Salute Your Shorts 35th Anniversary Cast Reunion

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The shorts are on the pole. The bunks are decorated and ready. The pies are set and it's time for Camp Anawanna! This childhood staple of kids who grew up with Nickelodeon in the early 90s will remember this show, and it's legendary theme song, fondly. Now turning 35 we have some of the cast members joining us in the studio to share memories and stories. Joining us are Venus DeMilo Thomas (Telly Radford), Michael Ray Bower (Eddie 'Donkeylips' Gelfen), Heidi Lukacsik (Dina Alexander), Danny Cooksey (Robert 'Bobby' Budnick) and Megan Mahdavi (Z.Z. Ziff). Along with friends of the podcast Joe Gilpatrick and Clay Prindle, we travel back to the time of Zeke the Plumber, Sara Madre, and the icon that is Kevin 'Ug' Lee. Join us as we talk the 35th anniversary of Salute Your Shorts.

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:54 Guest Intro
• 3:19 Special Guest Intro
• 4:22 Auditions
• 7:32 Filming the Pilot
• 9:11 Joe's Experience
• 10:44 Knowledge of Success
• 11:39 The Dreaded Theme Song
• 12:37 Heidi's Audition
• 13:48 Character Influences
• 15:13 Clay's Experience
• 16:50 What Did the Character's Name Mean?
• 18:24 Did You Save Props From the Show?
• 22:25 Heather's Experience
• 25:19 Memories of Kirk Bailey
• 30:38 What Is An Awful Waffle?
• 32:01 Cat's Experience
• 33:53 Filming on Location
• 35:57 Camp Activities
• 38:21 What Would Your Characters Be Doing Now?
• 39:53 Favorite Episodes
• 43:25 What Stories Would Have Liked To Do?
• 47:13 Correcting Wiki
• 47:56 Commercial Break
• 50:52 Hidden Secrets
• 53:54 Maintain Integrity
• 55:22 Gameshow Participation
• 57:01 Fan Experiences
• 1:01:42 Dressing Room Shenanigans
• 1:02:35 A Head Slappin' Start
• 1:03:36 Changes for the Potential Third Season
• 1:04:59 What Makes the Show Last?
• 1:15:09 Segment: This or That
• 1:23:31 Closing Question and Ending

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Salute Your Shorts actress Megan Mahdavi praises showrunners for keeping the series 'wholesome' and 'rosy' for young actors

Story by Angela Andaloro

The cast noted their Nickelodeon experience was different than that of shows that aired in the 2000s on the network.

NEED TO KNOW

• Salute Your Shorts aired on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1992, but was syndicated on the network for a decade
• The camp-based series was beloved by viewers and the young cast, who praised the safe work environment that many take for granted
• Venus DeMilo Thomas, Megan Mahdavi, Michael Ray Bower, Heidi Lukacsik and Danny Cooksey participated in a virtual reunion on the Splat Attack podcast as the show celebrates its 35th anniversary
• Megan Mahdavi has the fondest memories of her time on Salute Your Shorts.

The former actress appeared alongside castmates Venus DeMilo Thomas, Michael Ray Bower, Heidi Lukacsik, and Danny Cooksey in a virtual reunion on the Splat Attack podcast as the show celebrates its 35th anniversary.

Acknowledging that child actors don’t always have a positive experience on the sets of their projects, Mahdavi praised the crew behind Salute Your Shorts for providing an appropriate and positive environment for the show’s young talent.

“We had such a love affair with our crew. We had a young, cool crew and they took care,” she began.

“We had an amazing, amazing crew. Like these scandals coming out now that I read, I feel like, ‘Wow, we were the luckiest cast in the world because not only were our writers these wholesome guys who, their thought was like ‘Food is funny,’ “ Mahdavi acknowledged.

“I mean, they never did things to embarrass us or... I just feel like how lucky. If you’re going to be a child actor, how lucky to be a child actor with the nicest crew on earth,” she continued.

The star later added, “For me, it was just a really rosy experience. I think they took care of us as kids. So, my memories of Salute Your Shorts are like, the best time of my life. I mean, I have kids now so nothing can ever be better than that, but yeah, it was just an awesome experience. It’s the summer camp I always wish I’d gone to.”

Castmate Danny Cooksey noted that the show had a “unique position” since they weren’t “in the Nickelodeon sort of apparatus.”

“We were kind of this little independent network,” he said. “People would come in and go, ‘Yep, you guys are spending money making a show. Cool. All right. see you guys next month.’ And they would sort of be gone. We were just this little thing. We were in our own bubble, which was really nice.”

Mahdavi also acknowledged that late castmate Kirk Bailey, who played Kevin ‘Ug’ Lee, was among those who “really took care of us”, using night shoots as an example.

“One of the cameramen was telling us that there was a prison on the other side of the hill, where they had some escapees, just to amp things up. And Kirk just made everything okay. He always made sure. That was who he was,” she shared.