Nancylee Myatt obit

Nancylee Myatt, ‘Night Court’ and ‘Living Single’ Writer, Dies at 68

An Emmy-winning producer, she also worked on ‘The 5 Mrs. Buchanans,’ ‘The Powers That Be,’ ‘South of Nowhere’ and more.

 She was not on the list.

Nancylee Myatt, a writer and Emmy-winning producer with credits including Night Court, The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, Living Single and lots of shows about teens, has died. She was 68.

Myatt chose to “end her life peacefully and with dignity” in Basel, Switzerland, on Sept. 23 — her birthday — her wife and writing partner, Paige Williams Bernhardt, announced. She had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment in 2021 and with Alzheimer’s disease in 2023.

Early in her career, Myatt was the only female writer on the staff of The Powers That Be, a 1992-93 political comedy for the USA Network that was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman and executive produced by her mentor, Norman Lear.

Myatt later launched and served as a co-executive producer, showrunner, writer and director on the first two seasons (2005-06) of South of Nowhere for Nickelodeon’s Noggin network.

For the original Night Court on NBC, she wrote for the last two seasons of its nine-season run (1990-92), including the series finale.

She also wrote and produced for the 1994-95 CBS comedy The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, starring Judith Ivey and Eileen Heckart, and for the fifth season (1997-98) of the Fox sitcom Living Single, starring Queen Latifah, Kim Coles and Erika Alexander (she won an NAACP award for her work on the latter).

Myatt created and produced the 1997 UPN boarding school-set sitcom Social Studies, starring Julia Duffy, for Dolly Parton’s Sandollar Productions. And from 1999-2002, she wrote and/or produced for the Disney animated kids series Recess, Lloyd in Space and Teacher’s Pet, winning a Daytime Emmy in 2001 for that last one.

A member of the Cherokee tribe in Oklahoma, Myatt earned a degree in Fine Arts from the University of California at Irvine.

She wrote the plays Two on the Aisle for Murder, Slumber Party, Afterlife, Nothing So Simple as Love and Wet Paint, all of which were produced in Los Angeles, before she joined the writers workshop program at Warner Bros., graduating in 1990.

She also worked on such ’90s network series as Life With Roger, starring Mike O’Malley; Cleghorne!, starring Ellen Cleghorne; and Muddling Through, starring Stephanie Hodge and Jennifer Aniston.

In 2004, Myatt wrote, produced and ran a cop show pilot set in New Orleans about two women, partners in work and life, called Nikki & Nora. It was not picked up, but the pilot was leaked online, where it found a dedicated fan base and led to a 2013 web series, Nikki & Nora: The N&N Files.

The pilot also birthed a partnership with Barry Sonnenfeld, and the two created a sci-fi dramedy pilot, Trackers, for Sony TV.

More recently, she co-wrote a pilot for ABC Family called Cupidity, starring Ralph Macchio.

She and Williams Bernhardt moved to Nikki & Nora‘s home of New Orleans in 2010. “When I’m blocked or need to work something out,” she said in a 2017 interview, “I walk in the neighborhoods, cemeteries, Audubon Park or the French Quarter. It’s all visually inspiring, and if you sit in a bar long enough in this city, someone will always tell you an amazing story.”

Donations in her memory can be made to the Louisiana chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association or to the National Spay Alliance Foundation (NSAF Savannah).

Producer

The Long Shadow (2019)

The Long Shadow

5.1

executive producer

2019

 

Mandy Musgrave in Mama Bear (2019)

Mama Bear

8.0

Short

executive producer

2019

 

Christina Cox and Liz Vassey in Nikki & Nora: The N&N Files (2013)

Nikki & Nora: The N&N Files

7.5

TV Series

executive producer

2013

 

Cowgirl Up (2011)

Cowgirl Up

7.1

TV Series

executive producer

2013

6 episodes

 

3Way

7.3

TV Series

executive producer

2008–2009

13 episodes

 

South of Nowhere (2005)

South of Nowhere

7.9

TV Series

co-executive producer

2005–2006

25 episodes

 

Christina Carlisi, Carolyn Hennesy, and Georgia Ragsdale in Wave Babes (2003)

Wave Babes

4.2

Video

producer

2003

 

Teacher's Pet (2000)

Teacher's Pet

6.2

TV Series

producer

2001–2002

4 episodes

 

Queen Latifah, Erika Alexander, Kim Fields, Terrence 'T.C.' Carson, Kim Coles, and John Henton in Living Single (1993)

Living Single

7.7

TV Series

co-executive producer

1997–1998

13 episodes

 

Corbin Allred, Julia Duffy, Vanessa Evigan, Adam Ferrara, Bonnie McFarlane, Monica McSwain, Rashaan Nall, and Lisa Wilhoit in Social Studies (1997)

Social Studies

6.7

TV Series

co-executive producer

1997

1 episode

 

Life with Roger (1996)

Life with Roger

6.2

TV Series

supervising producer

1996–1997

 

Cerita Monet Bickelmann, Ellen Cleghorne, Alaina Reed-Hall, Garrett Morris, Michael Ralph, and Sherri Shepherd in Cleghorne! (1995)

Cleghorne!

