Friday, July 27, 2012

Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: Interview with Moira Quirk

If there's one person who is just as beloved and memorable for a game show than the host, it's their counterpart. Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune, Robin Marella and John Harvey from Double Dare, Dee Baker as Olmec from Legends of the Hidden Temple. Today's interview is with one of these counterparts. From 1992 to 1996, Moira Quirk was the referee in Nickelodeon GUTS alongside Mike O'Malley discussing the rules of the sports and the Aggro Crag. Her sweet, down to earth, loving personality and her wonderful British accent made fantastic chemistry alongside Mike's lovingly goofy personality.



Today she does voice acting for animated shows and video games such as My Life as a Teenage Robot, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, Stroker and Hoop, Xenogears, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Infamous 2. She's also done TV roles such as Pretty the Series and Dirty Work. Not to mention being a stand up comedian, lending her voice in audio books, doing various amounts of podcasts, and being a loving wife and mother. Due to her extremely busy schedule, I was able to receive her interview two days after I posted my Nickelodeon GUTS review, so thank you Moira for taking the time to answer these questions.

I hope everyone enjoys this very special interview with Moira Quirk.



Patricia- First of all, I really like your British accent. Where in the U.K. are you originally from?

Moira- I grew up in Rutland, the smallest county in England.

Patricia- What was your childhood like?

Moira- I was a happy kid. I was the mischievous kid, but all my friends parents thought I was really good. It was a handy combo!

Patricia- What were your favorite cartoons/shows growing up?

Moira- I loved a lot of Hanna Barbera stuff: Hong Kong Phooey, The Hair Bear Bunch, Scooby Doo. My first animation job was at the old Hanna Barbera Studios on Cahuenga. Magical! And when I got to play the villainess in Scooby Doo and utter the immortal "And I would have got away with it if it hadn't been for you meddling kids!" I was overjoyed. Made my lifetime!

Patricia- At what age did you realize that you wanted to be an actress?

Moira- Pretty young. I was in primary school. I did the Christmas play, and that was that.

Patricia- When did you move to America? What was it like living there at first adapting to a new way of living and culture?

Moira- I moved from London to Orlando. It was a huge adjustment, and sometimes I was very homesick, but obviously I liked it enough to stay. Not Orlando- sorry Orlando- but America. And then, of course, I met my husband to be.

Kevin- How did you hear about the Nickelodeon game show GUTS?

Moira- My agent just sent me to audition. I was there amongst a bevy of sporty, blonde goddesses, but they kept calling me back.

Kevin- What was it like working side by side with Mike O'Malley?

Moira- Mike was, and continues to be, the biggest source of energy ever. He could be the answer to global warming.



Patricia- What would be the process of getting a typical episode done?

Moira- Oh goodness, as I remember we'd shoot three episodes a day. I really can't remember if we'd have each set of competitors go one after the other, but that seems the most sensible set up. Doesn't it?


Patricia- How were the kids chosen to be part of Nickelodeon GUTS?

Moira- There were talent scouts. At first they just looked locally, then after the first season they went further afield.



Patricia- Where there any major changes that came from transitioning from GUTS to Global GUTS?

Moira- Yep. It was shot quite differently because each country needed their own feed with their own hosts. I got more time off!



Patricia- For the contestants for Global GUTS who didn't speak any English, where there any translators for them so they could understand the rules or interact with the other kids?

Moira- Yes, there were translators.

Kevin- What fond memories can you tell us when you were doing GUTS?

Moira- Many. I still have friends from my days on GUTS, and Mike and I keep in touch.

Kevin- Have you ever tried to do any of the obstacles whenever they were setting it up?

Moira- Of course!

Kevin- What was your reaction when you saw Mike on Yes, Dear, Parenthood, and Glee?

Moira- It's so funny, my elder daughter loves Yes, Dear. So I see of much of Mike now as I did then, although not in person of course. I thought Mike's work on Glee was extraordinary. It was a very well deserved Emmy nomination.



Patricia- What made you decide to go into voice acting?

Moira- I'd always been interested in it.

Patricia- What was the audition process like for My Life as a Teenage Robot?

Moira- I went in and met with Rob Renzetti. He had me read a few portions of the script. I felt it went well. I didn't hear for a while, but I was super excited to get the role. It was a great role to play and I totally loved the look of the cartoon.



Patricia- What was it like working with Rob Renzetti?

Moira- He's a really cool, really talented guy and very low key. It was the best.



