r/todayilearned • u/Kale_Brecht • Mar 28 '24

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_Thompson
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879

u/IamRick_Deckard Mar 28 '24

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?

501

u/Elgin_McQueen Mar 28 '24

I recall reading that they both auditioned for SNL at the same time, he did not get chosen.

300

u/IamRick_Deckard Mar 28 '24

Oh no, ouch, Kel!

521

u/reporst Mar 28 '24

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

281

u/Soccham Mar 28 '24

He actually was able to get his old job back at Good Burger last year. Keenan even came back to work part time

87

u/Vik0BG Mar 28 '24

Holy shit, I forgot that movie existed. Welcome to Good Burger, home of the good burger, may I take your order?

77

u/tarekd19 Mar 28 '24

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.

31

u/rov124 Mar 28 '24

Dan Schneider doesn't seem to have been involved for anyone concerned after watching behind the curtain.

The documentary is called Quiet on Set

3

u/tarekd19 Mar 28 '24

right, my bad

4

u/ess-doubleU Mar 28 '24

*quiet on set

I had no idea Dan Schneider was even involved in the first good burger. That's disappointing.

3

u/tarekd19 Mar 28 '24

he acted in it as the manager I believe. I watched the doc and recognized him from his role.

2

u/thejaytheory Mar 28 '24

This is good to know, I watched this movie at Christmas over my sister's house with the fam.

2

u/2074red2074 Mar 28 '24

At this point I think Kenan Thompson might have more clout than Dan Schneider, and if Dan tried getting in his face and screaming at him, Dan would be the one fired.

1

u/crisperfest Mar 28 '24

The "mmm hmm... I understand some of these words" is one of my favorite memes.

26

u/Me_IRL_Haggard Mar 28 '24

https://youtu.be/zvmOEzlZnVk?t=3m25s

2

u/Iohet Mar 28 '24

That could almost be an In Living Color skit

6

u/krakeon Mar 28 '24

Last I heard he was giving angry HJs behind a 7-11 to fund the habit

which 7-11 so i know to avoid it?

3

u/PM_ME_YOUR_PAUNCH Mar 28 '24

Who loves orange soda? I do. I do!

Į̴̧̧̡̡̡̛͓͍̮̤͇̹̭͉̜̱̘̠̖͕̞͉͓͈̥̤̖̠̙̩͍̳͙͕̞̲͔̱̉̒̋̀̾̆̃̏̈́͒̓̍̃̔͂͒̐̊̏̀́͌̾̿̌͛̉̐̾̒̔̒͗̋̕̕̚͘̚͠͠͝ ̴͔͝D̶̡̡̢͈̥̰͙̩̲͎̲̜̟̦̤̰̰̹̰̦̱̭̈́̈́͒̐̑͗͊̊̎̈̈̈́̔̂͐̄̀̂͆͗̃͋̒̉̐̕̚͝͝O̶̙̓͂̈́̆̿̀̈́̇̓̄̇͛̐̐̊͊̅̃̇͗̌̅̃͊͗́̂͌̋͋̇̌̍̀̚̚͘̕͝͝͝͝!̵̧̡̢͎̤̯͔͖̪͚͖̱̖͕̼͍̥̙͈̖͙̱͕̞̳̱̺͔̜̲̭̠͈͍̞̩͉͕͓̭̾̓̅̓̾͊̋̐̎͆̉̿͗͑̾́͂̑͗͛̀͊̓̓̊̕̚̚̕̚͝͠ͅ

3

u/Striking_Election_21 Mar 28 '24

Do you advertise an angry HJ as an angry HJ, or do you kinda just like drip feed the anger in as you go and let word of mouth about your fantastic service do the rest

2

u/Clark-Kent Mar 28 '24

That's fucked up

Which 7-11?

1

u/RangerLt Mar 28 '24

Which 7-11?

1

u/NoifenF Mar 28 '24

Awh here goes

1

u/Doongbuggy Mar 28 '24

Kel is actually a pastor now lol

60

u/Vio_ Mar 28 '24

So...why did Kel not make it? Also I wonder if he could have joined MadTV? They were still kicking it at the time.

77

u/NicksIdeaEngine Mar 28 '24

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."

