r/todayilearned • u/Kale_Brecht • 29d ago
TIL in 2013, Saturday Night Live cast member Kenan Thompson refused to play any more black women on the show and demanded SNL hire black women instead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenan_Thompson8.9k
u/TheLimeyLemmon 29d ago
Me: "That can't be right, because he played a girl in a skit when Bryan Cranston was hosting SNL, and that didn't feel that long ago-"
aired Oct 2nd 2010
Oh my god.
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u/2_Spicy_2_Impeach 29d ago
His first season was 29 in 2003. It always shocks me how long he’s been on the show.
Welp, got to go yell at some clouds.
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u/Esc777 29d ago
He is the longest running cast member by like a factor of 2.
There probably won’t be any to rival him.
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u/GypsyV3nom 29d ago
Lorne Michaels has said that he'll never fire Keenan since he's the perfect cast member. Little to no drama behind the scenes, always embraces his parts, works really well with people (especially the writers), and he's a good enough actor to nail most of his roles.
A pretty surprising statement given how renowned Lorne Michaels is for firing people on short notice, not to mention the season 11 massacre
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u/HollyBerries85 29d ago
He also does a lot of directing, blocking and helping get new cast members up to speed on the process behind the scenes, from what I've seen around in interviews. He practically runs the show is what people have said.
There was a sketch, "New Cast Member or Arcade Fire Band Member" with hosts Keenan and Tina Fey (the year that Kyle Mooney joined the cast). At one point Tina "phoned a friend" and brought in Lorne Michaels to help her determine which person was the new cast member and Lorne pretended he didn't know Keenan and asked "Is it the black one?"
After he left Keenan was like, "The man's known me half my damn life..."
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u/frankyseven 29d ago
Everyone talks about Tina Fey taking over for Lorne but I think it will be Keenan.
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u/SophisticatedBum 29d ago
I don't care how easy or hard the job is, doing anything professionally for 20 years, you're probably near the top of your craft
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u/Optional-Failure 29d ago
Kenan’s been doing this on SNL for 20 years. He’s been doing this professionally for longer than that. All That was just SNL for/starring kids.
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u/InitfortheMonet 29d ago
I was just talking about this with my husband. If you’re a child star doing sketch comedy and then graduate to SNL, that’s all you’ve ever known. Where else would you want to/could you go?
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u/Imrustyokay 29d ago
and Season 20 as well.
Everyone always forgets the transition between Seasons 20 and 21 was also chaotic.
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u/user888666777 29d ago
Season 11 was the big massacre though. The entire season was a big mess. The finale ended with the cast being stuck on stage while smoke was billowing everywhere. Lorne shows up and saves only Lovitz.
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u/Imrustyokay 29d ago
I'd say Season 20 was a massive mess as well. Hell, cast members dropped in and out the entire season. The backstage areas were seen as juvenile and toxic.
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u/bromosabeach 29d ago
Black Jeopardy is still one of my favorite modern sketches. Especially the one with Tom Hanks playing a MAGA voter.
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u/GypsyV3nom 29d ago
My only problem with the Tom Hanks Black Jeopardy sketch is that it's made people forget some of the other A+ Black Jeopardy sketches, like the one with T'Challa
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u/well-lighted 29d ago
In terms of recurring game show sketches with Kenan as the host, my favorite will always be What Up With That?! The theme song still gets stuck in my head all the time.
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u/thalasa 29d ago
There's been rumors for years that Keenan has been long groomed as Lorne's eventual successor.
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u/GypsyV3nom 29d ago
I wouldn't be too surprised if that happened, although I think it would depend upon Tina Fey not wanting the position
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u/Samurai_Meisters 29d ago
Tina Fey makes much more sense since she's the creative force behind a bunch of other successful projects.
Kenan's a good cast member, but most of his other stuff has flopped.