Patricia- What was the experience like with working with talented voice actors like Candi Milo, Janice Kawaye, Cree Summer, Eartha Kitt, and Quinton Flynn?

Moira- Didn't get to meet Eartha Kitt, but all the above are awash in awesomeness.

Patricia- What would a typical recording session be like?

Moira- Fun

Patricia- What was your favorite episode?

Moira- Am I allowed to say all of them? It was a really fun show.



Patricia- What was it like voicing the character Jane for The Wild Thornberrys Movie?

Moira- That was another great time. Charlie Adler directed me, who has been such a wonderful friend and mentor. His was one of the first voice-over classes I took, so we both enjoyed the fact that now I was his employee really.



Patricia- You had voiced other characters in video games such as Xenogears, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Do you play video games? If not, is voicing a character in a video game the same as voicing a character in a cartoon?

Moira- I can't play anything too gorey or intense because, well I could say I'm sensitive, but I think a better adjective would be wussy. I'm wussy. More often than not for games, I find myself alone in a recording booth being directed by Skype. Animation you still have a chance of recording as a cast. I like having a cast, but I also love me, an engineer and a director just getting the job done and having a great time doing it. Because it is a job, although one that I love.






Patricia- When looking at your website, I had no idea that you also do comedy sketches. What made you interested to go into comedy?

Moira- I suppose it was a fait accompli. Making people laugh and being made to laugh were and are important things to me.

Patricia- Who are your comedic heroes?

Moira- I used to see Zach Galiafinankis (sp?) at this little coffee shop in LA, and I'm thrilled at his success. I liked a lot of comedic actors: Judy Holliday, Dick Shawn, Alan Arkin (obviously I watched a lot of old stuff). This is all of the top of my head. As a kid I loved Julie Walters and Victoria Wood and Jasper Carrott. If I were to choose to watch a comedy special of listen to a comedian it might be Eddie Izzard, Mitch Hedburg, Eddie Pepitone and Frank Conniff. It's quite a long list... I like Marc Maron's podcast and listening to all the comedian's stories.


Patricia- I read in Summer Sanders' blog recently that she had introduced her children to Figure it Out during the years that she hosted. The results were that 5 minutes into it, they wanted to watch SpongeBob. They were 3 and 5, so they were too young. Did you show your children when you were co-hosting GUTS? If so, what do they think of it?

Moira- They might have seen a bit. They know I did it, but they are always perpIexed if someone is excited to recognise me. I mean if your mother did it, it can't be cool can it?



Patricia- Finally, what are your upcoming projects?

Moira- I'll let you know when I find out! I do have a couple of web series. Dirty Work just got an Emmy nomination! If you want to watch it, please do here dirtywork.com, but, be warned, I play someone with a really, really filthy mouth! Filthy! I'm working on a couple of games, too. It could be a while until they are released and I've signed those pesky non-disclosure forms! I also do plays for radio for the BBC and with L.A. Theatre Works for syndication on NPR and to be sold as audiobooks/plays. You can find them online too. I just did Look Back in Anger, so you might still be able to stream that at latw.org.

Patricia- Thank you so much for answering this, Moira. I know that I said too many questions and I apologize, but I was really excited to have the opportunity to interview you. I grew up watching you on GUTS and I always loved watching you on TV. I love Mike as well, of course. Haha! Hope that everything goes well for you and your family. Thanks.

Moira- Thanks, Patricia. Please forgive my lollygagging.

You can find out more information about Moira and her amazing work at moiraquirk.com. Also you can find her at Twitter @moiraquirkable.

That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Take care and thanks for reading.

-Patricia and Kevin

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: Rocko's Modern Life

When it comes to discussing about our favorite Nicktoons, we always assume the classics: Rugrats, Ren and Stimpy, Doug, etc. But for some reason, not a lot of people bring up the 1993 Nicktoon simply known as Rocko's Modern Life. People always claim it as a Ren and Stimpy clone, which is true. But then again, there were a lot of Ren and Stimpy clones at the time such as Two Stupid Dogs, Aaahh! Real Monsters, and Cow and Chicken. Some of those shows have been pretty good, while others are just really bad. Rocko's Modern Life was one of those good ones.





The show was about a wallaby from Australia named Rocko (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) who moves into O-Town with his dumb, but lovable dog named Spunky. He gets a job at a comic book store, does his everyday routines like doing his laundry, doing house chores, and hanging out with his best friends Heffer Wolfe and Filburt Turtle.

