All That

All That was an American live-action comedy-variety show on Nickelodeon, that featured sketches in a manner somewhat reminiscent of Saturday Night Live and an earlier Nick show You Can't Do That on Television.All That's IMDb entry The show had guest actors and musical performances in each episode. The theme song for All That was performed by TLC.

The show was first aired on April 16, 1994. It debuted as a regular series on December 24, 1994. The show featured mainly young adults, but from Season 7 onward, it made a big switch to feature only tweens.

Some of the cast members got their own spin-offs including Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell (Kenan & Kel), Amanda Bynes (The Amanda Show), Nick Cannon (The Nick Cannon Show), and Jamie Lynn Spears (Zoey 101). In 1997, Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell starred in a big screen version of the popular sketch Good Burger. Also, Kenan Thompson went on to work on Saturday Night Live, where he (like on All That) has provided his Bill Cosby impersonation.

Production process

The show originally taped at Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando before moving to the Nickelodeon Studio on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Kevin Kopelow and Dan Schneider ran All That together in the first four seasons. Kopelow then ran the show with the help of Heath Seifert in Seasons 5-6. And Schneider produced the show by himself from Season 7 onward.

The Pilot Episode

Original cast.

All That was created by Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins, with Dan Schneider serving as executive producer. Robbins and Schneider both co-starred in ABC sitcom Head of the Class during the late 1980s - early 1990s. All That was the first production that Robbins and Schneider had for Nickelodeon. After cancelling Roundhouse in 1994, Nickelodeon decided they wanted another sketch-comedy series to succeed You Can't Do That On Television and the aforementioned Roundhouse.

The pilot episode of All That, which featured musical guest TLC performing the hit song "What About Your Friends", and the first appearances of Baggin' Saggin' Barry, Earboy, Mavis & Clavis, Miss Fingerly among others first aired as a sneak preview on April 16, 1994. It would debut as a weekly series on December 24, 1994. The official series debut featured (besides musical guest Da Brat performing "Fa All Y'all") the first appearances of Randy & Mandy, Vital Information, and Ed from Good Burger.

Original Cast

*Angelique Bates
*Lori Beth Denberg
*Katrina Johnson
*Kel Mitchell
*Alisa Reyes
*Josh Server
*Kenan Thompson

Season 4 cast.

First Set of New Faces

Seasons 1-6 are often considered the "golden age" of All That. In the third season, Amanda Bynes, who was the youngest cast member at the time, joined the show to replace the departing Anqelique Bates, who later claimed that she left the show because her contract ran out and "needed to pass the torch". Bynes would go on to become arguably the most successful All That cast member ever. Detractors of Bynes believe that she significantly wrecked the great chemistry between the original cast. In addition, some have theorized that due in part to the building popularity of Amanda Bynes, the show subsequently cheapened the humour and downgraded the shows once well written and original humour into childish antics such as Bynes' Ask Ashley character.Who wants the original All That to return? > SonGoku V3 Bynes also in a sense, took over the rapidly growing Katrina Johnson's spot as the token "cute little girl" on the show. Incidentally, about a year after Bynes' arrival, Katrina Johnson and Alisa Reyes left the show.

Season 4 Cast Members

*Amanda Bynes
*Lori Beth Denberg
*Leon Frierson
*Christy Knowings
*Kel Mitchell
*Josh Server
*Danny Tamberelli
*Kenan Thompson

Soundtrack

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On November 26, 1996, an official soundtrack for All That was released. The soundtrack featured the likes of Aaliyah, Faith Evans, TLC, Soul For Real, Coolio, , Brandy, Naughty By Nature, and Mokenstef.SoundTrackCollector soundtrackLoud Records, released 26-Nov-1996 ,UPN 0-8856-11835-2-3

In the first five seasons, All That exclusively used urban contemporary music (i.e. hip-hop and R & B), but in later seasons, All That aimed for more mainstream, pop and/or modern rock oriented, "flavor of the month" acts. Some fans believe that the shifting taste in music coincided with end of the so-called "golden age" of All That (after Season 6).

The earlier episodes were considerably more diversified in terms of the ethnic backgrounds of cast members. In return, the music and overall vibe usually had a more urban-influenced feel to it (as opposed to a pop feel). Some believe that when All That relaunched in Season 7, the show primarily featured Middle American, suburban whites (Bryan Hearne and Giovonnie Samuels were the only African American cast members at the start of the relaunch).