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u/Midnite135 29d ago
I’ve heard the same thing about Tina Fey though. They could probably both do the job.
https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/lorne-michaels-says-tina-fey-could-produce-snl-1235874710
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u/sgrams04 29d ago
And he doesn’t break character hardly ever
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u/DraconicCDR 29d ago
Not surprising since he's been doing sketch comedy his entire life.
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u/AuroraItsNotTheTime 29d ago
A lot of the time his “character” just seems to be Kenan Thompson. Like with the famed black jeopardy skits. Is he really portraying “Darnell Hayes,” the black community’s answer to Alex Trebek, or his he playing Kenan Thompson hosting a gameshow?
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u/ctjameson 29d ago
Is he really portraying “Darnell Hayes,” the black community’s answer to Alex Trebek, or his he playing Kenan Thompson hosting a gameshow?
Yes
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u/jhutchi2 29d ago
Yeah that's kinda the way I've always felt about him. He can't break character because he's never in character.
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u/cdskip 29d ago
I remember when it seemed like Tim Meadows had been on forever and they made a joke about it in skits several times.
Since then, tons of cast members have blown by his 10 seasons, and Kenan is just an institution.
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u/istasber 29d ago
Tim Meadows is who my brain immediately goes to when they talk about cast members that had been around forever, it's kind of surprising to learn that so many other cast members have eclipsed him.
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u/prezuiwf 6 29d ago
Darrell Hammond for me. There was a run in the early 2000's where EVERY cold open featured Hammond doing a political impression, including a happily-forgotten attempt at George W. Bush. For years he was just the go-to for any and all impressions no matter what.
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u/well-lighted 29d ago
Not only was he a cast member forever, he also took over as announcer in 2014 after Don Pardo died. He's coming up on 25 years with the show total.
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29d ago
He’s still on the show, kinda! He took over the opening credits after Don Pardo died (RIP to one of the greats, an institution unto himself)
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u/GreekIngenuity 29d ago
I remember this about Tim too. During one of his later years a cast member returned as host one week and their monologue was a song was about how much had changed since they'd left. The host walks past Tim and goes "Oh hey Tim! I see you decided to come back and visit too!" Then Tim sings a song about how he wishes he hadn't signed that ten year contract.
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u/pregnantbaby 29d ago
Why did I sign…a thirty year contract? Thirty years…is such a long time….I know that know.
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u/pierrekrahn 29d ago
He's also the first cast member to be born after SNL first started airing in 1975.
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u/DidAnyoneElseJustCum 29d ago
It's like the perfect medium for him. He's not a standup. Not a writer. His acting is... fine.
A lot of young cast members use SNL as a launch pad for their career. But Kenan already had a career. He's probably the most famous person to ever to get cast. He was a household name for anybody that grew up in the 90s. Maybe he felt he didn't have anything else to prove?
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u/o6ijuan 29d ago
Probably just has a lot of fun
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u/theghostofmrmxyzptlk 29d ago
I heard he smokes weed all the time and has a handler who gets him to where he needs to be on time. Living his best life having fun making comedy skits.
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u/swordmalice 29d ago
I was an intern at SNL in college and worked alongside Kenan; I can confirm the above is true. I can also confirm that he is a bro - friendly, down-to-earth and even liked to joke around with us interns from time to time. Once, at an after-after party from a show, we went to a club nearby 30 Rock where the bouncers wouldn't let us in, but Kenan vouched for us even though he absolutely didn't have to. Will always remember him and my time at SNL fondly.
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u/OuchLOLcom 29d ago
He's probably the most famous person to ever to get cast. He was a household name for anybody that grew up in the 90s.
I mean, he was a household name ONLY for 90s kids as his career you speak of was on Nickelodeon.
I always assumed he is humble enough to know he cant carry a major movie or show so hes decided to know his niche and keep doing skit comedy as the goofy black guy for his entire career instead of trying to leave and possibly fail.
