Camp Candy

The show is set in a fictional summer camp run by John Candy.^[2] Twenty-six episodes of the series aired during the 1989 and 1990 television seasons on the NBC television network.^[3] Almost all episodes would begin where John Candy would be trying to show an outdoor skill to some kids, to which he would then be reminded of a story, where he would tell of the episode in narration. John was a dedicated and responsible leader of Camp Candy, a summer camp that was presumably built by him years ago, and he frequently tries to get various kids to get along. Some episodes focused on John, namely having to stave off the bankruptcy or ruination of his camp due to the plots of Rex DeForest III.

In the third season, Candy also appeared in live action segments, talking about nature and ecology. Several characters originating from SCTV that were performed by Candy or otherwise also made guest appearances that season.^[4]

• John Candy (voiced by himself) - The fictional version of the actor who is the proprietor of Camp Candy who runs it with comical results. A very friendly, soft-hearted, funny, comedic, easygoing yet clumsy everyman, John is almost always in some form of self-inflicted trouble, usually when helping out Nurse Molly or the child campers with problems of their own. He is, however, very smart and responsible, and has a witty sense of humor, ending almost every pun or remark he makes with his trademark giggle. In nearly every episode, he encounters a problem that may cause Camp Candy to be shut down, but he always somehow manages to end the day victorious. John is rotund yet handsome with shaggy blonde hair, and typically wears an army green shirt with pockets in the front over a white T-shirt, a whistle around his neck, army green shorts, and brown boots. However, he has been seen in a variety of outfits.
• Nurse Molly McDermott (voiced by Valri Bromfield) - The sweet, motherly yet somewhat naive and absent-minded camp nurse at Camp Candy. She has an intense crush on John, flirting with him and tending to his frequent injuries. John has often shown signs of having the same feelings towards Molly as well, taking her frequent attempts to impress him seriously and being very gentle with her whenever she is upset. A running gag in a few episodes involves Molly's bad cooking skills; whatever food she makes is either inedible or burnt. Molly is slender with hip-length blonde hair, has a small beak-like nose, and almost always wears a white nurse's uniform even when not tending to her nursing duties.
• Robin (voiced by Danielle Fernandes in season 1, Cree Summer in season 2, Candi Milo in season 3) - A nature lover who is known for her sweet, shy and sensitive personality. She is very good at understanding and communicating with animals and loves being out in the wilderness, taking in all the nature around her. She hates to see any environment in danger or any animal hurt and wants to help everyone anyway she can. She is an African-American with her black hair tied in twin buns and wears a t-shirt with the letter C, shorts, white socks and gray sneakers.
• Alexandra "Alex" Dawson (voiced by Chiara Zanni in season 1-2, E.G. Daily in season 3) - A tomboy who has a huge enjoyment of camping and sports. She is described as brash, outgoing and extremely courageous, never letting anything scare her. She also likes to take up the role as leader. However, Alex's leader senses can make her way too bossy. Physical activity is her favorite hobby and always loves to participate in races, sports and always desires to have lots of exercise in her life. She has red hair that is tied in two pigtails and wears a t-shirt with the letter C on it, shorts and brown boots.
• Vanessa (voiced by Willow Johnson in season 1-2, Gail Matthius in season 3) - An extremely girly fashionista who comes from a rich family. She is very new to camping as she had been used to a wealthy, spoiled environment. Vanessa can care more about her appearance and can come across as selfish but, in reality, is still a supportive and charismatic person. Fashion is her specialty and, like Molly, she never goes anywhere without any beauty essentials. She has long brown hair (in the comics her hair is auburn), with a portion of it held up in a whale spout ponytail and wears a t-shirt with the letter C on it, shorts, pink socks and lavender sneakers.
