All That is an American sketch comedy children's television series created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from April 16, 1994, to October 22, 2005, lasting ten seasons, and was produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions and by Schneider's Bakery in season ten. The pilot episode was originally shown as a special "sneak peek" on April 16, 1994, with the show officially debuting as a regular series on December 24 the same year.[1]
All That went on to become a fixture on Nickelodeon for over a decade, and has received acclaim for its diverse cast and impact on children's television.[2][3] The series has spun off several members of the cast in their own Nickelodeon television series with varying levels of success. It has been marketed in several ways, including an audio recording, books, a feature film (with a sequel), festival tour, and numerous reunions and specials celebrating the legacy of All That.[4]
In 2019, Robbins, the current president of Nickelodeon and co-creator of the original series, announced a revival of the series with original cast member Kenan Thompson serving as executive producer,[5] with Kel Mitchell later confirmed in the same role.[6] The eleventh season premiered on June 15, 2019, with musical guests The Jonas Brothers.[7] Original cast members Lori Beth Denberg and Josh Server each appeared, and made sporadic appearances throughout the season. The last episode of the series aired on December 17, 2020, after production was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
History
Development
Brian Robbins and Michael Tollin created the show, and the head writer was Dan Schneider who also became the showrunner of the series in the third season. All That marked the beginning of Schneider's prolific career in creating and writing hit television series for young audiences. The New York Times, in separate articles, referred to Schneider as "the Norman Lear of children's television"[8] and "the master of a television genre".[9]
In 1986, Robbins and Schneider met while working on the ABC sitcom Head of the Class.[10] Becoming close friends, the two performers both shared a mutual interest in writing, eventually coming together to write and then pitch an episode to the show's producers just to see if they could do it.[10] To their amazement, the producers liked their idea and bought it. Their episode ("Will the Real Arvid Engen Please Stand Up") later aired during the show's second season.
Exterior of the former Nickelodeon Studios where All That was taped for its first two seasons
Following the success of Head of the Class, Robbins and Schneider were asked to co-host the second annual Kids Choice Awards in 1988 alongside Tony Danza and Debbie Gibson.[11] Although they were unaware of the fledgling Nickelodeoncable channel, the two agreed to participate. The award ceremony that year was produced by Albie Hecht, with whom Robbins and Schneider quickly struck up a friendship.[10] Their friendship continued after the awards, and Hecht suggested they develop something for Nickelodeon. Robbins and Schneider declined his offer, as they were still under contract with ABC.[10]
By 1991, Head of the Class ended its run and Robbins started a production company with producer friend Mike Tollin, aptly named Tollin/Robbins Productions.[3] The company originally produced several small budget sport documentaries.[12] Hecht, now Head of Development for Nickelodeon, contacted them and asked them to tape a project for the network. The half-hour documentary they made featured the network's game show hosts Phil Moore (Nick Arcade) and Mike O'Malley (Get the Picture and Nickelodeon GUTS) as co-hosts of a comedy tour as they drove around to different cities to perform.[3] Since their schedule only permitted for two days of taping, Tollin/Robbins had to make the entire show appear as if they had toured around the country.[3]
Impressed with the final product, Hecht later met with Robbins to discuss developing something; asking Robbins if there was any type of show that he would be interested in making.[3] Robbins pitched an idea of creating a kid-friendly version of Saturday Night Live. He brought Tollin and Schneider (as head writer) along to help develop the show. The three were influenced by classic sketch shows such as The Carol Burnett Show, You Can't Do That on Television and Laugh In,[3] and began to flesh out a rough idea of the show's format.[3][10] Schneider decided against writing the pilot episode and instead chose to compile the cast first. Usually, in television, the pilot is written first and the cast is assembled later.[10] However, the three believed it was crucial to find the right actors first and then tailor to their strengths.[3][10] A nationwide talent search for child and teen actors was launched that would last for several months.[3] Eventually, Angelique Bates, Lori Beth Denberg, Katrina Johnson, Kel Mitchell, Alisa Reyes, Josh Server, and Kenan Thompson were hired.
