Episode 172: Lauren Herstik Interview (American Vandal, Pearson)

In this after-show episode of Dead Pilot Society, we're joined by writer Lauren Herstik, who brought us Camp Friends — a pilot that's had more lives (and deaths) than most scripts could dream of. This one has everything: clown camp trauma, projectile vomit over a salad bar, surrealist puberty freakouts, and a long, winding journey through the chaotic world of TV development.

Lauren sits down with host Andrew Reich to talk about the evolution of her coming-of-age summer camp comedy, from its original, raunchy YA vision at HBO Max, to a beachy reinvention, to its current cryogenic stasis somewhere in the Disney orbit. Along the way, we hear how shifting mandates, network rebrands, and executive shakeups nearly killed the project multiple times — and how Lauren refused to let it go quietly.