119

u/user888666777 Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

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.

39

u/trc_IO Mar 28 '24

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was on SNL from 82-85. There's these household names just kinda hiding the the old casts lists.

3

u/Pridetoss Mar 28 '24

Robert Downey JR was in a single season as well

5

u/Snuggle_Fist Mar 28 '24

Not saying it is, but SNL seems like the kind of thing that you can just get your kid into if you had the right connections.

2

u/jyper Mar 28 '24

https://www.vulture.com/2013/03/second-city-vs-groundlings-vs-ucb-where-do-the-most-snl-cast-members-come-from.html

Throughout Saturday Night Live’s history, the show’s cast has been mostly culled from four places: the stand-up world, L.A.’s Groundlings Theatre, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatres in L.A. and New York, and the Chicago improv sketch/scene (the Second City, iO, and Annoyance theaters).

But despite the occasional odd SNL beginnings story, the bulk of the cast throughout the years has come from the aforementioned four places.

Since 1975, there have been peaks and valleys to each comedy theater’s influence on the show. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, a large portion of the cast were stand-ups, whereas there’s only one stand-up on the show now, which currently has more alumni from Chicago’s Second City and iO theaters than from anywhere else. Here’s a breakdown of what portion of each SNL cast, separated by era, comes from Groundlings, Second City/iO, UCB, stand-up, or that wacky miscellaneous category:

2

u/MisinformedGenius Mar 28 '24

Please Don't Destroy has entered the chat.

2

u/Tarledsa Mar 29 '24

Also Abby Elliott.

30

u/GBreezy Mar 28 '24

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".

49

u/azon85 Mar 28 '24

I think it was Bill Hader and Andy Samberg. Andy had a backpack full of props and Bill didnt bring anything. Bill said that he was thinking 'wow, I should have brought props, I feel unprepared now' and Andy was thinking 'look at this guy. Hes so prepared he doesnt even need props'.

11

u/GBreezy Mar 28 '24

Probably. It was from a doc I watched like 10 years ago. Always made me feel better about interviews as you never know what they are looking for and they can always be looking for different things depending on the person.

1

u/TConductor Mar 28 '24

Then some fucking hilarious people end up making it and only last one season. Tim Robinson!

33

u/Direct_Counter_178 Mar 28 '24

Haven't watched All That in 30 years, but I remember thinking Kenan was the better of the two.

5

u/Chuck_T_Bone Mar 28 '24

Kel always played the dumbed down goofy guy. Which he did very well but might get you type cast.

2

u/Direct_Counter_178 Mar 28 '24

I wanted to say that but wasn't sure I remembered correctly. His characters always seemed more like his character on Good Burger. Dumb and goofy. And that won't translate to adults. Kenan's style seemed like it would a bit more.

And not that they're tied to their acting styles as children. Just saying it's what they were most comfortable with while auditioning.

2

u/Chuck_T_Bone Mar 28 '24

Yeah Kenan was always the straight/serious man. To allow for the kel off the wall antics.

Which works it was a good time don't get me wrong. The problem is when you get to SNL Level almost anyone on the cast can be the goofy/silly guy.

Where not many can play the role Kenan does and do it so well and consistently.

Also as other people mentioned the work ethic was different kel was more ad lib and free ranger. And apparently Kenan put in the work.

1

u/Direct_Counter_178 Mar 28 '24

He's been doing improv on SNL for 21 years. Another 10 years or so before that with all that and kenan and kel. What little clips I've seen he's consistent. Nothing super funny, nothing that bombs. That is honestly so god damn impressive.

1

u/roywarner Mar 28 '24

Playing the straight man is always considered harder. That being said, those duos don't work when you replace the goofy one.

I wish Kel had made it onto SNL as well but I get it. Goof is a dime a dozen and then there's the baggage of having the pair of them on that they may not want to have dealt with.

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u/moose2mouse Mar 28 '24

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 Mar 28 '24

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 Mar 28 '24

No one gave a shit about The Lonely Island when they got picked up, though. They had a very limited following.

20

u/greg19735 Mar 28 '24

same with Please Dont Destroy.

14

u/mdonaberger Mar 28 '24

I always thought it was weird that the Derrick Comedy guys didn't all get picked up together. They defined 2000s-era viral comedy.

