| Hosts | |
| Marc Summers (1986-1993) Bruce Jenner (1987 pilots) Jason Harris (2000) | |
| Announcers | |
| John Harvey aka Harvey (1986-1992) Bob Hilton (1987, Celebrity pilots) Doc Holliday (1992-1993) Tiffany Phillips (2000) | |
| Broadcast | |
           | |
| Packagers | |
| Nickelodeon/Games Productions Ron Greenberg Productions (1987 pilots) | |
| Distributors | |
| Fox Television Stations/Viacom | |
Double Dare is Nickelodeon's most popular (and messiest) game show. Part quiz and part physical challenges. Two teams competed for cash & prizes.
It had five incarnations during its run:
Double Dare - The original
Super Sloppy Double Dare - Extra-messy version that is more, well, sloppy
Super Special Double Dare - Two special episodes
Celebrity Double Dare - Two pilots for a proposed celebrity version
Family Double Dare - Has family teams playing
Double Dare 2000 - A short-lived revival, also with family teams playing
Main Game
The show started each episode with "On your mark, get set, go!" The game was played in two rounds, at the beginning of each round, a toss-up challenge was played by both teams. The team that completed the toss-up earned money and control of the round.
Here are more of the rules the way Marc Summers said it:
"I'm gonna be asking you a question, and if you don't know the answer or you think the other team hasn't got a clue, you can dare them to answer it for double the dollars. But be careful, because they can always double dare you back for four times the amount, and then you would either have to answer that question or take the Physical Challenge."
And here's what the rules were talking about:
The team in control was asked a question and a correct answer won money & kept control, but an incorrect answer forfeited control to the opposing team. Here's where the daring comes in; if the team in control does not know the answer or if they think opposing team doesn't know, all they have to do is "Dare" that opposing team, making the value of the question worth double. But if the opposing team still has no idea or vice versa, they can "Double Dare" the first team for quadruple the cash. On a dare or double dare, if the team controlling the question answered incorrectly, the money went to the daring team; on a double dare only, the controlling team could either answer the question or take the physical challenge. The physical challenge in question was a stunt (usually messy) that had to be completed within the time limit, doing so won the double dare amount, but running out of time and not completing the challenge gave the opposing team the money. During the Nickelodeon's Super Sloppy Double Dare era, each time any team takes a Physical Challenge, a home viewer's name was drawn out of a special mailbox next to Marc's podium, and then Marc would announce that viewer's name. Should the team playing the Physical Challenge complete the Physical Challenge, the chosen home viewer won an Etch-a-Sketch Animator; if not, then the viewer still won a Double Dare T-shirt. In Double Dare 2000 in the second round, all physical challenges come with what's called the "Triple Dare Challenge". The team playing that challenge could decide to either take the "Triple Dare Challenge" or go for the normal physical challenge. When playing the "Triple Dare Challenge", if the team completed it in time, they win triple the dare value and a prize; otherwise the opposing team got the prize & money.
Here how the players scored for success:
- Round 1 - Question - $10, Dare - $20, Double Dare/Physical Challenge - $40
- Round 2 - Question - $20, Dare - $40, Double Dare/Physical Challenge - $80
Here how the players scored in the Family Double Dare era:
- Round 1 - Question - $25, Dare - $50, Double Dare/Physical Challenge - $100
- Round 2 - Question - $50, Dare - $100, Double Dare/Physical Challenge - $200
The Triple Dare Challenge on Double Dare 2000 was worth $300.
In regular Double Dare and Fox's Family Double Dare, the toss-ups were worth the dare value; but in the Nickelodeon version of Family Double Dare and in Double Dare 2000, the toss-ups were worth the normal value of the question.
The rounds were played in an unmentioned time limit, and the round(s) ended with the sound of a double buzz. The team with the most money at the end of round two won the game although both teams get to keep the cash with (starting in 1987) a house-minimum guarantee of $100 ($200 in Double Dare 2000; $500 in Fox's Family Double Dare). The winning team also earned the right to run the Double Dare Obstacle Course.
Obstacle Course
The winning team had 60 seconds to run through eight obstacles. In each obstacle, the goal was to perform a certain task/run through something, then grab an orange flag from a pole or attached to the obstacle or simply finding that flag. Once the player doing that obstacle got the flag, he/she must then pass it to his/her partner. For each obstacle completed the team won a prize, and clearing the entire course (all eight obstacles) also won a grand prize.
