Camp out for 7 hours with Nickelodeon’s ‘Salute Your Shorts’

“Dear Mom and Dad,

Camp Anawanna is a lot of fun. I’ve got lots of new friends who are all totally different , really cool types. We all get together to bug our counselor, this guy named Ug.

Love,

Me

P.S. Camp is great!”

OK. So summer camp may not always be great, but Nickelodeon’s popular Ace-nominated series, Salute Your Shorts, proves it’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Inspired by the book of the same name by Tom Hill and Steve Slavkin, “Salute” offers an offbeat, camper’s-eye view of the rituals of summer camp and the experiences of being away from home for the first time.

The ensemble cast includes Kirk Baily as Ug, Megan Berwick as ZZ, Danny Cooksey as Bobby Budnick and Venus DiMilo as Telly.

This Friday, Nick celebrates the second season of “Salute Your Shorts,” which is the second highest-rated cable TV series among kids 6-11, with a seven-hour marathon featuring all 13 episodes from last season plus the premiere of this season’s first installment.

“Salute Your Shorts Special” Friday 1-8 p.m. Nickelodeon. Show airs regularly Saturday 6-6:30 p.m. and Sunday 11:30 a.m.-noon. For ages 6-14.

MORE KIDS SHOWS

The Disney Channel celebrates Father’s Day on Sunday with the father of all marathons--eight different shows that pay tribute to dear old Dad. Among the highlights: Goofy’s Salute to Father (9-10 a.m.); Two Daddies? (11 a.m.-noon), an animated tale about a little girl coming to terms with the new man in her mother’s life; the comedy Still Not Quite Human (noon-1:30 p.m.), starring Alan Thicke and Jay Underwood; the original 1950 version of Father of the Bride (2:30-4:05 p.m.), starring Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor; The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (4:05-6 p.m.), a heartwarming comedy starring Ron Howard, Glenn Ford and Shirley Jones; an episode of Avonlea (6-7 p.m.), and Danny, Champion of the World (7-9 p.m.), starring Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons, his young son, Sam, and father-in-law, Cyril Cusack.

For ages 5 and up, and, of course, all fathers.

KCET repeats the acclaimed Anne of Green Gables--The Sequel (Sunday 11 a.m.-4 p.m.), based on Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novel, which follows the further adventures of the determined orphan Anne Shirley (Megan Follows), as she becomes a teacher at an exclusive girls’ school and falls in love. The late Colleen Dewhurst also stars. For ages 8 to 16 .

The Disney Channel salutes the amazing career of four-time Oscar-winning actress and best-selling writer, with the Katharine Hepburn Festival (Monday-Saturday 9-11 p.m.), featuring several of her best films. Hepburn, Ginger Rogers and Lucille Ball headline the 1937 comedy “Stage Door” (Monday); Hepburn, Frances Dee and Jean Parker star in George Cukor’s acclaimed 1933 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s book “Little Women” (Tuesday); Hepburn and frequent co-star Spencer Tracy star in the rollicking 1949 comedy “Adam’s Rib” (Wednesday); Hepburn and Tracy teamed up the first time in 1942’s Oscar-winner “Woman of the Year” (Thursday); Hepburn, Cary Grant and Oscar-winner James Stewart star in the 1940 sophisticated delight “The Philadelphia Story” (Friday), and Hepburn stars in the 1979 TV drama “The Corn Is Green” (Saturday), based on Emlyn Williams’ play. For ages 9 and up.

In the animated Uncle Sam Magoo (Tuesday 8-9 p.m. the Disney Channel), the history of America is seen through the nearsighted eyes of Mr. Magoo. The affable animated character--the late Jim Backus provides the voice for Magoo--visits Francis Scott Key, is a guest at the first Thanksgiving, marches with Davy Crockett, charges up San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt, witnesses gold discovered in California and talks to Mark Twain and Johnny Appleseed. For all ages.

Emmy-winning illusionist David Copperfield causes a 750-pound motorcycle to vanish, walks through a solid, plate-glass mirror and is chained to a raft and dropped into the treacherous rapids above Niagara Falls in a repeat of the 1990 special The Magic of David Copperfield, XII: The Niagara Falls Challenge (Wednesday 8-9 p.m. CBS). For ages 9 and up and parents.