Peter Engel, a producer and writer of youth-oriented sitcoms for TNBC (Teen NBC), led by Saved by the Bell, died Tuesday in his Santa Monica, California home. He was 88.
TNBC was a former Saturday morning programming block on NBC, and the success of Saved by the Bell led Engel to produce other similar appeal comedies under his eponymous production company, including California Dreams, Hang Time, One World and City Guys.
Reformatted and rebooted from the Disney Channel series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Saved by the Bell debuted in 1989 and aired for four seasons. It had two spin-offs, both on NBC: Saved by the Bell: The College Years in primetime from 1993 to 1994 and Saved by the Bell: The New Class on Saturday mornings from 2003 to 2010. The series also spawned TV movies Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (1992) and Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas (1994), and a short-lived comic book series. In 202o, it was rebooted for one season on streamer Peacock with original cast members Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley.
In 2003, Engel shifted to the reality genre as an executive producer of the comedy competition Last Comic Standing, which was broadcast on NBC from 2003 to 2010, and was revived for an eighth season in 2014.
In 2016, Engel released the memoir I Was Saved by the Bell: Stories of Life, Love, and Dreams That Do Come True.
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