First off I did genuinely laugh at least once while watching the pilot, which is more than I can say for the reboot of Murphy Brown or The Conners. Because of that I will give it a chance despite being neither a Lena Dunham or Jennifer Garner fan. Have to say, Garner nails the uptight, control freak role.
134 Reviews
Hopefully it gets better....
chrislowe-2744515 October 2018
Becoming aware of the show, just hours before its premiere. I was excited, the trailer seemed funny, highlighted by a talented cast.
As a David Tennant fan boy, I couldn't wait!
But 11 minutes into the premiere, I debated turning it off. Gut feeling, it won't get much better and probably isn't worth your time. I hope I'm wrong, has potential.
Watch the original, don't let this disaster put you off Camping
quicksmartmcoy19 October 2018
You know what's wrong with Camping and so many other American remakes of British comedies, the Americans struggle with losers.
they can't have their protagonists be losers, you might argue, but what about Leonard and Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory, they're losers, or Earl from My Name Is Earl or any shlub or 'loser' from any American series, you might be saying to yourself, but American comedy is made up of loser protagonists, but you would be wrong, Leonard and Sheldon get all the funny lines, they get the girl/s they (within their own world) are popular and by and large happy, they are not losers, nor is Earl nor Uncle Buck, nor any of the shlubs or would be 'losers' from the world of American comedy, few are true losers, the Always Sunny crew come close, but again within their own strange world they still seem to be winners.
How could America create a true remake of Julia Davis's Camping, when their version of the show refuses by and large to show ugly people, refuses to have its characters roll around in the mud, refuses for its characters to be the absolute losers they are in the original, where we had an insane controlling woman who believes her son is turning gay from eating sun dried tomatoes and forces him to wear a bubble helmet, instead we have the beautiful Jennifer Garner, playing a woman who is very controlling, but not a genuinely insane neurotic, just a woman who is a bit much. Her husband is a well-presented David Tennant not Steve Pemberton, looking like a normal middle aged shlub.
They can't even get the subtlety right, and it wasn't the most nuanced show to begin with, Julia Davis's character, the trendy, vivacious Fay, is supposed to contrast with the other women who are camping, who are much less attractive and sexual, her character is supposed to make the other couple on the trip look and feel inadequate, like losers, she is also supposed to be a loser herself, Fay is a stupid middle aged woman who has never heard of the Nazis and can't help but speak and act like a vacuous 20 something clubber, not only are the campers pathetic but they are made to feel inadequate by Fay who in her own way is just as pathetic as the rest of them. In the remake with none of the characters being true losers how could any of them seem or be made to feel inadequate by the character Jandice, she isn't prettier than the rest of them, her life does not seem more glamorous, her character is too arch to be threatening, her character comes across as a drunk soccer mum not the trendy seductress that is Fay's character.
Why remake a comedy if you cannot neither understand nor bring yourself to recreate the character dynamics that made it funny in the first place, if you can't bring yourself to create characters who are true losers, then don't try and remake classic British comedies.
they can't have their protagonists be losers, you might argue, but what about Leonard and Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory, they're losers, or Earl from My Name Is Earl or any shlub or 'loser' from any American series, you might be saying to yourself, but American comedy is made up of loser protagonists, but you would be wrong, Leonard and Sheldon get all the funny lines, they get the girl/s they (within their own world) are popular and by and large happy, they are not losers, nor is Earl nor Uncle Buck, nor any of the shlubs or would be 'losers' from the world of American comedy, few are true losers, the Always Sunny crew come close, but again within their own strange world they still seem to be winners.
How could America create a true remake of Julia Davis's Camping, when their version of the show refuses by and large to show ugly people, refuses to have its characters roll around in the mud, refuses for its characters to be the absolute losers they are in the original, where we had an insane controlling woman who believes her son is turning gay from eating sun dried tomatoes and forces him to wear a bubble helmet, instead we have the beautiful Jennifer Garner, playing a woman who is very controlling, but not a genuinely insane neurotic, just a woman who is a bit much. Her husband is a well-presented David Tennant not Steve Pemberton, looking like a normal middle aged shlub.
