“Welcome to Good Burger, Home of the Good Burger, Can I take your order?” Is there a 90s phrase as iconic as that? We don’t think so! It’s been 20 years since we first heard that iconic phrase on the Nickelodeon show All That, spoken by the loveable buffoon Ed, cashier at Good Burger restaurant. What started as a fan-favorite sketch on All That became a full length film when the Good Burger movie was released in 1997. Kel Mitchell starred as his sketch character Ed, with Kenan Thompson playing new character Dex. It’s no wonder the movie was a huge hit with 90s kids and developed a super loyal fanbase – Kenan and Kel are well known for being a hilarious duo, getting in and out of wacky adventures. The movie also starred All That cast member Josh Server, and included fun appearances by Sinbad, Carmen Electra and Shaquille O’Neal. Over the years, we’ve seen Kel Mitchell reprise his character a few times, but now fans of Good Burger are finally being treated to another movie!  

Good Burger 2 is premiering on Paramount Plus on November 22. Kel Mitchell and Kenan Thompson are reprising their roles as Ed and Dex, and are going on a brand new adventure! This year at New York Comic Con, fans were treated to a sneak peak of the sequel and got to step into the world of Good Burger themselves with the BurgerMobile making an appearance at the show. While at NYCC, YEM had a chance to sit down with the creatives behind Good Burger 2: the film’s director, Phill Traill and writers of Good Burger & Good Burger 2, Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert. (Hardcore Nickelodeon fans may also remember seeing Kevin on All That as nervous stage manager Kevin, who was always telling the cast that the show was starting in “5 minutes!”) They told us what fans, new and old, can expect from the upcoming sequel, and what it’s been like to bring more Good Burger back into the world after all these years!  

Q: It’s been 25 years since the first Good Burger movie, and it is a huge hit with kids, especially kids that grew up in the 90s. What was it that brought back Good Burger for a sequel? 

Heath: Honestly, I think we’ve always had Good Burger at the front of our minds, and we’ve always been coming up with sketches and bits. Even in all the years in-between, we’ve always had ideas to the point that we were having a meeting about another idea and Good Burger came up and we said “Oh, we actually have an idea for another movie,” and they said “Let’s hear it!” So we pitched it. 

Phil: And it also helps that the director of the first Good Burger movie is now president of Paramount, Brian Robbins. He’s amazing and he loves Good Burger. 

Heath: And he’s very protective of it and very passionate about it. Then we did the All That reboot on Nickelodeon a few years back as well, and one of the things we wanted to do with that was bring back some sketches from the original. Good Burger was a no-brainer.

Kevin: When Kel put on the Good Burger outfit again, it’s like we were transported back onto the set from the 90s and we thought “We could really make a movie.” And then it got other people’s attention.

Heath: It got people excited about Good Burger again which I think was the catalyst for Kenan and Kel talking about it again, and feeling like now is the time. 

Phil: There’s definitely an appetite for it. When we were filming, the streets outside the Good Burger restaurant were packed! People were coming and screaming until we had to shoot a take. Then everyone would go completely silent, listening. Then after each take they would scream again so you felt this massive fan base and people really wanted it. 

Q: The first Good Burger movie was released in 1997, but Good Burger sketches have continued over the years. Such as when Kel and Kenan reprised their sketch characters on the Tonight Show in 2015, and when Good Burger sketches were a part of the All That reboot on Nickelodeon which started in 2019. The fans have wanted this for a long time, so when did you come up with the idea for this sequel? 

Kevin: We always wanted to do this – we should be onto Good Burger 9 by now! We always wanted to make a sequel, but we also knew we had to have an idea that moved up with the times so we did come up with the idea about 7 or 8 years ago. You have to get everybody on board too. You want everybody excited about it. 

Heath: But it has been 25 years of people asking us “When are you doing a sequel?” 

Q: Speaking of getting everybody back on board, Kel and Kenan we know will be reprising their roles. But other cast members such as Josh Server, Lori Beth Denberg and Carmen Electra will also be returning for this sequel. Can we expect any more familiar faces? Maybe some new faces? 

Phil: We have lots of people coming back! 

Heath: And there are a lot of incredible celebrity cameos. When we sat down to write this, we re-watched the first film again several times and thought about “What can we bring back? What makes sense? What’s a fun bit that could make an exciting and surprising return?” And there a lot in the film. 

Phil: There’s tons of new cameos as well, of people who, had they only known how big Good Burger was going to be, they’d have asked “How can I be in it?” Now we had so many calls of people asking “Please, can we be a part of this?” So it’s packed with surprises. 

Kevin: And when we wrote it, we were thinking “Well, we hope these people will come back. Will Lori Beth come back?” We’ve kept in touch with her over the years and she seemed really game to come back. 

Q: This sequel will be on Paramount Plus – what makes streaming a good place for the new movie? 

Phil: People who have seen the new movie already have been saying what an amazing sleepover movie this would be. I think the group mentality of watching it will be really fun for people to get together and watch it together. Whether it’s families, maybe little kids getting together and watching it – that community aspect generates such a good feeling in the audience. 

Q: The sequel has been getting a lot of attention and fans are really excited about it. The first movie got a resurgence in the past few years because a lot of people were watching it on Netflix. How will this movie bridge the gap between the generation that grew up with Good Burger, and the new younger generation of fans that will now discover it? 

Kevin: It feels the same. Just like how the first generation liked it, the new kids will like it. And there’s plenty for the adults that watched the original. 

Heath: We wanted to tell a story that was a big, fun, hilarious adventure. If you haven’t seen the first film, you’re going to love it and we’ll have a whole generation of fans waiting for a third one! And we wanted to make sure we did right by the fans of the original too because we know there’s huge nostalgia for this film. And we’re very protective of Ed and Dex and the whole franchise. We think there’s a lot in there to reward the fans of the original. 

Phil: For example, there’s a scene on the rooftop at night. If you’re watching the new movie and you’ve never seen the first Good Burger movie, it’s just a really lovely scene of two guys sitting on deck chairs on a roof at night. But if you’ve seen the original, you’ll think “Oh! That’s like that scene in the original! Look, the set is the same! It’s so cool!” So it satisfies both audiences. The film moves fast – there’s jokes coming at you the whole time. 

Heath: But people who haven’t seen the original aren’t going to be really confused. 

Q: It’s great to finally see the return of these characters that we know and love. Any chance we may get a Good Burger 3 in the future? 

Kevin: We have ideas! So we’ll see!