Nishitha Dutta
‘Good Burger’ is a movie starring Nickelodeon’s most memorable duos: Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. It is yet another dive into a world filled with “Kenan and Kel” shenanigans, starting off with Dexter Reed (Kenan Thompson) getting into a car accident and derailing another car in the process. Dexter has to pay off an estimate of $1900 as compensation. He decides to arrange the money, taking up a day job. Likewise, circumstances land him in Good Burger, a mediocre burger business where he meets scatterbrained cashier Ed (Kel Mitchell).
In time, Ed creates a special sauce (a peculiar mix of ketchup and lemon juice) that becomes the saving grace of their burger joint. The movie received an overwhelming response, and Los Angeles even houses a Good Burger restaurant as a tribute. With that, the boundary between real and real-life substantially faded. This eventually made us wonder whether ‘Good Burger’ is inspired by a true story. Let’s find out.
Good Burger is a Work of Fiction
No, ‘Good Burger’ is not based on a true story. It is an original screenplay by Dan Schneider, Kevin Kopelow, and Heath Seifert. It is based on the then-thriving series ‘All That’ from where Ed and Dexter’s characters are taken. Ed’s character was accidentally born out of Kel Mitchell’s audition for ‘All That.’ He stated that he came up with a “dude” voice that doubled everybody up, which is how it stayed and was welcomed into the script for ‘Good Burger.’
Kel recalled having used the voice previously in the Josh Server Sketch titled ‘Dream Remote’ where he acts as a pizza guy. They further vitalized Ed’s character by adding a Milli Vanilli inspired set of braids as his signature hairdo. Kel called them “early Brandy 90’s Milli Vanilli braids” that he chanced upon during the filming of ‘All That.’
As far as the script is concerned, co-writer Dan Schneider created it when he was at a crossroads with regard to his career. His previous contributions as an actor include shows like ‘Head of the Class’ and ‘Homefree.’ In an interview, he mentioned that he came across another acting opportunity for a TV show when ‘All That’ and ‘Kenan & Kel’ were airing on Nickelodeon. Dan was excited to take it up, but in hindsight, it didn’t seem like a good decision because he was admittedly more invested in writing.
He realized that he would have to give up his role as a scriptwriter for his beloved shows, which did not seem like a good idea. Hence, in 1996, Dan decided to hang around and, as a result, cultivated a flourishing career as a writer-producer. That is also when he wrote ‘Good Burger.’ His contribution additionally lends itself to the screen with his appearance as Mr. Baily in the movie. The famous line “Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, can I take your order?” gained a lot of momentum and applause. The quote also stands in the first and last line of the movie.
Read More: Where Was Good Burger Filmed?
