Wet Hot American Summer: Surreal & Sublime

A few days ago, I suggested 7 Days in Hell as a weird but fun comedy that people could enjoy for 45 minutes. However, if you find yourself with 4 hours on your hands, I highly recommend you log in to your Netflix account and indulge in the weirdness of Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.

The show is a prequel to 2001's Wet Hot American Summer, a movie that was a dismal flop when it premiered, but has gained a cult following over the past 14 years. The movie is filled with the kind of surreal sketch-like comedy that is very much in vogue now but was probably far too ahead of its time in 2001. But most notably, this film featured a cast of fresh-faced young actors who all went on to become incredibly well-known television and movie stars. This was Bradley Cooper's very first movie, and it also stars Amy Poehler, Janeane Garofalo, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Ian Black, Christopher Meloni, David Hyde Pierce, etc. And the joy of Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp is that all these people have returned, putting their high-powered careers on hold to spend one more day in this wacky summer camp where things quickly descend into completely implausible chaos.

Each episode of First Day of Camp is crammed with cameos and jokes. If the original cast wasn't impressive enough, the show features an even bigger haul of well-known actors and everyone looks like they are having the time of their life. The episodes all end with massive cliffhangers that ensure you will steadily binge watch your way through all eight episodes and come away with a comedy hangover. The writing by Michael Showalter and David Wain is particularly impressive, because what starts out as a seemingly small stakes show about a mismanaged summer camp suddenly features government conspiracies, investigative journalism, wacky reincarnations, and utterly bewildering moments that hearken back to their sketch comedy bonafides and the reasons we all love the movie.

Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp is a chance to revisit a cult classic and spend some more time with an incredibly talented and funny group of people. The very fact that this is a prequel but features the original cast after they've aged 14 years is all you need to know about the sensibility of this very surreal endeavor. If you were a fan of the movie, this will be a welcome trip down memory lane. And if you're simply a fan of comedy, this is exactly what you've been wanting to watch this weekend.