Today, game shows have been relegated to the periphery of television, reserved for old and/or Japanese people. But from the late 80’s through the mid-90’s game shows were Nickelodeon’s bread and butter. All of them had their own merits (except for Figure It Out) but two rose above the rest and have obtained a place in the pantheon of 90’s nostalgia: Guts and Legends of the Hidden Temple.
Guts aired from September 1992 to January 1996 and pitted ordinary kids against each other in athletic events. Think American Gladiators but with fewer fake tans and higher necklines. Mike O’Malley hosted and the kinda-hot-but-only-because-of-her-accent Mo “officiated” (blew her whistle to start and end events). Contestants always received a ridiculous nickname, for example: David "Dynamo" Myall, Abi "Abster" Weston, and Wayne "Night Master" Norbury (Night Master?).
While preliminary events varied from episode to episode, the final event was always the same: the Aggro Crag aka “One Radical Rock.” The Aggro Crag was essentially a giant jungle gym that they made look impressive by flashing strobe lights and raining glitter on the contestants as they scaled the Crag.
Each episode's champion probably received a trip to Space Camp as well as a piece of the Radical Rock (a giant glow stick). Numerous great Americans including AJ Mclean of the Backstreet Boys and Bobby Boswell of the MLS’s Houston Dynamo competed for a piece of the Rock (neither won).
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| All disputes should be settled by a climb up the Aggro Crag |
Oh how I dreamt of competing. It never happened, but this did give me the idea to check the Internet for any Guts champions who are selling their piece of the Crag. I couldn't find any but four years ago someone tried to sell their piece for $35,000. I don't know how much he eventually sold his for but if he did get someone to meet his asking price that makes the entire Aggro Crag worth around a billion dollars.
Legends of the Hidden Temple aired from September 1993 to September 1995. Five two-person teams (the blue barracudas, green monkeys, purple parrots, silver snakes, and the red ) competed against each other in a Mayan themed arena. Kirk Fogg cohosted the show along with Olmec, everyone’s favorite disembodied talking stone head. In each episode the teams sought a different legendary artifact. At one point in the series The Walking Stick of Harriet Tubman, Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress, and The Metal Beard of the Egyptian Queen all made their way into a Mayan Temple.
Like Guts, the last event was always the same, the Temple Run. The top team from the previous events would have three minutes to make their way through a series of room, retrieve that episode's artifact, and get out before time ran out. Here is how you shouldn’t do the Temple Run:
Winning teams probably got a trip to Space Camp.
Like Guts, the last event was always the same, the Temple Run. The top team from the previous events would have three minutes to make their way through a series of room, retrieve that episode's artifact, and get out before time ran out. Here is how you shouldn’t do the Temple Run:
Alas, the days of popular game shows for children are long gone. Even Nickelodeon GAS, the channel that played reruns of the shows, went off the air in 2007. This is especially tragic because you could make an awesome drinking game about them.
That announcer definitely sounded much hotter than she looks.
ReplyDeleteHer real name is Moira Quirk and her nickname is Mo, neither of those help her hotness. She is no Summer Sanders, who hosted her own Nick game show, is kinda hot, and has an attractive name.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.point-spreads.com/images/stories/summer-sanders.jpg