Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp

I had no expectations prior to watching this hilarious show. It borrows campy humor elements from Hot Shots, Police Academy, Scary Movie series, etc...I loved the original WHAS movie, this is great!!

When I saw this pop up on Netflix I was intrigued by the cast. It had to be funny right? I tried to watch the first couple episodes and left midway through the second. I didn't know if it was because I did not see the movie or what. It just did not seem funny or nostalgic. That was a few months ago, fast forward to this summer and I saw that the WHAS 10 years later was out. So I decided to check that out, just to see if it was anything better. I don't know why but I found it hilarious, I loved the first episode so much I immediately stopped watching and went back and started watching the original series, then the movie that started it all. Maybe I didn't get it the first time or the "10 years later" premise sparked a renewed interest. The idea of these older comedians playing kids was magic and their naivete made it priceless. For whatever reason you gave up on it from the start, try it again, you might be glad you did.

In 2001, 'Wet Hot American Summer' introduces a group of relatively unknown young comedic actors. Some of them played teenage camp counselors despite being too old. Fifteen years later, most return to play the same characters in a prequel during their first day at Camp Firewood in the summer of 1981. The time bending silliness of that construction is boldly inventive and utterly hilarious. On top of that, this eight-episode Netflix series doubles down and goes even more ridiculous. The plot is insane. The jokes are even broader. The original confused me on my first viewing. Its satirical take isn't consistent enough and the varying range of comedy left me a little discombobulated. The original is inconsistently awkward funny but this time around, the gang is going completely nuts. They are not holding back and it is glorious.

Yes it's a stupid show, that's the point. Don't take it serious. It's fun it's not meant to be a serious show. They literally go out of their way to make it that way. So much star power, they are having fun and so should you.

We tried watching the movie (which I'd never heard of until about a week ago), and just didn't get it. But we decided to try the show anyway since 40-somethings in wigs playing teens seemed like an amusing idea. And it was! For me, that joke never got old. Besides that, there were some great parody story lines, playing on old TV and movie tropes, that I found very funny.

-Standout Actors-

The show is worth watching for Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks alone. They both went hilariously over the top, plus their story lines were among the funniest. Kristen Wiig, Josh Charles, Chris Pine, and Michael Cera were standouts in smaller roles, for the same reason.

-This show is polarizing -- for a reason-

Some people won't get the humour here, perhaps because they just don't appreciate irony and absurdism. But maybe there's another reason… I think some people haven't been exposed to all the cheesy after school specials and movies of the week that this show is parodying. TV has become pretty sophisticated in the past decade or so; it's not quite as innocent (and in some cases, silly) as it used to be. And if you're not familiar with what's being parodied, it's hard to get the joke.