciate you. Do you think you'll have time to have a proper catch up with the other cast members outside of the rehearsals in the actual event while you're in the city? I would hope so. Yeah, I mean, we're all kind of flying in at different times and leaving at different times just because of our our own, you know, families, etc. So I fly in Thursday morning and I'm heading back out midday, Saturday, so I'm only in for 48 hours. And, you know, it's like my dad's coming, you know, my dad's 80 years old. But my dad is a part of this dynasty, you know, back when we started every show that we taped in in Burbank and then Sunset Gower. My dad flew out from Pittsburgh to watch us tape. So like my dad, like I don't want to say he was the set dad, but my dad was there an awful lot. So these, you know, the other of my cast anyway, they all knew my dad. So my dad's like, hey, do you mind if I come? And I'm like, no, dude, come, I'd love you to be there, you know? So he's flying in, which is absolutely wonderful to have him. And, you know, it's been 30 years since he's seen them since the rap, you know, where it's I've seen them over the years, but my dad hasn't. So I would imagine we're all going to do something that that that Thursday night, you know, a big cast dinner or something walking around the crazy streets in New York, we'll see. So is there a particular song that you're looking forward to performing and does your dad have a request? My dad's request is that he gets in from LaGuardia into the city safely and back at 80 years old. He's scared to death. That's his request. My my favorite probably was I'm glad I was there. I haven't been there. Faces they tell me I still haven't met. Always remembering you. That's probably my favorite. I mean, it was the hardest song to sing for us just because it was the end of it was the end of the show. If I could I'd take you with me everywhere. This dream is the one thing I will always know. It was the last time we sang that. And then for the only time we sang it. And then my last line being Hi-Ho Silver. Hi-Ho Silver, man, and away. And away. And like, because then that's how. So for me, I was one of the characters and I think everyone had a bookending. But mine truly bookended, right? Because my first episode that I was in was was Sly making fun of my character and and, you know, how he jumped on stage at Carnegie Hall and when I was doing the William Tell overture. Hi-Ho Silver, and away. So when I got to say those two lines and then hug Michael at the end. So that that's a song that's always going to be dear in my heart. I mean, Take It Higher was was one of the best songs that we ever did. There's not really there's not really one that I'm, you know, not looking forward to doing again. You know, when we did our concert back in 2019, our set list was amazing and the audience, you know, winds up doing two shows that evening and the audience was just, you know, dancing and fist pumping in the air, just, you know, remembering, you know, the iconic songs that we did do. So, yeah, those are probably my two Take It Higher and and I'm glad I was there. So this could be California Dreams related, doesn't have to be. But if you could go back to your pre-California Dream self, knowing what you know now, what advice would you give yourself? That is a great question. Honestly, probably take it all in. Like, and just enjoy the journey. So much of it was. There was times where we we were pulled in so many different directions that that we didn't get to stop and smell the roses. I drive very slow. My daughters make fun of me because, you know, I'm never in a hurry. I'm also like never late anywhere. That's kind of something I'm proud of. Like I'm always I'm always early, but yet I drive slow. And I think it was because for so many years, my life was just going so fast, you know, and everything was just kind of like, yeah, you had to get it done. You had to be here, you this interview, this photo shoot, this da, da, da, da, da, da, da. That when I was able to kind of step back and look at it, I could I could stop and smell the roses. So I wish I wish that if I could go back and talk to myself, that that I would say, you know, it's just actually enjoy the journey, enjoy the process, which I did. But I think I could have gone a little bit more out of it as well. You know, I was never about the fame, you know, I liked it. I'm not going to lie. You know, it was not about the money that I couldn't care less about the money. But I I enjoyed the fame, but I enjoyed the fame for different reasons. You know, it wasn't about like, oh, you know me, it was more like I'm on this platform where I could be on this platform and I could actually help, you know, maybe I could help somebody. Maybe I can make a difference. Maybe I can make a change. And I think I did. I hope I did. You know, I get a lot of a lot of people that that that that Instagram me or Facebook me and just say stuff like, you know, you changed my world. And it was because of this episode or was because of this. And I don't think any one of the nine of us really knew the impact that this show was going to have on people, you know. And it's it's it's weird to think that that a television show that made up, you know, animated animated you know, live action comedy that we were could actually help somebody or change somebody or give them hope throughout their day. So that that was an honor, you know, to be a part of. So shortly after the show finished, I started a company called Dangerous Curves and