Network | NBC |
---|---|
Launched | September 12, 1992 |
Closed | September 28, 2002 |
Country of origin | United States |
Format | Saturday morning live-action teen programming block |
Running time | 2½ hours (1992–97) 3 hours (1997–2002) |
Original language(s) | English |
TNBC (or Teen NBC) is the name of a former American teen-oriented television programming block that aired on NBC from September 12, 1992 to September 28, 2002, due to its replacement with the children's-oriented Discovery Kids on NBC educational lineup. The Saturday morning block featured comical live-action series – primarily in the form of scripted sitcoms and variety series such as Saved by the Bell , California Dreams , Hang Time , One World , City Guys and others – geared toward teenagers and sometimes young adults, the majority of which were produced by such key people as Peter Engel and the network's in-house production units NBC Studios and NBC Enterprises.
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As early as 1988, NBC had been openly contemplating replacing its Saturday morning cartoon programming block of children's animation with less expensive, in-house programming oriented towards older audiences, such as talk shows and travel-themed programs, due to increasing competition from weekday afternoon cartoons airing in first-run syndication. [1] The idea for a block specifically oriented towards a teenage demographic sprang from the popularity of the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell , which centered on a group of six students attending the fictional Bayside High School in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. Debuting on the network's Saturday morning lineup in September 1989, Saved by the Bell was a re-imagining of the short-lived sitcom Good Morning, Miss Bliss , which originated on The Disney Channel, a pay-TV channel in 1988 (the predecessor series served as a starring vehicle for Hayley Mills, who unlike fellow series regulars Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dennis Haskins, Lark Voorhies and Dustin Diamond, did not return for the retooled series). [2]
In 2000, Just Deal became the first TNBC scripted series not to be produced by Peter Engel since the short-lived 1993 series Running the Halls , and the first series to be shot in a single-camera format. The following year, Sk8 premiered on the block, lasting for one season before being canceled. Both Just Deal and Sk8 were productions of Thomas W. Lynch, who had previously produced several hit teen dramas for Nickelodeon. By 2001, the block was suffering from declining viewership, particularly among its intended audience of teens; much of its audience by this point was from older viewers who had left their TV on after Weekend Today ended, and by its last season, the average age of a TNBC viewer was 41 years old. [3]
NBC shut down the program block in 2002, leasing out its children's programming to Discovery Kids in a brokered programming arrangement. NBC blamed TNBC's failure on the network's poor performance among younger viewers in its regular prime time program lineup, leaving no opportunity to promote children's programming there; the network would have abandoned children's programming altogether if not for the E/I[ clarification needed ] mandates. [4]
On June 29, 2023, NBCUniversal announced it would revive the TNBC brand for a free ad-supported streaming television channel to launch on Amazon Freevee and Xumo Play later that summer. Debuting as part of a larger slate of FAST channels featuring content from the NBCUniversal library, the channel will include reruns of programming from the TNBC block, as well as other sitcoms such as Punky Brewster and Major Dad . [5] On May 31, 2024, it was announced that TNBC would be rebranded the next day as NBC Comedy Vault. [6]
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The headquarters of NBC is in New York City at the Comcast Building. NBC also has offices in Chicago at the NBC Tower.
Children's television series are television programs designed specifically for children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are normally broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake, immediately before and after school schedules generally start in the country where they air. Educational themes are also prevalent, as well as the transmission of cautionary tales and narratives that teach problem-solving methods in some fashion or another, such as social disputes.
The WB Television Network was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner and the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Company, with the former acting as controlling partner. The network aired programs targeting teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 35, while its children's division, Kids' WB, targeted children between the ages of 4 and 12.
Fox Kids was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a joint venture between the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox) and its affiliated stations, it was later owned by Fox Family Worldwide.
Peter Engel is an American television producer who is best known for his teen sitcoms that appeared on TNBC, a former Saturday morning block on NBC which featured all teenage-oriented programs for educational purposes. His most well known work was the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell which inspired the birth of the TNBC block for his other shows such as California Dreams, Hang Time and City Guys in the 1990s.