Heffer Wolfe (voiced by Tom Kenny) is a fat, lazy steer who loves to watch TV, eat Pastry Puffies, and gets Rocko in the funniest scenarios.

Filburt Turtle (voiced by Mr. Lawrence) is a nerdy, neurotic turtle who has many phobias, has had many jobs, and says his catchphrase "I'm nauseous" whenever he gets nervous.

Ed Bighead (voiced by Charlie Adler) is Rocko's next door neighbor. He works at the Conglom-O Corporation, the largest company in O-Town. He has a really mean temper, hates Rocko and his friends, and loves his wife although he doesn't show it.

Bev Bighead (voiced by Charlie Adler) is Ed's wife. She's an independent woman who isn't afraid to tell Ed off whenever he's mean to Rocko and his friends. She's a nice, friendly person who sometimes likes to get in crazy situations. In one episode, she adopts a mean, crazy dog from a testing lab.



There's another character that played a huge part in the show: Dr. Hutchinson (voiced by Linda Wallem) was a dentist who was going out with Filburt. She had a quirky personality with a hook for a hand use to check for teeth.



Throughout the show, these four voice actors provided the voice of all the characters in the show. Carlos Alazraqui also voiced Spunky, Leon Chameleon, and Squirmy the Ringworm. Tom Kenny also voiced Chuck Chameleon, Mr. Smitty, Really Really Big Man, Bloaty Tick, and did Rocko and Filburt's singing voice. Mr. Lawrence also voiced Peter Wolfe and Shelburt Turtle. Charlie Adler also voiced Gladys the Hippo Lady, Mr. Dupette, George Wolfe, Mr. and Mrs. Fathead, and Grandpa Wolfe. Linda Wallem voiced all the other female characters: Virginia Wolfe, Tammy the Pig, Cindy Wolfe, and Karen Chicken.



What made the show different from any other show at the time was the sexual adult innuendos and references. There were so many references that I can't believe they got away with. In one episode, Rocko tells everyone that he likes rainbows which comes across as a homosexual reference.


In one episode, Rocko goes off to his uncle's ranch taking Heffer with him. Heffer is told to sleep in the barn along with the other steer. In the morning, the uncle puts in a device on Heffer to milk him thinking he was one of the cows. It felt so good to Heffer that instead of sucking out milk, it was sucking out cum. This scene was banned from TV and on the DVDs.



In one episode, Rocko and Heffer take a road trip to see a landmark that's about to be demolished. Along the way, they check into a motel that is actually has prostitutes in there. This scene was only shown one time before being banned from the episode.



In one episode, Rocko was fired from his job and is looking for another one. He tries out being a phone voice operator. It turned out to be for a sex hotline.



There were so many innuendos thrown into the show as well. First off, the restaurant that they hang out at is called The Chokey Chicken, which is a reference for masturbation. They changed the name to the Chewy Chicken in the second season. There was a nudist party that Heffer threw. There was an episode in which Bev Bighead tries to seduce Rocko after not getting enough attention from Ed. There are so much to discuss about, but I think you get the point.



When the show came out, many reviews were positive. However, many of them claimed that it was a Ren and Stimpy clone and a Simpsons clone. However, years later, it had gained a wider audience and became a cult classic. Joe Murray, the creator of Rocko's Modern Life, said this about the show.

"I think what set the [1990's] apart was the fact that the climate was ripe for people taking chances and doing different things. Both Nick and Cartoon Network were able to invest on people who had nothing to lose. Of course, the result of that was that there was a big explosion in the scene. There were big successes—like that yellow sponge that popped up in a big way—and with that success came another era where people aren’t apt to take as many chances because the stakes are too high."


The people who had worked on Rocko's Modern Life had gone on to do another successful Nickelodeon show SpongeBob SquarePants. Stephen Hillenberg, who was the producer and written episodes of Rocko's Modern Life created SpongeBob. Tom Kenny who voiced Heffer voiced SpongeBob, Mr. Lawrence who voiced Filburt voiced Plankton. 


When Joe Murray did Camp Lazlo, most of the voice actors, writers, and artists from Rocko's Modern Life assisted him in the show. 


Also Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, who had worked on Rocko's Modern Life, created a show together called Phineas and Ferb. 


I would highly recommend watching Rocko's Modern Life. It's such a hilarious cartoon that has held up so well and is still enjoyable to watch.


That's all for now. Hope to see you at Old School Lane soon.

