Kenan Thompson is having a pretty solid birthday.
The Saturday Night Live star, who turned 41 on Friday, just had his new sitcom The Kenan Show picked up to series by NBC, The Wrap reports. The show, which is produced by Chris Rock and Lorne Michaels, stars Thompson as the father of two girls whose father-in-law, played by Andy Garcia, tries to help him out in inappropriate ways.
This is yet another NBC project for Thompson, who is still expected to remain a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live. He has starred on SNL for 16 seasons now, the longest of any cast member, and he said on Ellen recently that he has no plans to leave anytime soon. "It's the best job in the world," he said. "I can't see myself just walking away from it like that."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
In addition to SNL, Thompson has also been working with NBC on a series called Bring the Funny, a comedy competition show on which Thompson will be a judge. Deadline reports that "accommodations are expected to be made" so that he can work on both SNL and The Kenan Show at the same time, possibly including moving production of the sitcom to New York from Los Angeles. Thompson previously flew back and forth between the two cities to shoot the series' pilot.
And these are just Thompson's NBC projects. He's also a producer on a reboot of All That, which is headed to Nickelodeon and will feature Thompson's old Kenan & Kel co-star, Kel Mitchell, as a guest star. Get the orange soda ready for a Kenan-filled year, as the first of Thompson's new NBC shows, Bring the Funny, will premiere in July.