I started going around the country speaking to to the youth, the middle school and high school students, so like 12 to 17, about the effects of drinking and driving and the effects of drugs. And now, you know, in my in my current speeches, talking about the effects of social media and and what what social media can do, you know, how much time we spend in the social media, scrolling, TikToks, etc. And and allowing what's in the Internet to dictate who we are, who we feel we are, what we should be or what we shouldn't be. And be you, man. Don't don't let don't let some advertisement or some TikTok person tell you what you're supposed to be, which is so ironic because that's what Michael, Kelly, Jay, Jenny, William, myself, Michael were doing back then. But it was just a different type of social media, right? And we were I think we I'm not saying we were a better influence. We were just a different influence back then, you know. So so yeah, so it was a platform for me to hopefully do well and do better for people, you know. And now at 50, I teach high school drama, you know, I'm a drama teacher and I love it, absolutely love it. And it wasn't because I needed the job. It was just something that was like, huh, that sounds like a cool jam. That looks sounds like a really cool gig to be able to do. So I get to inspire, you know, young me's that are that were my age, you know, where I was their age when they were there at now and talking about this is what your future could look like. But this is the road. This is how you do it instead of doing this. Don't do this, do this, try this. Don't do that kind of thing. So yeah, so I have a blessing. I'm totally I'm blessed and lucky. So with your new students, do you do what we did in the 90s where you roll out the TV and the VHS player and screen them episodes of California Dreams? Well, it's funny because I do I like PowerPoints. I'm that guy, you know, I'm a lot like Mark. I like a good PowerPoint because I can get a pellet through of information out very quickly and then I can get to the lesson plan. And meeting Aaron on day one is this whole kind of like journey of who I am. So yeah, it's they they they're stuck seeing me for a good 15, 20 minutes of of my my California Dreams days. Looking back, what is one key memory from your time on California Dreams that really stands out to you if you could picture as one? I think probably when Eddie Mecca came on, he played Jake's uncle and then ended up passing away in the show because Jake was smoking. It was the whole like the loss of somebody. And I hadn't outside of my grandmother. She passed away when I was very young. I don't know. It was eight or 10 when my grandmother passed. But I'd never really dealt with death per you know, per se. You know, I was 19 and I remember Eddie Mecca and you're probably too young to know who Eddie Mecca was. But a huge show in America called Laverne and Shirley. And I grew up on Laverne and Shirley and I grew up on happy days. And I grew up on these things and Eddie Mecca was like besides Mr. Belvedere, which I love Mr. Belvedere. He was on my first episode and that was so amazing to meet him. But Eddie Mecca, like, I don't know, he was he was huge, right? He was just this this huge television star. And he ended up having a zippo in the show that there was a part of the character because he was he smoked, you know? And and then he ended up passing away. And that was the reason Jake stopped smoking, you know? And I have that zippo sitting over there like because Eddie gave it to me afterwards. And I know it sounds silly, but like that started something. Now I collect zippos because of that, you know? And so so that was a pretty huge thing to to to work with with Eddie and and the way that that episode kind of of unfolded. And that was that was pretty amazing. Says one of the one of the best memories. I mean, the best truly the best memory was the day that they offered me the job. That was by far the best, you know, it doesn't get any better than that. So were you familiar with the show when you were auditioning and then found out you got the role? And you know what, when Kelly and Michael and Jay and Jenny and William hear this, then I'm going to get teased and razed for it. But yeah, I was like a super fan of the show. Like it was on, you know, and it was like, it was Saturday morning show, you know? And I I wasn't in LA very long when I got hired on the show. I mean, I was there a very short period of time, but they were on for two four years prior to me. So yeah, like it wasn't something that every Saturday I was like, oh, my God, I got to watch California Dreams. But it was like when it was on, I was like, yeah, that's kind of a cool show because I watched Bell. I mean, who didn't watch Save Other Bell? It was massive. So then it came on right afterwards. And so so I was definitely a fan of it. I knew more about them than they knew about me. I'll tell you that. But I would never have told them that back then. No way. I would have gotten teased six ways. Well, Aaron, it has been so wonderful to talk to you. I am so excited about the reunion in New York on the 13th of October. Details in the comments. And also again, the ticket link is on the screen. I'm actually really trying to make it out there to come and see everyone. You need to figure it out. Fly into LaGuardia, make it happen. Come hang out with us, you know? Get the whole treatment of meeting us not just this way, but get some pictures with us and hang out with us for a couple of days.