-Kevin






Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: Weinerville

The year is 1993. Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Mrs. Doubtfire, and the granddaddy of crappy video game movies Super Mario Bros. was released in theaters. Beavis and Butthead, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Boy Meets World debuted on TV. Nickelodeon had stiff competition of staying on top as the #1 network for kids with Fox Kids, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network dishing out great cartoons. They needed something really creative to suck kids back in. So around July 13, 1993, a man named Marc Weiner created the bizarre, kooky, unique, and creative puppet-like variety show Weinerville. 




The show was about Marc Weiner portraying as half-man, half-puppet characters interacting with a live audience doing skits and storylines. He would play these characters alongside other actors like Ray Abruzzo, Scott Fellows, David Jordon, and Brian Burns. Weiner would host the show and try to solve the problems of Dottie, the mayor of Weinerville.

Most of of the half-man half-human characters were played by Weiner himself. They included the following:

Dottie is the mayor of Weinerville. She always goes through a bit of misfortune and screams a lot in pain.

Baby Jeffrey would introduce the show, then start crying afterwards.

Commander Ozone was an intergalactic superhero. He would defend evil from the villain Eric Von Firstensecond alongside his sidekick Wilson.

Cocktail Frank was the leader of the house band Cocktail Frank and the Weenies. He was the only half-man half-puppet while every other band member were puppets.



There were also puppets included in the show.

Zip was Dottie's assistant who always ended up getting in trouble and crashing into walls.

Pops was an owner of a restaurant who always starts fights with a laundromat owner named Louie.

Louie was a laundromat owner who always argues with Pops.

Socko was a hand puppet who loved to kick Marc and make sarcastic gestures.

Boney was a parody of Barney who would tell kids stories about negative things. He was being a represented beloved children's character, but he actually hates kids. He would always tell kids in the end of every story "Now get out of here. I'm Boney, I'm Boney. Leave me alone-y." He was the favorite puppet among Weinerville fans, including Weiner himself.



In between the segments, they would always run a cartoon for the kids ranging from educational cartoons to classic cartoons like Mr. Magoo. 

At the end of every episode, two kids from the audience get "Weinerized" which was get turned into half-man half-puppets. They would play a game called Playland in which the winner would receive The Golden Hot Dog.





Also, I made a minor mistake when it came to Rugrats being the first Hanukkah special since Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special. Weinerville had a Hanukkah special before Rugrats had theirs one year prior. See, this is what happens when you don't look at the minor details.

 




The show also had special celebrity guest appearances. Some of them included Dr. Joyce Brothers, the wrestler Kevin Nash, Paul Shaffer, Huey Lewis, Andy Lawrence, and Bill Maher. Also, you can't have a Nickelodeon show without throwing him some Nickelodeon stars at the time. They included Marc Summers, Phil Moore, Moira Quirk, and the cast of Clarissa Explains it All.



The show lasted for 2 seasons ending its run on June 30, 1997. The people involved with the show did other things after Weinerville. 

Scott Fellows had created other shows for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network such as The Moxy Show, Cartoon Network's very first original show, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Johnny Test, and Big Time Rush. He has also written episodes for shows like U to U, The Fairly Odd Parents, 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, and Brand Spanking New Doug.



Ray Abruzzo had done other TV roles such as The Practice, Dynasty, The Sopranos, The Nanny, Law and Order, NCIS, and House.



As for Marc Weiner, he had decided to take his show on a live tour known as Marc Weiner's Weinerville Live. On and off over the years, he was traveled to other parts of the world to do live shows based on his show until he stopped in 2000. He is currently providing the voices of Swiper the Fox and Map on Dora the Explorer. On January 23, 2011, Marc and his son Max launched a YouTube channel called Weinerville TV in which they are bringing the show back for people who grew up with Weinerville as well as a new generation who had never seen it. They claim that new episodes will be coming in soon. 




They launched a Facebook page, Twitter page, and an official website. Check it out right here at http://www.weinerville.com/.

When Weinerville first came out, it was something that has never been seen before. It was the first and only show that involved with half-man half-human puppets. It had gained a huge amount of popularity among audiences and it was acclaimed by Good Morning America, The Early Show, The New York Times, The Daily News, Newsday, TV Guide, and The Los Angeles Times. It was nominated for two CableACE Awards. It was one of the most popular, zany, and creative shows that Nickelodeon had done up to that point.



