The Tainting of the Screw

'The Tainting of the Screw'
Season 1, Episode 2
Production Code:	102
Air Date:	August 17, 1996
Written by:	Dan Schneider
Directed by:	Alan Rosen
Episode Chronology
Previous Pilot	Next Doing Things the Hemingway

The Tainting of the Screw is the second episode of Season 1 and the second overall episode of Kenan & Kel. It aired on August 17, 1996. It was written by Dan Schneider and directed by Alan Rosen.

Synopsis

When Kenan chokes on a screw that was found in his tuna sandwich, he plans on suing the company of the tuna fish for $10 million. When the president of the company offers Kenan a settlement fee, he declines the offer, dragging the situation to court.

Plot

Introduction

Kenan comes out of the curtains to greet the audience, but notices that he came out alone, so he looks for Kel, who's nowhere in sight. Nonetheless, Kenan introduces himself to the audience. An audience member points out that Kel is nowhere in sight, with the rest of the audience clamoring about it. Kenan tell the audience that Kel is aware of what time thr show starts, before being suddenly hit by a fishing rod from behind. When he grabs the rod and pulls it towards his direction, he pulls Kel with it, who's wearing a fisherman's outfit. Kel apologizes to the audience for his delay. Kenan asks about Kel's appearance and Kel tells him he was out fishing. Curious, Kenan pulls out a tuna fish from Kel's bucket. As Kel tries to explain to the audience about tonight's show, Kenan lovingly stares at Kel's tuna, with Kel questioning why he's smiling at his fish. Kenan tells him he's thinking about the two of them and tuna before leaving the stage. Kel tells him not to think about him and tuna before following Kenan and yelling his catchphrase.

Storyline

The episode begins in the Rockmore kitchen with Sheryl preparing some coffee for Roger. Sheryl warns him that the coffee is very hot. As Roger takes a sip of his coffee, Kel barges in noisily and as a result, Roger accidentally spills the hot coffee on himself. Kel then attempts to eat Roger's muffin, which he stuffs in his mouth before Kel could even touch it, much to Sheryl's disgust. Kenan enters the kitchen and greets everyone with Kenan wondering what's up with Roger. With the muffin still stuffed inside his mouth, Roger muffles the events that took place for the current situation to occur before leaving the kitchen. Sheryl asks what the boys' plans for the day are, with the boys replying that they're going to watch the Chicago Bulls game and the two of them pretend to play basketball with a tomato until Kel accidentally spikes the tomato on Roger - who has returned from changing clothes after Kel soiled the previous ones. Sheryl reminds Roger that they have to go take Aunt Bertha to the hospital since she has had an allergic reaction and puffed up. Before leaving, Sheryl notifies Kenan that there's a can of tuna he can have for lunch. As soon as they leave, Kenan prepares his tuna sandwich and Kel prepares salami before Kenan leaves the kitchen to check if the game has started. In the living room, Kenan turns on the TV to see that the game has started and calls Kel with their respective lunches. As they sit down to watch the game, they each make the same prediction, which doesn't seem to be fun to Kenan. Kenan takes a bite off his sandwich and starts choking, with Kel wondering what's going on. Kel tries to call 911, but Kenan insists on Kel helping him out. Kel asks if he's hungry, to which Kenan disappointingly looks at him before resuming to choke. When Kel finally realizes that Kenan's choking, he gives him the Heimlich maneuver and Kenan spits out the piece he was choking on. Kenan tells Kel that something got stuck in his throat and observes a screw nearby the sandwich. Kenan realizes that he choked on a screw that was in his tuna sandwich.

Later on at Rigby's, Chris is seen inspecting the screw with a magnifying glass and is surprised that such an object was found in Kenan's tuna. Kenan tells Chris and Kel about how a woman found half a frog in the fried chicken in a fast food restaurant (with Kel wondering where the other half of the frog was). Kenan mentions that the woman went on to sue the restaurant, and received $10,000 for compensation. He comes up with an idea of how he can sue the tuna company and get $10,000 himself, but Kel has bad feelings about this. He then asks Chris if he knows any lawyer, with Chris mentioning that his cousin is a lawyer and can help them.

