Camp (Home Movies Episode)

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John and John as Mike (left) and Miguel (right) in "Camp"

"Camp" is the second episode of the fourth season of Home Movies, an animated sitcom that ran for four seasons from 1999 to 2004. The episode first aired on January 11, 2004 on Adult Swim.

The episode guest stars John Flansburgh and John Linnell as Camp Campingston Falls camp counselors Mike and Miguel, as well as two "Crywalker" cult members. For an October 2024 TMBG newsletter, as well as for members of the 2024 Instant Fan Club, Flansburgh would recall the story behind their appearance and the recording of the songs that appeared in the episode:

After a chance meeting with comic genius H. Jon Benjamin at a friend's show at a downtown nightclub, I expressed what a fan I was of the show, and he was gracious enough to invite us on to participate in an episode. A few weeks later, John L. and I drove up to Boston (not too far from where we went to high school). Of course, the process of putting the show together was an improv situation both with dialogue and music, with some small bit of guidelines to get us started. What I don’t think I anticipated was how much of it was simply blurting out an idea spontaneously, then scribbling down the best bits, somebody jumping in to suggest an amplifying bit, and then hitting it again 45 seconds later and doing it again for the final version. (To be candid, I felt more than a little bit of imposter syndrome, hoping that we were being funny enough and just doing enough in front of all these amazing improv comedy folk, all the while wondering if it was working at all.)

The show’s creator Brendon Small, who is a bonafide Berklee College of Music-trained guitar shredder was the one actually playing the guitar, and later on explained he was just copping some [David] Bowie song (Changes?), which explains its kind of epic feel. Some of this audio here was folded into the final, and other parts are the initial takes. Of course, their editing process formed it into a story that moved along, but in the moment this all felt quite mysterious and unknowable to us.

The songs were recorded in 2003, with "Camp Campingston URGR8", "Clean Bean", "I'm Just A Note" "Rabbit Troop Sucks" and "Taste The Fame" being edited down and rearranged for the episode. A studio recording of "Taste The Fame" that played during the episode's credits would be released on the Venue Songs CD in 2005, while the unedited episode recordings would be released publicly by the band on Podcast 22A and as a limited edition free download on the TMBG Shop in 2024. "Welcome 2 Hell" is the only song from "Camp" that has not been rereleased by They Might Be Giants, but the song was the only TMBG-related song to appear on the 52-track bonus CD that accompanied the DVD set of Home Movies Season 4.