Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp: Season 1

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Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 89 Ratings

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6.8

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6.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 89 Ratings

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Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp

Season Details & Credits

Netflix | Season Premiere Date: July 31, 2015

Starring: Michael Ian Black, John Slattery, Paul Rudd

Summary: The prequel to the 2001 film Wet Hot American Summer set during the first days of camp features a majority of the original cast including Michael Ian Black, Bradley Cooper, Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Meloni, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, and Molly Shannon.

Creator: Michael Showalter and David Wain

Genre(s): Comedy, Music

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Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E8. Day Is Done
Air Date: July 31, 2015
tbd
S1:E7. Staff Party
Air Date: July 31, 2015
tbd
S1:E6. Electro/City
Air Date: July 31, 2015

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Metascore

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

Verne Gay

Jul 30, 2015

The series actually improves on the movie. This is consistently funnier, weirder and more inventive. Read full review

Ray Rahman

Jul 27, 2015

It’s all just an excuse for creators David Wain and Michael Showalter to craft more hilariously absurd, endlessly quotable moments (plus a ridiculous Reagan impression) that will more than satisfy fans of the movie. Read full review

Keith Uhlich

Jul 22, 2015

Wain and Showalter mostly acquit themselves, and for every dud plotline (“Coop’s” romantic flailings are actually more of a drag this time out) there’s a correspondingly uproarious one. Read full review

Sonia Saraiya

Jul 30, 2015

The eight episodes together make for just four hours of television, which is only a bit longer than a very long movie; the natural breaks of title sequences and credits serve to break up the gleefully disjointed adventures into bookended chapters. And because making a prequel series 15 years later with the same actors set on just one day is patently ridiculous, the style of humor that Showalter and his longtime collaborator David Wain bring to Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp is spot-on: It embraces that absurdity, and pushes it to every possible extreme. Read full review

Mike Hale

Jul 30, 2015

The shaggy humor is amusing enough. Read full review

Mark Peikert

Aug 3, 2015

The 8-episode series (only six episodes were made available to critics) mostly succeeds by sheer force of will. The viewers are so bombarded by jokes that something is bound to tickle you eventually-–though truth be told it may take awhile. Read full review

Chris Cabin

Jul 23, 2015

The series ultimately feels like a nostalgia trip, less for the era in which it's set than for the original film that spawned it. Read full review

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6.8

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User Reviews

Prophatsee

Jul 31, 2015

It's always hard to do a follow up on a cult classic. Arrested Development is one I can think of that was funny but didn't capture the comedic vibe the original show did. In this case it's the opposite. Taking a 90 minute original and making it 4 hours long was genius. If you love the movieIt's always hard to do a follow up on a cult classic. Arrested Development is one I can think of that was funny but didn't capture the comedic vibe the original show did. In this case it's the opposite. Taking a 90 minute original and making it 4 hours long was genius. If you love the movie your going to be madly in love with the show. Really expands the story of the original and is set up like a prequel so like Star Wars needs to be watched backwards. Movie first then show cause even though the show is a prequel it has some comedy moment that wouldn't be as funny or even confusing unless you saw the movie first. A kind of foreshadow comedy. Plus it'll let you know if you'll like the show if you liked the movie first. If you hate the movie you will not enjoy the show. Honestly if you didn't like the movie I don't think we'd be friends. Just being honest. This is a classic like the original and so glad it's out there for the masses to watch. Elizabeth Banks still hot!… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

mathesu

Aug 5, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is such a good show. It's clear to me that every little detail is conceived to be off. The stupidity is the best part just because i gets the most sincere "why the hell am I laughing off of this" laugh. Paul Rudd lives up his role on the movie, and the additional characters are really well thought and placed in the context. Some moments are just so hilariously memorable and nonsense-y like when Jason Schwartzman says "Oh **** or when Abby gets her period and just likebecomes a woman, and these little scenes that just land idiot jokes for your pure and irrefutable pleasure. Well, just watch the goddamn show!… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

TheDude-

Aug 2, 2015

Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp offers more of the the goofy hijinks that fans of the cult classic crave, but outsiders might not be quite as enamored.

2 of 5 users found this helpful23

cherold

Jan 30, 2016

First off, I like the idea of bringing back the original cast of a movie decades later and having them play slightly younger versions of their original characters. It's really more interesting than doing the obvious and bringing them back to play aged versions of their original characters.First off, I like the idea of bringing back the original cast of a movie decades later and having them play slightly younger versions of their original characters. It's really more interesting than doing the obvious and bringing them back to play aged versions of their original characters.

But the series - or at least the first episode, which is all I saw - didn't do anything with it. The actors play the characters they played just the way they played them all those years ago, without a wink. Which feels like a missed opportunity.

Still, that wouldn't be a problem if the series was funny. But I didn't laugh once. Some of the jokes may rely on your having seen the movie enough times to be intimately familiar with it - I liked it a lot when I saw it, but that was a long time ago - but even then, *something* should have been funny.

Still, humor is down to individual taste; a lot of people seem to think this is funny. I'm just not one of those people.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

moothemagiccow

Dec 17, 2015

I have seen the movie like five times. I love it. I couldn't make it through ten minutes of the show.

Did you like Stella or We Came Together? Watch this.
Did you like Wanderlust or Role Models? Skip it.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

penfifteen

Aug 1, 2015

The first episode is fine but it goes downhill and it goes downhill fast. Seems like they decided to choose weird over funny in the hopes that the viewer couldn't tell the difference.

3 of 6 users found this helpful33

psyberdelic

Aug 9, 2015

Painfully stupid.... Turned it off after ten minutes... Got to have on hundred and fifty characters so I'll just say the writing is at the level of a twelve year old boy just reaching puberty...

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

SEE ALL 21 REVIEWS

Seasons & Episodes

74

Series Overview
Season 1

74
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: July 31, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E8. Day Is Done
  Air Date: July 31, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E7. Staff Party
  Air Date: July 31, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E6. Electro/City
  Air Date: July 31, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E5. Dinner
  Air Date: July 31, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E4. Auditions
  Air Date: July 31, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E3. Activities
  Air Date: July 31, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E2. Lunch
  Air Date: July 31, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E1. Campers Arrive
  Air Date: July 31, 2015