In FOX's Family Double Dare, the seventh obstacle was the cash obstacle which was worth between $2,000 and $5,000 depending on the episode.
In Double Dare 2000, the Obstacle Course was called the "Slopstacle Course".
1987 Double Dare Pilots
At least two pilots were made to sell a grown-up version of Double Dare to CBS. But none of them sold. One pilot was played with civilian couples, and the other saw celebrities play with civilian contestants. The game was played the same way except that there were differences between these pilots & the other versions of Double Dare.
- The amounts were double of FOX's Family Double Dare amounts.
- Only one toss-up challenge was played which was in the first round.
- All questions were two-parters and each player must answer each half in order to score.
- Teams always took turns answering questions regardless of who answered the question or not.
- In the Obstacle Course, there were seven obstacles instead of the usual eight. The time to run the Obstacle Course was not 60 seconds but 90 seconds. The contestant did two of the obstacles (2 & 4) while the celebrity partner did four (1, 3, 5, & 6); both players did the final obstacle (#7). Instead of grabbing or finding flags, the player performing the obstacle must hit a button by the obstacle after finishing it. The grand prize was a new car which carried over into the Family shows.
Team Uniforms
When the show started, both teams wore red outfits despite the fact that one of the teams stood in front of a blue background. Starting in 1988, to avoid confusion, only one team was dressed in red and the other team was dressed in blue; plus, both teams stood in front of their appropriate backgrounds except in FOX’s Family Double Dare.
Host Assistants
(Family) Double Dare
Robin Marella
Dave Shikiar (1986-1990)
Jamie Bojanowski (Family Double Dare 1990, Super Special Double Dare 1992)
Chris Miles (Family Double Dare 1992)
Double Dare 2000
Jeffrey Lamar
Will Finley
Tia Marie Schroeder
Rating
Music
Main 1986 - "On Your Marc" by Edd Kalehoff
Pilot 1987 - Unknown
2000 - Rick Witkowski (based on "On Your Marc" by Edd Kalehoff)
Inventors
Geoffrey Darby
Michael Klinghoffer
Dee LaDuke
Bob Mittenthal
International Versions
Double Dare has also aired in these countries:
- United Kingdom (1987-1992) (as a segment of Going Live)
- Australia (1989-1992)
- Brazil (1987-2000) (Passa ou Repassa)
- Canada (French) (1989-1991) (Double Defi)
- France (2012-present)
- Germany (1991-1994) (Drops!)
- India (2004) (Nick Dum Duma Dum)
- Netherlands (1989-1990) (DD Show)
Double Dare In Popular Culture
- In the Summer 1988 issue of Muppet Magazine, Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog visit Marc Summers on the set of Double Dare.
- A brief clip of Super Sloppy Double Dare made an appearance in the 1990 film failure Ghost Dad starring Bill Cosby. (NOTE #1: Omar Gooding of Wild & Crazy Kids appeared in that film. NOTE #2: Cosby would go on to host the 90s revival of You Bet Your Life two years later.)
- In the 1990 Tiny Toon Adventures episode called Europe in 30 Minutes, Super Sloppy Double Dare was parodied as Sloppy Dirty Dare with Blink Winkleman as the host. In this parody, Blink asks Plucky Duck to guess which country is shaped like a boot. Then Plucky guesses Italy, and is correct. The prizes he wins included a pocket protector, a pair of left-handed scissors and a trip to Europe with all of his friends on board the fabulous Concorde (who is later revealed to be Concord Condor).
- In the 1991 Dinosaurs episode called Fran Live, one of the Dinosaur TV channels spoofed Double Dare as Dirty Dare.
- In 2003, Double Dare was mentioned as a topic in a "1986" episode of the VH1 miniseries I Love the '80s Strikes Back.
- The Nostalgia Critic (aka Doug Walker) did a review of Double Dare as part of Nickelodeon Month in 2008.
- Double Dare was mentioned in a 2008 episode of Robot Chicken called Chirlaxx, where it was a special celebrity edition. The red team had Daredevil and Stevie Wonder and the blue team had Marlee Matlin and Helen Keller. When the score was tied at 500 points apiece, neither team answered the last question correctly. Therefore, Helen took the "Physical Challenge" by jumping through three hoops on a trike. Eventually, she landed in a pit of slime making the Red team the champion.
- The 2001 music video for Smooth Criminal by the rock band Alien Ant Farm (a cover of the late Michael Jackson's 1988 hit of the same name) features Cosgrove (the band's drummer) wearing a red Super Sloppy Double Dare T-Shirt.