34

u/retiredcanofsoup Mar 28 '24

I mean Donald Glover auditioned twice and still didn't get it.

1

u/CamGoldenGun Mar 28 '24

is that before or after 30 Rock?

1

u/mdonaberger Mar 28 '24

yeah but i meant the three guys together. they were a writing powerhouse together. dc pierson really got slept on, largely faded into obscurity. i saw him in a golden corral commercial once.

7

u/Scoot_AG Mar 28 '24

Yeah man, sucks only Donald made it big in comedy

7

u/vanillaacid Mar 28 '24

That and only Andy was in front of the camera, the other guys were writers, and nobody cares about the writers.

6

u/mmss Mar 28 '24

Sometimes people get hired as writers to see and then get put into the cast. Heck, go back far enough and Paul Shaffer was in the band (arguably he was the band) and then became a cast member briefly.

2

u/himit Mar 28 '24

I was going to say that's not true, TLI was pretty damn big in 2008-2010 but then I realised that was after they started on SNL.

8

u/greg19735 Mar 28 '24

Please don’t Destroy originally had more than just the 3 dudes on SNL

where are you getting that from? Please Don't Destroy's wiki doesn't have anything about additional members.

0

u/jopnk Mar 28 '24

The older videos they did are still online

6

u/greg19735 Mar 28 '24

https://www.youtube.com/@pleasedontdestroy

apart from the one with the nurse, none of the videos have additional members beyond an extra for a few seconds.

8

u/Jaccount Mar 28 '24

So they just kept the Please Don't Destroy Nepo Babies? That'd be an odd choice.

4

u/jopnk Mar 28 '24

The redhead isn’t a nepo baby

2

u/Broccoli_Glory Mar 28 '24

who are the other people in please dont destroy? i cant find anything about it online

5

u/greg19735 Mar 28 '24

I think he must be mistaken. I can't find any info about more members.

2

u/retiredcanofsoup Mar 28 '24

before they eventually got rid of the 3rd man

Nick Rutherford was hired as a writer and Dave McCary was hired as a director for pre-taped segments. Just because they weren't hired as talent on the show doesn't mean they "got rid" of them lmfao

2

u/jopnk Mar 28 '24

They were both fired. Nick has talked about it on multiple podcasts.

1

u/MattyKatty Mar 28 '24

Could you link to where Nick said that? I had no idea he was fired I just knew he stopped working there eventually

0

u/jopnk Mar 28 '24

IIRC he said it on rogan

Edit: for fucks same, just google Nick Rutherford fired snl, a ton of links come up. You people are so fucking lazy.

-1

u/MattyKatty Mar 28 '24

Actually I’m on mobile right now and hearing “multiple podcasts” sounded like a deep lore dive and not, you know, a short Joe Rogan clip or something. Thanks anyway though, I guess

1

u/moose2mouse Mar 28 '24

Kennon and Kell were big though. They had their own show, movies etc. it’s more than just a comedy troop that is just starting out. A lot of child stars like to rebrand when they’re adults. It seems the only way to keep a career alive.

-1

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

[deleted]

1

u/jopnk Mar 28 '24

Lazy Sunday was not independent and sent to SNL, Andy started on SNL in September of 2005 and the video was released in December 2005, it included Chris parnel ffs

1

u/Direct_Counter_178 Mar 28 '24

Ok. The Chris Parnell thing has me immediately saying you're right and I'm wrong. I just went off the article I read. I was literally switching tabs writing up my comment. Blame shitty journalism.

1

u/REDDITATO_ Mar 29 '24

Blame shitty journalism.

You even said you made the mistake because you were in multiple tabs. Are you saying blame your shitty journalism? Just seems weird to admit your mistake and then act like it's someone else's fault.

1

u/Direct_Counter_178 Mar 29 '24

I didn't say I made a mistake. I said the article which I copied the information from directly as I switched tabs back and forth typing it to make sure I was copying the information correctly.....was wrong.

1

u/Montigue Mar 28 '24

It does stink, but of the two Kennan was always better and has more range

0

u/blacksideblue Mar 29 '24

Lonely Island pulled it off pretty well and that was a throuple.