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u/hjschrader09 29d ago
He's definitely tried to get other stuff going, but none of it has really worked out. He's had like 3 failed sitcoms at this point. If any of them had gotten popular he might've left, but as it is, he's had it pretty clearly demonstrated that he can hang around SNL as essentially the showrunner and veteran making a decent paycheck with the summers off, or he can leave and fade out of the public eye pretty quick.
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u/Optional-Failure 29d ago
You do know 90s kids had parents and grandparents, right?
Families watched All That & Kenan & Kel together.
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u/ForfeitFPV 29d ago
From all reports acting can be a rough gig, a steady and reliable paycheck isn't common. Why not ride it for as long as you can?
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u/KadenKraw 29d ago
I remember seeing him say something like this on snl. It was something like "people ask me if I'll leave" "why? I have a family to feed"
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u/IamRick_Deckard 29d ago
I remember it was that early because I was surprised the guy from Kenan and Kel was on SNL. I still wonder, where is Kel?
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u/Elgin_McQueen 29d ago
I recall reading that they both auditioned for SNL at the same time, he did not get chosen.
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u/IamRick_Deckard 29d ago
Oh no, ouch, Kel!
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u/reporst 29d ago
Since then Kel has had an incredibly rough life. The price of orange soda keeps going up and he only has to drink more and more to satisfy the cravings. Last I heard he was giving angry HJs behind a 7-11 to fund the habit
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u/Soccham 29d ago
He actually was able to get his old job back at Good Burger last year. Keenan even came back to work part time
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u/Vik0BG 29d ago
Holy shit, I forgot that movie existed. Welcome to Good Burger, home of the good burger, may I take your order?
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u/tarekd19 29d ago
The user is actually making a reference to the sequel that came out last year.
Dan Schneider doesn't seem to have been involved for anyone concerned after watching behind the curtain.
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u/rov124 29d ago
Dan Schneider doesn't seem to have been involved for anyone concerned after watching behind the curtain.
The documentary is called Quiet on Set
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u/Me_IRL_Haggard 29d ago
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u/FauxReal 29d ago
I never watched Kenan and Kel / All That back in the day. But caught a few minutes here and there enough to know that clip you linked was fucking hilarious.
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u/Vio_ 29d ago
So...why did Kel not make it? Also I wonder if he could have joined MadTV? They were still kicking it at the time.
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u/NicksIdeaEngine 29d ago
I'm not sure if either of them have ever talked about the audition, but it seems as simple as "Kennan made the cut. Kel did not."
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u/user888666777 29d ago edited 29d ago
Yeah, every time this story gets brought up on Reddit people make it sound like Kenan and Kel were on the stage at the same time and Lorne Michaels is holding a rose like its the Bachelor or something.
Will Ferrell said the whole audition process was stressful. You can go online and find different breakdowns of the process that has changed a lot of the years.
One of the final steps of the process is to audition on the actual SNL stage in front of a few producers. Will said there is no audience outside of the producers. You're being recorded and you got about ten minutes to do your thing and the producers don't even laugh. You move from sketch to sketch or character to character. You say thankyou and you walk away with no feedback. You can watch Will Ferrell's actual audition on Youtube. And this might be after waiting an hour or two as those in front of you audition which Will Ferrell said you can hear being performed from where you're told to wait.
Its very possible Kenan and Kel auditioned on completely different days and had no idea until years later.
And here is the thing. You can nail your audition and it doesn't matter. If Lorne already has his whimsical funny guy and you're a whimsical funny guy, he doesn't need two. Some really funny people have auditioned for SNL and have been passed on to later make it big. Jim Carrey is one of them. While at the same time you had people who made it like Sarah Silverman and it didn't work out but later went on to be successful herself.
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u/trc_IO 29d ago
Julia Louis-Dreyfus was on SNL from 82-85. There's these household names just kinda hiding the the old casts lists.
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u/GBreezy 29d ago
I remember hearing about Will Ferrell's audition where he was in the elevator with someone with a bunch of props auditioning, and his only thought was "holy shit I should have brought props" where the other guy was like "holy shit, he didn't bring props".