The "100th Episode"

Season 5 cast.

On March 13, 1999, All That celebrated its "100th episode" (even though in reality, it was the 85th episode to be produced) with a live, one hour special. Reportedly, they did it early because it would not conflict with the dates for the All That Music And More Festival. The actual 100th episode came in the fifth episode of the sixth season with Hoku as the musical guest.

The special was essentially a precursor or companion piece to the 10th Anniversary Reunion Special. Besides a slate of brand new sketches and a backstage tour, the live special also featured clips from memorable characters like Randy & Mandy, Coach Kreeton, the Loud Librarian, Leroy & Fuzz, Miss Pidlin, Detective Dan, and Superdude.

Special guest stars on the 100th episode special included Melissa Joan Hart, who had starred on Nick's Clarissa Explains It All, Larisa Oleynik, who starred on Nick's The Secret World of Alex Mack, and musical guests Lauryn Hill, who performed "Doo-Wop (That Thing)" and Busta Rhymes, who performed "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See" and "Gimme Some Mo'." Britney Spears appeared in a taped segment apologizing to viewers for her knee injury that prevented her from performing and led to her being replaced by Hill.

Original cast members (all of whom had since left All That) Angelique Bates, Katrina Johnson, Alisa Reyes, and Lori Beth Denberg appeared on the episode. Denberg even reprised her Vital Information role when her successor Danny Tamberelli was unavailable. The running gag of the entire special was Tamberelli's struggle to make it to the special in time.

To date, this was the only time that All That has produced a live episode. Incidentally, Kenan Thompson would eventually become a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Nickelodeon has subsequently cut the special down to 30 minutes for rebroadcasts.

The "Lost Cast Members"

Around the same period that Lori Beth Denberg was leaving All That to do The Steve Harvey Show, All That quickly tried to compensate. In 1997, All That recruited Tricia Dixon, Josh LaBove, and Zack McLemore.

Season 5 Cast Members

*Amanda Bynes
*Nick Cannon
*Leon Frierson
*Christy Knowings
*Kel Mitchell
*Mark Saul
*Josh Server
*Danny Tamberelli
*Kenan Thompson

Hiatus Period and Relaunch

Season 6 cast.

After ten episodes of the sixth season, All That went on a production hiatus. In its place, came a string of "Best of..." compilation episodes for the rest of the season.

Season 6 Cast Members

* Amanda Bynes
* Nick Cannon
* Leon Frierson
* Gabriel Iglesias
* Christy Knowings
* Mark Saul
* Josh Server
* Danny Tamberelli

List of "Best of..." Episodes:

*Kenan Thompson
*Kel Mitchell
*Amanda Bynes
*Josh Server
*Danny Tamberelli
*Lori Beth Denberg
*Leon Frierson
*Christy Knowings
*Peas, Cheese, Bag of Chips: This episode was basically a compilation of skits that focused on food.
*Dates, Goats and Romance

The "Golden Age" of All That Ends

The conclusion of the Best of... episodes in the eyes of many, marked the end of an era. Fans had already seen the writing on the wall after popular cast members like Lori Beth Denberg and subsequently, Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell left. Many consider Kenan and Kel to be the first true break-out stars of All That. One of the most memorable moments in All That history came on the March 31, 1997 episode when Chris Farley (in what turned out to be one of his final television appearances), who played "The Chicago Ketchup Chef", participated in a "Cooking with Randy" sketch with Kenan Thompson.

By the time the sixth season rolled around, Amanda Bynes was so busy working on The Amanda Show, that she only made very sporadic appearances (thus, leaving the load to fellow female cast member Christy Knowings) in the already abbreviated season. Also leaving at the end of Season 6 were writer/producer Kevin Kopelow, who was best known for his on-camera role as Kevin, the much-abused stage manager, and announcer Soup. Soup was the one who said at the beginning of the opening credits "Fresh out the box! Stop, look, and watch! Ready yet? Get set! It's All That!" Josh Server became the only remaining original cast member in the sixth season and the longest serving All That cast member not counting Kevin Kopelow.

Rumor has it that Nick briefly cancelled All That before having a last minute change of heart.

