Wet Hot American Summer: Primeiro Dia de Acampamento

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.

Wet Hot American Summer First Day of Camp is the newest Netflix original series and it is a continuation of the 2001 Film Wet Hot American Summer. The film has many of the same stars and has some new ones such as Chris Pine, Jason Schwarzmann, Michael Cera and numerous other recognizable stars. The series explores life at summer camp to and extreme level and also to a some what relatable level at some times however for the most part the series is absurd and unrealistic which is not necessarily a bad thing as most of the comic aspects of the film rely on dry humor and the crazy things the characters do. The characters feel like cartoon characters and the whole show feels like a real life cartoon, I could not help but think of Cartoon Network's Camp Lazloo when I watched this which is a very unique new type of comedy from the traditional less absurd comedies such as Big Bang Theory and Silicon Valley. The series will not be as enjoyable to all who do not enjoy this ridiculous humor however the stunning cast and filmography will be a definite treat.

8.5/10

Crazy? Check.

Stupid? Check.

Nonsensical? Check.

Hilarious? Check.

But did you expect anything less from a Wet Hot American Summer prequel?

Fans of David Wain's 2001 cult comedy Wet Hot American Summer will be jumping for joy at this show. The humour is much the same yet somehow manages to become even more random with some of the craziest subplots I think I may have ever seen, however it is all consistently funny and had me laughing non- stop. But above all the show is incredibly meta, a tough job done well!

Seeing the cast of the original return for this was a real joy to behold. The likes of Elizabeth Banks, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper and Amy Poehler effortlessly slip back into their roles and seem to pick up right where they left off in 2001, seeing how these actors have hit the big time with their careers only heightens the hilarity of seeing them return to their roles 15 years on, the meta aspect of this being a prequel series with the older actors only adds in to make the mere concept of the show even funnier.

However seeing the likes of Janeane Garofalo, Michael Showalter, Zak Orth, Michael Ian Black and Christopher Meloni reprising their roles is also a real joy to behold, especially given that they may not have had careers that reached the same heights as Rudd and Cooper. And you can tell that they are all having a blast!

The rest of the cast is simply hilarious with a whole host of big, new names joining the show furthering the meta aspect of the show. New additions include Randall Park, Jason Schwartzman, Michael Cera, John Hamm, Lake Bell, Kirsten Wiig, Weird Al and Chris Pine among others.

But in the midst of all this hilarity, just when you think that it can't get any funnier, something dawns on you...

All these events are happening over the course of one day.

One day.

The only downside to this show is that there are only 8 episodes, we need more!!!

For fans of the original, this will not disappoint.

For new Wet Hot American Summer viewers, welcome to the chaotic comedy that is Wet Hot American Summer.

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.

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.