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I should admit that, despite being told to do so over and over again, I never saw 2001’s Wet Hot American Summer until this past week, in preparation to watch and review the newly-released prequel series, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, on Netflix. Originally created by David Wain and Michael Showalter of MTV’s brilliant ‘90s sketch comedy show The State, the summer camp spoof starred several of their previous costars, along with a virtual who’s-who of emerging talent, including Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler. While it flopped at the box office, it’s gone on to become a cult classic with enough clout to reassemble nearly all of its original cast, as well as bringing in some pretty impressive cameos. The result is an off-kilter and enjoyable comedy that benefits from a looser format and a cast that’s only gotten better during their time away.
Where the original movie covered the last day of Camp Firewood in 1981, the new series rewinds back to the beginning of the summer. Much like the movie, it follows a number of different story threads through a single day rather than trying to tie everything into any single plot. You’ve got the romantic travails of dim-witted nice guy Coop (Showalter) and resident bad boy Andy (Rudd), the show-biz aspirations of Susie (Poehler) and Ben (Bradley Cooper), and the life-or-death adventures of head counselor Beth (Janeane Garafalo) and camp chef Jonas (Christopher Meloni) mixed in with any number of other subplots and hijinks.
What was already weird about seeing twenty-somethings playing teenagers is only amplified now that they’ve aged a decade and a half and yet are playing their characters three months younger. As with any prequel, we know where these kids will be by the end of the summer, so part of the joy—and a reason to watch the movie first—is to see how they got there. Some of the characters benefit by getting more screen time (like Cooper and Poehler’s theater dorks), while others get entirely new back stories that add new layers to their original appearances. Elizabeth Banks, who featured largely as eye candy in the movie, gets a long arc as a Rolling Stone style reporter infiltrating the camp.
Newcomers also add to the critical mass of talent, including Mad Men’s John Slattery as an over-the-top theater pro with designs on Susie, Josh Charles as the lead snob of upper-class rival Camp Tiger Claw, and H. John Benjamin as beleaguered camp owner Mitch, whose eventual fate turns a throwaway sight gag from the first movie into an enjoyably goofy adventure in the series. There’s a lot of comic talent packed into this series, and it’s a distinct pleasure to see how much better many of them have gotten over the years.
By preserving the quirky humor that made many of them successful over the years, the creators and cast of Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp have accomplished a rarity on screen: a prequel that actually does expand upon and enhance the original while being fully satisfying to watch on its own. If you haven’t seen it, watch the movie first (it’s also available on Netflix right now). Then hit up this series to dive right back into the beginning. If only every summer worked that way…
