Reboots have been all the rage for a while, but there are still plenty of shows that have fallen through the revival cracks. One of them is Kenan & Kel, the beloved ‘90s Nickelodeon show that made names out of stars Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. The two have spent years threatening to team back up, but so far they’ve only settled for fun little one-offs. Another of those took place on the latest SNL.
The sketch started out Kel-less. In a pre-taped segment, Thompson explained that the show had been revived, sort of: Instead of Kel, Kenan was joined by episode host Keke Palmer, who was all of two years old when the show premiered. At first she makes a fine Kel replacement, doing her own schtick. Then she starts getting overly dramatic, breaking the lighthearted spell by talking about things like crime in “Chi-Raq” and claiming Kenan is the father of her baby (prompting Palmer to show off her very real baby bump).
As Kenan & Kelly wrestles with tone issues, in, finally, walks Kel, who at first is up to his old shenanigans, proving more interested in orange soda than catching up with an old friend. Then tragedy ensues. But there’s a happy ending: Kenan and Kel ultimately reveal that Jordan Peele has tapped them for a sequel to Nope called Yep.
You can watch the reunion in the video above.