A New Era of All That Begins

Nickelodeon and Dan Schneider relaunched All That. In the meantime, All That skipped the 2000-2001 television season. During this period, a search was made to find a completely new cast in time for the seventh season. Because of this, many fans of All That often consider Seasons 1-6 and Seasons 7 onward to be almost completely separate entities.

The first episode of the "new" All That (with special guests Frankie Muniz and Aaron Carter) was the 121st overall—counting the "Best of..." episodes—airing on January 19, 2002. In this particular episode, Muniz is seen running around the streets grabbing random people to be the new cast members.

Season 7 cast.

Season 7 Cast Members

*Chelsea Brummet
*Jack DeSena
*Lisa Foiles
*Bryan Hearne
*Shane Lyons
*Giovonnie Samuels
*Kyle Sullivan

"Old" All That versus "New" All That

Lisa Foiles and Jamie Lynn Spears on All That.

Fans generally feel that the later episodes of All That (i.e. beginning in Season 7 and onward) are greatly inferior in quality to most of the earlier seasons and/or episodes.

A theory is that the golden age of All That was more edgy, risqué, cohesive, pure, natural, innovative, and/or inspired with its humor, while the later episodes were often too juvenile, forced, clichéd (or based on stupid stereotypes), crude, boring, contrived, dependent on special effects, slapstick and gross-out comedy for gags, and/or even derivative of older, better executed All That sketches. Another theory has been fronted that the declining quality of All That was merely due to the long-time audience's maturing comedic tastes. In addition, there's a general feeling that the newer (and immature according to some) cast members weren't as well tuned in the art of sketch comedy and characterization.

Minor Differences

Here are some elements from the first six seasons that didn't immediately transfer into the relaunch:
*The Big Ear of Corn (but was replaced by Pickle Boy).
*The cast introducing musical guests by using the phrase "Lets give a round of a sound..."
*The phrase "Fresh out of the box..." being used at the start of the opening credits
*A portion of TLC's All That theme being played at the beginning of the cold opens
*Soup as the announcer
Vital Information

Casting Controversy

Many fans were also uncomfortable with the idea of having Jamie Lynn SpearsIs TEENick Fading Into Oblivion?, who was previously better known for being the younger sister of pop star Britney Spears, become a cast member. Reportedly, Jamie Lynn got the job after publicly stating her desire to be on All That. This gave some people the suspicion that she got the part largely through the benefits of nepotism. The controversial casting of Jamie Lynn Spears sharply contrasted the likes of Christina Kirkman, who legitimently earned a shot on All That by winning the R U All That: The Search for the Funniest Kid in America contest. Ryan Coleman, who was the runner-up soon also got a part on the show (midway into Season 9) once the producers realized that they needed a replacement for Bryan Hearne, who left at the end of Season 8.

=The Return of Good Burger

=In a decidedly unpopular (and arguably desperate) move in the eyes of many older All That fans, the writers in the ninth season decided to revive the now seemingly legendary Good Burger sketch. The main difference here was that instead of Kel Mitchell playing the part of dimwitted, "surfer dude" fast food cashier Ed, the role was passed down to young Ryan Coleman.When was Nickelodeon better? Then or now? - #34 The revived sketch (one of which featured Ryan Coleman's "Ed" challenging special guest star Britney Spears to a dance-off) in all likelihood, severely alienated many hardcore All That fans (despite it probably being meant as a homage on the surface), who in return, decided to use it as prime example of their frustrations with the new All That. It was also arguably the lowest point during the ten year history of the program.

The On-Air Dare

One trademark to come from the new cast was the weekly On-Air Dare segments. The On-Air Dare segments were not a part of the official All That episodes. They instead, served as bumpers during Nickelodeon's SNICK Saturday night block. The premise of the On-Air Dare was that three cast members (each placed in a glass cylinder) would be forced to play a game of chance. The loser, whose name would be selected via a specially designed slot machine, would then be forced to perform a disgusting activity (a la Fear Factor).

Some of these dares included singing the National Anthem in a diaper, bobbing for apples in a toilet, taking a bath in a tub of raw eggs, eating a couple gallons of blue cheese, having buckets of worms dumped on your head, or even shaving your teacher's legs.

