Pop-Culturalist.com

Good Burger is back and ready to take your order again. Twenty-six years after the release of the 1997 cult classic, Kel Mitchell and Kenan Thompson are reprising their roles as the iconic duo Ed and Dexter. Director Phil Traill, along with the original Good Burger writers Heath Seifert and Kevin Kopelow, made their way to New York Comic Con to discuss the sequel ahead of its expected Thanksgiving release date on Paramount+.

“The story picks up in the present day, showing where Ed and Dex have gone with their lives. Fortunately, Ed hasn’t evolved much; he still works at Good Burger behind the counter and continues to get everyone’s order wrong. Oddly enough, Dex has pursued numerous business endeavors, most of which have failed. We had the opportunity to bring them back together for good reasons. We set them off on a whole new adventure. It’s a great time to tell this story because there’s a lot going on in the plot that’s relevant to what’s happening today, particularly in terms of A.I. and automation,” Seifert shared.

Also returning are Josh Server as Fizz, Lori Beth Denberg as Connie Muldoon, and Carmen Electra as Roxanne. “One of the most exciting things about writing a new project is figuring out what we wanted to reference from the first movie. What are some of the clever ways to bring some of these characters back? The film is full of lots of little hidden Easter eggs that I think fans of the original are going to love. But then we also have references to All That and the Kenan & Kel Show,” said Kopelow.

“You can cram a lot in. It’s Good Burger. The comedy hits loud and in the face. It doesn’t hang around. There’s a lot of room for cameos. We’ve got so many surprise cameos,” teased Traill.

Rounding out the cast are Lil Rel Howery (Get Out) as Cecil McNevin, Jillian Bell (Murder Mystery 2) as Katt Boswell, Kamaia Fairburn (Blockbuster) as Mia, Alex R. Hibbert (THE CHI) as Ed2, Fabrizio Guido (Perry Mason) as Mr. Jensen, Elizabeth Hinkler (The Good Doctor) and Emily Hinkler (The Good Doctor) as Cindy and Mindy and Anabel Graetz (Free Guy) as Ruth.

The ’90s sketch initially debuted on All That in 1994 and revolved around the Good Burger fast-food restaurant, featuring the bumbling cashier Ed, portrayed by Mitchell. Subsequently, in the 2019 revival of All That, Mitchell reprised his role as Ed, now serving as the manager of trainees at Good Burger after 20 years on the job. “It felt like no time had passed. Kel came onto set with the wig on and he looked exactly the same. It was amazing,” praised Kopelow.

Traill added, “Kenan and Kel have known each other for more than thirty years. They’re playing these characters that they know very well. They got back into it really fast. They’re also producers on the film. They were really involved in the whole process. They’re leaders on set. They set the tone by being professional and treating everybody well. They were really generous, especially with all the young actors. Kenan has been doing comedy sketches for twenty-two years ever single week. You give him a situation and he’s so comfortable with it. He immediately understands it and executes it. Then he comes up with new things. Both of them are geniuses.”

Seifert agreed, “Kel has always had this amazing affinity for physical humor. That did not go away. He’s still at genius at that. I never worked with anybody who’s so good at that.”

Good Burger 2 premieres on Paramount+ on Thanksgiving.

Photo Credit: Apple TV+