Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell reunite for gritty Kenan & Kel reboot on SNL

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Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell reunited on Saturday Night Live for a gritty, dramatic reboot of their beloved 1996 sitcom Kenan & Kel.

Host Keke Palmer — who announced her pregnancy during her monologue in the Dec. 3 episode — proposed the reboot in a mockumentary sketch, reimagining the beloved show as Kenan & Kelly with her co-starring with Thompson. In the sketch, Palmer's female version of Mitchell's character reveals she's pregnant with Thompson's child.

"Keke was gunning for an Emmy Award so she wanted gritty, dramatic moments in it," Thompson says in a confessional. "I thought, 'That won't work.' And I was right."

The kooky sitcom moments, including Palmer's failure to properly fix the Slush-O machine at the convenience store the duo work at, are punctuated by off-tone monologues. "My mama used to get drunk every day and call me an idiot," Palmer says. "My uncle told her to blame me for my daddy leaving. Me! How you gonna blame a little girl for that man being a coward?"

Mitchell's signature catchphrase ("aw, here it goes!") is swapped out for a nonsensical, "Oh, here comes the bus!"

Mitchell at long last makes an appearance towards the end of the segment and rushes toward the orange soda machine — that is, before a robber enters the store and shoots him in the dramatic reimagining.

In Palmer's arms, a dying Mitchell — who is the real father of Kelly's baby! — delivers his trademark, "Aw, here it goes!"

Kenan & Kelly - SNL . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvmOEzlZnVk. Credit: Saturday Night Live
Kenan & Kelly - SNL . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvmOEzlZnVk. Credit: Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell reunite on 'Saturday Night Live' for reboot spoof

The show "is not good," Thompson says in another confessional. But there's a bright side: Jordan Peele has called, and wants the duo to star in a sequel to Nope, titled Yep.

Aptly, Thompson recently cited Kenan & Kel as a sketch that could work on SNL. "I want to say there's some sketches from All That that would work on SNL," he told EW in September, referencing the Nickelodeon series he and Mitchell starred in. "I feel like Pierre Escargot could work, you know? Even if he slid out on the Update desk or something like that in the tub or something like that. Good Burger would work in a way — just the adult version or something like that. Adults having to work at Good Burger."

He continued, "A lot of the interstitial straight-to-camera things remind me of early Weekend Update when they were doing Roseannadanna and like those very straight-to-camera without anybody's help. Loud Librarian or Amanda, when she was the angry little girl yelling about it. Ask Ashley. Yeah, Ask Ashley! I think those kind of things would work because it's a talent showcase, and that's what SNL is. It's like, 'Here are the people we think is funny. Go.' And America usually tends to agree."

Watch the Kenan & Kelly sketch above.

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