Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: Double Dare


One of the shows that I clearly remember from my childhood is the 1986 game show known as Double Dare. 



Double Dare sounds completely simple for those who didn't grow up with it like me. It's basically a show about a group of two kids answering simple questions to get the most money. If they didn't know the answer of the question or if they think they didn't know it, they could dare them for double the money. If that team didn't know it, they could double dare the first team back for 4 times the money. If the first team didn't know it, they could take the physical challenge. The physical challenges were the best part of the entire show. Just seeing those kids going through challenges that made them messy and slimy were so much fun. They were gross looking, yet creative. Truly one of the highlights of the entire show.

 



Another thing that people remembered about it was the obstacle course. It contained 8 challenges grabbing orange flags order to win prizes. They were from going inside someone's ear to digging through a peanut butter sandwich to digging someone's nose. It was so suspenseful and so exciting that you wondered if they were going to win! Whenever I saw this as a kid, it made me want to be on Double Dare so that I could take the physical challenge. I'm not alone on this: kids who grew up with Double Dare wanted to do the same thing. They even tried to do it at their own house. But we couldn't do that! The closest thing was just to watch it! 

 



But for me, the best thing about Double Dare was the host Marc Summers!

 

Marc Summers was the coolest guy on TV! He made the show what it was: a fun 30 minutes for kids. He interacted with the kids, he got dirty and slimy with them, and he always had a smile on his face. Some adults would never do that, but Marc did and that's why he was awesome! 

 

I didn't have a father figure growing up, so whenever I would see Marc, he was like the father I never had. He was someone that I truly looked up to. He was my hero! A few years after Double Dare, he revealed to have OCD and that made me look up to him more. I have OCD! I own hundreds and hundreds of Blu-Rays. I put them in alphabetical order and divide them by genre. If someone was to move even one movie, I would notice in an instant! I keep my room very, very clean and organized. I make sure that everything is neat and tidy. To know that Marc had the same disorder as me didn't make me feel alone. I felt that someone understood me. 

 



I highly recommend checking out Double Dare. For Nickelodeon shows, it's truly a classic. It has aged very well. Kids love seeing things get dirty and slimy, so watching Double Dare was like their dream come true. They can see kids get slimed without messing up their house and getting in trouble with their parents. I cannot recommend it enough.

That's all for now. Tune in next time as Patricia interviews the iconic host of Double Dare, Marc Summers. Hope to see you at Old School Lane.

-Kevin


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