This episode is completely different than the 1990 pilot. In the 1990 pilot Donkeylips is the bully while Budnick is his henchmen. When Nickelodeon decided to pick up the series Steve Slavkin made several rewrites. When filming for "Michael Comes to Camp" Danny Cooksey (Budnick) had hit a growth spurt and Slavkin was impressed with Cooksey's charisma so Budnick was changed to the camp bully and schemer. Donkeylips also changes as the series progressed. In the first few episodes he's a bully and henchmen of Budnick. His character later became a more comedic dimwitted and friendly character that he became well known for. Also Ug's character is totally different from the 1990 pilot. In the 1990 pilot Ug is a strict disciplinarian and very monotone and boring. When the series was picked up, Slavkin changed the Ug character to more of a buffoon who was clueless and often on the receiving end of a prank or physical slapstick. Kirk Baily (Ug) says the 1990 pilot version of Ug was too boring and says fans of the series would not like the 1990 pilot at all.