View source for Merry Christmas, Kenan

{{title
|image=MerryChristmasKenanCastShot.jpg
|director={{w|Brian Robbins}}
|writer={{w|Dan Schneider}}
|release=December 14, 1996
|runtime=24 minutes
|rating=TV-Y7
|available=[https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/merry-christmas-kenan/id452109366?i=452547718 iTunes]<br />[https://www.amazon.com/Merry-Christmas-Kenan/dp/B005I9BOJO/ Amazon Instant Video]<br />DVD<br>Paramount+<br>BET+}}
"'''Merry Christmas, Kenan'''" is the [[Christmas]] episode of the [[Nickelodeon]] sitcom ''[[wikipedia:Kenan & Kel|Kenan & Kel]]'', produced and aired as the eleventh episode of the show's first season. It premiered as part of a special Christmas edition of {{W|SNICK}} on December 14, 1996.

==Synopsis==
{{spoiler}}
The episode begins like all ''Kenan & Kel'' episodes, with [[Kenan Rockmore|Kenan]] and [[Kel Kimble|Kel]] appearing onstage to greet the audience. Kel tells the audience that tonight's episode is going to be special; when Kenan asks why that is, Kel responds that it's their Christmas show. Kenan remarks that it doesn't quite feel like Christmas, at which point Kel tells the special effects men to make it snow on the set, and then has someone bring in a one-horse open sleigh (without the horse, though, more resembling a rickshaw). Kenan takes off in the sleigh, saying that "this could be a very merry Christmas." Kel calls out for him to come back and then walks off, muttering his catch phrase, "Awwww, here it goes!", as the main story begins.

At the Rockmore residence, Kel is trying to help Kenan's parents (Roger and Sheryl) and sister (Kyra) decorate their Christmas tree by hanging orange soda cans on it. Kel goes to show his "ornament" to Kenan, who is looking at a catalog showing what he wants for Christmas - the Roadblazer Deluxe Elite mountain bike. Kenan explains to Kel that he has been saving up his money all year for it, but Kel is concerned that if Kenan spends his money on the bike, he will not be able to buy presents for his friends and family. When Sheryl says it's time to put the star on top of the tree, Kel volunteers to do so (despite Roger saying that ''he'' always puts it on top) and ends up making the tree fall down.

Later, while working at Rigby's, Kenan is handing Mrs. Quagmire her groceries when she starts to talk about how she loves Christmas and then starts singing "[[The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)|The Twelve Days of Christmas]]", much to Kenan's annoyance. After Kenan sends her outside with her groceries, Chris comes in with a life-sized mechanical [[Santa Claus]] that he found outside. Chris asks Kenan to help him set it up, but Kenan declines, saying he's taking his break, and goes to the back room. He hears "[[Jingle Bells (song)|Jingle Bells]]" being sung outside and opens the back door to find Kel singing along with Mrs. Quagmire. Chris asks for Kenan's help in plugging in the mechanical Santa, but again Kenan declines. When Chris gets the mechanical Santa working, it suddenly grabs him and starts beating him up.

[[File:Kenan_and_Kel_at_the_bike_store.jpg|thumb|250px|Kenan shows Kel the Roadblazer Deluxe Elite mountain bike at the bike store.]]
Kenan brings Kel with him to get a look at the Roadblazer Deluxe Elite mountain bike at the mall. The salesman, who has noticed Kenan looking at the bike before, tells him that if he wants the bike so much, he had better save up enough money for it before someone else buys it. However, Kenan gets the salesman to hold on to the bike for him, offering to put down the hundred dollars he currently has for now, and that he will pay the remaining amount of money needed after he has acquired it.

Afterward, Kenan and Kel go to the mall's toy store, where Kel points out a toy he's interested in - a tuba-phone (a tuba with a telephone in it). Elsewhere in the toy store, the store's Santa Claus is greeting kids when a bratty little boy named Sam says he wants Santa to bring him a fighter jet for Christmas. The kid then takes offense at Santa's laugh, and when Santa points out that his request is a rather large one, Sam punches him and knocks him out. The customers who were waiting in line to see Santa become irate about this, and the store manager is also upset about this, so he goes looking to find someone else to play Santa. He finds Kenan and Kel and asks them to play Santa. Kenan initially declines the offer, but when the manager offers to pay him $100 for the job, he accepts.

