April 2, 2010, by
"Extra" host Mario Lopez swung by the WXIA-TV studios Wednesday as part of a Southeast tour of "Extra" affiliates.
Your favorite Mario Lopez role
- "A.C." Slater on "Saved by the Bell"
- Dr. Mike Hamoui on "Nip/Tuck"
- Host of Animal Planet's "Pet Star"
- Dancing on "Dancing With the Stars"
- Host of "Extra"
- Dr. Christian Ramirez on "The Bold and the Beautiful"
He looks as young and cut as you’d expect. At age 36, he has a few crinkles around his eyes but otherwise looks more or less like he did during his “Saved by the Bell” days (minus the mullet.)
I got a few minutes with him, which I captured on video below. He was bemused by my name, said he has plenty of friends here in Atlanta and he’s thrilled about becoming a dad. Nothing TMZ worthy.
He hadn’t seen enough of the current season of “Dancing With the Stars’ to proffer an educated opinion. (He was a runner up on the show a few years back.)
He had nice but generic things to say about Stone Mountain’s Jungle Boogie, eliminated from “America’s Best Dance Crew,” in which he’s the host.
He also has a book in May coming out called “Extra Lean,” which features recipes and ways to eat that isn’t too restrictive but can help you lose weight.
Lopez also held a meet and greet with station employees, advertisers and station contest winners. Virtually the entire room was full of gaga women thrilled to get their pictures taken with him. His assistant said a lot of folks know him, surprisingly, from “Pet Star,” which he hosted seven years ago but continues to run in repeats on “Animal Planet.” (Apparently, the show petered out after two seasons because they ran out of good pets to feature.)
Else, most Gen Xers love him as Slater, while MTV denizens know his hosting duties on “Dance Crew.” And most graybeards met him first on “Dancing With the Stars.”
Amusingly, I ran into WXIA-TV reporter Doug Richards (who does the Live Apartment Fire blog) in the hallway, who had no idea who Lopez was. Refreshing!
He, of course, knew Thurbert Baker, the state attorney general who I ran into in the green room. Baker happened.to be there to tape a segment for Chris Matthews on MSNBC after several Republicans in the state demanded he be impeached for not following the Governor's request to sue the government over the health-care reform bill.
That was a serious contrast between frivolity and serious news.
On TV
“Extra,” 7:30 p.m. on WXIA-TV
“America’s Best Dance Crew,” 10 p.m. on Thursdays on MTV
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