NancyLee Myatt, the television writer and producer who created the NBC teen sitcom “Social Studies” and won a Daytime Emmy Award for writing the animated series “Teacher’s Pet,” died on September 23 in Basel, Switzerland. She was 68 years old. Her death was confirmed by her wife, Paige Williams Barnhart.
Myatt was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment in 2021, and the condition runs in her family. The disease progressed to Alzheimer’s dementia in 2023. Bernhardt’s statement said Myatt chose to “end his life in peace and dignity.”
Myatt was born in 1957 and was a card-carrying member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine, and began her career as a playwright, appearing on stage and in commercials. She wrote the Los Angeles-produced plays Two on the Aisle for Murder, Slumber Party, Afterlife, Nothing So Simple as Love, and Wet Paint before graduating from Warner Brothers. In 1990, he attended a writer’s workshop and turned to television.
As a mentee of Norman Lear, Myatt was the only female staff writer on the early ’90s sitcom “The Powers That Be.” She went on to write the final two seasons of “Night Court,” including the show’s finale. She was a writer and producer on CBS’s “The Five Mrs. Buchanans” and Fox’s “Living Single.”
Myatt created and produced the short-lived sitcom “Social Studies,” which was produced by Dolly Parton’s Sandler Productions and premiered in 1997. Her other television writing credits include episodes of Disney TV Animation and ABC’s “Recess,” “Lloyd in Space,” and “Teacher’s Pet,” Sony TV’s “Trackers,” and the unaired pilot for “Nikki & Nora,” which was later leaked and inspired the web series “The N&N Files.”
She also wrote the television versions of the teen novels Annie on My Mind and A Time for Dancing, and served as showrunner, co-executive producer, writer and director of South of Nowhere. Her other television production credits include “Life with Roger,” “Cleghorne!,” “Muddling Through” and “South of Nowhere.” In later years, she co-wrote a teen pilot with Ralph Macho called Cupidity.
Myatt is survived by his wife and writing partner, Paige Williams Barnhart, and friends and family. Donations in Myatt’s memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association Louisiana Chapter or the National Birth Control Alliance Foundation (NSAF Savannah).