They can't even get the subtlety right, and it wasn't the most nuanced show to begin with, Julia Davis's character, the trendy, vivacious Fay, is supposed to contrast with the other women who are camping, who are much less attractive and sexual, her character is supposed to make the other couple on the trip look and feel inadequate, like losers, she is also supposed to be a loser herself, Fay is a stupid middle aged woman who has never heard of the Nazis and can't help but speak and act like a vacuous 20 something clubber, not only are the campers pathetic but they are made to feel inadequate by Fay who in her own way is just as pathetic as the rest of them. In the remake with none of the characters being true losers how could any of them seem or be made to feel inadequate by the character Jandice, she isn't prettier than the rest of them, her life does not seem more glamorous, her character is too arch to be threatening, her character comes across as a drunk soccer mum not the trendy seductress that is Fay's character.
Why remake a comedy if you cannot neither understand nor bring yourself to recreate the character dynamics that made it funny in the first place, if you can't bring yourself to create characters who are true losers, then don't try and remake classic British comedies.
Episode 2 not needed
ribeiroworld16 October 2018
Not THAT bad.
tylinti16 October 2018
I haven't seen the original, but camping is always a little weird and yucky, and this one shows camping at all of it's uncomfortableness. It might be overacted in face expressions and some jokes are mildly funny, but overall it's quite enjoyable dramedy.
Boooorrrring
kmckaig-432-51321115 October 2018
Takes 2 or 3 Episodes to gel.
mdc22751 November 2018
The second half of the second episode and I'm all in on this show. People writing all these reviews don't seem like the target demo, and at the same time, this show is not what it seems at first. Surface level biased negativity might make you miss something entertaining.
I'll keep watching it, because there is more to it that what a surface level negative bias will tell you.
And Brett Gelman is better than I thought he would be in this based on just the pilot.
I'll keep watching it, because there is more to it that what a surface level negative bias will tell you.
And Brett Gelman is better than I thought he would be in this based on just the pilot.
Really stupid
iraforever13603 December 2018
Yes, i watched the whole series. Twice in fact just to make sure my initial thoughts were overly harsh. Jennifer garner infects this story with annoyamce that it becomes unwatchable. I had hoped the story or other characters might come in and save the day but the shallow back stories and lack of story development will leave you very disappointed. I would not even recommend this as a joke.
So glad I didn't read the reviews
loveleahnotwar23 October 2018
give it a chance
jsngallery18 November 2018
I like bridget everett so i gave camping a shot. the first episode is bad, but i kept going and it gets a lot better. juliette lewis shines here. she does this thing where she laughs in situations and it's hilarious
i'd say, if u like arrested development u'd like this.
Not funny... or entertaining
rawsiii20 October 2018
I know... It's only one episode. But it was terrible. Whoever thought that the character they wrote for Jennifer Gardner is funny needs to be banned from writing in Hollywood. Not only did I not even come close to laughing once, I didn't even smile once. If I get the urge to torture myself, maybe I'll watch Episode 2. Very disappointing.
Butchered American Version
johnsutcliffe-1311429 October 2018
The English original written by the brilliant Julia Davis is superb. The camping site owner Noel stealing the show as the camping trip spirals out of control. This American version ditches the Noel character completely. This adaption is so badly written and butchered and is very sad to watch. Go watch the original and leave this trash version alone.
Terrible
tomkemp15 October 2018
Like a car crash. I like all of the actors but wanted to walk away from this. Morbid curiosity and not wanting to get up from the couch was the only reason I watched the full episode. It felt like they took acting cues from Disney tv. Every person in this show is better that what I just witnessed.
Horrible
markprybyla25 October 2018
Just watched the pilot.
elmoslively15 October 2018
Jennifer Garner in a rare comedic role heads up an eclectic cast in this slightly weird HBO comic series. It was fairly funny, but time will tell how it all plays out.
I ended up watching the entire series and I found it amusing.
I ended up watching the entire series and I found it amusing.
Unwatchable
chisuntimes45112 November 2018
This show is not funny, uninteresting, and the characters are caricatures that are not reliable in any way. The entire premise falls apart because I can't suspend disbelief enough to accept that anyone would voluntarily spend a weekend with the lead character. Lena Dunham must have the kids of some HBO bigwig locked in a dungeon and these horrible shows are her ransom. I can think of no other reason why she's writing for a premium cable channel instead of serving lattes at coffee shop in Brooklyn.
