More than 10 years ago, David Wain and Michael Showalter wrote an over-the-top ensemble comedy about a group of young adults working at a camp during the summer of ’81. The movie, Wet Hot American Summer, was notoriously panned by critics but became a cult hit regardless. Now, Netflix is looking to take the popular project and turn it into a TV series.
The idea that Wet Hot American Summer might be returning as a TV series may have already hooked you, but it gets better. The original flick helped to jumpstart the careers of a lot of famous people, including Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Ken Marino, Elizabeth Banks and more, and according to reports that leaked on Friday, Netflix doesn’t want to just make a Wet Hot American Summer TV project a reality. Netflix also wants to bring back the original cast. According to Variety, the premise would be that the old cast would return to play young counselors even though they happen to be in the 40+ age category. So basically, it would offer a lot of the same humor as the original, and will hopefully include many of the same haircuts.
This isn’t the first time Showalter and co. have talked about doing another Wet Hot American Summer project. Prequels and sequels have been in talks for years, with Showalter even stating once on Watch What Happens Live! that a follow-up was in the developmental stage. That was a couple of years ago, and it seems the talks about another project have morphed into a TV series. If these initial plans hold up, Netflix is probably the perfect place for it to happen..
Netflix is apparently staying mum about the project’s potential development status with the streaming service, but Variety seems pretty sure that it will happen. The outlet is stating that Showalter and Wain would executive produce and the distribution company for the film, Universal, is also looking to get involved. If Wet Hot American Summer does move forward with Netflix, it looks as if 10 episodes set in idyllic Camp Firewood would be the likely number to get produced.
As ridiculous as 40-year-old camp counselors pretending to be younger may be, I honestly would be a little more concerned about people like Poehler, Banks and Cooper all being able to align their schedules to film the series. We all know Janeane Garofalo’s got the time on her hands, but the rest of the cast includes Academy Award nominees and Emmy hosts and I just have trouble seeing Wet Hot American Summer line up. However, supposedly if Netflix does greenlight the project, different cast members would be able to film on completely different days. I won’t count on the project until Netflix officially announces it, but I can’t say I’m not hopeful. Now excuse me, I have to go write in my gournal.
