Tomorrow night, NBC will debut Liz Helden's new drama Deception, and it seems NBC is ready to proceed with another of Liz Helden's series. The network announced this weekend that they've given summer dramedy series Camp a straight to series order, with the aim to get the show on the air this summer.
Described as "in the tradition of Meatballs and Dazed and Confused, Camp is set at the Little Hawk Family Camp, "a wicked slice of lake-side heaven" where mother nature and human nature collide. While the parents relax with a glass of gin, the teens are off making "gleeful mischief" and are falling in and out of love. The series, which has received a thirteen-episode order at NBC, comes from LIz Heldens and Peter Elkoff.
Said ennifer Salke, President, NBC Entertainment.:
"In our desire to make summer an exciting place at NBC along with our signature unscripted shows like ‘America's Got Talent,’ ‘The Voice’ and ‘American Ninja Warrior,’ we developed a scripted dramedy we love with BermanBraun that has rich and dysfunctional characters in that great setting where millions of families and young people go each summer: camp. Most of us have had great experiences at camp, and this show -- created by two of our favorite producers, Liz Heldens (creator of ‘Deception’) and Peter Elkoff (co-executive producer of ‘Deception’) -- is sophisticated, funny, and emotional, and we think it will be the ideal summer series for us."
There's no word on casting for the show just yet, but that information is likely to start trickling in during the coming months, especially if NBC has this one on track for a Summer 2013 debut. As for the mentions of Dazed and Confused and Meatballs, the only thing I'm wondering if that's a reference to the tone or the setting. Meatballs took place at a camp, which would explain the reference there, but Dazed and Confused was about a last-day-of-school beer bash in 1976. The only thing the 1993 independent film really has in common with Meatballs are the 70s setting and the focus on mischievous teens. But NBC doesn't mention that this is a period piece, so perhaps they're talking about the tone in general (kids getting up to drama hijinx in the absence of parental supervision).
Either way, summer seems like the perfect time for a show like this. And after liking the first few episodes of Deception, I'd definitely like to see what else Heldens will bring to the small screen.
