Marc Summers and Double Dare, the anarchic game show that was a favorite with kids in the late 1980s, are taking a sloppy stroll down memory lane in a 30th anniversary special.
Marc Summers, left, is back with Robin, his right-hand woman in the original Double Dare series, and Harvey, the show’s original announcer. Craig Blankenhorn.
Double Dare - a show that combined trivia questions, physical challenges and goopy consequences — was one of the network’s most popular shows and had several incarnations during its run from 1986 up to Double Dare 2000.
“I find it amazing that, 30 years later, I still get stopped on the street by people who say, ‘Oh, my god, it’s Marc Summers!” the show’s former host told the Star-Telegram. “The Double Dare kids of the late ’80s and early ’90s fell in love with the show and have lasting memories about it.”
Slime rains down on two contestants during the original Double Dare. Nickelodeon
The half-hour anniversary show, premiering on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Nick at Nite USA, with a special encore on The Splat at 10 p.m. ET/PT, combines vintage highlights, behind-the-scenes content and messy new games that were filmed earlier this year.
The Star-Telegram chatted with Summers about Double Dare last week.
As he’d put it: On your mark, get set, go!
What kind of fan response did you get after Nickelodeon announced plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary?
To have people still talking about it and to have an energy and excitement about it is somewhat mind-boggling. I guess, with everything that’s going on in the world, nostalgia is big right now. Everybody wants to go back to what made them happy and smile.
For a particular generation or two in the 1980s and ’90s, this was a go-to program. It struck a nerve and continues to do so. There is a ton of buzz. It’s been fun and exciting.
Can you give some details about what’s in the show?
We went to Comic-Con in July and did a show in a nightclub with the original cast of All That [Nick’s 1990s sketch comedy show]. They played the games, so that’s a good part of the special.
We brought back Harvey, our original announcer, and Robin, who was the lady onstage who would help me by bringing out props and things like that. So the whole team is back together.
They’re also showing my first audition tape from July 1986. Somebody found that with a bunch of cobwebs on it. Basically, it’s a potpourri of the games and challenges and messes that we’re famous for.
When you were hired as host of this wild show, what were your expectations?
I was an out-of-work performer when I auditioned. Any game show that you did back in the day, you figured you’d get picked up for 13 weeks, you’d do your 65 episodes, then you’d go home and probably never do it again. But this one caught on like crazy.
Nickelodeon had done a ton of research and found that kids loved their parents’ game shows like The Price Is Right, but they didn’t have a show of their own. So Nickelodeon took an old game from the playground, Truth or Dare, and added slime and whipped cream and mess and prizes and money.
The combination just worked.
What was your favorite goofy, goopy challenge?
“Pie in the Pants” was always fun. There’s nothing better than putting on large clown pants and stepping on a pie that catapults into the air and you catch it in your pants.
We did another called “If I Knew You Were Coming I’d Have Baked a Cake.” You’d take 12 layers of a cake and stack them. If you didn’t do it right, all of the icing would come down on everybody.
Sometimes it was messy just for messy’s sake. And as the show grew, it got sloppier. And the messier it got, the higher the ratings got.
Is there any chance of more than just the special? Any chance of a new Double Dare series?
Nickelodeon holds those cards. The conversation with me was, yeah, if we see enough interest in the special, there’s a good chance we could bring it back in some form or fashion. Whether it’s a Nick at Nite-for-grown-ups version or something that’s for kids, that’s all in the talking stages.
But right now, we want people to tune in and watch the special and reminisce and talk about it online and we’ll see what kind of reaction we get.
Additionally, KKCO's Crispin Havener recently talked to Marc Summers about the messiest game show in television history turning 30. Watch the interview about the Double Dare Reunion, and if Marc thinks he can conquer the obstacle course, in the super video below!:
