NBC Orders 13-Episode 'Camp' Dramedy for Summer

Mara Casey

Liz Heldens

NBC is going to summer Camp.

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The network on Sunday announced that it has greenlit a 13-episode hourlong drama from Deception's Liz Heldens and Peter Elkoff revolving around life at a summer camp.

Set for the summer, Camp is in the vein of cult features Meatballs and Dazed and Confused and is set at Little Hawk Family Camp, where parents decompress with gin while teens make mischief and fall in and out of love. It's described as a wicked slice of lakeside heaven and where mother nature and human nature collide.

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"In our desire to make summer an exciting place at NBC along with our signature unscripted shows like America's Got Talent, The Voice and American Ninja Warrior, we developed a scripted dramedy we love with BermanBraun that has rich and dysfunctional characters in that great setting where millions of families and young people go each summer: camp," NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke said. "Most of us have had great experiences at camp, and this show … is sophisticated, funny and emotional, and we think it will be the ideal summer series for us."    

The order comes the day ahead of the network's launch of midseason entry Deception, which Heldens created and Elkoff co-exec produces. It marks the latest scripted effort to join the broadcast networks' summer slate as cable continues to find success in those slower months while broadcast's unscripted fare has been declining. Despite the addition of Howard Stern, America's Got Talent was down 11 percent year-over-year among the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demo this past summer, while NBC's Stars Earn Stripes also failed to strike a chord with viewers.

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America's Got Talent, despite the addition of Howard Stern, was down 11 percent year-over-year among the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demo, while NBC's Stars Earn Stripes also failed to strike a chord with viewers.

CBS, for its part, has picked up Under the Dome and a new season of the formerly canceled Unforgettable for summer, while NBC still has Hannibal and its Jonathan Rhys Meyers Dracula drama,  among others. Speaking to reporters Sunday morning, NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said Hannibal might be on the schedule before season's end, while Dracula will likely arrive in fall 2014.

"We have a lot of reality, which I'm happy about, but we want to do more scripted," he told reporters Sunday. "At the same time, every cable network is doing more and more scripted. We're certainly not going to have a whole night of scripted television or four or five new shows to launch because I think it would just be too hard to transform ourselves from what we are into that."

Matchbox Pictures (The Slap) and BermanBraum will produce, with Deception's Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein on board to executive produce. Casting will begin shortly with production slated to begin in March for an Australia shoot.

For Heldens, Camp is her latest series at the network, following Deception and last season's short-lived Prime Suspect reboot. Her other credits also include Friday Night Lights, Mercy and Love Bites. She's repped by WME and Hansen Jacobson. Elkoff's résumé includes Gossip Girl, Outlaw, Mercy and Ugly Betty. He's with WME and Don Klein.

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