Like it isn’t about time. I hope you like the new layout as well as some of the new improvements to the site. I’m hoping to get some of the event images I have as well as some photoshoots I have with Chris up in the gallery very soon. I know some have written to me asking when I’ll get Chris’ work from LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT up in the gallery, namely his episodic work in that, I’m afraid I’m going to have to say that considering the sheer amount of work trying to screencap twelve years worth of episodes, they’ll have to wait till I have the time to do so. My apologies. I’m hoping though to add some episodic stills I have from Chris’ seasons on the show, so please look forward to those. In the meantime I have some of Chris’ films as well as WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: FIRST DAY OF CAMP to edit and post. I hope those will satiate you for a while. So that’s it for now. Enjoy the new layout and I’m hoping it won’t take another two years to get it done. I also wanted to let you know of a decision I’ve made about all my sites. I’ve decided that from now on absolutely NO candids of Chris will be posted to the gallery or the site. This also includes any photos of Chris with Sherman, Sophia and Dante in what are supposed to be private time. Also no images of Chris in an airport or walking on a street will be posted as this constitutes his private life. The exception to this will be if Chris is on set of a television show or film. I have several set side photos of Chris from LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT waiting to film. These will be posted as they do include his working environment. I feel this new policy is not only fair, but warranted considering that what Chris does in his private life is none of our business.

An amazingly funny clip of Chris from the premiere of WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: FIRST DAY OF CAMP this Friday on Netflix. This is an irreverent mash up of Chris as Elliot Stabler from LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT‘s seventh season episode Ripped where Elliot handled the case of the beating of a girl by her boyfriend, who ended up by being the son of Stabler’s former partner. Too funny as the part of the “councilor” is Gene’s can of vegetables from the series/film. I’ll be putting up screencaps as soon as I can after the show airs. Stay tuned.

Some of the advance reviews for WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: FIRST DAY OF CAMP are starting to come in and they’re resounding in the amount of praise this eight part show on Netflix is getting. Not only is the cast getting the lion’s share of that praise, but the whole idea of this being a prequel taking place some fourteen years after the original film came out is also. Chris of course is reprising his role of Gene, the slightly unbalanced cook with a can of mixed vegetables at Camp Firewood. This thing looks uproarious, and I’m going to look forward to seeing it. How ’bout you?

‘Wet Hot American Summer’ on Netflix: still wet, hot, raunchy and gloriously funny

By Joanna Connors, The Plain Dealer
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on July 22, 2015 at 8:00 AM, updated July 22, 2015 at 8:09 AM

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Fans of “Wet Hot American Summer” don’t need to be told this. But neophytes preparing to dive into the “Wet Hot” cult and binge-watch the prequel, “First Day of Camp,” coming to Netflix Friday, July 31, might want to take the advice of returning cast member Paul Rudd: “Just embrace its lunacy.”

Rudd was actually referring to the absurdity faced by the cast, most now in their late 30s and 40s, who play the same teenagers they were in the 2001 movie. The cast is 14 years older; their characters are two months younger.

Since the actors include not just the sublimely silly Rudd, but also Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Christopher Meloni, Michael Ian Black and Bradley Cooper, and new additions Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Kristen Wiig and Michael Cera, they prove more than capable of embracing the lunacy. They embraced it like Ari Gold hugging it out on “Entourage.”

In fact, one of the many, many pleasures of “First Day of Camp” is the sight of so many fantastic actors having so much fun goofing around with each other, all the while playing everything with life-or-death teenage intensity turned up to 11.

The eight-episode series, written by Michael Showalter and David Wain (who grew up in Shaker Heights) and directed by Wain, is “Scooby-Doo” crossed with a Mexican telenovela crossed with “Porky’s” and “Meatballs” and “Animal House,” with just a little “Waiting for Guffman” and even “Mad Men” thrown in for fun.

It takes place on June 24, 1981, two months before the last-day events of the movie. We’re back at Camp Firewood in Maine, where hormones fly thicker than mosquitoes and a cataclysm is always looming – toxic waste oozing toward the camp, a government conspiracy unfolding, the staff putting on a Broadway musical.

As the campers arrive, the counselors have more important things on their minds than the kids. Eternally awkward Coop (Showalter) awaits the arrival of his “girlfriend” Donna (Lake Bell), who doesn’t seem to realize she’s his girlfriend. She’s more interested in the cool new soccer counselor from Israel (Wain). Andy (Rudd) works to woo Katie (Marguerite Moreau) away from her evil-preppy boyfriend (Josh Charles) at Camp Tiger Claw.

Drama queens Susie (Amy Poehler) and Ben (Bradley Cooper) bring in an actual Broadway bit player (John Slattery) to direct “Electro City.” A journalist for “Rock ‘n’ Roll World” goes undercover as a counselor to get the real story of summer camp. And the story of the can of vegetables that talks to Vietnam War vet Gene (Christopher Meloni) is finally revealed.

Among the highlights: the show-within-a-show, which includes an electrocution musical number; Shannon demonstrating her disco dancing; Rudd’s riff on his sarcastic sneer; Jason Schwartzman’s identification of the toxic waste; Meloni skipping through the woods; and Bruce Greenwood as a lawyer.

The series is funnier than the movie, in large part because it is far better written and directed. The movie (Wain’s first as a director) relied a little too much on its own sloppiness for laughs. The higher professionalism behind the camera doesn’t mean the juvenile spirit is gone, though. Dozens of lines are destined to be quoted, again and again, over games of beer pong, leading with, “I’m just the guy who farts in your face and makes you smile.”

Clearly, “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” still has the gloriously raunchy, proudly stupid comic tone that made the movie a cult hit.

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Here is a hilarious behind-the-scenes video of WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: FIRST DAY OF CAMP to meet the staff of Camp Firewood. The video is a mockumentary of the usual videos of the 70s/80s where the video was usually unstable and very campy. The series stars Elizabeth Banks, Michael Ian Black, Bradley Cooper, Judah Friedlander, Janeane Garofalo, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, Marguerite Moreau, Zak Orth, Amy Poehler, David Hyde Pierce, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon, and Michael Showalter all reprising their characters some 14 years after the film. You need to watch to the end of the video where you’ll see a glimpse of Chris’ character of camp cook Gene.

I have three stills from Chris’ upcoming show WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: FIRST DAY OF CAMP as Gene, the cook of Camp Firewood. This thing looks like it’s going to be outrageous. And of course Chris will be at his best. Cannot wait to see Gene at work with his can of mixed veggies. Says so much of Gene’s state of mind, though I’m still trying to figure out if Gene actually saw time in Vietnam, or …. The first episode airs 31 July 2015 and of course UNABRIDGED will be on top of it providing screencaps and other media associated with Chris in it.

• [003] PROMOTIONAL STILLS: WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: FIRST DAY OF CAMP

  

There is a new trailer for the revival of WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER on Netflix where Chris reprises his role of Gene the cook of Camp Firewood. This thing looks absurdly cool. All the original cast is back looking er, um younger. I’m really impressed to see Bradley Cooper, Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler back considering their varied successes. Chris of course looks typically Gene and we love him for it. I’ll have some images to follow in another post.