The negative reviews were so predictable...
DIRECTino5 November 2018
I have been fowowing the reviews of remakes for over ten years now. There is never a case the remake gets a better ratings. Every time the viewers of the first project are disapointed with the second. Ratings under 5/10 are normal and the sad truth is sometimes the new shows/movies are actualy better.
I actualy enjoyed the first four episodes and desided to watch the original. Imagin if I like the US version the original should blow my mind. Well the UK version is OK but I still prefer the US one. It is the same with the Office for example. I watched the US version first and even though I liked the UK version too I still prefer Michael Scott...
So the reviews from viewers of the first show are just not fair...
I actualy enjoyed the first four episodes and desided to watch the original. Imagin if I like the US version the original should blow my mind. Well the UK version is OK but I still prefer the US one. It is the same with the Office for example. I watched the US version first and even though I liked the UK version too I still prefer Michael Scott...
So the reviews from viewers of the first show are just not fair...
Glamping
hyperblue117 October 2018
Complete waste of time. Garner overacts worse than one of her Capital One commercials. The premise is stilted and the characters one-dimensional. This moronic excuse for a show did not pass the 15 minute smell test. Don't waste your time.
Hilarious!
myrnalanders-7160629 October 2018
HBO Clunky
chiltonsjillfreeport14 February 2020
Did HBO sell this primarily based on the perceived strength of the creative team and some of the signed stars?
Given the results, that's my guess.
I'm not a fan of Lena Dunham, or Girls. Imo, she has a tendency to write unlikable narcissists and her humor often falls flat.
The draw for me was the rare-ish chance to see David Tennant in a comedy series.
Luckily, his was one of two adult characters in the series-along with Bridget Everett as Harry the proprietor-who was three dimensional. Poignant, wry, interesting; their scenes together were some of the best in Camping.
Juliette Lewis as Jandice did a good job with what she had to work with, but that was the problem. Too much lousy writing and caricature over character. The fact that the other campers largely gushed over Jandice's circular cliches just proved what a vapid bunch we had.
Maybe a more nuanced actor with physical comedy skills and timing could've mined some gems with Jennifer Garner's Kathryn (as Tennant and Everett did) but her overacting and surgically pinched face didn't help.
The Carleen episode and birthday party alone (also, the last minute and the other camp's reaction to Kathryn) were pretty priceless.
Given the results, that's my guess.
I'm not a fan of Lena Dunham, or Girls. Imo, she has a tendency to write unlikable narcissists and her humor often falls flat.
The draw for me was the rare-ish chance to see David Tennant in a comedy series.
Luckily, his was one of two adult characters in the series-along with Bridget Everett as Harry the proprietor-who was three dimensional. Poignant, wry, interesting; their scenes together were some of the best in Camping.
Juliette Lewis as Jandice did a good job with what she had to work with, but that was the problem. Too much lousy writing and caricature over character. The fact that the other campers largely gushed over Jandice's circular cliches just proved what a vapid bunch we had.
Maybe a more nuanced actor with physical comedy skills and timing could've mined some gems with Jennifer Garner's Kathryn (as Tennant and Everett did) but her overacting and surgically pinched face didn't help.
The Carleen episode and birthday party alone (also, the last minute and the other camp's reaction to Kathryn) were pretty priceless.
I wish I could give it negative stars!
tlkeefe24 October 2018
Watch the original UK Version
michelle26037713 February 2019
I watched and enjoyed the original UK version written by the very talented Julia Davis. This US version doesn't quite hit the mark I am not sure the british humour translated well to this, even with the well known cast. Do yourself a favour and watch the UK version.
Annoying is NOT funny!!!
knightcrawler-128 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Doesn't come close to the wit and charm of the Original. Hollywood always butchers British humor and they just make annoying really really ANNOYING.
I like Jennifer Garner and David Tennant, they could have been great together but the script and premise just don't work. The rest of the cast is politically correct diversity check-boxes. Also the entire series is loaded with drinking and drugs...I thought that had gone out of style?
To HBO & Hollywood, try to be Funny and stop being so ANNOYING.
To HBO & Hollywood, try to be Funny and stop being so ANNOYING.
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