Original series (1994–2000)
With the cast intact, writing began. The basic concept for the series was a half-hour show that featured a cold open (which featured the cast participating in varying juvenile acts in a green room or around the studio before the show starts), several different sketches; including "runners" (short little sketches), and then a musical performance to close out the episode.[3][10] The main staple was the Vital Information sketch which would go on to be featured in every show through the end of the sixth season (some people compared it to the SNL longest running sketch Weekend Update).[3] Cast and crew flew out to Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Orlando to shoot the pilot in front of a studio audience on January 17, 1994.[3] After taping was completed, the pilot was shelved as screenings did not test well with the focus groups,[3][10] consisting of children, both boys and girls in different age groups, that Nickelodeon used. The scores showed that "Kids probably wouldn't like this new sketch comedy show for kids".[3][10] Regardless of the negative response, Geraldine Laybourne (then President of Nickelodeon) decided to pick the series up.[3]
Nickelodeon on Sunset, at 6230 Sunset Boulevard, as seen in May 2011. All That was taped here until its cancellation in 2005.
During the first season, writing partners Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert were brought on as producers and continued working in that capacity through the third season. They continued their relationship with Thompson and Mitchell by co-executive producing and head writing the spin-off series Kenan & Kel and eventually writing the feature film Good Burger (1997) with Schneider.
After production on the second season wrapped in 1996, the show moved out of the old Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida. The network, interested in moving production of their live-action series to the West Coast began scouting sound stages in California. Production for the third season was completed at the Paramount Pictures studio before Nickelodeon obtained a lease for the 6230 Sunset Boulevard facility. During this period, Bates left the show and was replaced by Amanda Bynes. A Nickelodeon producer discovered Amanda while she attended a children's comedy camp at LA's Laugh Factory.[13] At the end of the third season, Johnson and Reyes left the show.
In 1997, the Sunset Boulevard property was acquired and branded as Nickelodeon on Sunset (formerly The Earl Carrol Theater).[14][15] Production for the series would remain here until the end of the tenth season in 2005. The fourth season began with the additions of Leon Frierson, Christy Knowings, and Danny Tamberelli to the cast. Knowings and Tamberelli were known to Nickelodeon producers having both participated in other projects for the network; Knowings was discovered while taping a pilot for a show called And Now This; Tamberelli was the star of The Adventures of Pete & Pete, and guest starred on the Nickelodeon game show Figure It Out where he befriended fellow guest star Kopelow.[16] At the end of the fourth season, Denberg and Schneider left the show. Schneider initially left the series to create his own sitcom, and later took over a fledgling pilot for Bynes that would become The Amanda Show.[17]
For the fifth season, Kopelow and Seifert took over Schneider's responsibilities as head writers and co-executive producers; Tamberelli succeeded Denberg as the new Vital Information anchor; added to the cast were Nick Cannon and Mark Saul. Although a teenager at the time, Cannon previously worked as the audience warm up and writer for the show before joining the cast.[16]
On March 13, 1999, Nickelodeon celebrated the series in an hour long show dubbed All That Live in honor of the show's "100th episode" (although it was chronologically the 86th episode to be aired on the network). The episode was the first, and only occurrence in the show's history done entirely live in front of a studio audience.[18]
The 100th episode featured several celebrities: Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Nickelodeon's Clarissa Explains It All), Larisa Oleynik (Nickelodeon's The Secret World of Alex Mack), Robert Ri'chard (Nickelodeon's Cousin Skeeter), and Britney Spears (in a taped video appearance; Spears was originally supposed to perform in person but had to back out due to a knee injury and Lauryn Hill took her place) all made appearances; with Bates, Denberg, Johnson and Reyes appearing as well.[18]
After the 100th episode, the show won the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite TV Show on May 1, 1999.[19] The fifth season ended with the departures of Mitchell and Thompson. Stand-up comedian Gabriel Iglesias was hired to replace the two for the following season.[16] The abbreviated sixth season was followed by a nationwide summer tour titled All That Music and More Festival hosted by the cast and featured musical guests. Kopelow, Seifert and the entire cast left the series soon after. In their absence, Schneider returned as showrunner.