Overall, looking back at this show, it was one of the zaniest, kookiest, strangest, and most unique Nickelodeon shows that has ever aired and I still love it! I grew up watching this and some of the jokes are still funny. Sure, there are some that are a bit dated due to some of the pop culture references, but other than that, it's a show that I can really appreciate due to its amount of creativity that it had at the time. Similar to Roundhouse, no other show try to replicate what Weinerville tried to do at the time or since then. But unlike Roundhouse, there's just something about it that makes Weinerville still work after all these years. I can appreciate the charm, creativity, humor, and zaniest that Marc Weiner did for this show. I highly recommend checking it out.



That's all for now. Tune in next time as I discuss, in my opinion, the best Nickelodeon kids' game show in the  90's. Legends of the Hidden Temple. Also, Kevin is going to review one of his favorite Nicktoons that many people call a Ren and Stimpy clone, Rocko's Modern Life.



Hope to see you around Old School Lane real soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia




Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Video Game Review: Nickelodeon GUTS (SNES)

Hey everyone, time for another video game review courtesy of Old School Lane. With the huge popularity of GUTS among millions of athletic kids and non-athletic kids, Nintendo decided to release a video game of it on November 1994 to satisfy the kids who wanted to be on the show. That game was Nickelodeon GUTS for the Super Nintendo.


The first thing I saw was the intro. My God, does it suck. It looks like something I can do with Microsoft PowerPoint. The main theme plays while black and white pictures of the show begin to float around. That's lazy! Why don't you show the gameplay? We don't want to see pictures of the show if that's not how it's going to look like in the game. That's false advertising. Well, at least the theme sounds okay 16 bit, so no complains here.



The next thing is choosing the athlete of my choice. It's really a shame that I couldn't customize my own player and choose the stats that would help me to my advantage. However, you don't even to get to see their stats: you see what's their favorite sport. Okay, I know where they were going with this: in the show during "Spill Your Guts", they would introduce the player, their nickname, their height, weight, and say their favorite sports. But it would be nice to know how good their accuracy is in shooting a ball, how fast they run, their endurance and stamina, and so on.  But whatever, this is the video games in the 90's. What you see is what you get.




The first game I played was basketball. When Moira tells them "On your mark, get set, *whistle", the audio is awful. I thought there was something wrong with my computer speakers or the ROM that I downloaded to play the game, but nope. This is how the game sounds and it sucks! But that's nothing compared to the biggest problem with this game: the controls. Oh my God! They suck even WORST than Double Dare. Every time I try to shoot a basket, I failed to do so and getting up on the platform to shoot again is almost impossible. I keep stumbling trying to get up to shoot. It was practically unplayable and I chose the kid whose favorite sport was basketball. Are you serious? I'm having problems shooting a basketball when my kid's favorite sport is basketball? That's like playing NBA Jam or the NBA Street series and choosing Michael Jordan or Shaquille O'Neal and they suck. It wasn't until much later that I found out that you have to hit down to jump? Down to jump? Are you serious? When have you ever heard of hitting down to jump in a video game?



Oh, but trust me. That is nothing compared to the frustration that is the obstacle course. In this game, you have 7 minutes to complete the obstacle or else time runs out. "No problem, I thought." Big problem! This is where I threw my controller on the floor screaming with anger! Running, jumping, climbing, and crawling work fine, but there are some jumps that are completely impossible to do. There's also a rope swing that you have to jump on a platform. I missed every single time. It wasn't until 3 minutes into the obstacle that I found out that you can actually swing the rope to jump. The way the kid jumps is ridiculous. He can do a somersault in the air while jumping like a cartoon or something. The way he climbs the poles without using his legs is hysterical. Also, no matter how much stamina you waste, he can still go at the same speed as if he had full on stamina. These are some really strong kids! They can kick my ass any day.

 

Next is football, which is like basketball. Same problems, same controls, same frustrations. Next.



Next is another obstacle course. Same problems, same controls, same frustrations. Next.



Finally, after playing this game 3 times and losing, the 4th time, I finally got to the Aggro Crag! Are you serious? It's just like the other obstacles except a few minor changes?! I have to jump on platforms, go through a mini pool, and climb on more poles? That's not the Aggro Crag! That's just another platform game with different obstacles and a coat of paint. Sure you have to activate the 6 light targets, but still, it's just like another obstacle. AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHH!



I did win the "radical" rock, but I didn't feel at all satisfied on winning it.

Overall, don't play this game! It's frustrating, it's too hard for a kid to pick up and enjoy, and it's pretty much the same levels over and over. I would not recommend this game at all!



