More so than any other genre, in comedy a film can seemingly slip through the cracks of the public consciousness upon its release and slowly build up a cult audience over time. This has happened to Idiocracy, MacGruber, The Big Lebowski, and, yes, Wet Hot American Summer. In the 14 years since its debut, David Wain and Michael Showalter’s comedy has steadily gained new devotees to their summer camp comedy of rapidly increasingly absurdity.
And while most people seem to want Netflix’s original programming to revive the entertainment of yesteryear, hoping to briefly recapture the lost innocence of youth when they were too young to think critically. Thankfully, aside from Fuller House that is, Netflix has enough good taste to bring us a new prequel series to Wet Hot American Summer, simply called Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp. Today, they’ve issued the first full trailer for the series.
Once again, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp features an expansive cast of comedic talent, including Elizabeth Banks, H. Jon Benjamin, Michael Ian Black, Bradley Cooper, Janeane Garofalo, Nina Hellman, David Hyde Pierce, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, AD Miles, Christopher Meloni, Marguerite Moreau, Zak Orth, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Marisa Ryan, Molly Shannon and Michael Showalter. That’s a lot of funny people.
In the meantime, you can mentally prepare yourself for the demented comedy in store by streaming the original Wet Hot American Summer or the latest film by Wain/Showalter, the wonderful romcom spoof They Came Together. After all, you have to watch something funny before Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp starts streaming on July 31st.
