Disney introduced its child-friendly version of a reality show titled “Bug Juice” back in February of 1998. This docuseries would take us through the lives of teenagers staying at a summer camp and would show them working together to complete various fun activities and quests.
Though it ended up having only three seasons from 1998 up until 2001, Bug Juice managed to gather a large number of viewers for each of its episodes.
The series was created by Douglas Toss and J. Rupert Thompson, and the first season began with the documentary of Camp Waziyatah, which is a summer camp located in Maine and was formed in 1922.
Since Douglas Ross was a camper back in his days, he came up with the idea of documenting a summer camp and discussed the concept with producers at Disney.
Once Bug Juice was greenlit for production, almost 100 calls were made for selecting the campers. All women or all men filming crews were set up behind the scenes to film each of the selected campers and counselors during their stay at the camp. Donald Bull and Laura Zucco were the directors working behind the scenes to ensure the show was exciting and fun for its target audience, which was 9 to 12-year-olds of those times.
What Happened To Bug Juice?
After its premiere in 1998, the show was aired on Disney Channel in the US as well as on Channel 4 in the UK. Despite its success, the show was only able to have three seasons, each featuring the camps Camp Waziyatah, Camp Highlander in North Carolina, and Brush Ranch Camp from New Mexico. Reruns were seen on the platform until 2004 and eventually were taken off from the scheduled airings.
It was not until August of 2017 that Disney came forward with an exciting announcement that revealed it was gearing up to revive the docuseries once again after all those years. Titled “Bug Juice: My Adventures At Camp,” the show finally aired on Disney in July 2018.
Douglass Ross of the first series, along with Alex Baskin, Toni Gallagher, and Tina Gazzero, were now the producers of the new installment. The premiere ended up attracting almost half a million viewers, and the season ended with 16 episodes. No new seasons have been released since, and, likely, Big Juice won’t be having any new episodes for a while.
As sad as the news of only one season was, Disney even ended up removing all of the old episodes of the show from its platform. Their license or contract with the production company behind Bug Juice has expired. Not only the US but other countries such as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have witnessed the removal.
Bug Juice: Where Is The Cast Now?
Most of the teenagers from the first season of Bug Juice are now adults in their early 40s. Asa Korsen, who was 12 when he first came on the series, is now almost 38 and lives in Maine with his wife and two kids. Stephanie Etkin, who was featured in Hill 4 of session 2, is now a counselor and works in Texas. Everett and Connor are still best friends, and Everett even ends up being the best man at Connor’s wedding.
Almost all of the cast members are now living life to the fullest with their families, and some of them have maintained friendships with Bug Juice. Camp Counsellor Peanut, who was the head of the Boys’ group, has passed away in recent years. Although not much is known of the contestants from other camps of the show, we can hopefully assume that they’re all busy enjoying the life they once envisioned while they were at the camps.
Where To Watch Bug Juice?
Now that Disney+ has taken away all of the episodes, Bug Juice is not available to watch online and can only be accessed if you somehow get ahold of the original DVDs of the show. However, Bug Juice: My Adventures at Camp, which was released in 2018, is available to watch on YouTube TV and Prime Video.
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