Kenan & Kel is an American teen comedy sitcom produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions that originally aired on Nickelodeon from July 1996 to July 2000. The show starred friends and then-All That cast members Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell.^[1] 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.

Premise[link]

The show was set in Chicago, Illinois, and centered on the antics of two mischievous teenagers, Kenan Rockmore (Thompson) and Kel Kimble (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. Introduced to the show in 1998 were Sharla and Marc, both of whom had their own quirky characteristics.

Episodes of the series always opened and closed with Kenan and Kel breaking the fourth wall (while still in character) and interacting with the studio audience and each other while standing in front of a red curtain that is placed in front of the main set. 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 assorted, various items and meet him somewhere. Frazzled, Kel would exclaim his catchphrase, "Aww, here it goes!"

Theme song[link]

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 & 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 & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Magic & Kareem), as well as references to Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys.

Production[link]

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.^[2] The show was taped in front of a live-studio audience and ran from July 15, 1996, to May 3, 2000, totaling 62 episodes. One full-length TV movie was created, titled Two Heads Are Better Than None, which aired on July 22, 2000, thus ending the series serving as its finale.

Characters[link]

• Kenan Rockmore (Kenan Thompson) - Kenan is Kel's best friend and often the "mastermind" behind the trouble created by the pair. Kenan is intelligent although he rarely does his schoolwork focusing instead on crafting various "get-rich-quick" schemes. While Kenan's plans often land him and Kel in some sort of trouble, he never seems to learn from this pattern. Although he doesn't always show it, Kenan has much love for his family, including Kel. While not as well known as Kel's catchphrase, Kenan often utters a frustrated "WHHYY?!" when Kel screws something up. Also, another thing Kenan says to Kel when Kel says something that did not make sense is "Naw man". Kenan would also squeal whenever trouble is coming. Kenan works at a local grocery store called Rigby's. Kenan rarely does anything resembling work at the store. At the end of every episode, Kenan frightens Kel by getting an idea for yet another scheme, naming several random objects for Kel to collect and a location for Kel to meet him. In the final episode "TBD Clip Show" Kel pulls back the curtain at the end to reveal that he has retrieved every single object Kenan asked for throughout the run of the series. Kenan's catchphrase has often been used in other Schneider shows, as well as the movie, Good Burger.

• Kel Einstein Hypothalamus Kimble (Kel Mitchell) - Kel is Kenan's best friend who is extremely clumsy and somewhat stupid. He loves orange soda (which he professes by talking in the third person: "Who loves orange soda? Kelllll loves orange soda. Is it true? Mm-hmm! I do, I do, I do-ooh!" and never pays for the soda he drinks at Kenan's place of business, Rigby's). Since Kel's parents are rich, busy scientists, he often visits and stays in Kenan's home to keep him company. He might resist following Kenan's schemes at first, but ultimately he is included anyway and Kel somehow usually ruins them, although there are a few episodes that end on a high note. Kel is also an incredible painter, and is always wearing at least one colourful hat during each episode. He is scared of pancakes, airplanes, butterflies, brassieres, Berlin, and monkeys. His catchphrase is "AWWWW, HERE IT GOES!" which he says at the beginning and end of each show. In the first episode "pilot" and throughout the first and second season, Kel is a tad smarter, noticeably more "paranoid" (neurotic, actually) to Kenan's schemes, and a little more independent but then is changed to become more of a comic relief for the rest of the series. It was revealed in "I.Q Can Do Better" that Kel is actually a "genius" after scoring a 98 on his IQ test to Kenan's 90.

Episodes[link]

Syndication[link]

After having not aired on Nickelodeon since 2004, it began airing on its sister network The N on October 13, 2007. It eventually left the channel, then returned on July 6, 2009. After that, the show left The N again on August 2, 2009. Nickelodeon UK also aired the show until June 2007, and on June 2, 2008, the repeats returned. Kenan and Kel started airing on TeenNick on July 25, 2011, as part of its The '90s Are All That programming block.