5.8

TV Series

supervising producer

1995

12 episodes

 

Charlotte Ross, Beth Broderick, Harriet Sansom Harris, Eileen Heckart, and Judith Ivey in The 5 Mrs. Buchanans (1994)

The 5 Mrs. Buchanans

7.5

TV Series

producer

1994–1995

16 episodes

 

Little Secrets

6.2

producer

1991

 

Writer

Scott Bakula in NCIS: New Orleans (2014)

NCIS: New Orleans

6.8

TV Series

written by

2016

1 episode

 

Christina Cox and Liz Vassey in Nikki & Nora: The N&N Files (2013)

Nikki & Nora: The N&N Files

7.5

TV Series

Writer

2013

 

Cowgirl Up (2011)

Cowgirl Up

7.1

TV Series

Writer

2013

6 episodes

 

Second Shot (2013)

Second Shot

8.0

TV Series

writerco-creator

2013

1 episode

 

3Way

7.3

TV Series

written by

2008–2009

13 episodes

 

South of Nowhere (2005)

South of Nowhere

7.9

TV Series

written by

2005–2006

8 episodes

 

Christina Carlisi, Carolyn Hennesy, and Georgia Ragsdale in Wave Babes (2003)

Wave Babes

4.2

Video

Writer

2003

 

Courtland Mead in Lloyd in Space (2001)

Lloyd in Space

6.6

TV Series

staff writer

2001–2002

5 episodes

 

Teacher's Pet (2000)

Teacher's Pet

6.2

TV Series

written by (segment "Fresh 'n' Frozey Chocolaccino")

2002

1 episode

 

Rickey D'Shon Collins, Jason Davis, Ashley Johnson, Andrew Lawrence, Courtland Mead, and Pamela Adlon in Recess (1997)

Recess

7.8

TV Series

Writer (as Nancy Lee Myatt)

1999

1 episode

 

Michael Roberds, John DeSantis, Steven Fox, Nicole Fugere, Ellie Harvie, Betty Phillips, Brody Smith, and Glenn Taranto in The New Addams Family (1998)

The New Addams Family

6.4

TV Series

teleplay by

1998

1 episode

 

Queen Latifah, Erika Alexander, Kim Fields, Terrence 'T.C.' Carson, Kim Coles, and John Henton in Living Single (1993)

Living Single

7.7

TV Series

writer

1997

2 episodes

 

Corbin Allred, Julia Duffy, Vanessa Evigan, Adam Ferrara, Bonnie McFarlane, Monica McSwain, Rashaan Nall, and Lisa Wilhoit in Social Studies (1997)

Social Studies

6.7

TV Series

creatorwritten by

1997

6 episodes

 

Life with Roger (1996)

Life with Roger

6.2

TV Series

Writer

1997

1 episode

 

Cerita Monet Bickelmann, Ellen Cleghorne, Alaina Reed-Hall, Garrett Morris, Michael Ralph, and Sherri Shepherd in Cleghorne! (1995)

Cleghorne!

5.8

TV Series

written by

1995

2 episodes

 

Charlotte Ross, Beth Broderick, Harriet Sansom Harris, Eileen Heckart, and Judith Ivey in The 5 Mrs. Buchanans (1994)

The 5 Mrs. Buchanans

7.5

TV Series

written by

1994–1995

3 episodes

 

Muddling Through (1994)

Muddling Through

6.0

TV Series

Writer

1994

 

Robin Bartlett, John Forsythe, David Hyde Pierce, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Valerie Mahaffey, and Holland Taylor in The Powers That Be (1992)

The Powers That Be

8.2

TV Series

written by

1992–1993

2 episodes

 

Harry Anderson, Selma Diamond, Ellen Foley, John Larroquette, Charles Robinson, and Richard Moll in Night Court (1984)

Night Court

7.7

TV Series

written by

1990–1992

6 episodes

 

Little Secrets

6.2

play "Slumber Party"screenplay

1991

 

Additional Crew

Teacher's Pet (2000)

Teacher's Pet

6.2

TV Series

story editor

2001–2002

2 episodes

 

Muddling Through (1994)

Muddling Through

6.0

TV Series

executive story consultant

1994

9 episodes

 

Harry Anderson, Selma Diamond, Ellen Foley, John Larroquette, Charles Robinson, and Richard Moll in Night Court (1984)

Night Court

7.7

TV Series

executive story editorstory editor

1991–1992

25 episodes

 

Director

Christina Cox and Liz Vassey in Nikki & Nora: The N&N Files (2013)

Nikki & Nora: The N&N Files

7.5

TV Series

Director

2013

 

Cowgirl Up (2011)

Cowgirl Up

7.1

TV Series

Director

2011–2013

7 episodes

 

3Way

7.3

TV Series

Director

2009

1 episode

 

South of Nowhere (2005)

South of Nowhere

7.9

TV Series

Director

2005

1 episode

 

Actress

Cowgirl Up (2011)

Cowgirl Up

7.1

TV Series

The Boss

2011

1 episode

 

Costume Designer

Cowgirl Up (2011)

Cowgirl Up

7.1

TV Series

Costume Designer

2013

6 episodes

 

Script and Continuity Department

Robin Bartlett, John Forsythe, David Hyde Pierce, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Valerie Mahaffey, and Holland Taylor in The Powers That Be (1992)

The Powers That Be

8.2

TV Series

executive script consultant

1992

2 episodes

 

Thanks

Kim Collins, Jacob Rainer, Annie Gaia, Phil Biedron, and Brian Gilleece in Saint City (2022)

Saint City

Short

special thanks

2022

 

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (2020)

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe

7.0

special thanks

2020

 

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension (2011)

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension

7.4

TV Movie

special thanks

2011

 

Self

Bridget McManus in Brunch with Bridget (2008)

Brunch with Bridget

8.3

TV Series

Self

2009

1 episode