First Day of Camp is a prequel to David Wain's 2001 cult film Wet Hot American Summer, developed after years of speculation and reports about a possible sequel or follow-up to the original movie.

Although the film's original cast had since become much more famous, all of the then-adult actors returned to play even younger versions of their original characters in the prequel series.

Shooting on the eight-episode miniseries began in January 2015, with much of the production filmed in Los Angeles.

Scheduling around the cast's busy availability was difficult given how many actors had risen to stardom since the original 2001 film; some sources claimed Bradley Cooper had to shoot all of his scenes as Ben in a single day, though co-writer and star Michael Showalter has denied this claim.

Alongside the series, Netflix released a making-of documentary called Hurricane of Fun: The Making of Wet Hot on July 24, 2015, featuring behind-the-scenes interviews and footage from the original film's production.

The series received positive reviews, scoring 92% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 53 reviews and 74/100 on Metacritic based on 23 critics.

John Slattery received a nomination for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series at the 6th Critics' Choice Television Awards for his role in the series.

The success of First Day of Camp led Netflix to order a follow-up series, Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, announced on April 27, 2016 and released on August 4, 2017.