Nickelodeon UK began airing reruns of the show on July 30, 2010, along with The Amanda Show. The Amanda Show and Kenan & Kel were eventually removed from the lineup, but it has returned for showings at 2:30pm on Nickelodeon UK on weekdays since November 1, 2010. It returned again on May 16, 2011 this time on Nicktoons every night at 9:30pm. Starting July 11, 2011, on Nicktoons it only shows weekends at 9:00pm. Starting July 2, 2011, it returned on Nickelodeon UK showing weekends at 9:30pm and 10:00pm. Reruns still air as part of Nick@Nite on Nickelodeon in Latin America. The show will return to Nickelodeon UK on weekends from January 7, 2012.

Currently there are no DVD releases of Kenan and Kel despite a large number of fans requesting it.

Nickelodeon Canada began airing the series on September 5, 2011.

iTunes[link]

On July 28, 2011, the first season of Kenan & Kel was released on the iTunes digital music store.^[3] On November 29, 2011, the second season of Kenan & Kel was released on the iTunes digital music store.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Kenan & Kel

• Kenan & Kel at the Internet Movie Database
• Kenan & Kel at TV.com

The following is an episode list for the Nickelodeon sitcom Kenan & Kel. The series premiered on July 15, 1996 and ended with the series finale film, Two Heads Are Better Than None on July 15, 2000. A total of 65 episodes (including 1 unaired clip show) were produced spanning 4 seasons.

Series Overview[link]

Season 1: 1996–1997[link]

• Taped in front of a live audience from January to July 1996.
• 14 episodes
• Vanessa Baden was absent for 7 episodes.

Season 2: 1997–1998[link]

• Taped in front of a live audience from July to November 1997.
• 13 episodes
• Vanessa Baden and Dan Frischman were both absent for 1 episode.

Season 3: 1998–1999[link]

Taped in front of a live audience from April to October 1998.

• 22 episodes
• Vanessa Baden was absent for 18 episodes.
• Ken Foree and Teal Marchande were both absent for 2 episodes.
• Dan Frischman was absent for 1 episode.

Season 4: 1999–2000[link]

• Taped in front of a live audience from April 1999 to January 2000.
• 16 episodes
• Dan Frischman was absent for 1 TV movie.
• Vanessa Baden was absent for 9 episodes.¹

¹ In episode 62, it includes clips of Kyra from other episodes.

External links[link]

• List of Kenan & Kel episodes at TV.com

The following is a list of characters from the Nickelodeon sitcom, Kenan & Kel.

Main characters[link]

[edit] Kenan Rockmore (Kenan Thompson)

Kenan is Kel's best friend. Kenan is relatively intelligent, but he Always does any schoolwork, But doesnt talk much about it. Instead, he spends his time plotting schemes (such as transforming the grocery store at which he works into a nightclub, trying to get a car, or telling everybody that Kel has extra-sensory perception). Though good-natured, he frequently angers his parents and boss. A trait that Kenan shares with Kel is that when someone uttered a nonsense word, the duo would repeat the word confusingly. In one episode, Kenan said the word huckleberry. This prompted Kenan's boss Chris and Kel to repeat the word confusingly. Kel also taught their adopted chimpanzee from the local zoo to do the same thing. His catchphrase is "WHYYYYYY?!" and he usually yells it when Kel does something wrong. He also passes out when something good or bad happens to him. He is shown to be very physically strong, being able to break an iron handcuff, destroy a block of cement punching it, and even removing a steel bars of a concrete wall with his will.

[edit] Kel Kimble (Kel Mitchell)

Kel is the dim-witted and clumsy best friend of Kenan Rockmore, in fact, his impulsive, usually lack of attention, naivety and awkward behavior, make Kel to be accident-prone, being able to create the biggest disaster with the most ordinary things and actions. But despite this, Kel is actually quite intelligent as witnessed by his SAT score, but this does not show in his everyday life. He loves orange soda (which he professes by talking in the third person: "Who loves orange soda? Kelllll loves orange soda. Is it true? Mm-hmm! I do, I do, I do, I do, I do-ooooh!" and never pays for the soda he drinks at Kenan's place of business, Rigby's). Since Kel's parents are rich, busy scientists, he often visits and stays in Kenan's home to keep him company. Kel also tries to avoid Kenan's little sister, Kyra, who has a crush on him, but later on in the series, Kel feels more comfortable around Kyra. He might resist following Kenan's schemes at first, but ultimately he is included anyway and Kel somehow usually ruins them, although there are a few episodes that end on a high note. Kel is also an incredible painter, and is always wearing a hat during the course of the series. He is scared of pancakes, butterflies, brassieres, waffles and monkeys. His catchphrase is ''"AWWWW, HERE IT GOES!"'' which he says right before the start of the show, and right at the end of the show.