That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Take care.

-Patricia

Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: Nickelodeon GUTS

Around the 90's, if you wanted to see some over-the-top sports competitions involving big, burly men and women, you would see American Gladiators.




This sports game show tested out their strength, agility, stamina, and speed as they competed to win $10,000 to $25,000. Nickelodeon decided to copy off the idea of American Gladiators and do it for kids. On September 19, 1992, Nickelodeon GUTS debuted on TV asking everyone this question: Do you have it?

Nickelodeon GUTS.svg


The show involved with three kids wearing the colors red, blue, and purple competing against each other to win a glowing piece of the "radical" rock. Each game had four events that would test out their strength, stamina, agility, and speed. The first three events were regular sports like basketball, soccer, football, track, and obstacle courses, but pumped to the extreme. For the highest score of each event, it would be 300 points. Second place would get 200 points. Third place would get 100 points.



As usual for any Nickelodeon game show, they save the best for last. In the final event, the three contestants had to climb a huge mountain known as The Aggro Crag. The Aggro Crag had many obstacles that they had to avoid in order to hit 8 light targets located on their side of the Crag. There were a few rules involving not crossing into another player's side of the Crag, hitting someone else's light target accidentally, etc. that would prevent them from winning the rock. The height of the Aggro Crag was 28 feet.



Finally, all the points are tallied and a winner would be announced. They would be awarded medals of gold, silver, and bronze. The winner of GUTS would be awarded with the piece of the "radical" rock. The rock was green and it would even glow in the dark. When you would look at that rock, you would die to have a chance to compete in GUTS and try to win it. It looked so cool back then and it still does today.



In fact, one of the GUTS winners even sold his "radical" rock on eBay. Today it's one of the most rarest and iconic items in Nickelodeon history. Since there was 126 episodes of GUTS, there are 126 rocks in the world. He eventually sold his rock for around $1500.00.



Around Season 2, they changed the Aggro Crag to the Mega Crag. There were some changes with the obstacles, the looks, and the designs.



Many kids competed in GUTS, even soon-to-be celebrities and athletes. In one episode, future Backstreet Boy member A.J. McLean competed in GUTS.






In another episode, Houston Dynamo soccer player Bobby Boswell competed in GUTS.






In 1995, they decided to change it into a different direction and include contestants from all over the world. This was known as Global GUTS.






Similar to the Olympics, various countries like the United States, Israel, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan) would compete to win the "radical" rock, the gold medal, and the proud representation of their country. Similar to the Olympics, they would count down on who was in the lead for winning the gold, silver, and bronze medals. According to the official tally, this was the results of who won overall.


RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1United Kingdom United Kingdom82212
2Mexico Mexico73212
3United States United States64212
T4Germany Germany46212
T4Israel Israel43512
6Spain Spain22812
7Portugal Portugal15612
8CIS
Georgia (country) GeorgiaKazakhstan Kazakhstan,
Russia RussiaUkraine Ukraine
07512

Global GUTS also included a huge overall to the Crag: The Super Aggro Crag. It was bigger, had more obstacles, and more challenging than all the previous Crags. It was 30 feet high compared to the 28 feet of the previous Crags.



The show was hosted by Mike O'Malley from Get the Picture and refereed by Moira Quirk. Similar to Get the Picture, Mike showed off his goofy side when it came to calling out the contestants' nicknames and shouting out "Spill your guts" and "Do you have it?" throughout the show. Moira was very sufficient when it came to explaining the rules to the contestants and the audience with her British accent. Similar to Robin Marella from Double Dare and What Would You Do?, she was just as well known and beloved as the host was.



The show lasted for 4 seasons ending its run on January 14, 1996. Overall, it was a really neat concept to bring athletics and sports for kids. It was done very well, the sports and obstacles looked like a ton of fun, and the hosts look like they were having as much fun as the kids were. Sure the phrase "Do you have it?" seems a little ridiculous and cheesy nowadays and Mike O'Malley still kept his goofy personality, but everything else holds up pretty well. It may not be as crazy and over-the-top as say Wipeout or American Ninja, but hey, I would love to see a remake of GUTS.

MFGGuts.png

Ugh! We'll talk about that some other time.

Overall, if you're a huge sports fanatic and loved to see American Gladiators, then GUTS is for you. I highly recommend checking it out. It was my second favorite Nickelodeon game show in the 90's. As for my favorite 90's Nickelodeon game show, we'll discuss about that really soon.



That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Take care.

-Patricia