By Jeff Pfeiffer
While Don Johnson has largely headlined and supported dramatic projects throughout his long career — notably in TV series like Miami Vice and Nash Bridges, and in films like Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man and Django Unchained — viewers could see, even in those mostly serious characters, flashes of a wry, tongue-in-cheek comedic sensibility that the actor brought. In recent years, Johnson has also started displaying his talent for more straight-up comedy in his performances, as he memorably did in his Seasons 2 and 3 appearances in Eastbound & Down.
Now, in NBC’s new sitcom Kenan (Tuesdays), Johnson has found a regular role that lets him cut loose with a mostly comedic performance that he also balances with subtle bits of emotion.
That delightful combo of humor and heart is true of this series as a whole. Johnson plays Rick, father-in-law to Kenan (Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson, who is also an executive producer), an Atlanta morning TV host who is still mourning his late wife, Rick’s daughter Cori (portrayed in flashbacks by Niccole Thurman), while trying to raise their two young girls. All the while, others — particularly Rick, a former “gallivanting sax player” who missed out on much of raising his own daughter and now tries to make up for it with his granddaughters — are trying to give Kenan advice that isn’t necessarily wanted at first.
It’s clear right from Johnson’s first appearance as Rick that he is really enjoying being part of this talented ensemble. And the actor confirmed that when we spoke with him.
“I have to tell you, it’s fun!” Johnson said. “[Executive Producer] Lorne Michaels is an old friend of mine, and we’ve always wanted to do something together. He offered me this role, and I looked at it and thought it might be fun.
“[And Rick has] been a blast to play; he could not be more different than me, in that [he] is happily clueless to just about everything in the world. He’s definitely a horn player, because every horn player I’ve ever known is kooky and wacky and funny and fun, but they definitely dance to a different drummer, to stay on the musical metaphor thing.”
Johnson continued that musical metaphor when he spoke about the seemingly effortless chemistry between him and the rest of the cast, which also includes Thompson’s SNL castmate Chris Redd as Kenan’s brother Gary, Kimrie Lewis as his boss Mika, and Dani and Dannah Lane as his daughters Aubrey and Birdie. Kenan has been in the works for a while, with various starts and stops to the project, but it has been clear from the pilot episode that the show has found something special, with a cast that has seemed right at home with each other from the start.
“[This is] like being part of a jazz band,” Johnson described his Kenan experience. “We are all part of this fabulous ensemble, and every now and then one of us pops up and has a solo, and then it’s fantastic.
“It’s just kind of amazing … [this] chemistry. Kenan and I seem like we have been father-in-law and son-in-law for 10, 15 years. … When you have great writing and actors to work with, they make you look good.”