All That
A Nickelodeon sketch comedy series for young audiences.
All That was a Nickelodeon sketch comedy show for kids, created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. It ran for ten seasons from April 1994 to October 2005, produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions and, in its final season, by Schneider's Bakery. A pilot aired as a special sneak peek on April 16, 1994, before the series officially began on January 21, 1995. Each episode featured original short comedic sketches and a weekly musical guest, with the skits parodying pop culture and performed by a rotating cast of child and teen actors. Early seasons were taped at Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, Florida, before moving to the Nickelodeon on Sunset theatre in Hollywood, where other Nick shows like The Amanda Show and Kenan & Kel were also filmed.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Sketch comedy
- Creator
- Mike Tollin; Brian Robbins
- Theme music
- TLC
- Arnold Hennings
- RCA (seasons 7–10; remixed version of theme song)
- Composer
- Richard Tuttobene (seasons 1–6)
- Scott Clausen (seasons 7–10)
- Niv Toar (season 11)
- Opening theme
- "All That", performed by TLC
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Seasons
- 11
Facts from the source article.
History
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. In 1986, Robbins and Schneider met when they were cast in the ABC sitcom Head of the Class, where they co-starred as Eric Mardian and Dennis Blunden. 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. Their episode ("Will the Real Arvid Engen Please Stand Up") later aired during the show's second season in 1988. 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. The award ceremony that year was produced by Albie Hecht, with whom Robbins and Schneider quickly struck up a friendship. Hecht suggested they develop something for Nickelodeon, but Robbins and Schneider declined as they were still under contract with ABC. By 1991, after Head of the Class ended its five-season run, Robbins started a production company with producer friend Mike Tollin, aptly named Tollin/Robbins Productions. The company originally produced several small-budget sports documentaries. 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 two of 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. 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. Impressed with the final product, Hecht later met with Robbins to discuss developing something. Robbins pitched an idea of creating a kid-friendly version of Saturday Night Live, which cast member Kenan Thompson would later join in 2003. 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. Schneider decided against writing the pilot episode and instead chose to compile the cast first. A nationwide talent search for child and teen actors was launched that would last for several months. Eventually, Angelique Bates, Lori Beth Denberg, Katrina Johnson, Kel Mitchell, Alisa Reyes, Josh Server, and Thompson were hired. Cast and crew flew out to Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando to shoot the pilot in front of a studio audience on January 17, 1994. After taping was completed, the pilot was shelved as screenings did not test well with the focus groups. The scores showed that "kids probably wouldn't like this new sketch comedy show for kids". Regardless of the negative response, Geraldine Laybourne (then President of Nickelodeon) decided to pick the series up. 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. After production on the second season wrapped in 1996, the show moved out of the old Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida. Production for the third season was completed at the Paramount Pictures studio lot before Nickelodeon obtained a lease for the 6230 Sunset Boulevard facility. During this period, Bates left the show and was replaced by Amanda Bynes. At the end of the third season, Johnson and Reyes left the show. In 1997, Nickelodeon purchased the Sunset Boulevard property (formerly The Earl Carrol Theater) and rechristened it as Nickelodeon on Sunset. Production for the series would remain there 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. At the end of the fourth season, Denberg and Schneider left the show. Schneider initially left the series to create the short-lived UPN sitcom Guys Like Us, and later took over a fledgling pilot for Bynes that would become The Amanda Show. For the fifth season, Kopelow and Seifert took over Schneider's responsibilities as head writers and co-executive producers.
Reunion events
In 2011, Lisa Foiles worked with Comikaze Expo to organize the first All That reunion, which included a roundtable discussion with cast members Angelique Bates, Lori Beth Denberg, Lisa Foiles, Leon Frierson, Katrina Johnson, Kevin Kopelow, Kel Mitchell, Alisa Reyes, Giovonnie Samuels, Mark Saul, and Josh Server. That same year, Bates, Johnson, and Reyes appeared together at Zooey Magazines One Year Anniversary Special Event, launching the Love Is Louder campaign against bullying. In the 2011 crossover special iParty with Victorious, Kenan Thompson jokingly complained that half of the original All That cast borrowed money from him. In 2015, Mitchell and Thompson reunited on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for a Good Burger sketch written by Dan Schneider. A second Comikaze Expo reunion in 2015 included many cast members. From April 16–17, 2016, TeenNick aired a reunion special with new shorts featuring most of the original cast. In 2018, Denberg, Mitchell, Server, and Thompson appeared together on an episode of Wild 'n Out.
In other media
On November 26, 1996, Nickelodeon released an All That CD titled All That: The Album, containing dialogues from the show and songs by musical guests such as Faith Evans, Coolio, Brandy, and Naughty By Nature, as well as the theme opening by TLC and outro theme. On October 1, 1998, a 112-page book called All That: Fresh out the Box by Steve Holland was released, covering sketches, cast members, and character information. From June 30 to September 3, 2000, Nickelodeon held the All That! Music and More Festival, a promotional summer tour hosted by the cast, featuring live sketches and musical guests; highlights were broadcast on July 29, 2000. On August 15, 2011, the iTunes Store released All That: Volume 1 with the first seven episodes from season two, followed by Volume 2 on November 29, 2011, Volume 3 in 2012, and Volume 4 on August 13, 2012, though episodes 40 and 43 were excluded. On June 24, 2013, iTunes released All That: Retro Essentials with four season two episodes, some including musical guest performances and some with them edited out.
Reruns/syndication
All That aired on Nickelodeon from 1994 to 2005. It ran on Nick at Nite from June 25 to July 12, 2012, on Mondays through Thursdays at 8:00 pm, alongside Kenan & Kel at 8:30 pm, with musical performances edited out. The show also aired in reruns on The N from March 12 to September 15, 2008, during its daytime block of TEENick shows. On July 25, 2011, TeenNick launched a block called The '90s Are All That, which included All That episodes from seasons 2 and 3, later adding seasons 4 and 5, though musical guest performances were edited out. Seasons four and five are available to stream on Paramount+. On May 24, 2022, Netflix announced that select seasons would be available to stream starting June 21.
Revival
In 2019, Robbins, then-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, with Kel Mitchell later confirmed in the same role. The eleventh season premiered on June 15, 2019, with musical guests The Jonas Brothers. 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 permanently suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes of All That are there?
All That has 210 episodes across 11 seasons.
When did All That end?
All That last aired on 22 October 2005.
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