After a critically acclaimed first season, the popular NBC sitcom ‘Kenan’ premieres its second season tonight, January 3, at 8/7c, with two brand new episodes. The show stars Kenan Thompson, a longtime ‘SNL’ veteran, who also serves as an executive producer on the series.
‘Kenan’ is a heartfelt sitcom that revolves around the life of Kenan Williams, played by Thompson, the host of a morning talk show. He is a widowed father raising his two daughters with the help of his brother, Gary, played by ‘SNL’ co-star Chris Redd, and father-in-law, Rick, played by veteran actor Don Johnson. The show also stars Kimrie Lewis, who plays the executive producer of Kenan’s morning show, Mika Caldwell, as well as Dani and Dannah Lane, who play Kenan’s daughters Aubrey and Birdie, respectively.
The show will return to NBC after a successful 10-episode first season that aired last spring, and the network decided to renew the show for a second season shortly after its first season ended. In December, the show aired a holiday special, titled “Christmas Show,” where the crew is preparing for the morning show’s holiday spectacular.
Critics and fans have praised Thompson’s performance in the series, with Diane Gordon of TV Guide saying, “Watching Kenan, we wondered why it took this long for the network to make a show happen for him. Thompson’s warmth and humanity shine in this show, as well as his expert ability to land jokes.” Thompson was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series at the 2021 Emmy Awards for his work on this show.
The first episode, premiering tonight at 8pm and kicking off the second season, titled “Dating App,” sees Kenan sign up for a dating app with help from his brother Gary. The second episode, titled “Work Friends,” premiering right after at 8:30pm, is centered around Kenan referring to Mika as just a colleague and not a friend.
In an interview with TVLine, Thompson teased that the second season of this show will focus more on its supporting characters, saying, “We all have our individual careers that we are pursuing at the same time, so it’s nice to see everybody get that opportunity.”
Make sure to watch the Season 2 premiere of ‘Kenan’ on NBC tonight at 8/7c and stream the series on Peacock!