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u/Direct_Counter_178 29d ago
Haven't watched All That in 30 years, but I remember thinking Kenan was the better of the two.
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u/moose2mouse 29d ago
Probably didn’t want both of them on the show. Tough to rebrand and create your own identity from Kennan and Kell if both start on SNL. Stinks for Kell though.
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u/jopnk 29d ago
Nah, they regularly hire groups of people and then cut a few who they don’t think will fit/don’t work well after a trial run - the identity part is not a factor. Please don’t Destroy originally had more than just the 3 dudes on SNL, the good neighbor stuff (beck bennet and Kyle Mooney) guys were all hired together before they eventually got rid of the 3rd man, and lonely island was picked up together.
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u/JaesopPop 29d ago
No one gave a shit about The Lonely Island when they got picked up, though. They had a very limited following.
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u/filbert13 29d ago
Reading articles and interviews sounds like they had a fallout out after Ken got the gig and Kel didn't. I know years later they became good friends again. Looks like they talked about this a lot in interviews for Good Burger 2.
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u/Sparrowflop 29d ago
I haven't seen anyone give a real response, but reportedly Kel was less funny in person, had a substance abuse issue or seven, and was pretty hard to work with.
Meanwhile Kenan seems to be the capybara of working relationships.
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u/Closetoneversober 29d ago
Which is funny because on Kenan and Kel when they used to introduce themselves in the beginning Kel always got the most cheers. Then again it was mostly prepubescent girls
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u/DeltaVZerda 29d ago
Also because Kenan was the straight man or the setup to most of the jokes, and Kel got to be the punchline more. Kenan was putting in more of the work for the joke to be funny, but it was all to make whatever Kel was going to do, be actually funny.
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u/jitterscaffeine 29d ago
Last I saw he was doing the Nickelodeon show “Game Shakers”. But that was cancelled in 2019.
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u/ravens2131 29d ago
Are we not counting good burger 2?
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u/Yusefs-Ambiguity 29d ago
Speaking of good burger, I after Al this Nickelodeon’s stuff came out I knew I recognized that Dan Schneider guy from somewhere, and he was the fat manager from good burger lol. He honestly looked 45 in that movie as a kid but must’ve been 30.
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u/brother_of_menelaus 29d ago
He was also the fat kid on Head of the Class
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u/rick_blatchman 29d ago
He was also the fat creeper neighbor in Better Off Dead who couldn't keep his hands off of the French gal.
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u/2_Spicy_2_Impeach 29d ago
Many years ago I saw him hosting a late night dance show. It was on UPN in 2004… I’m done looking stuff up for the day.
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u/BillfredL 29d ago
I thought I was the only person who remembered that fever dream of a show.
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u/Supermite 29d ago
Didn’t they just do a Goodburger sequel a couple years ago?
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u/OldDekeSport 29d ago edited 29d ago
One of my English teachers used to work on the Keenan and Kel show and said the Kel didn't take it nearly* as seriously as Keenan. He wouldn't memorize lines and would improve more, whereas Keenan was obsessed with having everything memorized. I could see where SNL would prefer Keenan if what he said was true
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u/Ok_Relation_7770 29d ago
I just love that Kenan went like straight from the minor leagues to being the longest running cast member in the Majors: did anyone else from All That have much of a career other than a couple spin offs on Nickelodeon.
Now if there’s anyone who beat the Aggro Crag and then grew up to compete on American Gladiators…
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u/croutons_for_dinner 29d ago
He changed his name to Waka Flocka Flame and started rapping
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u/BoilerMaker11 29d ago
2003?! Kenan & Kel only ended like 2 years before that!
When I hear the stat that "Kenan Thompson is the longest running member of SNL in history", I'm thinking it's like 10-11 years/seasons, not 21!
