Kenan & Kel

Kenan & Kel premiered on Nickelodeon on August 17, 1996, and ran for four seasons and 65 episodes through January 14, 2001. Created by Kim Bass, it was a spin-off of the sketch show All That, where Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell were already the breakout stars; the characters were so popular that Nickelodeon gave them their own sitcom. The premise was deceptively simple: Kenan Rockmore, who works at Rigby's grocery store in Chicago, and his best friend Kel Kimble, whose defining characteristic is an all-consuming love of orange soda. The show's genius was its formula: every scheme Kenan concocted would inevitably collapse, punctuated by Kel's signature line, "Awwww, here it goes!"

Kenan & Kel was taped before a live audience—seasons one and two at Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios Florida, then seasons three and four at Nickelodeon on Sunset in Hollywood. The theme song, "Aw, Here It Goes," was performed by Coolio. An anchor of the SNICK Saturday-night block, it won Favorite TV Show at the 1998 Kids' Choice Awards—voted there by kids who knew every episode by heart.

The duo stepped into movies on July 25, 1997, with Good Burger, directed by Brian Robbins—a big-screen extension of their All That sketch that became a sleepover staple. Kel's Ed, greeting customers with "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger," carried the film to $23.7 million worldwide and a permanent spot on the VHS shelf.

Kenan Thompson went on to join Saturday Night Live in 2003 and became the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history. The pair reunited in an SNL sketch titled "Kenan & Kelly" in December 2022, proving the old chemistry never went anywhere.