Children's quiz/stunt show on Nickelodeon. Teams answered questions to earn money, trying to be the leader after the end of two rounds. The team in control could answer a question asked to them or "Dare" the other team, letting them try to answer for double the money. The other team could then "Double Dare" in return, doubling the value again (i.e., four times the original amount). Once a question had been Dared or Double Dared, an incorrect answer would award the money to the opposing team.Once the question had been Double Dared back to the first team, they had to either answer or take the Physical Challenge, where they competed in a timed stunt in order to win the money and retain control of the round. These challenges, and the whole show in extension, were famed for being very messy and ridiculous, and of course getting people Covered in Gunge. Contestants also competed in messy stunts at the beginning of each round to see who would get the first question, as well as in the Bonus Round.There were two short-lived spin-offs: the first Super Sloppy Double Dare, which was just like regular Double Dare except it took place in New York, and Fox's Family Double Dare, which expanded the scope of players to include adults.In 1988, the show entered syndication, later reviving the Super Sloppy Double Dare name, this new version substantially increased the gak and mess of the show. While the syndicated run ended in 1989, the show returned to Nick with a new Family Double Dare, which was the last incarnation of the show.In 2000, a revival called Double Dare 2000 lasted for one season.A UK version of the show was made, the only major difference being the teams played for points rather than money (in the UK, there's a law that says kids can't win cash on a game show). It became famous for host Peter Simon slipping on the gunge and falling over, which happened almost Once an Episode.Not to be confused with CBS' Double Dare, which is something quite different.
Bonus Round: The Obstacle Course. On 2000, this was the Slopstacle Course but essentially the same. The winning team had 60 seconds to get through 8 obstacles, finding/grabbing and passing an orange flag at the end of each. Prizes of increasing value were awarded for each completed obstacle, and completing the course typically awarded a trip (or a car on most of the Family versions).
Marc: I'm going to ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, or think the other team doesn't have 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 4 times the amount, and then you either have to answer the question or take the Physical Challenge.
He would sometimes get other people (like the show’s new producer) to say all or part of the rules. One time, he even brought out a large group of crew members, whom he dubbed the Double Dare Rules Choir, to say it in unison.
Berserk Button: Not on the series (it was a stage show at the Philadelphia Beer Festival), but if this video is any indication, Marc does not like people shouting out the answers. He's also not above dispensing a Precision F-Strike, either. One could suspect he was waiting over 25 years to say it...
Which was met with laughter and cheering. Probably because it took everyone by surprise, you know, coming from Marc Summers.
Butt Monkey: Both Marc and Harvey were used for humiliating and embarrassing stunts by the producer. There were also single-episode examples like the one with the wheelchair athlete who got slimed twice after the physical challenge was already finished.
In some episodes, teams will seem to have a Designated Monkey as one person is picked to perform most of the wet and messy stunts.
Camera Abuse: On a show as active as this one, it is not surprising that the camera is occasionally hit or splattered during physical challenges and the obstacle course. One notable example happened in 2000 when a large dollop of slime landed on the main camera on the first obstacle. It remained there for the rest of the run, slowly dropping down to the bottom while the family ran the course.
On one edition of Super Sloppy Double Dare, Marc and Harvey paired off with child teammates. Jim J. Bullock took over hosting duties and Double Dare production assistants Robin and Dave filled in as announcers. They were then made to run the Obstacle Course as a pair with any prizes won going to both civilian contestants. They finished the course in 57 seconds, albeit not without glossing over some botched flag handovers.
Christmas Episode: Featured decorations on the set and a Christmas themed obstacle course; in addition, the parents of the kids on each team performed all the physical challenges and the Obstacle Course. Given that this was produced prior to the first incarnation of Family Double Dare, it may have been an experiment for this very purpose.
Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Not until the first Family version, but for the majority of the show's run it was always the red team (or family) vs. the blue team.
Conspicuous Trench Coat: Before the spy spoof physical challenge Contraband, Robin would come out with one on. One of the contestants would put it on and break balloons on his partner's head.
Marc: In Encino Man, what actor plays the caveman?...Need an answer! Contestant: Pauly Shore? Marc: No, it's not Pauly Shore. This person has talent!
Downer Ending: It wasn't uncommon for the team to pace through the Obstacle Course looking like they could win, only to run out of time on the last one, but on one occasion the contestant's gunge-covered hand slipped off of the last flag at the last second. The real kick in the nuts? That slip cost the family a Ford Mustang.
Epic Fail: On the first taped episode (not the first one aired), the first item in the Obstacle Course (find a flag hidden inside a pillow) was missing said flag. On the second take, the flag was still missing due to miscommunication. The flag was present on the third take, but in addition to the clock freezing at 60 seconds, a cameraman fell, getting right in the contestants' way immediately afterward. A fourth take was necessitated which went into the episode as aired.
The first three takes (with slate, showing the recording date as September 18, 1986) were put into the direct-to-video release Double Dare: The Inside Slop.
And the name of that very first obstacle, which gave the show so much trouble? Nightmare.
Follow the Leader: There were several "messy kids' show" clones, most egregiously the short-lived Slime Time. However, most of the other kids' games of the era had completely different stunts and/or presentation.
Game-Breaking Bug: While all the searching obstacles were hard, Pick It could be this if the flag was put up too high for a contestant to get while on his/her back.
Giant Food: Several physical challenges involved making a giant food item with one of the contestants as the centerpiece. This took a few forms:
The contestant could be in a container and have the dish made around him/her with the contestant acting as a sort of bonus ingredient, for example the Sushi rolls.
A common variation of the above was the rolling challenges. One contestant would lie down and his/her partners would pour gak on him/her. S/he would then be rolled to the other end of the stage and have more gak poured on him/her. The best known of these is probably the Human Burrito.
