Kenan & Kel Information

Kenan & Kel is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider and Kim Bass for Nickelodeon. It starred the two well-liked All That cast members, Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. Sixty-five episodes and a made-for-TV movie were produced over four seasons. The first two seasons were filmed at Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, Florida, and the remaining two were filmed at the Nick on Sunset theater in Hollywood.

Kenan & Kel received critical acclaim, with praise over the performance of the title characters. It won "Favorite TV Show" in the 1998 Kids Choice Awards, and Thompson and Mitchell were ranked No. 40 and No. 39, respectively, on VH1's 100 Greatest Kid Stars. Reruns of the show are currently shown on TeenNick, as part of their programming block The Splat. In September 2015, the two titular actors reunited for a sketch on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Soon after they promised that a reunion would happen.

Premise

The show was set in Chicago, Illinois, and centered on the antics of two mischievous teenagers, Kenan Rockmore (Kenan Thompson) and Kel Kimble (Kel Mitchell). Kenan is a high school student with a job at a local grocery store, while Kel is his clumsy, orange soda-loving best friend.

Episodes of the series always opened and closed with Kenan and Kel breaking the fourth wall by interacting with the studio audience; standing in front of a red curtain that is placed in front of the main set, while still in character. A frequent running gag of the openings would be Kel never knowing what the night's episode would be about and Kenan refusing to tell him. The closings would frequently feature Kenan coming up with a new scheme-often asking Kel to get various assorted items and meet him somewhere. Frazzled, Kel would exclaim his catchphrase, "Aww, here it goes!"

The theme song entitled "Aw, Here It Goes" is performed by rapper Coolio. He is featured in the opening credits of the show along with Kenan and Kel. The lyrics describe the format of the show and give references to other famous duos such as Abbott & Costello, Penn & Teller, and former Los Angeles Lakers teammates Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as references to Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys.

Production

The series was created by Kim Bass (who also co-created the teen sitcom Sister, Sister). It was reminiscent of the classic comedic duo stylings of Laurel and Hardy, Martin and Lewis or Abbott and Costello (who were actually mentioned in the theme song), with Kenan being the straight man and Kel his comedic foil.

The show was taped in front of a live-studio audience and ran from August 17, 1996, to May 3, 2000, totaling 62 episodes. One full-length TV movie was created, entitled Two Heads Are Better Than None, which aired on July 15, 2000, thus ending the series serving as its finale. The Kenan & Kel characters also made a special guest appearance on the Cousin Skeeter episode, "Hoo, I'm Wild Wild West" Part 1: Dec 14, 1999 and Part 2: Jan 4, 2000.

Broadcast

Reruns of the series briefly aired on Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids in 1999. After the series finished its run, reruns continued to air on Nickelodeon from July 16, 2000 to February 15, 2004.

The series reran on The N (later known as TeenNick) from October 13, 2007, to August 2, 2009. It then returned to the channel from July 25, 2011, to February 3, 2013, and again from March 4, 2013, to May 31, 2014, as part of its The '90s Are All That programming block (now called The Splat), which continues to air sporadic reruns.

Reruns also currently air sporadically on MTV2.

Characters

Episodes

DVD releases

The only DVD Releases of Kenan and Kel that are currently available are the Best of Seasons 1 & 2 DVD and Best of Season 3 & 4 DVD. They are DVD-R Releases manufactured on demand though Amazon.com. Individual seasons are not available. The Best of Seasons 1 & 2 DVD is missing 3 Episodes ("In the Line of Kenan", "Baggin' Saggin Kel", and ""Safe and Sorry"; all from season 1) to complete the set, and the Best of Seasons 3 & 4 DVD is missing 3 Episodes ("The Chicago Witch Trials", "Freezer Burned", and "Who Love Who-ooh?"; all from Season 3), but Season 4 is complete. These DVD releases are absent of any bonus features.

DVD	Episodes	Release Date	Disc 1	Disc 2	Disc 3
The Best of Seasons 1 & 2	23	May 21, 2014	"Pilot," "The Tainting of the Screw," "Doing Things the Heming-Way," "Mental Kel-Epathy," "Duh Bomb," "Mo' Sweater Blues," "Diamonds Are For Roger," "The Cold War"	"Dial 0 for Oops," "Merry Christmas, Kenan," "Twizzles Fizzles," "Pair-Rental Guidance," "Turkey Day," "The Crush," "Ditch Day Afternoon," "Clownin' Around"	"The Lottery," "Who Loves Orange Soda?" "Foul Bull," "A Star is Peeved," "Get the Kel Out of Here," "Bye-Bye, Kenan: Part 1," "Bye-Bye, Kenan: Part 2," "I Haven't Got Time for the Paint"

DVD	Episodes	Release Date	Disc 1	Disc 2	Disc 3	Disc 4
The Best of Seasons 3 & 4	35	November 6, 2014	"Fenced In" "To Catch a Thief" "The Raffle" "Skunkator vs. Mothman" "The Contest" "Surprise, Surprise" "I.Q. Can Do Better" "You Dirty Rat" "Attack of the Bug Men"	"We Are the Chimpions" "Happy B-Day Marc" "Poem Sweet Poem" "Present Tense" "Picture Imperfect" "Clothes Encounters" "Housesitter" "I'm Gonna Get You Kenan" "The Limo"	"He Got Job" "Corporate Kenan" "The Honeymoon's Over" "Girl-Watchers" "Car Trouble" "Futurama" "Three Girls, a Guy, and a Cineplex" "Natural Born Kenan"	"The Graduates" "Aw, Here It Goes To Hollywood : Part 1 & 2" "Oh, Brother" "The April Fools" "Tales from the Clip" "Two Heads Are Better Than None"

On July 28, 2011, the first season of Kenan & Kel was released on the iTunes Store. On November 29, 2011, the second season was released. On February 13, 2012, the third season was released. On August 13, 2012, the fourth season was released. Seasons 1 and 2 were released on the UK iTunes store in September 2013.