We did it, folks! A DOZEN episodes! That number looks so small on paper, yet I feel like we’ve been doing this for a lot longer. I guess we’re just having that much fun! Anyway, Adam and I are back, and we’re trying to ride the recent Nickelodeon media wave. Instead of the salacious Dan Schneider saga, however, we are focusing on an earlier, more innocent time, as we take a look back at 90s teen sitcom Salute Your Shorts.
For those unfamiliar, Salute Your Shorts was a 2-season, 26-episode series, based on Mike Slavkin’s 1986 book Salute Your Shorts: Life At Summer Camp. It followed the adventures of six campers, and their counselor Ug, at the fictional Camp Anawanna. It was created as part of Nick’s attempt to compete with The Disney Afternoon, but nobody ever really beats “The House of Mouse”. Despite its short run, the show would live on in reruns for the next decade, and became one of the most beloved shows of that era of Nickelodeon.
This was a tough episode for me because I really wanted to love the show more than I did. Growing up, I didn’t have cable, and Nickelodeon was on a pedestal in both my heart and mind. “If only I could watch Clarissa as she explained it ALL…” The few times I managed to catch Salute Your Shorts, I saw why kids enjoyed it, and I sort of carried that memory with me. That said, the post-Saved By The Bell TNBC era came not long afterward, and I fell in love with slick, colorful teen sitcoms, with hot girls and laugh tracks. Even as an old man, I still love these kinds of shows (I’m probably on an FBI watchlist at this point), having discovered Disney Channel’s Jessie and Raven’s Home during the pandemic. Looking back, there’s just no comparison. Salute Your Shorts is certainly a product of its time, and only nostalgia is gonna help you get through it today. Anyway, if you want to take a trip back to Camp Anawanna with us, check out our latest episode here, or wherever fine podcasts aren’t sold!