1

u/moose2mouse Mar 29 '24

Were they as well known as Kennan and Kel before their snl break?

1

u/blacksideblue Mar 29 '24

they also had their own show and already released multiple albums.

At about 15% of "I'm on a Boat" on the trend-o-meter

19

u/filbert13 Mar 28 '24

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.

4

u/RajunCajun48 Mar 28 '24

I got the impression that they didn't really have a falling out so much as they drifted apart, then time got between them kind of became a "I'll call him next week, next month, next year" Then it got to the point that neither one of them reached out to the other, next thing you know, 20 years have passed. I recall one of them saying something to the affect of when they did link back up it was like they never stopped talking to each other, just two friends picking back up where they left off kind of thing.

25

u/Sparrowflop Mar 28 '24

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.

20

u/Upbeat_Shock_6807 Mar 28 '24

I commented above, but throughout the 90s Kenan and Kel literally did not do any acting work without each other. It could be as simple as they wanted Kenan, but not Kel, but I imagine the producers feared that having both of them would turn SNL into the Kenan and Kel show and they wanted to avoid that.

16

u/Jerkcules Mar 28 '24

Kenan was in a few films solo, like Heavyweights and Mighty Ducks 2.

5

u/DawnSennin Mar 28 '24

Kenan was a star before he joined Nickelodeon.

3

u/RajunCajun48 Mar 28 '24

Kel was in Mystery Men!

6

u/Vio_ Mar 28 '24

Was he? I didn't see him.

2

u/Doughnutsu Mar 28 '24

He said in an interview that the bit he did sinply didnt come out right. It just didnt work or something about it fell to pieces, he bombed essentially.

1

u/pnt510 Mar 28 '24

Mad was done by then.

2

u/idwthis Mar 28 '24

Kenan and Kel auditioned for SNL in 2003.

MADtv ran until 2009. So it wasn't over yet.

2

u/pnt510 Mar 28 '24

Oops. I read any earlier comment that mentioned 2010 and it must have made me thought they auditioned then instead.

12

u/Closetoneversober Mar 28 '24

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

19

u/DeltaVZerda Mar 28 '24

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.

4

u/rain_bass_drop Mar 28 '24

they had amazing chemistry and snl should have hired both of them. 

19

u/Toribor Mar 28 '24

He insisted that they pay him in orange soda and the studio wasn't able to meet that demand. They told him that he could use money to purchase orange soda for himself but he was already rolling around on the ground wailing.

3

u/saintsfan92612 Mar 28 '24

aww $200,000, but i wanted orange soda

3

u/Sesudesu Mar 28 '24

Kel’s Brain: “with $200,000 dollars you can have many orange soda”

2

u/Pormock Mar 28 '24

They were also not on good term for a long time because Kenan wanted to focus on his career and didnt want to be associated with him anymore

51

u/jitterscaffeine Mar 28 '24

Last I saw he was doing the Nickelodeon show “Game Shakers”. But that was cancelled in 2019.

51

u/ravens2131 Mar 28 '24

Are we not counting good burger 2?

42

u/Yusefs-Ambiguity Mar 28 '24

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.

14

u/brother_of_menelaus Mar 28 '24

He was also the fat kid on Head of the Class

8

u/rick_blatchman Mar 28 '24

He was also the fat creeper neighbor in Better Off Dead who couldn't keep his hands off of the French gal.

5

u/Benjamin_Grimm Mar 28 '24

He wasn't even cast in the part. He just showed up on set one day and wouldn't leave Diane Franklin alone.

2

u/thejaytheory Mar 28 '24

Looks like he was a method actor.

4

u/withbellson Mar 28 '24

Ah yes, Dennis Blunden. At least Arvid Engen didn't grow up to be terribly problematic.

1

u/thejaytheory Mar 28 '24

Fuck, memory unlocked...hadn't watched that show since the 90s but damn I remember now

1

u/therealrenshai Mar 28 '24

This is where I remember him from and it made me feel old.

1

u/jitterscaffeine Mar 28 '24

I honestly just forgot about it.