Relaunch series (2002–2005)
In 2000, All That was put on hiatus to be relaunched with a new cast. During the hiatus, Nickelodeon ran a series of specials. Production for the seventh season started back up a year later after an extensive nationwide talent search for child and teen actors. Ultimately hired were Chelsea Brummet, Jack DeSena, Lisa Foiles, Bryan Hearne, Shane Lyons, Giovonnie Samuels, and Kyle Sullivan. The format of the series remained roughly the same as the original seasons, but episodes now featured a weekly host who would appear alongside the cast in sketches (the weekly host was gradually phased out of the show later on). Vital Information was also dropped, and replaced with a new segment called Know Your Stars which would appear regularly.[20][21] The first episode of the "new" All That featured special guests Frankie Muniz and Aaron Carter and debuted on January 19, 2002.[22]
The eighth season opened with the addition of Jamie Lynn Spears to the cast and marked the beginning of All That cast members attempting dares on the SNICK program Snick On-Air Dare.[23][24] Occasionally, On Air Dares had special guests from other shows.[25] Hearne left the series just as Nickelodeon advertised a competition called R U All That?: Nickelodeon's Search for the Funniest Kid in America. The grand prize of the competition was an opportunity to become a cast member. After this contest ended in 2003, the finals aired on July 26, 2003. The contest picked five finalists, and all of them performed a sketch with the current cast. The winner was Christina Kirkman who would officially join the cast in ninth season. The competition's runner-up Ryan Coleman would join the cast later that year. At the end of the ninth season, Lyons, Samuels, and Spears departed the series. Spears left to focus on a new Nickelodeon show created by Dan Schneider called Zoey 101.[26]
In 2005, the tenth season began with a celebration of the show's tenth anniversary. Nickelodeon celebrated the anniversary of All That by airing episodes from the first six seasons in the week leading up to a "reunion special" on April 23, 2005, hosted by Muniz and featuring Ashanti and Bow Wow as the musical guests. The special featured the cast from the original series and relaunch performing in sketches together. And, after a hiatus, the Vital Information sketch was brought back with BET'sComing to the Stage winner Lil' JJ as the anchor. The special also introduced Kianna Underwood and Denzel Whitaker as new cast members.[4] Approximately 6.2 million total viewers watched the special on both its April 23 and 24 airings, making it the top cable or broadcast program for the 2–11, 6–11, and 9–14 age demographics,[27] and TV.com gave it a rating of 8.7/10.[28][4]
Chronologically, the anniversary special and season were taped in the fall of 2004, then Nickelodeon came to air them the following year. After the anniversary, the new season began airing a week later. The tenth season would mark the end of the relaunch era of the show as Foiles announced the show's cancellation in September 2005 via social media. The entire cast and Schneider moved on from the series. Schneider would go on to have a successful career creating television programs for the Nickelodeon network.
In the fall of 2018, Brian Robbins, co-creator of the series, was formally announced as the new president of Nickelodeon.[29] Now in charge of the company's programming unit, Robbins expressed interest in a revival of the show, saying, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, that:
I would've never, ever, ever canceled the show. It should've been [Nickelodeon's] Saturday Night Live. All That was a very sophisticated show. Young humor, but the level of comedy on that show was sophisticated.
— Robbins
The show's revival was announced as part of Nickelodeon's 2019 content slate on February 14, 2019.[30] On May 14, 2019, it was announced that the show would premiere on June 15, 2019, with Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell serving as executive producers; Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert returning as consulting producers; and the involvement of former cast members in sketches.[7] However, Dan Schneider, former executive producer of the series, would not be involved with the second relaunch as Nickelodeon had cut ties with Schneider in 2018.[31]
By 2017, Nickelodeon had ceased all operations at the Nickelodeon on Sunset lot and the property was later sold.[32] Production for the revival series was done at The Burbank Studios (formerly known as NBC Studios) in Burbank, California.[33] The new cast was officially revealed on Today with Hoda & Jenna on May 29, 2019. The cast included Ryan Alessi, Reece Caddell, Kate Godfrey, Gabrielle Green, Nathan Janak, Lex Lumpkin, and Chinguun Sergelen.[34][35][5] An expanded episode order, adding 13 episodes to the initial 13, was announced in October 2019, along with Aria Brooks being added to the cast starting with episode 14.[36][37] An additional ten episodes were ordered in February 2020,[38] with eight of them being completed before production was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.[39] However, despite the postponement, production did not resume.
