Teen NBC

TNBC

TNBC logo used from 2000 to 2002
Network	NBC
Launched	September 12, 1992; 24 years ago (1992-09-12)
Closed	September 7, 2002; 14 years ago (2002-09-07)
Country of origin	United States
Format	Saturday morning live-action teen programming block
Running time	2½ hours
Original Language(s)	English

TNBC (or Teen NBC) was an American teen-oriented programming block that aired on NBC from September 12, 1992 to September 7, 2002. The Saturday morning block featured live-action series – primarily in the form of scripted teen sitcoms – geared toward teenagers and young adults, the majority of which were produced by the network's in-house production units NBC Studios and NBC Enterprises.

The idea for TNBC 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, California. 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 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). The success of the series – despite harsh reviews from television critics – ultimately persuaded NBC to restructure its Saturday morning lineup, cancelling all of the animated programs.

The network first launched an hour-long Saturday edition of Today in August 1992. Subsequently on September 12, the network removed the animated series from its Saturday morning schedule in favor of a new three-hour block of live action – mostly scripted – series aimed at teenagers, with Saved by the Bell (which entered its fourth and final season at that time) as its centerpiece, making NBC the first network to drop conventional children's programming (animated or otherwise) entirely. The following year in September 1993, this block officially adopted the "TNBC" brand. As a result of the retooling of the network's Saturday morning lineup, California Dreams, a sitcom originally centered on a family was retooled around a group of teenage friends (though retaining its focus around the show's titular band), setting the template for future TNBC shows to follow very similar formats.