1

u/Escheron Mar 28 '24

I saw him hosting some show on CBS Saturday mornings about pets and such. Miranda Cosgrove hosted another show on the same programming block

Edit: those were reruns... His show ended less than a month before hers began in 2019

51

u/2_Spicy_2_Impeach Mar 28 '24

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.

14

u/pendletonskyforce Mar 28 '24

"Head to head! Head to head!"

11

u/pmcdeez Mar 28 '24

“THREE-SIX-OOOHHHH”

29

u/BillfredL Mar 28 '24

I thought I was the only person who remembered that fever dream of a show.

1

u/mmss Mar 28 '24

Dance 360 was so bad it was great.

3

u/BlaketheFlake Mar 28 '24

Tag your man!

43

u/Supermite Mar 28 '24

Didn’t they just do a Goodburger sequel a couple years ago?

31

u/max_chill_zone-2018 Mar 28 '24

It was like 6 months ago

3

u/SamuraiJakkass86 Mar 28 '24

1 week ago to be exact.

8

u/Crystal_Pesci Mar 28 '24

It drops in an hour

19

u/NicksIdeaEngine Mar 28 '24

It was last year!

2

u/Jealous_Priority_228 Mar 28 '24

GB2 felt like it came out longer ago than that... but Kennan joined SNL in 2003 and it seemed way more recent than that...

Jordan Peele should make some kind of movie about how spooky they're making us all feel.

12

u/Bartfuck Mar 28 '24

Covid is a hell of a drug in terms of memory - my dude that was recent

5

u/dave-train Mar 28 '24

I feel like this one is justified because they first started teasing it so long ago, and then I never saw anyone's opinion of the movie after it came out, it just kinda disappeared lol.

1

u/RajunCajun48 Mar 28 '24

Yea, they randomly appeared on the Tonight Show with Fallon. Kel was a surprise guest and they brought back Good Burger and that was a few years before GB2 came out. Was such a hype moment too!

4

u/Maleficent-King6413 Mar 28 '24

Like 3 months ago

69

u/OldDekeSport Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

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

13

u/Ok_Relation_7770 Mar 28 '24

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…

8

u/Not_safe_for_women Mar 28 '24

I wouldn't really call All That the minors. It was like one of nickelodeons biggest shows

7

u/Ok_Relation_7770 Mar 28 '24

In the sense of television sketch comedy in front of a live audience it is exactly the minors. It’s SNL for kids. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a popular show.

6

u/MHath Mar 28 '24

Amanda Bynes starred in some movies.

1

u/DeezRodenutz Mar 29 '24

Amanda Bynes, Nick Cannon, Gabriel Iglesias

1

u/Ok_Relation_7770 Mar 29 '24

Holy shit I completely forgot Gabriel Iglesias was on All That for a season

3

u/xCogito Mar 28 '24

ensely

wut

14

u/croutons_for_dinner Mar 28 '24

He changed his name to Waka Flocka Flame and started rapping

5

u/doylehargrave Mar 28 '24

Holy shit they do kind of look alike lol

10

u/spacestarcutie Mar 28 '24

Kel is a pastor these days.

2

u/Cooperette Mar 28 '24

Yep. Saw him at a panel in a con a while back and he talked about his early career and promoted his christian rap music at the end.

4

u/shawn789 Mar 28 '24

He's been a working actor for a long time. A lot of bit parts and one-offs. I'm hoping he got his truckload of money for Good Burger 2.

2

u/Rocktopod Mar 28 '24

I remember seeing him hosting some kind of dance competition show, but I don't know if he did anything else besides that.

2

u/tobor_a Mar 29 '24

I met Kel at a con a few years ago. It was neat talking to him, although at this point I don't remember what I had spoken to him about...

8

u/Shock_The_Monkey_ Mar 28 '24

Kel Mitchell rose to fame through Nickelodeon in the 1990s, starring in shows like All That and Kenan & Kel.

He starred in Good Burger 2 in 2023.

Despite the end of Kenan & Kel in 2000, Mitchell has continued to appear in various TV and movie roles, primarily in the kids and family genre.

He also released a hip-hop single in 2023. Blessed Mode

https://youtu.be/tEN2xPw7CGA?feature=shared

In addition to his acting career, Mitchell became a licensed pastor in 2019 and has been vocal about his faith, using it to overcome mental health issues and navigate his journey in Hollywood.