[edit] Roger Rockmore (Ken Foree)

Roger is Kenan and Kyra's father. Roger is a very tall, stern intimidating man with a big bald head. He works at O'Hare Airport as an air traffic controller, and is the only Rockmore who doesn't seem to like Kel. This is mostly due to the fact that Kel often makes a sarcastic remark about Roger's baldness and short-tempered attitude and tends to injure him and damage the Rockmore house during his visits. He usually tolerates Kel's presence, due to his friendship with Kenan, but he has the prone to get mad with Kel when he goes to far in his stupid actions. In the episode, Get the Kel Out of Here, Roger bans Kel for good from his house after Kel almost killed him, refusing to listen or forgive him (In the finale of the same episode, Kenan added that the only reason that Roger allows Kel come back to his house is because he jumped out the window, hit a tree with force, and forgot all that happened), although Roger did that at his own will after Kel jumped out). Roger has little to no patience with Kenan's schemes and punished Kenan mutliple times as a result of his troublemaking. In addition, Roger usually ends up having to pay for Kenan and Kel's mishaps, such as fixing the Crams' house or repairing the glass display at the jewelry store. He hates spending money and is also short-tempered, especially with Kenan's schemes and Kel's accidents.

[edit] Sheryl Rockmore (Teal Marchande)

Sheryl is Kenan and Kyra's mother. Sheryl is kind and always seems to know what schemes Kenan and Kel are up to. She is also much more patient with Kel than her husband. Sheryl is much more of a listener than a punisher; she'd rather talk out problems with Kenan than punish him, though she has demonstrated her anger in several episodes.

[edit] Kyra Rockmore (Vanessa Baden)

Kyra is Kenan's younger sister. Kyra's biggest mission is telling on her brother Kenan, but she has devoted herself to Kel, having a major crush on him. Kel being aware of Kyra's crush on him, tries to get far away as possible from her. But this helps Kenan, so Kel convinces her to help them. For most of seasons three and four, Kyra did not appear, even in scenes showing the whole family; she did, however, appear in the series' finale TV movie. She often interrupts Kenan by saying "I was talking to Kel!".

[edit] Chris Potter (Dan Frischman)

Chris is Kenan's luckless boss and the owner of the local grocery store, Rigby's. Chris is a nice guy though he is extremely gullible and easy to fool. He lives with his mom (or the other way around) and most of his personal life involves taking care of her as she's an extremely unhealthy woman. Chris is dedicated to his store, He is a somewhat weak willed man especially when Kel takes so many thing from his store without paying. He also has frequent nightmares of being chased by a giant rabbit, as well as an irrational phobia of sandwiches. Chris is sometimes caught in the middle of some of Kenan's schemes and may sometimes get hurt. One of his catchphrases is "I have a radio in my car!" Chris usually uses nonsense words, and in earlier seasons, had a quirk of adding the "bee" sound before certain words in his sentences, such as telling Kel, "You bee-bruised my bananas!", but the quirk was phased out as the series progressed. Chris had a mullet in the first few episodes of the series, but kept a much shorter hairstyle for the rest of the series. Chris also has a lot of houseplants in the house he shares with his mother, and claims they are his best friends, and can apparently understand jokes they tell him; he also has a pet goldfish named Norman that he likes to play the oboe (terribly) for.

