Summer camp is right around the corner and so is the Netflix prequel series to the 2001 cult classic film Wet Hot American Summer. The first day of summer camp with all of your favorite counselors from Camp Firewood comes to Netflix on July 31, but you can preview the action now with the hilarious new cast photos above. Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp features the same star-studded cast as the original film, with even more additions — and although it’s several years (and even an Oscar or two later) it looks like they’re as goofy as ever.
“We thought it was funny that in the original we played a bunch of 30-year-olds playing teenagers. Now we’re in our 40s and our characters are even younger,” said co-creator Michael Showalter in a statement. “The magical thing about summer camp is that you can leave your persona from home and become the person you really want to be.”
The original film, set in 1981 on the last day of a fictional Jewish summer camp in Maine, featured counselors struggling to keep their kids in order — and hoping for one last romantic moment to cap off the summer.
The eight-episode prequel, which Netflix produced, was able to retain much of the same cast even after 14 years. Bradley Cooper, Janeane Garofalo, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Elizabeth Banks and David Hyde-Pierce, among others will star in the reprise.
A quick glance at the photos — which include Amy Poehler and Bradley Cooper attempting to play a pint-sized keyboard together, Janeane Garofalo with the talking can of vegetables (voiced by Archer’s H. Jon Benjamin) and Christopher Meloni in the midst of karate antics in the kitchen — certainly shows a lot to look forward to for the Hot Summer faithful this July.
“For us, the original movie was about the notion of finishing unfinished business,” said co-creator David Wain in a statement. “The idea that you have one day to do all the things you wish you’d done but were too afraid. The series is about establishing your identity.”
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