Kenan Thompson will collect the air mile as he travels between his new NBC sitcom Kenan and Saturday Night Live.
Comedian and co-star Chris Redd will travel back and forth from Los Angeles and New York to film both shows.
During a virtual press conference, he told Deadline that he would only watch the SNL Christmas show once, but would see how it felt.
‘We’ll see how exhausting it gets when it’s going to be some sort of thing, but we did it for the Christmas show and Chris and I got out there on Friday and showed up at rehearsal that night and finally did the show and then we had three had weeks off before we had to go into another job. It was not so stressful, but we will see how it turns out if it is only one day in between, but I will rush back to my new family so I will not be completely exhausted, because we are holding each other. ”
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Thompson added that ‘we live in a different time’ with regard to SNL, where it used to be that people ‘would leave the show and go to their careers’, but that is no longer the case.
Chris Redd added that he enjoys doing both screenplay and sketch shows, especially with one of his best friends. “I do not want to see it as an exit strategy, but see it as a different way of creating,” he said.
Lorne Michaels, performing Kenan, said earlier that one of the reasons Kenan did this show and Saturday Night Live was that programs like these are now ten episodes. ‘He’ll be going back and forth to Los Angeles. But Kenan may come in the day before, and he will be well; he knows the drill just as well, ”he told New York magazine.
Thompson said the program, which begins Feb. 16, is the third version of the program. It was originally launched in 2019 with the writing of Jackie Clarke and directed by Chris Rock, but was redeveloped with David Caspe co-writing as showrunner and Clarke. Don Johnson also replaced Andy Garcia in the series.
Thompson said the development of the show helped outside of the traditional pilot process. ‘It went in one direction for the original pilot we shot, and Chris Rock was involved. It was amazing, and then we had a moment and had the opportunity to sit on it and expand it even further as opposed to the pressure. of pilot week, ”he said. ‘We have now stretched it out to where it is and I think we are all very grateful that we had a chance to live with the material for a while. The universe has just unfolded in a way to where we have the cast we are currently dealing with. ‘
The cast also talked about filming the show during the Covid-19 pandemic. The table was initially done about Zoom and Thompson said it made them “weird” and “awkward”.
Chris Redd’s internet was so bad that the production sent him a wi-fi booster. “It will only go out when he’s about to hit a goal line,” said Kimrie Lewis.
Don Johnson added that the only time he saw his cast were faces when they were in character.
“When we were able to get personal, everything just clicked, so we were very happy to just be in a room and finally do things,” Thompson added.
Kenan follows a father who is a widow, Kenan (Thompson), who juggles with a sensational job as a host of a morning show in Atlanta and raises his two daughters. As Kenan tries to move on, his father-in-law (Johnson), brother (Redd) and co-workers all have strong opinions about the best way to live his life.
The program focuses on family relationships while Kenan tries to regain his life after the death of his wife. Kenan’s daughters are his world – the too-smart Aubrey (Dani Lane) and the silly, unpredictable Birdie (Dannah Lane). He struggles to balance the parent as a single father and present his show, which leads him to reluctantly accept hesitation. Rick was an avid saxophonist when his daughter, Cori (Niccole Thurman), was young and missed many of her childhoods, so he wants to make up for it with his granddaughters, even though his parenting style is not in school. ‘a.
At work, Kenan excels in his work with the help of his driven executive producer Mika (Lewis). Mika can be tightly wounded, especially if Gary, as Kenan’s not-so-manager, tries to insert himself, but Mika remains a confidant and ally for Kenan. They can be defenseless with each other and make contact as friends … and maybe something else.
Lorne Michaels, David Caspe, Jackie Clarke, Kenan Thompson, Ken Whittingham and Andrew Singer serve as executive producers. Kenan is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in collaboration with Broadway Video.