Peter Engel, Saved by the Bell and Last Comic Standing Producer, Dies at 88
Engel died on March 4 at his home in Santa Monica, Calif.By
Stephanie Wenger
Published on March 4, 2025 04:13PM EST
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Peter Engel. Photo:
Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
Television producer Peter Engel has died. He was 88.
Engel — who was the executive producer of Saved by the Bell and Last Comic Standing among other TV series — died on March 4 at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., his family confirmed to Deadline and Variety.
A cause of death was not provided. PEOPLE has reached out to the family for comment.
Executive producer Peter Engel talks with reporters at the NBC Universal Summer Press Day on April 26, 2010 in Pasadena, California.
Jason Merritt/Getty
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After receiving his bachelor’s degree from New York University, Engel began his entertainment career as an NBC Page in New York before moving to Los Angeles in 1967.
He went on to executive produce more than 1,000 episodes of television — mostly through a long-term partnership with NBC — over his 40-year career.
(back row l-r) Executive Producer Peter Engel, Ben Gould as Nicky Farina, Dustin Diamond as Samuel "Screech" Powers, Dennis Haskins as Principal Richard Belding, Lindsey McKeon as Katie Peterson, Richard Lee Jackson as Ryan Parker (front row l-r) Ashley Lyn Cafagna as Liz Miller, Samantha Becker as Maria Lopez, Anthony Harrell as Cornelius "Eric" Little in 'Saved by the Bell: The New Class'.
Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
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His series Saved by the Bell ran for four seasons from 1989 to 1993, chronicling a group of teens at the fictional Bayside High School. The show starred Mario Lopez, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen, Lark Voorhies , Elizabeth Berkley and the late Dustin Diamond.
It went on to spawn two spinoffs: Saved by the Bell: The College Years, which aired for one season, and Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which ran for seven seasons from 1993 to 2020.
A two-season-long reboot, titled Saved by the Bell — which Engel also executive produced — aired on Peacock from 2020 through 2021. Lopez, Gosselaar, Berkley, Thiessen and Voorhies all reprised their roles in the series. They were joined by new cast members Josie Totah, Dexter Darden, Haskiri Velazquez, Mitchell Hoog, Alycia Pascual-Pena and Belmont Cameli.
The Saved by the Bell universe also includes two TV movies: 1992’s Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style and 1994’s Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas.
After news of his death broke, Lopez, 51, shared on his Instagram Story, "God Bless & Prayers Up Peter! #RIP." His costar Theissen, 51, posted a photo of Engel with the message, "Forever grateful. Rip Peter."
Tiffani Thiessen as Kelly Kapowski, Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Zachary 'Zack' Morris, Mario Lopez as Albert Clifford "A.C.' Slater, Executive Producer Peter Engel on the set of 'Saved by the Bell'.
Alice S. Hall/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty
Engel also served as an executive producer of the reality series, Last Comic Standing, for which he earned a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2004. His other credits include California Dreams, City Guys, USA High and Hang Time.
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In 2016, Engel published his memoir, I Was Saved By The Bell: Stories of Life, Love, and Dreams that Do Come True. He opened up about writing the book in an interview with Pop City Life in January 2017.
“I shared my whole life, from working for John F. Kennedy as a local organizer and being with him every time he was in New York City to my encounters with John Lennon and Jacques Cousteau, going to the White House with Screech and ending up hallucinating in the oval office with Warren Littlefield, the president of NBC at the time,” he shared at the time.
“It’s all how we met the cast [and] how we picked them. People forget they were only 14, and Dustin Diamond was 11,” he continued. “People don’t realize I was not only being the executive producer and writer, but I had to be the papa. I had to run a real school with two full-time teachers. One grade below a B and you can’t work in California. It was a family endeavor.”
Engel is survived by his three children, Lauren, Joshua and Stephen, and grandchild Ezra Alhadeff.
Peter Engel, 'Saved by the Bell' and 'Last Comic Standing' Producer, Dies at 88
Peter Engel, 'Saved by the Bell' and 'Last Comic Standing' executive producer, died at his home in Santa Monica, California on March 4. He was 88.
