'SNL' and Keke Palmer reboot 'Kenan & Kel' with a gritty twist

Uh-oh, here comes the bus.
 By 
Chance Townsend
 on 
Kenen Thompson wearing a blue apron. Keke Palmer sitting next to him on counter wearing pan-african color assortment tracksuit
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Not every old show from the 90s needs a gritty reimaging. Kenan Thompson probably agrees with that too after he's convinced by Saturday Night Live host Keke Palmer to reboot the Nickelodeon classic Kenan & Kel as "Kenan & Kelly."

Goodbye Good Burger and hello to Rigby's, the new convenience store where Kenan and Kelly work at. Kelly gets up to similar hijinks as Kel once did except these moments are immediately followed by dramatic monologue and confessions of infidelity and secret babies. As Kenan notes during the on-set interviews, "We just started and I think we have a tone issue."

Will this be the performance and the show that'll get Keke Palmer her fated Emmy Award? Definitely not. But at least we got to see Kenan and Kel reunite on screen again.

Topics SNL

Headshot of a Black man
Chance Townsend
Assistant Editor, General Assignments

Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and Mother Jones.

In his free time, he cooks, loves to sleep, and greatly enjoys Detroit sports. If you have any tips or want to talk shop about the Lions, you can reach out to him on Bluesky @offbrandchance.bsky.social or by email at [email protected].


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