‘’Salute Your Shorts’ is a comedy series that was aired between 1991 and 1992 on Nickelodeon. The series was based on Steve Slavkin and Thomas Hill’s book ‘Salute Your Shorts: Life at Summer Camp’. Steve Slavkin also created the television series. It starred Kirk Baily, Megan Berwick, Michael Ray Bower, Danny Cooksey, and Venus DeMilo. The series ran for two seasons consisting of 26 episodes. Here are ten more fun facts about ‘Salute Your Shorts’.
1. The Title Comes from a Prank
The title of both the book and the series comes from a common prank that campers would play on each other. They would steal a pair of boxer shorts and then hoist them up on to a flagpole. The other children would then salute the shorts.
2. It Was Filmed in Los Angeles
Camp Anawanna was fictional and the series was filmed in various locations across Los Angeles. At that time, it was unusual for a Nickelodeon series to be filmed on location. One of the most commonly used locations was Griffith Park Boys Camp, which is within Griffith Park. They also used Franklin Canyon Park and this is where the lake from the series was located.
3. Steve Slavkin Voiced Dr. Kahn
Not only was Steve Slavkin the co-writer of the book and the creator of the series, he also provided the voice of Dr. Kahn. This character his heard but never seen. He was introduced into the series purely to fill time.
4. There Were No Hair Or Makeup Artists
On most shows, there are hair and makeup artists who preen the cast members to look a specific way. This was not the case with ‘Salute Your Shorts’. The producers wanted to look as much like normal kids as possible.
5. There Were a Lot of Restrictions
The cast members of the series were predominantly children, so the network had a lot of regulations about what went on during filming. There is one episode where the kids sneak out of camp to get fruit. This was originally meant to be candy but the network banned that storyline because of childhood obesity.
6. Bryan Spicer is the Director
The Director of ‘Salute Your Shorts’ is Bryan Spicer. He was chosen because of his work on ‘Parker Lewis Can’t Lose’. Nickelodeon executives were impressed by his work on that short-lived series and decided he was the best man for the job. The scene he directed that had particularly caught their attention was the scene with a guitar going down a wire from a school.
7. Ed Alton Composed the Theme Song
The composer of the theme song was Ed Alton, and this is not the only tune for which he is famous. Alton also composed music for series including ‘Whitney’, ‘The Single Guy’, ‘Head of the Class’, ‘My Boys’, and ‘Suddenly Susan’. Another interesting fact about the theme song is that a lot of the acting while the theme song played was improvised rather than rehearsed.
8. It Was a Low-Budget Series
Despite being a popular series during the early 1990s, it was shot on an extremely low budget. Each episode would take five days to shoot, but they only had a budget of $180,000 per episode. Considering the length of the shoot and the fact that the series was shot on location, this was very little money.
9. Different Actors Were in the Pilot
If you have ever seen the pilot for ‘Salute Your Shorts’, you might notice that it had a completely different cast from the rest of the series. This is because after the pilot, the show was in development for a year. Children change a lot of a period of a year, so the producers decided to completely re-cast the show for the rest of the series. The one exception to this was Michael Bower who played Eddie ‘Donkeylips’ C. Gelfen. He is the only cast member from the pilot that reappeared for the rest of the series.
10. The Series Was Cancelled Due to Location Issues
The only reason that this series was cancelled was because the Nickelodeon Studios were based in Orlando and they wanted to relocate the series there. The cast members were unwilling to relocate to Florida, so the series was not renewed for a third season.
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