If you haven’t heard yet, Double Dare returned to Nickelodeon earlier this summer, the cable network’s second attempt at reviving the family game show. While the basic formula remains the same—two teams compete to win prizes by answering trivia questions and completing the notoriously smelly obstacle course—they’ve…
Most people’s relationship with Nickelodeon is a little different than other cable channels. You watch an insane amount of it during a few years of your life, you become intimately familiar with the programming during that time, and then, one day, you leave it all behind. This can lead to feelings of intense nostalgia—…
Every ‘90s kid who grew up watching Nickelodeon has a favorite between Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. Do you prefer the goofy guy from All That’s “Good Burger” sketches or the goofy guy from All That’s “Everyday French With Pierre Escargot” sketches? Do you like seeing a guy continuously frustrated by the antics of…
Much of the fun in watching Netflix’s hit comedy GLOW lies in peeking behind the curtain of a left-field televised athletic event. The less-than-auspicious beginnings of the Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling are detailed in exacting fashion, from its outsized personalities to the emotional fireworks that spark among the…
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Monday, June 25. All times are Eastern.
Throw some WD-40 on The 1-Ton Human Hamster Wheel and decongest that giant prop nose: Double Dare returns to Nickelodeon this summer. The cable channel announced the game show’s return today, accompanied by the following video compilation of the various dares, double dares, and physical challenges endured by its first…
Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Wednesday, November 23. All times are Eastern.
When Double Dare premiered in 1986, it became an instant kid-friendly sensation. Hosted by Marc Summers, the gak-soaked Nickelodeon game show aired in some form or another on the network until 1993. Although the show would return years later as Double Dare 2000 with host Jason Harris, the Summers years were the show’s…
1987 was a simpler time. Ronald Reagan was in office, and Double Dare had just premiered on Nickelodeon a year earlier. It was around that time that the Double Dare creators decided to see if they could spin their show off into an older, Hollywood-friendly version. Thus, the Celebrity Double Dare pilot was created. It…
With the news of Double Dare’s imminent return, it should come as no surprise that tales of Marc Summers and company are creeping back into the mainstream. But, lest the nostalgia train seem too terrestrial, there’s a new Double Dare-themed Creepypasta story making the rounds on the ’net and on YouTube, and it’s…
San Diego Comic-Con is just days away now, and its arrival is being heralded with all manner of hints at just what the geeky faithful in attendance will get to see before the hoi polloi at home. In addition to a preview of American Gods and the return of Marvel Entertainment, Comic-Con will play host to a one-night…
It was, without question, one of the weirdest, most random feuds in television history. Who would have guessed that affable, all-purpose TV host Marc Summers, best known as the emcee of Nickelodeon’s playfully messy Double Dare, would beef with anyone, let alone the volatile Burt Reynolds? But that’s just what…
The Middle: “Floating 50”
There’s an oral-history glut on the internet—one to which The A.V. Club has happily contributed. That being said, every so often an oral history comes along that details something that never got its documentary due, that details facts and figures you’ve always wanted clarified.
Recently, Nickelodeon announced that it was considering re-launching several of its classic shows, from Rugrats to You Can’t Do That On Television. And while that’s all well and good—modern kids deserve good TV, too—some nostalgia purists blanched, imagining horribly bastardized versions of their childhood favorites.…
Still awakened in the middle of the night by the screams—the terrible screams—and the pants—the pie-filled pants—erstwhile Double Dare host Marc Summers has spent decades racing away from the show through the Super Sloppy course of his life. But like a contestant climbing through a giant mouth, then taking a…
You correctly answered Marc Summers’ trivia questions. You mastered Pie In The Pants and left your opponents with egg on their faces during Egg On Your Face. You found every flag along the obstacle course, never once slowing down to think about how filthy the Clam Dip is. And now, the spoils of victory: 10 minutes and…
