Kenan and Kel Beef Over Kenan on Kel

1 day a few years dorsum, Kenan Thompson got a call at his dwelling house in New York Metropolis. When he picked upwards, he heard a voice on the other stop of the line that was both familiar and distant at the same time. Information technology was Kel Mitchell's.

"I was in my backyard," Thompson told HuffPost earlier this yr. "I oasis't talked to this dude in years. I wondered ― 'crusade I heard the same rumors of beef and all that, so I didn't really know, since I hadn't spoken with him ― if at that place was really a trouble or not."

During the 2nd half of the 1990s, Thompson and Mitchell seemed almost inseparable on screen. They became one of comedy'due south most famous duos, get-go on Nickelodeon's sketch show "All That" and so with their own bear witness, "Kenan & Kel." And 20 years ago on Tuesday, they released the 1997 motion-picture show "Skillful Burger," a cult archetype that remains close to the hearts of millions of millennials.

Kel Mitchell and Kenan Thompson pose for a "Good Burger" publicity shot in 1997. — Kel Mitchell and Kenan Thompson pose for a "Skillful Burger" publicity shot in 1997.

But at some point during the 2000s, the pair fell out of touch. Both of them now debate that the dissolution of their friendship was a outcome of their work schedules and living on different sides of the country. Merely the loss of contact became a stable source of tabloid fodder, one that Mitchell did his part to occasionally drum up.

In 2012, he told TMZ, " The truth is Kenan does non want to be seen with me in any form of media, or fifty-fifty have my name mentioned around him ." In 2014, he said the two had had " no contact " since Mitchell showed upward to Thompson's birthday party unannounced more 5 years before. In 2015, he said, " We haven't seen each other in a long time ."

Dan Schneider, ane of the co-creators of "All That," had been the one to give Thompson'south number to Mitchell and suggest he telephone call.

More than a decade before, Thompson moved to New York City to work at NBC'south "Saturday Night Live," where he hoped to distinguish himself as a singular comedic strength, not one one-half of a teenage duo. Back then, Thompson feared that he and Mitchell would both be forever stymied by their history together ― each seen as child actors who could not succeed without the other. But when he finally heard Mitchell'southward voice, Thompson realized he wasn't worried about that anymore. He just wanted to grab up.

"That night on the phone, we were talking for, like, hours," Mitchell told me.

Thompson said any concern faded in seconds. "It was immediate, like I had seen him yesterday or something like that," Thompson said. "He had gone through his own tribulations or whatever and he was on the other side of that finally."

Memories of his time with Mitchell came flooding dorsum to Thompson. To "Kenan & Kel" fans, they were two TV characters. Only to Thompson and Mitchell, they were first and foremost something else: ii old friends. "This was a guy I saw every twenty-four hour period, all day," Thompson said. "He was my dog. He was one of my best friends."

On the phone, the ii decided they wouldn't allow themselves lose touch once more. Presently after, they made plans to reunite. On Sept. 23, 2015 , a decade and a half after "Kenan & Kel" ended, they finally did, appearing on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."

They were scheduled to perform a "Proficient Burger" sketch. Simply once there, Thompson felt nervous again. "It was weird to see him because I hadn't seen him in 10 years," he said. Simply presently enough, he realized "information technology was only similar comfortable shoes."

Mitchell distinctly remembers cutting off his beard and putting on his "Good Burger" wig for the sketch when he saw Thompson in the hallway dressed as construction worker Lester Oakes. The two grown men both looked, admittedly, a little featherbrained.

Nevertheless, the feel touched them both. "It was simply this emotional moment," Mitchell said. For years, "Kenan & Kel" fans had begged the two of them to reunite, every bit each struggled to find their vox independent of one another. Only in that short moment, they weren't a brand. "It was just usa," Mitchell said.

Since and then, the pair have indeed kept in touch. "We phone call each other and text each other all the time," Thompson said. As teenagers, the two of them talked with wonder near where their lives would have them. Now, when Mitchell visits New York, he loves to spend fourth dimension with Thompson and his family unit.

Thompson feels the same way. As a kid on "All That," he pulled Mitchell'south baby sis out of his pants every bit role of a sketch called "Baggin Saggin Barry." "She'southward like xx years erstwhile now," Thompson, 39, said. "That brought it all habitation."

Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell pose at a screening party for "Good Burger" in 1997.

Whether nosotros'll always get a total-on "Kenan & Kel" sequel remains an unanswered question. But for Thompson, it's plenty to merely have his friend back and their memories together intact.

"I always valued those times, 'cause it'southward our blood, sweat and tears," he said. "And information technology's my babyhood, also as anybody else's."