[[File:Kenan_and_Kel_as_Santa_and_his_helper.jpg|thumb|250px|Kenan and Kel working as Santa and his helper.]]
Assisted by Kel (who dresses as an elf), Kenan does an overall good job portraying Santa at the store, at one point even being able to speak with a girl who only speaks Fishlakian. One boy named Daniel shows up, saying all he wants for Christmas is for Santa to bring a new bike for his little sister, Katie. Daniel explains that Katie's old bike was stolen, and their mother cannot afford to buy them a new one herself. Kenan, touched by the boy's story, says that he will make sure Katie receives a new bike for Christmas, but after Daniel and Katie leave him, their mother mentions to him that she really can't afford a new bike for them, and that she will have to tell them that Santa was unable to deliver it.

Later, back at Rigby's, Kenan confides to Kel that he cannot stop thinking about that poor family who visited him while he was playing Santa. Just then, Chris shows up, with his arm in a cast due to his incident with the mechanical Santa earlier, and gives Kenan his paycheck, officially giving Kenan enough money to pay for the Roadblazer Deluxe Elite mountain bike. Kenan rushes back to the mall and is about to pay the salesman the rest of the money for the bike, but he then hesitates in doing so when he sees another man buying a bike for his daughter nearby, and he changes his mind.

[[File:Kenan_delivering_bikes_to_Daniel_and_Katie.jpg|thumb|250px|Kenan presents Daniel and Katie with their own bicycles.]]
On [[Christmas Eve]], Kenan, dressed as Santa, sneaks into Daniel and Katie's house, carrying a bag of presents that he bought with the money he had saved for the mountain bike. However, Daniel and Katie's mother hears him and comes in while he is putting the gifts under their very small Christmas tree. Daniel and Katie then come in and are delighted to see Santa in their living room. Kenan presents Daniel with a CD player, and Katie with a stuffed rabbit, and also reveals that he bought new bicycles for both of them.

Later, Kel and Chris join the Rockmore family for their Christmas Eve festivities, where Kenan and his sister Kyra open one of their presents early, as they always do on Christmas Eve. Kel gives Kenan a pair of battery-powered underpants that keep a person warm during the winter, and Kenan presents Kel with the tuba-phone. After Kel and Chris leave, Kenan's parents say that Kel told them all about how Kenan spent his money on buying presents for Daniel and Katie, and they're proud of him for that. Kenan says that he figures if he starts saving his money now, he can get the Roadblazer Deluxe Elite bike next year. After everyone goes up to bed, the real Santa Claus shows up, bringing the Roadblazer Deluxe Elite mountain bike to Kenan.

[[File:Kenan_and_Kel_Christmas_group_shot.jpg|thumb|250px|Kenan and Kel, joined by Kenan's family and Chris, in the closing segment.]]
In the closing segment, Kenan and Kel arrive onstage, with Kenan riding his new Roadblazer Deluxe Elite bike and Kel carrying his tuba-phone. The rest of the cast then joins them onstage, and they start singing "[[We Wish You a Merry Christmas (song)|We Wish You a Merry Christmas]]". But when they get to the line "...and a Happy New Year," Kenan stops the song, saying that he has something he needs to take of before New Year's Eve, and then rides his bike offscreen. Kel calls for him to come back, and then everyone else says, "Awwww, here it goes!", prompting Kel to shout "That's my line!" Kel follows his friend offscreen as the rest of the cast finishes the song.
{{Endspoiler}}

==Availability==
The episode was made available on the ''Kenan & Kel: The Best of Seasons 1 & 2'' manufacture-on-demand DVD set, released on {{W|Amazon.com}} on May 20, 2014. Unfortunately, the DVD set was discontinued, as with all of Amazon's manufacture-on-demand products, on June 4, 2021.

==Trivia==
* Kenan being able to speak Kishka's language of Fishlakian is an homage to a similar scene in ''[[Miracle on 34th Street (1947)|Miracle on 34th Street]]'', in which Kris Kringle communicated with a Dutch girl.

==Cast==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
! Actor !! Character
|-
| {{w|Kenan Thompson}} || [[Kenan Rockmore]]
|-
| {{w|Kel Mitchell}} || [[Kel Kimble]]
|-
| {{w|Dan Frischman}} || Chris Potter
|-
| {{w|Ken Foree}} || Roger Rockmore
|-
| {{w|Teal Marchande}} || Sheryl Rockmore
|-
| {{w|Vanessa Baden}} || Kyra Rockmore
|-
| Doreen Weese || Mrs. Quagmire
|}

==External links==
* {{interwiki|nickelodeon|Nickipedia}}
* {{Imdb episode|0821301}}
* {{TVtropes recap|KenanAndKelS01Ep11MerryChristmasKenan}}

{{Nickelodeon}}
[[Category:Episodes]]
[[Category:1996 releases]]
[[Category:Nickelodeon]]
[[Category:Specials]]
[[Category:Santa Claus filmography]]
[[Category:African-American specials]]