- The 2011 music video for Last Night, by the rock band Good Charlotte, features the band appearing on the 1990-92 Nickelodeon-era set of Family Double Dare as "Cowabunga! and the Twins" playing against "The Cheese Cutters", featuring Marc Summers as himself.
- A 2011 episode of Comedy Central's Workaholics called We Be Ballin’, host Marc Summers makes a cameo appearance on the show as himself. He even made a semi-reference to Double Dare by saying, "That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen, and I've seen a grown man pull a flag out of a giant nose." (Obviously referring to one of the obstacle courses from Double Dare called "Pick It" or "Da Nose".)
- A 2012 episode of The Cleveland Show called March Dadness, spoofed Double Dare as Dare Squared featuring the voice and appearance of Marc Summers as himself. The spoof starts with Cookie doing the first challenge in the obstacle course called Happy Birthday, where she goes down a water slide of a pregnant woman giving birth, while grabbing the first orange flag and then giving it to Freight Train. The second obstacle course is called The Royal Flush in which Freight Train climbs a ladder that resembles a roll of toilet paper while he says, "I'm number one, but I'm going down like number two!" as he grabs the handlebar and gets flushed down the sewer moving away the two fake rats and grabs the second orange flag for which he gives to Cleveland (as a child). The third and final obstacle course is called "The FlapJack Attack" in which Cleveland has a hard time locating the third orange flag (for which was located "under the butter" the whole time) causing them to lose the trip to Orlando, Florida as the grand prize.
- A 2013 episode of Bob's Burgers spoofed Family Double Dare as Family Fracas (which also shares the title's episode of the same name) where the Belcher family competes against the Pesto family in order to win a new minivan after the family car breaks down.
- A 2013 episode of Sanjay & Craig called Trouble Dare, had a spoof of Family Double Dare featuring the voice and appearances of Marc Summers and Harvey as themselves. in the episode, the two main characters accidentally infest the house with an ant farm and decide to stay in a trailer. Unfortunately, the Dicksons are staying in it so they have to play against them on the show.
- A sketch-comedy show on truTV (formerly Court TV) called Friends of the People in 2015, has spoofed Family Double Dare as Banned Double Dare featuring clips of some of the most "disturbing" moments from the show featuring real-life Double Dare host Marc Summers appearing as the host of these said spoofs.
- A 2016 episode of the popular ABC sitcom called The Goldbergs (appropriately titled Double Dare) Adam Goldberg (Sean Giambrone) and Emmy Mirksy (Stephanie Katherine Grant) are excited when their favorite game show is holding an audition at their school.
Double Dare Live Tour
While Double Dare was still going on, the show did a live tour and was shown in many cities across the United States. Both Marc Summers and Robin Marella made live appearances and the game was played like the show. However, there were some differences compared to the television version. There were no buzzers to signify that the round was over. Marc told the teams that he ran out of questions for the round. There was also no time's up buzzer when doing physical stunts, Marc called time for the teams. There was also no winning bells to signify the team had won the stunt or completed the obstacle course, Marc determined which team had won. Summers also encouraged the audience to cheer on their teams before the game started, but he had one very important rule; not to shout any answers out after questions are read. If anyone shouted out the answers, questions would be dropped. Summers would also tell the audience to be quiet during the game to remind them not to help. If this continued, the teams would be disqualified. Sometimes before the show, Marc would go out into the audience and talk with them. The obstacle course is the same, however the obstacles were downsized so that they could fit onto the stage. There was also a live version of Family Double Dare as well.
Additional Pages
Double Dare (2)/Catchphrases
Double Dare (2)/Merchandise
Double Dare (2)/Gallery
Double Dare (2)/Video Gallery
Trivia
Double Dare returned as a stage show at the Nickelodeon Suites Hotel in Orlando, Florida in 2012, but it ceased in 2016 due to the reformation of the hotel simply being a Holiday Inn.
Carmen Sandiego host Greg Lee was originally a contestant coordinator and audience warmup on the show .
It has been announced that Double Dare might be coming back. It has not been decided yet. A petition has been made to support the revival.[1]
Reference
Links
doubledare.tv
DoubleDareSupersite.com
Joey's Double Dare Page
The Double Dare Slopsite
Rules for Double Dare (2)
Jay's Double Dare (2) Page
Rules for the Celebrity Double Dare Pilot
Josh Rebich's Double Dare Rule Sheets
A blog about "Double Dare"