Recurring characters[link]

Sharla Morrison (Alexis Fields)[link]

Sharla (born July 12, 1980) was introduced as a new employee at Rigby's at the start of season three. In the show, Chris hired her because he felt Kenan needed more help around the store. A recurring joke in episodes featuring her is her criticizing, mocking, insulting, or just plain annoying Kenan (and sometimes, but not always, Kel), who would do the same back at her. While there, Sharla started to develop a crush on Kenan, and he developed a crush on her.

Marc Cram (Biagio Messina)[link]

Marc (born May 17, 1981) was introduced in season three as a new neighbor of Kenan. Kenan finds him annoying while Kel is buddies with him, much to Kenan's greater annoyance. Marc is characterized as a stereotypical nerd, He was an avid collector of watches, and excelled at spelling, at times during conversation never mentioning a word by its name, but spelling it out (one such line is, "It looks G-R-E-A-T!"). His name is also a palindrome. In stark contrast to his "nerd" personality, he isn't socially awkward, in fact everyone else seems to like Marc with the exception of the principal who, like Kenan, seems irritated by his cheerfulness. In addition Marc always calls Chris Mr. Potter.

Mrs. Quagmire (Doreen Weese)[link]

Mrs. Ethel Quagmire (b. 1923) was introduced in season one as a British elderly customer at Rigby's. The character provided some light relief to the show during serious events, and has also "beaten up" Chris Potter on several occasions. In a season one episode, Chris thought that Quagmire stole a tin of peanuts; following this, she "sucker-punched" him and called him a "Weasel". In the season two episode The Lottery, she entered the store hoping to purchase a lottery ticket, but Potter said the store was closing. She then held him against the door, again calling him a "Weasel". The character disappeared in season three, but she returned in season four.

[edit] Principal Dimly (Hersha Parady)

Principal Dimly (b. 1946) was the principal at Kenan & Kel's high school. She appeared in three episodes, notably in seasons 2 and 3. The first episode she appeared in she called Kenan and his parents to her office to discuss his school work, not knowing that she was meeting with actors posing as his parents. The next episode she appeared in she caught Kel cutting class. In her third and final appearance, Kenan drew a funny picture of her which says "Principal Dimwit" which she gave Kenan a warning in an unseen scene after when Kel accidentally revealed it to her.

Dave (Tim Powell)[link]

Dave (b c. 1957) was the surly delivery man at Rigbys. He appeared in several episodes, mainly in the first season. He was always seen wearing a uniform, and often responded with dry sarcastic barbs to any comment made by Chris.

Minor characters[link]

Brianna (Jill Burgess Noelsaint)[link]

Brianna was a girl that Kenan had a crush on during season one. She first appeared in the episode Doing Things the Hemingway, where Kenan hung a banner declaring his love for her. She later appeared in Mo' Sweater Blues, where Kel accidentally ruined her special sweater while Kenan was on a date with her.

[edit] Miss Horn (Kim Fields Freeman)

Miss Horn was a substitute teacher (and later principal) at Kenan & Kel's high-school. She appeared in 2 episodes, the first one being the season 2 episode The Crush, where Kel thought she had a crush on Kenan. She later reappeared in the Season 4 episode The Graduates as the principal of Capone High, where she banned Kenan from the graduation ceremony after a senior prank went wrong. She has a boyfriend named Kevin, who looks similar to Kenan (even Kel thinks so).

Eric[link]

Eric is Kenan's cousin. He was first introduced in the season 4 episode, The Honeymoons Over, where Kenan went to his house to get some privacy away from his parents. He later appeared in the episode Girl Watchers, where Kenan & Kel were supposed to pick up his girlfriend from the air port. However, they ended up picking up the wrong girl.

The Old Lady[link]

The Old Lady was a recurring customer at Rigby's, introduced in season 3 as a replacement for Doreen Weese's character Mrs. Quagmire. She would often come in and ask Kenan ridiculous questions such as "Excuse me young man, is it cold outside?" (when she had just come in from outside) or make him explain simple details about apples that were already displayed. Her catchphrase is "I (pronounced "ah") see!" She is also revealed to be Kel's secret admirer in one episode (after sending him several gifts such as a huge bottle of orange soda).

See also[link]

• Kenan & Kel
• Two Heads Are Better Than None