Kenan and Kel serve up heaping portion of fun in comedy 'Good Burger.'

Jet, August 11, 1997

Nickelodeon teen stars Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell are leaving moviegoers in stitches since the release of their hilarious new comedy film Good Burger.

The Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies' buddy adventure film is the story of two high school teens, Dexter (Kenan) and Ed (Kel), who help their failing fast-food restaurant, Good Burger, become one of the hottest burger joints in town. That is until new burger rival Mondo Burger arrives on the scene, located just across the street from Good Burger. The aggressive manager of the hip fast-food spot will stop at nothing to continue drawing enormous crowds at Mondo Burger, including whipping up never-ending schemes to steal Good Burger's dynamic secret sauce.

"This movie does have some type of depth," Kenan explains to JET during a recent interview at the Viacom building in Chicago. "It's like a live-action cartoon. I wouldn't call it silly because we really wanted to tell a story."

Kel enthusiastically chimes in, "It's like a Planet Hollywood battles Seven Eleven kind of thing."

Good Burger also stars comedian-actor Sinbad, Immature group member Marques "Batman" Houston, basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, master of funk George Clinton, "Moesha" co star Shar Jackson and Abe Vigoda of "Barney Miller" fame.

Kel describes Ed as one who "takes everything real literal. Some people think he's kind of slow, but I wouldn't say that." Kenan describes Dexter as "a kid who's always trying to find the quick way out of a situation."

In addition to offering a roller coaster ride of good fun, people of all ages can take away something from the movie, says Kenan.

"There are lots of lessons to learn like not to lie, don't judge a book by its cover and whatever you sow, you reap," concludes Kenan.

An Atlanta native, Kenan, 19, and Chicago native Kel, 18, became overnight sensations with their off-beat antics on the popular Nickelodeon show "All That." Their enjoyable characters were so well-received that the two won their own sitcom, "Kenan & Kel," which is a spin-off of "All That." The teens, who attend Santa Monica College in California, have become the first Black stars of a prime-time Nickelodeon sitcom (JET, April 7).

"We feel blessed to do that," Kel proudly reveals. "To be two African-Americans with this big of a fan base is great. We're like the hip hop Barney. Kids come up to us and say we're their role models."

The Good Burger soundtrack includes Tracie Spencer and 702.