USA High is an American teen sitcom that ran on USA from August 1997 to June 1999, ending after 95 episodes. The series revolves around six friends enrolled at the American Academy boarding school in Paris, France.
Discovery Kids on NBC was an American children's programming block that aired on NBC from October 5, 2002 to September 2, 2006. The block was produced under a time-lease agreement with Discovery Kids, and features a mixture of live-action and animated series originated on the cable network that met educational programming requirements defined by the Federal Communications Commission.
A weekday cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated series programming that was typically scheduled on weekday mornings and afternoons in the United States on many major television networks and in broadcast syndication since the 1960s.
Sk8 is a teen drama series that aired on NBC's TNBC Saturday morning programming block from October 6, 2001 to January 5, 2002 with 13 episodes produced. The show continued in reruns until TNBC's dissolution and replacement by programming leased from Discovery Kids by NBC starting in September 2002.
City Guys is an American television sitcom that aired for five seasons on NBC from September 6, 1997, to December 15, 2001. The series aired as part of the network's Saturday morning block, TNBC.
Just Deal is a comedy-drama series that aired Saturday mornings on NBC as a part of the network's TNBC lineup. The series premiered on September 23, 2000 and ended on September 7, 2002.
Saturday morning preview specials were aired on television annually to present previews of each network's fall lineup of Saturday-morning cartoon children's programming. Similar to the model for their new prime time counterpart shows, television networks in the United States and Canada would film a preview special for the fall season. These would often air as part of the regular network schedule, or be made available to their affiliates for airing at any time, especially to fill timeslots which contained programming canceled months before.
Thomas W. Lynch is an American television series creator and executive producer who is the head of his own production company, Tom Lynch Company based in Los Angeles, CA.
A teen situation comedy, or teen sitcom, is a subgenre of comedic television program targeted towards young people. In general, these type of programs focus primarily on characters between 10 and 19 years of age and routinely feature characters involved in humorous situations, and often focus on the characters' family and social lives. The primary plot of each episode often involves the protagonist(s) the program centers on, while secondary plotlines often focus on the character(s') parents, siblings or friends, although the secondary characters may sometimes also or instead be involved in the episode's main plot.
Children's programming has played a part in NBC's programming since its initial roots in television. This article outlines the history of children's television programming on NBC including the various blocks and notable programs that have aired throughout the television network's history on weekends.
In regard to children's programming, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) has aired mostly programming from Walt Disney Television or other producers. This article outlines the history of children's television programming on ABC including the various blocks and notable programs that have aired throughout the television network's history.
The broadcast of educational children's programming by terrestrial television stations in the United States is mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), under regulations colloquially referred to as the Children's Television Act (CTA), the E/I rules, or the Kid Vid rules. Since 1997, all full-power and Class A low-power broadcast television stations have been required to broadcast at least three hours per-week of programs that are specifically designed to meet the educational and informative (E/I) needs of children aged 16 and younger. There are also regulations on advertising in broadcast and cable television programming targeting children 12 and younger, including limits on ad time, and prohibiting the airing of advertising for products related to the program currently airing.
The More You Know (TMYK) is an American programming block that is programmed by Hearst Media Production Group, and debuted on October 8, 2016, as a replacement for the animation block NBC Kids. It airs on weekend mornings on NBC and Telemundo, and as of 2017 is replayed Sunday mornings on sister network Cozi TV. The block's programs are also available through all of NBC's video on demand venues, including the network's site/app, Peacock, and cable/satellite services.
Discovery Family is an American cable television channel co-owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc. and Hasbro Entertainment, which are divisions of Warner Bros. Discovery Networks and Hasbro respectively.
Telemundo Kids is a former American children's programming block that debuted on October 6, 2001 on the Spanish-language television network Telemundo. The three-hour block—which aired on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time and Pacific Time—featured live action and animated series aimed at children between the ages of 2 and 14.