TNBC - History

History

The idea for TNBC sprang from the popularity of Saved by the Bell. This ultimately persuaded NBC to cancel all of its animated programs in 1992 in favor of live action teen-oriented shows on Saturday mornings, making NBC the first network to drop children's programming entirely. As a result of this change, California Dreams, originally a sitcom about a family was changed to a sitcom about a group of teenage friends, setting the template for future TNBC shows to follow this same format.

The sitcom USA High, produced by Peter Engel, was originally intended to air on the lineup. However the series aired on USA Network along with Saved by the Bell: The New Class which aired concurrently on both networks. Another Engel-produced sitcom Malibu, CA only aired on local syndication. That series was packaged with Saved by the Bell and California Dreams and aired on local syndication markets. USA High and Malibu, CA are the only Engel-produced series that did not air on TNBC, post-Saved by the Bell: The College Years.

During the lineup's history, only two non-fiction series were produced: Brains & Brawn and Name Your Adventure. Another non-scripted NBC show, NBA Inside Stuff, aired directly after the programming block but was never actually part of TNBC.

In 2000, the Thomas W. Lynch-produced series Just Deal was the first TNBC scripted series not to be produced by Peter Engel since Running the Halls (1993) and the first series to be shot in single-camera format. The following year Sk8, also produced by Lynch, aired for one season before being canceled. Reruns continued to air until the lineup folded in 2002 and the time was leased to Discovery Communications, which aired the Discovery Kids on NBC programming block until the launch of qubo in September 2006.