10 Best TV Shows About Summer Camp, Ranked According to IMDb
A summer pastime for many young children and teenagers is attending some kind of summer camp, whether that be an educational, religious, or a sleep-away kind. As such summer camps have been a staple in Hollywood movies but rarely explored in the television world.
However, over the years there have been a handful of shows that have centered around summer camps. From Disney Channel and Nickelodeon shows to animated classics and even broadcast sitcoms, the summer camp subgenre might not be super popular, but it does exist.
10 Bunk'd - 5.4
Disney Channel's original series Bunk'd have an interesting history. Originally created as a spin-off series from Jessie, it has begun to distance itself from Jessie, as most of the original cast has left the series.
The comedy series centers around Camp Kikiwaka, a summer camp located in Maine, and follows both the young campers and the teenage counselors in training as they attempt to have the best summer ever in the great outdoors. The series is currently in its fifth season and continues to be popular.
9 Camp Lakebottom - 5.5
Largely unknown and underrated, the Canadian-produced Camp Lakebottom is one of the most recent shows to explore summer camp life from a child's perspective. The series centers on McGee, a preteen prankster who accidentally ends up at the spooky Camp Lakebottom instead of Camp Sunny Smiles.
Camp Lakebottom isn't like other summer camps, which is exactly why McGee loves it so much. In fact, he'll stop at nothing to keep it from being taken over by the Camp Sunny Smiles staff.
8 Dead Of Summer - 6.2
Like many shows before it, Dead Of Summer is a show that has earned a spot in the unfortunate "canceled after one season" TV club. Created in 2016 and airing on Freeform, Dead of Summer takes place at Camp Stillwater in the 1980s.
Originally convinced as an anthology series, Dead of Summer's one and only season centered around a group of teenage camper's take on ancient and evil mythologies that pop up all around Camp Stillwater.
7 Camp Lazlo! - 6.4
Camp Lazlo! is arguably one of the most underrated and forgotten Cartoon Network shows of all time. This is a huge shame considering how original and hilarious the show actually was.
Set at Camp Kidney, Camp Lazlo follows Lazlo and his two best friends as they embark on their first-ever year as Bean Scouts. Scoutmaster Lumpus might run a tight ship but with Lazlo attending camp, anything is fair game, including hilarious hijinks. The series ran for five seasons and won three Primetime Emmy Awards during that time.
6 Killer Camp - 6.4
While it might seem like summer camp is just for kids and teenagers, that's not entirely true. In fact, the British-American game show Killer Camp sets out to prove that summer camp can be fun for adults too.
The reality series centers on a group of contestants all in young adulthood who find themselves living in an 80's inspired lodge that once served as a summer camp. However, this is no ordinary summer camp, but rather a killer camp where a secret murderer is living amongst them. Each week the contestants compete against each other in the hopes of uncovering who the killer is before they become the next victim.
5 Camp - 7.3
The American-Australian NBC comedy series Camp is yet another show to be inducted into the "canceled after one season" TV club. Camp did something slightly different than other summer camp shows by focusing on both the adults and the campers simultaneously.
In fact, the show centered on Mackenzie Granger, the now sole owner of Little Otter Family Camp who is struggling to keep the camp open now that she's divorced. In addition to Mackenzie, the show stars a group of senior counselors who are trying to live out their best summer fantasies while also taking care of their younger campers.
4 Huge - 7.3
There is no denying that there are thousands of summer camps designed around common interests or traits, which is exactly the case with Camp Victory, the fictional weight loss camp created for ABC Family's drama series Huge.
Inspired by the young adult novel of the same name, Huge, centered around a group of eight teenagers who find themselves at Camp Victory for the summer. While learning how to be healthy and love their bodies is a large part of Camp Victory, the usual fun of summer camp is also explored in the show.
3 Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp - 7.4
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp was released on Netflix in 2015 and served as a prequel series to the cult classic Wet Hot American Summer parody movie that has since launched a successful film franchise.
Told in eight parts, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp explores the first few days at Camp Firewood from the various campers' perspectives. The series is extremely special given the fact that many original cast members of the movie reprised their roles even though most have become wildly successful actors.
2 Bug Juice - 7.8
Disney Channel tends to be synonymous with comedies and the occasional animated show, but that didn't stop them from exploring the reality series genre in the late '90s. Bug Juice became one of Disney Channel's only reality series and each of the three seasons revolved around a different summer camp across the United States.
Bug Juice followed ordinary campers as they experienced a memorable summer at their respective summer camps. Each season had roughly twenty episodes and was rather popular amongst viewers. In 2018, the series was revived for one season and took place at the original summer camp.
1 Salute Your Shorts - 8.2
Disney Channel wasn't the only one getting involved with summer camp in the 1990s. Though not a reality show, Nickelodeon created their own summer camp show called Salute Your Shorts which became insanely popular for the network despite only airing two seasons.
Based on a book of a similar name, the comedy series was set at the fictional Camp Anawanna and followed a group of teenage campers as they tried to have fun under the watch of their strict counselors.