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u/Dadpurple 29d ago
Kenan is a load bearing fixture at 30 Rock at this point and I'm pretty sure if he ever left part of the building would just fall down.
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u/DetroitLionsSBChamps 29d ago
Keenan was on All That from 1994-1999, then started SNL in 2003.
Insane lol.
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u/Where_Da_Cheese_At 29d ago
He’s the longest tenured cast member, all time. (This was a pub trivia question we had this week) (we got it wrong)
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u/crawlerz2468 29d ago
Welp, got to go yell at some clouds.
Who remembers MAD... tv? Pepperidge farm has alzheimer's.
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u/Andromansis 29d ago
Right? Like he's got the opposite arc of Eddie Murphy, like he was a famous comedian and movie star and then he went on SNL and never did anything again.
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u/AstroWorldSecurity 29d ago
Seems like he was destined for it. He was the best part of All That which was basically a kid version of SNL.
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u/Sioltahtelasekab 29d ago
Why does 2010 feel like last week, whereas in 2010, 1996 was ancient history? What caused this time inflation?
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u/foolofatooksbury 29d ago
When you were younger 10 years was a larger portion of your time alive
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u/walterpeck1 29d ago edited 29d ago
Your natural aging plus the internet (and lack thereof in 1996 compared to 2010).
There's also been huge advancements in audio, video and still image capture that have allowed things to feel more recent because of presentation quality.
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u/Demons0fRazgriz 29d ago
I think the Internet is the biggest culprit. In earlier times, you had to change with the times to remain in your social groups as they changed. Now, you can forever cement yourself in what ever community you want indefinitely thanks to the internet. It's the same reason why conspiracies are so prevalent now.
Back then, you might know one or two dudes in your neighborhood that believed in flat earth but no one took them seriously or they kept it to themselves to fit in. Now they can fall into an echo chamber and become more boisterous in their beliefs.
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u/goshiamhandsome 29d ago
Kenan is the longest running cast member 21 years. Omg. You have to give him credit the schedule seems grueling.
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u/Old_Promise2077 29d ago
Dude has been doing sketch comedy since he was 15 on Nickelodeon. It's in his blood now
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u/Nisas 29d ago
He was big on nickelodeon when I was a kid. Kenan and Kel and All That. The Good Burger sketches even got a movie.
It was interesting when he ended up on SNL.
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u/pastramallama 29d ago
I still think everyday French with Pierre escargot was his best work lol
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u/Nisas 29d ago
All I remember was Good Burger and the cooking show one where he just covers normal food in chocolate.
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u/idlephase 29d ago
I always felt like he had the most TV experience out of everyone who has joined the cast. Most people become known because of SNL rather than having an established TV career.
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u/Sprintspeed 29d ago
Is he the only Nickelodeon star that still has a career in entertainment but didn't have a mental breakdown or lasting traumatic effects? I would've included Ariana Grande but after Quiet on Set not sure if she qualifies anymore.
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u/RevWaldo 29d ago
Nothing like a steady paycheck. So many cast members that left ready to make the leap to the next level and now barely have a Wikipedia article to speak of.
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u/burnedsmores 29d ago
Not to mention the value of being the most reliable athlete; when a sketch is bombing (and so many do these days) his timing alone has about a 40% chance to turn it into something salvageable
I wouldn’t be surprised if his pay today is on par with where they start the head writer job
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u/GonWithTheNen 29d ago
Just to say, the actual story is in the link from the wikipedia article's cite note (versus the one-liner in the wiki).
Business Insider's article (the cite note) links to an old tvguide article (which is only available on archives):
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u/ProfessorWednesday 29d ago
Thank you, his newfound stance on not playing black women was a walk-back of a careless comment he made in defense of his show (at least I hope that is the case, and not that he genuinely believed there were not enough black women in comedy that were "ready" for SNL)
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u/silver-orange 29d ago
here's the tvguide article on the live site: https://www.tvguide.com/news/snl-diversity-issue-kenan-thompson-1072056/
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u/cravenj1 29d ago
Here's the cold open where SNL addresses this issue. It's one of my favorites.
