Common Sense Media Review
By Stephanie Morgan
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Campy 1990s comedy full of insults, pranks, fart jokes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
What's the Story?
SALUTE YOUR SHORTS is a comedic sitcom for kids set at sleepaway camp, Camp Anawana, where a group of young teens spend their summer. Bobby Budnick and his sidekick, Donkey Lips, are the resident bullies (though they're more laughable than scary) and camp counselor Ug is the butt of many jokes.
Is It Any Good?
With lots of physical comedy gags, 90's references, and the standard cheesy music and touching lessons in sitcoms of the time, kids will find this throwback comedy funny in both good and bad ways. Salute Your Shorts was always meant to provide irreverent, yet harmless, laughs to young viewers, and it mostly still succeeds. Camp counselor Ug being the victim of countless jokes and pranks will certainly still entertain today's middle grade audience. It's the reliance on put downs for humor, as well as some stereotypes, that can be problematic. Although there's a female athletic character that everyone likes, for example, there's also a girl who only cares about makeup and shopping. The camp itself is also guilty of cultural appropriation. For these reasons, this isn't the show to turn your kids loose with all on their own. But you may enjoy watching it together while pointing out the things that wouldn't fly on TV today. Your kids will almost definitely enjoy the boomboxes and mullets regardless.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the use of stereotypes in Salute Your Shorts. Discuss how the characters only seem to have one interest. Is this how people are in real life? Ask your children to think about all of the different types of interest that combine to make them the people they are.
A lot of the humor in Salute Your Shorts involves insults, and sometimes threats. Would this be OK in real life? Talk with your kids about what to do if they encounter or witness bullying.
Many of the episodes in this show end with the characters learning a lesson. Ask you kids to think about how meaningful the message is if it's always left for the last few minutes of the show. Ask what they think younger viewers take away from a show that has bad behavior for the first 90% of the episode and good behavior for the last 10%.
TV Details
- Premiere date : October 18, 2022
- Cast : Danny Cooksey
- Network : Discovery+
- Genre : Comedy
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 25, 2022
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