The format of the series remained roughly the same as the original era and the relaunch era. Minor changes to the format included the traditional cold open (which featured the cast in a green room or around the studio before the show started) occasionally appearing later in an episode rather than at the beginning; Vital Information, now sporadically appearing, was kept on with Caddell as anchor; and Know Your Stars was dropped for the revival.
The revival series featured the involvement of former cast members appearing regularly with the new cast in sketches. Numerous classic characters from the previous eras were revived as well. Besides Mitchell and Thompson; Lori Beth Denberg, Lisa Foiles, Alisa Reyes, Mark Saul, Josh Server, and Jamie Lynn Spears all returned to cameo.[40]
In celebration of the show's return to Nickelodeon, a Good Burger pop-up location opened to fans in Santa Monica, California. With the purchase of a ticket, guests have access to a menu inspired by the sketch and film, a small arcade, and memorabilia and set pieces.[41][42]
The sketches of All That are performed by a large and varying cast of child, teen, and young adult actors. The following is a list of the main cast and featured performer from the 2019 revival (a complete cast list can be found in the link above):
Each episode of All That features a musical guest that closes out the show. Later seasons featured a weekly host who would appear alongside the cast in sketches (the weekly host was gradually phased out of the show later on).
All That features original short comedic sketches that parody contemporary culture. Although the show had a team of writers, the cast was encouraged to help contribute their own ideas for characters and other segments. Improv and ad-libbing were used to help the cast and writers find the right tone for a certain skit.[16] The following is a short list of some notable sketches that aired during the show's tenure.
A little girl named Ashley, who offers advice from her bedroom on a TV series. She was sweet and friendly until she reads letters sent in by clueless viewers. After reading a letter, Ashley would go on a tirade against the letter's author.
A hopelessly incompetent police detective who frequently stumbled into a crime scene to make matters worse. In the revival series, Kate Godfrey came into the sketch as Dan's daughter "Detective Ann".[16]
"Shark Cave"
Reece Caddell, Gabrielle Green, and Lex Lumpkin
Cave people judges decide on items its creators hope will be a success in the future. This is a mash-up parody of Shark Tank and the Stone Age culture.
Pierre sits in a bathtub filled with suds, wearing a raincoat and matching hat and swim fins on his feet. In the sketch, he would say silly phrases in poorly-pronounced French and translate them into English.
"Know Your Stars"
various
A random voice that made an impersonation of an individual with embarrassing, wacky, funny and untrue facts and info about a cast member or special guest.
Ed, the cashier at a fast-food restaurant, is a clueless teenager who always found a way to mess things up.
A notable quote from Good Burger, stated by Ed in every sketch, was "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the good burger, can I take your order?" Good Burger was later made into a feature film.
A librarian who frequently engaged in extremely noisy and distracting activities. When students complained or made noise themselves, she would shout "QUIET! THIS IS A LIBRARY!" along with a variety of noisemakers, failing to notice the hypocrisy.
"Cancelled with Nathan"
Nathan Janak
Nathan (as himself) is in a hot tub on a tropical island and rants about things that bother him and should be cancelled.
Extremely hyperactive hosts of their own talk show, the pair would eat pure sugar and drink massive amounts of coffee and then force their guests to do the same thing from giant orbs attached to the ceiling, which usually led to overactivity in the worst way.
Miss Piddlin, the lunch lady at Dullmont Jr. High School, has a terrifying fixation on peas and tries to force every child to eat them. Anyone who dislikes peas or offends her becomes the target of her "beast-like strength." The sketch features pea-based parodies of popular songs such as "Eat a Pea" and "Peas Are a Few of My Favorite Things".
"Getting Rid of Your Stuff"
Kate Godfrey
Host Marie Kiddo (a parody of Marie Kondo) visits other guests houses and schools and goes through various things that they own, she asked the guests if the item brings them joy if it does the item is kept, but if it doesn't bring them joy (even if it belongs to a family member or friend) she violently destroys the item and screams "DESTROY!"