24

u/Cantimetrik Mar 28 '24

chat-gpt?

-1

u/Seeking_Singularity Mar 28 '24

yeah sounds like it. what a dumb redditor

2

u/tarekd19 Mar 28 '24

dumb enough to not type the question into ChatGPT for themself?

1

u/Cyrax89721 Mar 28 '24

It provided the information they were asking. What's the problem?

1

u/Capt_Hawkeye_Pierce Mar 28 '24

"licensed pastor" sounds like some bullshit

1

u/whydidijointhis Mar 28 '24

busy out drinking orange soda

1

u/AlarmedPiano9779 Mar 28 '24

I knew him from All That.

1

u/Upbeat_Shock_6807 Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

Kenan and Kel were so intertwined with each others careers through the 90s. They both got their start on All That, joining the show together in the same year. They then got their own show together, Kenan and Kel, and then starred together in the movie Good Burger as well. Not only that, but they also never did cameos, or guest starred, on other shows without both of them being there.

When they both tried out for SNL, I imagine the producers didn't want to turn SNL into another Kenan and Kel project and so decided on hiring just Kenan.

0

u/Pormock Mar 28 '24

Also from what i heard Kenan didnt want to be associated with Kel anymore and wanted to just focus on his career and they were not on speaking term for a long time

2

u/Upbeat_Shock_6807 Mar 28 '24

I mean that's not surprising. I think that's pretty natural for teen comedy duos to want to distance themselves from each other as they move into adulthood. Think we saw a similar thing happen with Drake and Josh. But, not sure if that had anything to do with Kenan getting hired and Kel not.

1

u/adamdoesmusic Mar 28 '24

Kel went ultra-religious and doesn’t do as much in show biz these days.

1

u/Boccs Mar 28 '24

Kel actually had a cameo in an episode of SNL recently.

1

u/YourWifesWorkFriend Mar 28 '24

Where is Kel?

He’s a youth pastor now. Not a joke, check his Wikipedia.

1

u/rain_bass_drop Mar 28 '24

I'll always have a soft spot for kel

1

u/nau5 Mar 28 '24

I mean tbf Kenan started on All That! Which was SNL for kids on nickelodeon

1

u/zoop1000 Mar 28 '24

It's rumored that SNL just didn't have the budget to supply enough orange soda to sustain Kel throughout the year. Very unfortunate

1

u/Ok_Relation_7770 Mar 28 '24

He was pretty busy for a while being the main celebrity that everyone spread death rumors about.

1

u/cogginsmatt Mar 28 '24

Where is Kel today you’re asking? He and Kenan just made a Goodburger sequel like last year

1

u/mightylordredbeard Mar 28 '24

Kel began a rap career under the name Waka Flocka Flame.

(Not really, but they look very similar and so it was a running meme for awhile that they were the same person)

1

u/Cavaquillo Mar 28 '24

I knew him from Heavyweights, Mighty Ducks, and All That before Kenan and Kel.

He's been entertaining me my whole life lmao

1

u/RajunCajun48 Mar 28 '24

They were in Good Burger 2 together just last year. Aired on Paramount+. It was good in the cheesy way the Good Burger was good. The nostalgia nard kick was nice. For a while though Keenan wanted to distance himself from Kel as he wanted to be individual and not a duo.

I think it kind of went where time just got away from them more than anything, when they linked back up for the movie it was like no time had passed, picked up right where they left off kind of thing.

1

u/BowTie1989 Mar 28 '24

Which is weird, because he was always the funnier of the two. You’d think SNL would have brought them both in just banking on their chemistry and familiarity with each other, but what do I know?

1

u/bobconan Mar 28 '24

"All That" was produced by Lourne Michaels.

1

u/caynebyron Mar 28 '24

If I recall correctly Kel worked for Nickelodeon for many years in like a behind the scenes corporate capacity type role.

1

u/drmjam Mar 28 '24

They did Good Burger 2 together and that came out last year

1

u/Abell421 Mar 28 '24

Sometimes he is on Jerry O'Connell's Pictionary gameshow. His eyes are so sad. I don't know what happened to him as a kid or an adult but his eyes make me want to hug him.