Know Your Stars

Another more memorable trademark of the new All That was the recurring "Know Your Stars" segment. In the segment Brian Peck, who could also be seen on-camera as Pickle Boy (and also served as All That's dialogue coach), was the unseen voice who tried to annoy and insult a specific cast member (who is always seated) with outrageously untrue facts. On some occasions, the voice would target special guests such as Britney Spears or Drake Bell (while playing his "Totally Kyle" character from The Amanda Show). The "Know Your Stars" sketch was generally considered to be one of the high points of the "new" All That.

The 10th Anniversary

Every cast member of All That, old and new.

In 2005, Nickelodeon celebrated the 10th anniversary of All That debuting by airing "classic episodes" in the week leading up to a "reunion special" hosted by Frankie Muniz on April 23.

Even though popular past cast members like Kel Mitchell, Kenan Thompson, Josh Server, and Danny Tamberelli reprised some of their most memorable characters on the special, many older fans were disappointed that past cast members like Katrina Johnson, Alisa Reyes, Mark Saul, Angelique Bates, and Leon Frierson were in attendance but had no speaking parts. In addition, Nick Cannon appeared on the special but only via satellite. Television promos for the special said or hinted that Amanda Bynes was going to be there only to prove to be a no show (Bynes was busy filming a movie at the time); Bynes only appeared via archive footage of her playing her Ask Ashley character.

Amanda Bynes in an Ask Ashley skit.

The reunion special was criticized by some for giving too much airtime to the current (and supposedly vastly inferior) cast. In addition, many of the sketches from the older episodes were ruined by the fact that the new season cast members and characters were present in them. Older viewers were also outraged that a sketch from the new cast (i.e. The Unreal World) was voted the funniest moment in All That history. The Unreal World sketch went up against the likes of such 1990s sketches as Kenan Thompson's Ishboo character and a classic Good Burger sketch.

Season 10 cast.

In conjunction to the start of the tenth season, a rumor began floating around that original cast members Lori Beth Denberg and Josh Server would return in the form of writers. This rumor would prove to be false by the time of the tenth season premiere on April 30.

The Return of Vital Information

After a three season hiatus, All That decided to bring back the Vital Information segment with BET's Coming to the Stage winner Lil' JJ succeeding Lori Beth Denberg and Danny Tamberelli respectively. Unfortunately, Lil' JJ quickly came under fire by many fans, who felt that his decidingly shrill and confrontational demeanor wasn't calm or serious enough for Vital Information'' (especially in stark contrast to Lori Beth Denberg's deadpan delivery).

Dark Humor

In the first few episodes of the tenth season, All That seemingly started to rely more on dark humor as opposed to gross-out comedy (or even the considerably more absurdist and irreverent humor from the golden age episodes). A perfect example was a recurring sketch about the alien restaunteurs, the Zortogs (which has been cited by many as a rehash of the Coneheads sketch on Saturday Night Live). The viewers were always led to believe that the Zortogs kill their customers and then serve them as entrees. The supposed sudden case of dark humor on All That was seen as weird and off-putting to some.

Season 10 Cast Members

* Chelsea Brummet
* Ryan Coleman
* Jack DeSena
* Lisa Foiles
* Christina Kirkman
* Kyle Sullivan
* Kianna Underwood
* Denzel Whitaker
* Lil' JJ (only appears in Vital Information segments)

Cancellation Rumors

Although Nickelodeon hadn't confirmed anything as of September 2005, rumors had started floating about the impending cancellation of All That. After Nickelodeon aired only a handful of episodes from Season 10 dating back to April 2005, the rest of the season had been scheduled to begin airing in October 2005.

According to Lisa Foiles on her official Yahoo! groupLisaFoilesGroup the rumors of the impending cancellation of All That were in fact, true. This is the message posted on Lisa's club by Lisa Foiles (as of September 5, 2005):

I know there's been a lot of speculating on the subject of "All That" being cancelled, and I thought I'd be the one to tell you that it's true. "All That" has finally come to an end. I found out a few weeks ago, but didn't know if I should tell anyone. I guess if ten years is long anough for "Friends", it's long enough for us, too! I probably would have moved on anyway, even if it didn't get cancelled. I was getting a little too old for the show and I believe that it should always have a cast of younger kids, no older than 18. Where I will go from here, I'm not sure, but I have a few things in the works. All I ask is that you guys keep me and the other cast members in your prayers, that we can step into bigger and better things! :) So, I guess that's....All That

All That: Encyclopedia BETA

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