"Life with Peter and Flem"
Kel Mitchell as Peter, Josh Server as Flem, Dan Schneider as Narrator
Loosely based on Goofus and Gallant, the boys shows an over the top dos and don'ts in proper etiquette. Peter shows the right way to do things, while Flem shows the wrong way to do things by using his own methods.
Impact and legacy
All That is highly regarded for its large diverse cast both in terms of ethnicity and gender.[2] The show was praised in The Atlantic for breaking the classical norms set in children's TV with its cast, irreverent and unapologetic humor, and kid characters played by actual kids.[2]
When All That debuted in 1994, television was still primarily segregated by race as shown by popular sitcoms like Seinfeld (where the cast is completely white) or Martin (where the cast is entirely black); even Saturday Night Live was dominated by white male comedians.[2] Robbins, Schneider and Tollin wanted the show to reflect its audience and also sought out varying musical acts (alternative, hip hop and R&B among others) to embrace the diversity[2][46]
I was the first black female they had on that show...there weren't that many black shows on or black actors. When I left, it opened it up more for black female comedians. I've had people come back and tell me it felt like I passed the torch because they were all on TV watching like, "I want to do that, I want to do that," but then when they saw me, they thought, "Oh, I can actually do that." Black girls were coming up to me, parents are just like, "Thank you so much for what you've done." I was like wow. It feels surreal.[3]
I thought it was awesome because none of us look like each other. We were like a total melting pot of diversity[2]...You have African-American, you have me [Hispanic], you have Caucasian. ... So there are kids that were able to sit home and go, I look like her, I look like him, I can relate. That was really important for me to be a part of a cast that was filled of diversity 'cause there's nothing more boring than a Brady Bunch concept. So at the end of the day, I was able to have the fans verbally tell me how they felt that All That impacted their lives and it made them come home and look forward to coming home and watching the show after school when they work on their homework, and how they loved to be able to have a little bit of music maybe their mom didn't let them necessarily listen to some of the music or whatever the case may be.[3]
In 2011, Lisa Foiles joined forces with Comikaze Expo, planning the first ever All That reunion with Comikaze Expo CEO Regina Carpinelli. The reunion featured a roundtable discussion, where the cast reflected on their tenure on the show and received questions from the audience. Angelique Bates, Lori Beth Denberg, Foiles, Leon Frierson, Katrina Johnson, Kevin Kopelow, Kel Mitchell, Alisa Reyes, Giovonnie Samuels, Mark Saul, Josh Server all participated in the event.[49][50]
Also in 2011, Bates, Johnson, and Reyes appeared together at Zooey Magazine's One Year Anniversary Special Event held in Hollywood. The anniversary launched the Love Is Louder campaign which speaks out against bullying and hate messages.[51][52][53]
In 2015, Mitchell and Thompson reunited on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon where they performed a special Good Burger sketch. Dan Schneider returned to write the sketch for the show.[55]
In 2015, Comikaze Expo held the second All That reunion. Angelique Bates, Chelsea Brummet, Ryan Coleman, Lori Beth Denberg, Jack DeSena, Lisa Foiles, Bryan Hearne, Katrina Johnson, Christina Kirkman, Christy Knowings, Kel Mitchell, Alisa Reyes, Giovonnie Samuels, Mark Saul, Josh Server, and Danny Tamberelli all participated in the event.[56][57]
On April 22, 2016, Nickelodeon aired a reunion special consisting of new 3–4 minute shorts with most of the original cast, including Kenan and Kel.
In 2018, Lori Beth Denberg, Kel Mitchell, Josh Server, and Kenan Thompson appeared together on an episode of Nick Cannon's MTV series Wild 'n Out.[58]
The premise of the semi-scripted show was that its star, Nick Cannon, a former cast member on All That, would come across a situation he thought needed changing and then "take over" to make things better, or at least funnier.
