SCTV icon John Candy, who had made a successful transition to movies with hits like "Planes, Trains, & Automobiles" (w/Steve Martin) & "The Great Outdoors" (w/Dan Aykroyd), followed his SCTV castmate Martin Short (The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley) into cartoons with 1989's Camp Candy. Unlike Short or Rick Moranis, whose Gravedale High bowed the following year, Candy didn't link up with Hanna-Barbera. Instead, he chose to work with DIC & Saban. The two studios had previously collaborated on Kidd Video and the game show, I'm Telling!, which, like the SCTV spin-offs, aired on NBC.
Inspired, perhaps, by his experience working on "Great Outdoors", Candy cast himself as the owner-operator of a summer camp, purportedly before he hit it big in show business, hence narrating the stories himself. In addition to shepherding a group of youngsters, Candy had to protect the property from a greedy rival, Rex DeForest, who wanted the land for a condo.
Camp Candy lasted two seasons on NBC, but after a year off, was revived in 1992 with new episodes produced for syndication. TVSets1977 uploaded this sample of the episode, "Bird is the Word". The show's theme song, sung by Candy, was written by pop legend Harry Nilssen.
Rating: B.
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