• Richard "Rick" (voiced by Andrew Seebaran in season 1-2, E.G. Daily in season 3) - A prankster who comes from a family line of comedy. Like John, Rick is notable for his easygoing attitude as well as his comical nature. He loves to pull pranks on the campers and John just as much as he loves to act cool. However, Rick can get to the point of irritating and can even be very reckless at times. He has blonde hair as well as green and pink shorts.
• Bartholomew "Binky" (voiced by Tony Ail in season 1-2, E.G. Daily in season 3) - The youngest of the campers and Iggy's younger brother. Binky is described as a daredevil and loves to seek out an adventure. He's very energetic, optimistic and very curious, always wanting to know more about the world without him. However, being the youngest he can get very careless about his safety, as well as coming across as a bit naive, dragging the ever-reluctant Iggy along with him. He has short ash brown hair that is covered by a blue cap turning the other way.
• Iggy (voiced by Tom Davidson in season 1-2, Katie Leigh in season 3) - A timid, high-strung, clumsy, and accident-prone boy who fears practically everything and was the most hesitant about attending Camp Candy, that is, until John showed him what fun summer camp can be. Despite having such an reluctant attitude, Iggy is known for being the smartest camper due to his intense knowledge of the wild even moreso than John. He is Binky's older brother and has short ash brown hair with glasses.
• Botch (voiced by Brian George) - The camp chef who debuts in the second season. He was an immigrant whose native country was never specified, but he spoke with an Eastern European accent. When not tending to his duties in the camp's kitchen, Botch was seen practicing his shots at basketball.
• Milo Gould (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) - Camp Candy's counselor-in-training who is tends to be a self-serving brown-noser which admittedly annoys him quite a bit, yet in typical John Candy fashion, he treats Milo very well and lets him in on all the fun and hilarity at Camp Candy.
• Rex DeForest III (voiced by Lewis Arquette) - The primary antagonist of the series. DeForest is a very self-centered and greedy businessman and entrepreneur who openly hates John as he had built his Camp Candy on his property per an agreement they had made years ago, feeling duped and betrayed by him. His plans often involved getting Camp Candy shut down or constructing nearby it. These would always never work due to various reasons (or by John and the campers' interference) and Camp Candy would continue to stay open.
  • Chester (voiced by Danny Mann) - DeForest's henchman. He was a dimwitted greaser who always followed Rex's orders. One episode had him revert to his childhood after falling into a "fountain of youth" which Rex takes advantage of to use Chester as a kid to join Camp Candy in order to cause trouble. However, he has a change of attitude and starts to think for himself once John and the Camp Candy kids accepted him.
• Allan "Al" Nayles (voiced by Jess Harnell) - The head counselor of another summer camp called Camp Kickboot which is at the other side of the lake. His personality is nearly the opposite of John's; he is self-centered, brash, snide, bossy, demanding, short-tempered, and very hot-headed. Al can, however, be whiny and cowardly when faced with real danger, and John uses his own skills to save him.

Harry Nilsson wrote the series' theme song, which he sang with Candy. In both versions, the closing credits featured songs about Camp Candy that were sung to the tune of various folk songs such as "Bingo" (spoofed as "Candy"), "I've Been Working On The Railroad" (parodied as "I've Been Camping at Camp Candy"), "Comin' Around the Mountain," "Over the River and Through The Woods" (parodied as "Over The Field and Through The Woods"), "Yankee Doodle Boy" (parodied as "Big John Candy"), "The Bear Went Over The Mountain" (parodied as "A Jolly Good Camp"), "Tiny Tim, the Turtle" (parodied as "We Have a Camp Called Candy"), "Row Row Row Your Boat" (parodied as "Camp Candy Is A Scream"), "Reuben and Rachel" (parodied as "Robin and Iggy"), "On Top of Old Smokey" (parodied as "On Top Of Mount Frostback") and "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" (parodied as "Circus Parade").

The animated series spawned a brief comic book series based on the show; also entitled Camp Candy, it was published by Marvel Comics' Star Comics imprint.

• Camp Candy at IMDb
• The Big cartoon Database's list of Camp Candy episodes