All That made one effort in developing a popular sketch into a feature-length film with Good Burger. Co-creator Mike Tollin said:
You get something like Good Burger and you just ride it, and all of a sudden there's something called Nickelodeon Movies, put under the banner of Paramount. It was a big synergy. We just took a shot. ... There was an unforgettable day when we went to Paramount with a script. The Paramount execs were interested enough to come to a table read. I don't believe any money had been spent. We realized this was a huge opportunity. Kenan and Kel came and we filled in with other actors. ... It was late January 1997, and he (John Goldwyn a senior executive at Paramount [came back and said], "The good news is we're going to make this movie; the bad news is it needs to be in theaters in July." The typical gestation period for movies is five to seven years. Brian signed up to direct and we shot the film locally, built Good Burger, brought in Sinbad, brought in Jenny, brought in the whole cast of characters. Twenty years later I got a call from my niece from Chicago who said, "I just watched the best movie." That thing worked.[3]
The movie was released into theaters on July 25, 1997, with a budget of roughly $10 million. The film holds a score of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 45 reviews.[60] Most praise came to Kel Mitchell and Kenan Thompson's performances. Although the film received mixed to negative reviews from critics, it received positive reviews from fans and it was a financial success.[citation needed] A sequel, Good Burger 2, was released in 2023.
All That: The Album
On November 26, 1996, Nickelodeon released an All That CD titled All That: The Album. It contains All That dialogues from the show, and songs sung by musical guests (i.e. Faith Evans, Coolio, Brandy, Naughty By Nature, etc.). All That's theme opening and outro theme were released on this CD. Music from the CD is mainly inspired by the show.[61]
All That: Fresh out the Box
On October 1, 1998, Nickelodeon released a 112-page book of All That called All That: Fresh out the Box by Steve Holland. The book contains information of the show's sketches, cast members and notable points of the show. It also contains different character information as well.[62]
Live tour
On June 30, 2000, Nickelodeon gave All That a promotional summer tour titled All That! Music and More Festival, which traveled all over the United States and was hosted by the cast of All That. The tour began after Season 6 and lasted until September 3, 2000. The tour mainly featured the cast members of All That and a musical guest. Many of the musical guests joined and performed during the tour. Also while the tour went on, the cast members did numerous live sketches.[63] There was also a ticket contest the year before the festival began.[64] On July 29, 2000, Nickelodeon broadcast the highlights and events that happened during the entire festival.[65]
iTunes
On August 15, 2011, the iTunes Store released All That: Volume 1 with the first seven episodes from season two. On November 29, 2011, the iTunes Store released All That: Volume 2 with seven more episodes from season two. All That: Volume 3 was released in 2012 with seven episodes from season two. Just like The '90s Are All That airings, the musical guest performances are omitted and the end credits are re-done as generic white text on black.[66]All That Volume 4, with episodes from the start of season 3, was released on iTunes August 13, 2012; however, episodes 40 and 43 are excluded for unknown reasons with episodes 45 and 46 included instead.
On June 24, 2013, the iTunes Store released All That: Retro Essentials with four episodes from season two. The episodes are 217, 220, 228, 237. Episodes 217, 220 and 228 were re-released with the musical guest performances. Episode 237 has the musical guest edited out.
Reruns/syndication
All That ran on Nickelodeon from 1994 until 2005. All That aired on Nick at Nite on Mondays to Thursdays at 8:00 pm from June 25, 2012, until July 12, 2012, alongside Kenan & Kel at 8:30 p.m. EST. The Nick at Nite airings, had the musical performances edited out. All That ran in reruns on The N (during its daytime block of TEENick shows)[67] from March 12, 2008, to September 15, 2008.
On July 25, 2011, TeenNick debuted a block named after the show, "The '90s Are All That." All That aired as part of the block from its launch until December 27, 2012, then again from March 4, 2013, to June 1, 2014. The '90s Are All That airings, however, also have the musical guest performances edited out, along with their introduction sketches (presumably for time and the high cost of obtaining music distribution rights). It initially only aired episodes from seasons 2 and 3, later adding seasons 4 and 5 into the rotation. However, the reruns on The N in 2008 aired seasons 3 and 5 uncut and retained the musical guest performances (with the exception of the K-Ci & JoJo episode). The final rotation of these reruns included seasons 6 and 7.
^Werts, Diane; Granville, Kari; Kaufman, Bill (April 17, 1988). "SCREENING ROOM And Now For a Word From Our Sponsor". Newsday. p. 06. ProQuest277943979.
