"Michael Goes to Camp" is the series premiere of Salute Your Shorts.
Synopsis
Dina is directing Z.Z. in the hanging of the camp banner across the entrance. Upon arrival Michael is directed to the lodge by Sponge, who advises that he made a major mistake coming to Camp Anawana. Bobby Budnick introduces himself as the official camp greeter then shoves him over the bent over Donkeylips. Then, Donkeylips pins down Michael and Bobby steals Michael's boxer shorts from his bag and runs them up the flagpole. Sponge gives Michael the advice, "Salute your shorts." We learn that Sponge was given his nickname because he soaks up information like a sponge, and that Ug was given his nickname because his last name is Lee. It is unclear how Donkeylips was given his nickname. Budnick and Donkeylips harass the new kid, Michael, who gets in a fight with Budnick at a baseball game that earns him respect and popularity that convince Budnick and Donkeylips to force Michael and Sponge into a secret society.
Their first assignment is to steal something from the girls' cabin, getting Z.Z.'s diary, Dina's makeup, and Telly's glasses. The girls get informed of the planned raid from a rumor chain, and set up the cabin with an elaborate set of booby traps. Michael and Sponge break into the girls cabin and they make off with all of the items, (though Michael attempts to first steal Telly's baseball glove, and sets off an old Polaroid camera, which gets Ug's attention as he's outside at that moment on night watch). Michael and Sponge are almost done with the raid, when Ug opens the cabin door and sets off the traps which activate when a string that drops a dollar bill attached to a fishing line. Ug pulls off and pockets the dollar bill activating the traps which go off to the "Galop" (a.k.a. The Can-can from Jacques Offenbach's "Orpheus Orpheus in the Underworld"), which include eggs being launched by mouse traps, chili, shaving cream, sour milk, sour cream, feathers, trip wire with cans attached on it that are strung from cot to cot and set off more various traps, climaxing with a 250 lbs. duffel bag that acts like a battering ram and sending him flying out the girl's cabin door. In the ensuing chaos, Michael and Sponge make it out of the girl's cabin with Michael exclaiming "C'mon, let's go!!!". Michael drops Telly's glasses on the way back to the cabin and accidentally steps on them during the search for them, when they all go looking for them after Budnick and the other boys look through the items they recovered from the night raid at the girl's cabin.
The next morning, the girls confront the boys about their missing stuff. Budnick recovers the missing items and tries to pin the theft on a random kid (which is Kent Flankman (Henry W. Laster)), earning the kid an awful waffle. Michael asks Sponge what an awful waffle is and learning about it, he feels guilty for the raid. Despite Sponge warning him not to go through with it, Michael quickly stops the awful waffle procession and admits that it was him that was responsible for the raid, which angers the girls. Telly tells him that she and the girls feel betrayed because they thought Michael was different of the other guys, but he's the same as Budnick and Donkeylips. Michael offers them the items he has brought to camp and apologizes for his actions. Sponge decides to get a little revenge of his own by squirting ketchup on both Budnick and Donkeylips' shirts, making the other campers laugh at the two.
Inside the boys' bunk, Sponge tries to get him to do some activities, but Michael fears that Budnick wants revenge for telling on him decides to hide out in the bunk. Upon lying down he finds his stereo boom box next to him. Telly reveals that she got contacts in place of her glasses and won back his stereo from Budnick. She tells Michael she forgives him because he did the right thing and wants to take him out to play basketball one on one. The episode closes with the girls T.P. the boy's cabin as payback for stealing from their bunk.