View source for TNBC

{{Short description|Former American television programming block}}
{{About|the teen-oriented American TV programming block|the breast cancer variant|Triple-negative breast cancer|the film|The Nightmare Before Christmas}}
{{Infobox programming block
| name            = TNBC
| image           = File:TNBC (2000-2002).svg
| caption         = Final logo, used from 2000 to 2002
| format          = Saturday morning live-action teen programming block
| premiered       = {{Start date|1992|09|12}}
| closed          = {{End date|2002|09|28}}
| channel         = [[NBC]]
| country         = [[United States]]
| language        = [[English language|English]]
| runtime         = 2½ hours (1992–97)<br>3 hours (1997–2002)
}}

'''TNBC''' (or '''Teen NBC''') was an American teen-oriented [[block programming|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 (TV series)|Hang Time]]'', ''[[One World (TV series)|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 [[Universal Television|NBC Studios and NBC Enterprises]].

==History==
{{expand section|date=July 2021}}
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 cartoon|weekday afternoon cartoons]] airing in [[first-run syndication]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/19/business/the-media-business-nbc-considers-scrapping-saturday-cartoons.html|title = THE MEDIA BUSINESS; NBC Considers Scrapping Saturday Cartoons|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 19 September 1988|last1 = Boyer|first1 = Peter J.}}</ref> The idea for a block specifically oriented towards a teenage demographic sprang from the popularity of the live-action teen sitcom ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'', which debuted on the network's Saturday morning lineup in September 1989 and centered on a group of six students attending the fictional Bayside High School in [[Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles]].

In 2000, ''[[Just Deal]]'' became the first TNBC scripted series not to be produced by Peter Engel since the 1993 series ''[[Running the Halls]]'', and the first series to be shot in a [[single-camera setup|single-camera]] format. The following year, ''[[Sk8 (TV series)|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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2003/tv/news/adults-discover-kiddie-programs-1117880923/|title = Adults 'Discover' kiddie programs|date = 23 February 2003}}</ref>

NBC shut down the program block in 2002, leasing out its children's programming to [[Discovery Family|Discovery Kids]] in [[Discovery Kids on NBC|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{{huh|date=January 2024}} mandates. <ref name="DiscoveryKids">{{cite news|title=Discovery set to kid around with Peacock|url=https://variety.com/2001/tv/news/discovery-set-to-kid-around-with-peacock-1117856766/|author=Paula Bernstein|periodical=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|publisher=[[Reed Business Information]]|date=December 4, 2001|access-date=August 13, 2009}}</ref><ref name="NBC Discovery">{{cite web|title=Discovery Gets NBC Kids' Block|url=http://www.multichannel.com/news/orphan-articles/discovery-gets-nbc-kids-block/154693|last=Umstead|first=Thomas|periodical=[[Multichannel News]]|date=December 7, 2001|access-date=March 29, 2015}}</ref>

==Return==
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 NBCUniversal-owned sitcoms such as ''[[Punky Brewster]]'' and ''[[Major Dad]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=George Winslow |date=2023-06-29 |title=NBCU to Launch Large Portfolio of FAST Channels |url=https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/nbcu-to-launch-large-portfolio-of-fast-channels |access-date=2023-06-29 |website=TVTechnology |language=en}}</ref> On May 31, 2024, it was announced that TNBC would be rebranded the next day as NBC Comedy Vault.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Manfredi |first1=Lucas |title=NBCUniversal to Rebrand TNBC FAST Channel to NBC Comedy Vault |url=https://www.thewrap.com/nbc-comedy-vault-fast-channel-tnbc-rebrand/ |website=TheWrap |access-date=June 15, 2024}}</ref>

==Programming==
* ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'' (1992–1993)
* ''[[Double Up (American game show)|Double Up]]'' (1992)
* ''[[California Dreams]]'' (1992–1996)
* ''[[Name Your Adventure]]'' (1992–1995)
* ''[[Brains & Brawn]]'' (1993)
* ''[[Running the Halls]]'' (1993)
* ''[[Saved by the Bell: The New Class]]'' (1993–2000)
* ''[[Hang Time (TV series)|Hang Time]]'' (1995–2000)
* ''[[City Guys]]'' (1997–2001)
* ''[[One World (TV series)|One World]]'' (1998–2001)
* ''[[Just Deal]]'' (2000–2002)
* ''[[All About Us (TV series)|All About Us]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Sk8 (TV series)|Sk8]]'' (2001–2002)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{TNBC}}
{{Children's programming on NBC in the 1990s}}
{{Children's programming on NBC}}
{{Former KidsTVBlocksUSA}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:TNBC}}
[[Category:TNBC| ]]
[[Category:NBC]]
[[Category:Television programming blocks in the United States]]