As a former Snick kid, it’s been awesome watching Kenan Thompson’s career explode. The comedian has been a Saturday Night Live cast member for 16 years, the longest of any cast member in the history of the show. But before that, we kids knew him as the funny guy from All That and Kenan & Kel. Thompson must be feeling the same sense of nostalgia the rest of us have for old-school Nickelodeon, because he’s just been hired to executive produce a reboot of All That.
And that’s not all: Nickelodeon president Brian Robbins says that other former cast members are expected to make a return in the new series. All That kickstarted the careers of actors like Thompson and Amanda Bynes, and even launched the spinoff movie Good Burger, starring Thompson and his Kenan & Kel co-star Kel Mitchell. (I bet you anything just hearing those words prompted you to think, “Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, can I take your order?”)
All That isn’t the only nostalgic Nickelodeon show getting a second life. The network is also working on a series of spinoffs for characters from the cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants, though details as of yet are scant.
The All That reboot is expected to have a new cast of young people, which Thompson will help cast. He told Variety he isn’t giving up his gig at SNL, but will still be involved in establishing the show’s tone.
We’re pretty stoked that a new generation gets to grow up with All That, but can’t help but wonder which nostalgic segments and characters might make a reappearance. “Ask Ashley”? “Vital Information with Lori Beth Denberg”? I’m personally gunning for Thompson to slip back into the bathtub for “Everyday French with Pierre Escargot.”
No word yet on when the new series will launch, but we’ll definitely be watching on our big orange couch.
Images: Nickelodeon
