Beloved NBC Comedy Not on Tonight

TV fans never like to find out that one of their beloved shows is not airing when they expect it [...]

By Stephen Andrew

TV fans never like to find out that one of their beloved shows is not airing when they expect it to, and many will be bummed to find that a hit NBC comedy is not on tonight. SNL star Kenan Thompson's new show Kenan typically aired at 8:30 p.m. ET on Tuesdays, but the show aired its Season 1 finale last week, April 27, so it will not be on tonight. In its place, NBC will be airing the Season 1 finale of Young Rock, another big hit comedy for the network that had been the lead in for Kenan.

In Kenan, Thompson stars as Kenan Williams, a fictional version of himself who is a former child star and now an Atlanta morning talk show host. This is notable as Thompson was a child star, appearing on multiple Nickelodeon shows, such as All That and Kenan & Kel, and in films like D2: The Mighty Ducks. The fictional Kenan Williams is also a widowed father raising his two daughters while living with his father-in-law — played by Don Johnson — and his brother, Gary. Thompson's brother in the show is played by Chris Redd, one of his Saturday Night Live castmates.

Variety sat down with Thompson to discuss the new sitcom with him, and the comedian addressed the basis for the show, as well as what fascinated him about it. "What if there was a guy struggling with the love of his life not being in his life anymore, and what that would look like?" he said. "And how do you still make that a sitcom? I thought that would be intriguing to watch."

Redd spoke with Variety also, sharing how he grew up "watching Kenan" and adding that even though Thompson was already a huge star by the time they met, "he felt like family immediately." Redd continued, "I've never had a big brother before, but he immediately assumed that role and put me on game. SNL can be hard especially when you don't know how to navigate it quite yet, and he's such a calming presence like he's mastered the thing."

Redd added, "Talk to anybody in that building at SNL, and they would have similar things to say about Kenan. He's just a consistently good dude. With raw talent." Kenan has been renewed for Season 2, though no expected premiere date has been announced.

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