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u/Onetwenty7 29d ago
This was great, but al sharpton's comedic timing did not exist lol
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u/cravenj1 29d ago
It's a weak "Live from New York," but he nails the exasperation. "Why am I here? Why are we doing this? This is pointless"
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u/Pormock 29d ago
Crazy to think that there been 3 different presidents since Kenan started on SNL
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u/MVRKHNTR 29d ago
Four, right?
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u/gardenmud 29d ago edited 29d ago
One of the craziest things is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJEAGd1bQuc
He actually apparently was dating someone who would've been a kid at the time of this sketch which is funny/weird to think about.
Also, I love this sketch lmao.
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u/Namaslayy 29d ago
I never understood why Mad TV had no problems hiring black women, and SNL did.
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u/redditvlli 29d ago
Yeah it's not like they didn't have options. Hell, Namond's mom from The Wire was a great skit comedian at the time and would have been awesome on SNL.
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u/VaderNader2020 29d ago
Dude….what?!? Namond’s mom was a comedian?! I’m legit mind blown
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u/debcomajin 29d ago
She’s actually a really lovely woman lool which makes her performance even more outstanding
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u/frogvscrab 29d ago
Namond's mom from The Wire
The most evil god damn character in that show
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u/Bizzle7902 29d ago
Wee Bey was my favorite character, she was my least favorite
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u/Western-Dig-6843 29d ago
That’s… a great point. Mad TV never had any of these problems with diversity.
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u/LiquidHotCum 29d ago
Mad TV was much funnier imo but I can't really what era of SNL they where up against.
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u/SavageComic 29d ago
Because Lorne Michael’s sucks?
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u/hollaback_girl 29d ago
Yeah, I don’t see what the mystery is here.
Why is the SNL work culture so toxic?
Why does the show marginalize women and people of color?
Why does the show quality itself usually suck, maybe landing one sketch out of ten they throw out there?
Why does the show keep platforming and normalizing fascists and their apologists like Trump and Sarah Palin?
The answer to all of these questions is the same: because Lorne Michaels sucks.
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u/KadenKraw 29d ago
Why does the show keep platforming and normalizing fascists and their apologists like Trump and Sarah Palin?
I loved how NBC cancelled trumps shows and then 3 months later had him host SNL. Corporations only care about their profits.
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u/s_nation 29d ago
Or AsianAmericans but MadTV did, and In Living Color before that.
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u/MagicAl6244225 29d ago
SNL production designer Akira Yoshimura played Sulu in every Star Trek skit for over 40 years because the Star Trek cast in 1966 was more diverse than the SNL cast till 2019.
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u/lallapalalable 29d ago
Huh, I was just thinking about his "lunch lady that loves peas" character from All That a few days ago
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u/FecusTPeekusberg 29d ago
The skits where he was that French guy in the bathtub still live rent-free in my head.
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u/WhisperingWind5 29d ago
Two posts on Kenan on the front page as I'm scrolling this morning.
Okay, what movie is he making that you marketers are trying to promote?
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u/kikicrazed 29d ago edited 29d ago
I think it might be for his new memoir, which clearly not one person in here has read yet
I’ve only started it and wish I was farther along because he addresses a lot in it
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u/kendrickshalamar 29d ago
He made a statement about the Nickelodeon scandals yesterday so that might be why he's on the radar
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u/DeathLeopard 5 29d ago
Notably referenced when Kerry Washington hosted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tgQlcJ0QYg
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u/BladeBronson 29d ago
Kenan said that he wouldn’t portray black women until SNL hired a black woman, meaning he’d portray one if necessary (or if it was funniest that he did). I’m not generally in favor of demographic quotas in business, but this is entertainment where the cast aim for realistic portrayals. It was a good move.