Sometime later at the store, Kenan and Kel are talking with Chris' cousin regarding the tuna-screw incident. When Kenan asks how much he is able to get, Chris' cousin tells him he can get about five to ten - million dollars, stunning Kenan in the process as he can buy many things with that money. So Chris' cousin asks if he can handle their case, with Kenan asking what his fee is, which is forty percent of their earnings in the case. Kenan refuses the outrageous deal and decides to handle the case on his own, since he won't have to pay anybody, and since he feels that this is an open-and-shut case.

Back at the Rockmore house, the boys head to Kenan's room and talk about how to handle the case. Kenan decides to use his to computer to schedule a press conference about his case at Rigby's in order to get people to feel sorry for him, giving him a better chance of winning the lawsuit. When Kel asks Kenan what he'll do with $10,000,000, Kenan starts fantasizing. The fantasy takes place in the Rockmore living room, where he gives a girl $1,000 for beating the high score on a video game and a boy another $1,000 as consolation after losing a basketball shootout game. He also gives a girl that's sitting in a cruiser $1,000. Kel and a girl then approach Kenan and request for a drink. Kenan orders his waiter (who happens to be Chris) to deliver the two some beverages and rewards him $1 for the effort. Kenan approaches his parents, who are on a motorcycle and Sheryl talks about how people are complementing her diamond earrings. Roger tells Kenan about a boat he wants to purchase. He wants to buy a red one while Sheryl wants to buy a white one, however, Kenan gives them $100,000 to purchase both boats. He tells Kel to turn on is $1,200,000 stereo system and everyone starts dancing to the music playing on the system as his fantasy ends. He goes on to ask Kel if he ever dreamed of being rich. Kel starts his own fantasy that involves ham. Kenan concludes that he's sick, while Kel explains that he enjoys ham.

The next day at Rigby's, Kenan and Kel hold a press conference with one of the journalists asking if he swallowed the screw, with his response being that he almost did, but Kel saved him. Another journalist asks why he's suing Luna Tuna Corporation (the company that produces tuna fish) for $10,000,000. Kenan responds by saying he's damaged and that he suffers from "post tuna stress disorder". To make it convincing, Kel takes a can of tuna fish and displays it in front of Kenan, who's shaking and panicking from seeing it. He also states how he has nightmares about him being attacked by a giant screw. A journalist suggests that Kenan should sue Luna Tuna Corporation for $20,000,000 instead, though Kenan doesn't want to "seem too greedy".

After the press conference, Chris receives a phone call and hands it to Kenan since the phone call is for him. During the phone call, it is mentioned that he and Kel are willing to consider an offer the following day at 2:00 p.m.. As the phone call ends, he reveals to both Kel and Chris that the vice president of Luna Tuna Corporation wants to discuss a settlement fee with him.

At the Luna Tuna Corporation, Kenan and Kel are welcomed by Henry Luna, the company's president. Henry explains how his great-grandfather founded Luna Tuna Corporation and how he loved and respected tuna and those that ate and enjoyed it, but would kill himself (if he wasn't already dead) if he knew about the screw scandal. Kenan highlights that he doesn't want to taint their reputation, but he's suffered a "lot" because of that screw. So Henry decides to offer Kenan a lifetime supply of tuna fish as a settlement. The offer satisfies Kel, but disappoints Kenan as he believes he'll choke on a lifetime of screws. He also exclaims how he came for $10,000,000 and not ten million tuna fish. Seeing that Kenan is not satisfied by the initial offer, Henry offers him $1,000, which Kenan immediately declines. He instead escalates the amount to $5,000, but Kenan is still uninterested. Before the boys leave, Henry offers Kenan $1,000,000 (and a lifetime supply of tuna fish - courtesy of Kel) to drop the lawsuit. Kel insists on Kenan taking the offer, but due to greed consuming him, Kenan refuses, stating that Luna Tuna is guilty of improper canning that led to the various "problems" that Kenan is facing. The boys go on to boast about how they won't leave the building unless they receive $10,000,000. Unfortunately, the security guard throws both boys out of the building, with Kenan threatening to see them in court.

