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Peter Engel, the TV executive best-known for changing the landscape of young adult programming in the early \u201890s, has died at the age of 88.<\/p>\n
Engel\u2019s family confirmed his death to Variety<\/em><\/a>, noting that he passed away in his Santa Monica home.<\/p>\n Born in Manhattan in 1936, Engel began his career as an NBC Page at the network\u2019s famed 30 Rock location. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1967 and eventually worked his way up to producer. His early TV credits included the series How to Survive a Marriage<\/em> and The Paul Williams Show<\/em> in the late \u201870s. Still, it would be a decade later that Engel truly left his mark on television.<\/p>\n \u201cBrandon Tartikoff, the president of NBC, said he wanted me to do a live-action show on Saturday morning,\u201d Engel recalled in a 2016 interview<\/a>. \u201cI said, \u2018No! Get someone else! I don\u2019t want to do a Saturday morning show!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Tartikoff’s initial concept was called Good Morning, Miss Bliss<\/em>, inspired by his real-life sixth grade teacher. Despite his initial skepticism, Engel agreed to helm the project, which initially ran on the Disney Channel in 1989. When the show failed to find an audience, Engel reworked it into a spin-off for NBC\u2019s Saturday morning slot. The new series, focused more on the students than the teacher, was called Saved by the Bell<\/em>.<\/p>\n READ MORE: <\/strong>Top 100 ’90s Rock Albums<\/a><\/p>\n With a cast of characters that included Zach Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez), Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen) and Screech Powers (Dustin Diamond), Saved by the Bell<\/em> became an unexpected success. The sitcom clicked with kids across America, making it a \u201890s pop-culture phenomenon.<\/p>\n The success of Saved by the Bell<\/em> led NBC to create TNBC, an entire block of Saturday morning programming dedicated to young-adult audiences. Engel was one of the driving forces behind TNBC and modeled more shows \u2013 including California Dreams<\/em>, Hang Time<\/em> and City Guys<\/em> \u2013 off of the Saved by the Bell<\/em> formula.<\/p>\n As TNBC\u2019s popularity began to wane, Engel moved away from the programming. His last show in the block ended in 2001 and TNBC was retired by the network a year later.<\/p>\n In 2003, Engel transitioned to reality television with the comedian competition series Last Comic Standing<\/em>. The series ran for nine series on NBC and helped propel the careers of Iliza Shlesinger, Amy Schumer and Doug Benson (among others). Engel released his autobiography, I Was Saved by the Bell: Stories of Life, Love, and Dreams That Do Come True<\/em><\/a>, in 2016.<\/p>\n’90s Bands That Deserve More Respect<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n