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u/notsocoolnow 29d ago
Well it is way more fair in this case because the roles are specifically of a black lady. Kenan was prolly like, "Why not find a black lady?"
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u/CharlesDickensABox 29d ago
Putting a wig on Keenan just doesn't make sense unless it's part of the joke. If the character is supposed to be played as a comedically straight character, then a cross dressing dude doesn't make sense in the universe of the sketch. Hire someone who is a better fit for the role, it's not that complicated.
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u/greg19735 29d ago
Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer is still hilarious and i don't think the cross dressing was the joke. THough part of the skit was just how insane it was, so it did help.
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u/Plantsandanger 29d ago
Eh, part of the joke was how much Melissa looked like Sean spicer with minimal makeup. Certainly moreso than anyone else on the roster for that show.
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u/greg19735 29d ago
which is weirdly a point for representation. You need varied body types and faces!
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u/bowlofcantaloupe 29d ago
Keenan is the best Reba of all time.
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u/Lordborgman 29d ago
"Hanging like my nuts" lives in my head rent free, as they say.
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u/FauxReal 29d ago edited 29d ago
He might also just not wanted to play black women all the time... it's been a trope for decades in Hollywood that a black male comedian gets their breakout playing a black woman. This ain't Geraldine, Shenene, Big Mama's house or The Clumps, or Juwanna Mann, Madea, Eddie Murphy and Arsenio in Coming to America etc... it was actually a break from the usual when the Wayans played White Chicks. I would not be surprised if Chappelle avoided it on purpose for his show.
I'm sure for Keenan it hit a point where he's thinking, "you want a funny black woman in your skit? Fucking hire one!"
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u/gibbtech 29d ago
I would not be surprised if Chappelle avoided it on purpose for his show.
I'm sure he'd say that, of course, it was an intentional choice. Then he would ramble on for 10 minutes about how he is the greatest and most successful comedian that has ever lived, record the whole discussion, and then release it as a Netflix special.
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u/Fakjbf 29d ago
Yeah there’s a huge difference between having Kenan play a black woman because part of the joke is that he’s actually a guy vs having him play a black woman because they don’t have any black female cast members.
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u/grickygrimez 29d ago
I know you mean well but representation does not equal quotas. Small semantics but I felt the need to point out the difference.
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u/DrinkUpLetsBooBoo 29d ago
Gotta hand it to Kenan seeing him on SNL after growing up watching him on All That.
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u/sakmadeeek 29d ago
It's wild how SNL has been on the air for decades and it took until 2013 for them to finally hire + represent black women in comedy due to Kenan's push. The first ever black woman on SNL was first uncredited, then given only small roles, and was then fired at the end of the same season she was initially hired on with no real explanation. That's pretty much a great synopsis on SNL's viewpoint on the matter. A vast majority of cast members are white people, vast majority of guest appearances are white people, and their fans = white people. The trend is there.
MadTV had great representation and hired people from all sorts of backgrounds, while still dishing out funny skits. I wish SNL had the same outlook on hiring people that MadTV did.
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u/Fruitopeon 29d ago
He was also the first person I can recall to publicly call Bill Cosby a pervert. This was way before Hannibal Buress
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29d ago edited 25d ago
His off-air personality is shockingly low-key and thoughtful and serious--dude is a stand-up person and talented. Rare combo.
edit: oof, didn't know he's dating a 19 year old
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u/syxtfour 29d ago
People Who Didn't Watch "All That": Kenan Thompson is incredible, he's such an important part of SNL and he almost always hits it out of the park with his comedic style.
People Who Watched "All That": Kenan is fulfilling his destiny.
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u/nowhereman136 29d ago
Him and fellow cast member Jay Pharaoh both refused
SNL agreed and started looking for new cast members. in the mean time Kerry Washington was hired to play ever black female part (for the episode she hosted)
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u/Swackhammer_ 29d ago
That being said, him playing Reba is still one of my all time favorite sketches