Back in Kenan's room, the boys are rehearsing for their day in court, with Kenan's stuffed animals pretending to be jury, distracting Kel in the process. After getting Kel's mind off of the stuffed animals, Kenan pretends to be the judge and asks Kel about what happened on the morning of Kenan's choking. He first talks about what he did to Roger before Kenan tells him to talk about the tuna incident instead, but Kel is obviously nervous, so Kenan motivates him into testifying for him - as Kel is his only eye witness to the situation.

In what seemed to be hours of rehearsal, Kenan and Kel give it one more shot. When Kenan asks a string of questions regarding the issue and Kel is able to answer each of them quickly and efficiently, the boys think they're ready handle the case and begin to do an early celebratory dance.

On the day of court, Judge Harris asks if the plaintiff is ready to make the statement. Unaware that they are the plaintiff, Kenan and Kel start goofing off until they realize it, with Kenan moving forward. He talks about the traumatizing experience he had with the tuna fish and the guard displays Exhibit A - which is an empty can of tuna, as well as Exhibit B - which displays a screw. Kenan calls upon a very nervous Kel to the witness stand. As the guard makes Kel swear to tell the truth, Kel high-fives him, thinking it's part of the procedure, until the guard goes for him, but Kenan stops him. Kenan goes on to question his friend about the tuna incident, but Kel's nerves get the better of him, and he starts crying and confesses to dropping the screw in Kenan's sandwich, much to Kenan's confusion, and Henry and his lawyer's relief. However, Kel starts to go aboslutely berserk and repeatedly yells out the sentence "I DROPPED THE SCREW IN THE TUNA!!!", while begging for Kenan's forgiveness and pleading not to be sent to jail. The episode ends with Kenan comforting Kel while Kenan tells the court not to ask anymore questions.

Conclusion

Kenan comes out of the curtain to the audience and explains how his tuna idea didn't go according to plan, but he's not giving up on his mission; all he has to do is to find a can of tuna that has an object inside, and he's back in business. He approaches Kel, who seems to have opened hundreds of tuna cans. He hasn't found anything in those cans and asks Kenan how many more cans he has to open up, to which Kenan decides to abandon the task in favor of a new idea and tells Kel to follow him. An exhausted Kel calls Kenan several times before yelling his catchphrase and leaving the stage.

Cast

Main Cast

• Kenan Thompson as Kenan Rockmore
• Kel Mitchell as Kel Kimble
• Ken Foree as Roger Rockmore
• Teal Marchande as Sheryl Rockmore
• Dan Frischman as Chris Potter

Minor Cast

• Jim Detmar as Chris' Cousin
• Michael Edwards as Henry Luna
• Valerie Grant as the Paparazzi
• Pixie Wales as Judge Harris

Absent

• Vanessa Baden as Kyra Rockmore

Gallery

The gallery for this episode can be found here.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Trivia

• In some regions, this is the first official episode of Kenan & Kel.
• This is the first episode not to feature Kyra Rockmore (Vanessa Baden).
• The wall that separates the kitchen from the living room in the Rockmore house has been removed, which is how it would remain for the remainder of the season. This would remain the case until the first episode of season two, Pair-Rental Guidance, where it was rebuilt.
• The arcade game "Phlem Fighter II" that was played in Kenan's fantasy is a reference to the popular video game Street Fighter II.
• The title of this episode is a reference to William Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew.
• A scene from this episode is shown in Tales from the Clip.
• A blooper from this episode is shown at the end of Diamonds Are for Roger.

Goofs

• When Roger leaves the kitchen to change his clothes, he leaves his glasses on the table, but when returning to the kitchen, he is seen wearing them.
  • Kel is later on shown to be wearing the glasses that Roger left behind while reading a newspaper.
• There are a number of strange things regarding Kenan's choking.
  • He didn't chew the piece he bit off before choking.
    • However, it is possible that he swallowed it by mistake when talking to Kel with his mouth full.
  • A person that's choking on something usually holds their throat and not their stomach like Kenan did.
  • When Kel asks if he's hungry, Kenan pauses his choking process for a moment. A choking person never pauses on choking regardless of what the situation in hand is. Although it's obvious this moment was used strictly for comedic effect.