The contestant would be holding a large food item. S/he would then try to catch ingredients in it. 2000's Thanksgiving Turkey was a good example of this.
The contest would be part of the base item or container, and run to different stations to add ingredients. An example of this is the Banana Split Boat.
Finally, there were the physical challenges where a contestant sat in a container with the main ingredient already there, and s/he would have to catch the finishing touches. An example is the Spaghetti Bowl.
Hold the Line: There was one challenge that did this. Basically, there were vats of slime with spouts shaped like giant noses. When the challenge started, those spouts would start draining the slime out of the vats, and the contestants had to stuff rags up the noses so that the slime wouldn't drain below the line (yeah, rather than fill a container past the line, the liquid's level started above the line, and the contestants had to keep it there). If memory serves, two of the three vats had to survive for 30 seconds.
Irony As He Is Cast / Terrified of Germs: Marc Summers was host for seven years (1986-93) of a game show remembered as one of the messiest ever. Summers has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and he's been known to obsessively straighten out the fringe on a rug. When this news became common knowledge, he became something of a Memetic Badass since he was able to power through filming such a messy show and enduring having contestants Covered in Gunge hug him.
Lampshade Wearing: The basis for one of the physical challenges - one partner would have to find poker chips in a bowl of dip and throw them to his partner, who was required to catch them with the lampshade serving as a blindfold.
Level Ate: Aside from using large quantities of post-dated food in the physical challenges and obstacles, many such obstacles consisted of the contestant having to crawl through and/or find the flag in a giant sandwich, slice of pizza, stack of waffles, plate of mashed potatoes, etc. Later in the run, some of the physical challenges required a team to create a giant replica of some food, such as a burrito or bowl of cereal, with one of the contestants naturally replacing one of the items.
Loophole Abuse: Some of the physical challenges had rules that allowed for less obvious but much easier game play. One of the easiest involved filling a cup on a contestant's head using a water fountain. There was no minimum distance, so the contestant could simply put their head under the fountain instead of having to arc the stream.
Luck-Based Mission: Depending on how many obstacles required the contestant to find the flag (whether in simulated food, a giant nose, or a big foam rubber shark's mouth), the Obstacle Course could easily become one of these.
Mascot: During the early years, the obstacle course would regularly feature a Toys 'R' Us gift certificate as a prize for one of the early obstacles. The obstacle with the gift certificate as its prize would generally have a stuffed Geoffrey Giraffe, the mascot of Toys 'R' Us, sitting on the sign giving the obstacle's name.
Pie in the Face: While not as iconic as the gak or memorable as pies in the pants, physical challenges that required a contestant to get their face covered in whipped cream have been a part of the show's physical challenges since day one. However, the one that takes the cake (no pun intended) was the "Flying Trapeze" from the final season of Family Double Dare, where a person was put on a platform being moved back and forth by his family and had to throw four pies at his teammate's face while she sat in front of him.
This was not limited to the contestants. Sometimes, during the show's Ad Bumpers, when the camera zoomed in on the audience the operator would zero in on a particular person and smash a pie in the fan's face. Marc was also the occasional target of pie pranks by Harvey, Robin, or other members of the crew.
A subversion happened on the President's Day special when a contestant was told to make a pie by putting cherries on a plate, put a few handfuls of cream on it, and put it into his partner's face. Instead, with the clock nearing zero, he put the cherries in the big bowl of cream and smashed the whole thing in her face! (The judges declared this a rule violation, and the money went to the other team.)
The Pratfall: As pointed out by the Nostalgia Critic, the floor was very slippery and would cause the contestants and the host to fall on their butts on multiple occasions!
Product Placement: All contestants got to take home the pair of Reebok sneakers they wore for the show (though they often needed to be cleaned before they could be worn again). Every crew member (including Marc) wore the company's shoes as well. As stated above, the Toys 'R' Us mascot was also frequently seen.
Projectile Toast: One of the physical challenges involved launching toast out of a spring-loaded toaster to one's partner on the other side of the stage.
Reunion Show: Marc Summers and John Harvey reunited on an episode of NBC Philadelphia's The 10 Show in late 2010, and participated in a Double Dare-esque challenge. The interview portion is here, and the challenge portion here.
Running Gag: During the second half of Super Sloppy Double Dare, Marc would always announce the show was originating from a different Florida city like Quincy or Niceville, only for Harvey to correct him that they were in Orlando.
On one episode, all of the obstacles for that day's Obstacle Course were renamed to variations of "Harvey."
On Family Double Dare, there was one toss-up challenge (when played, it usually started the second round) that Marc would always introduce while doing an impression of Desi Arnaz, complete with Desi's laugh. Its name? "Honey, I'm Home! Haa Haa Haa Haa!"
Self-Imposed Challenge: The Triple Dare Challenge in round 2 of 2000. An add-on to the regular Physical Challenges, it carried a prize and $300 in score money if attempted and completed, but if failed, the money and the prize went to the other team. If declined, the team would play the Physical Challenge normally for the usual $200 either way. No Show The Folks At Home or Let's Just See What WOULD Have Happened here, though: the additional challenge was only revealed if accepted.
Serious Business: Contestants (and the host) seemed to treat the events as such.
A season after the I Love Lucy episode, the show introduced a new toss-up challenge called "Honey I'm Home Ah Ah Ah". In it a female contestent would dress like Ricky and try to catch objects in a briefcase. She would then go threw a door where her husband was waiting dressed like Lucy (in the process she would be Covered in Gunge from a Bucket Booby Trap). Marc loved it because it gave him a chance to do his Desi Arnaz impression, and would frequently try to get the women dressed as Ricky to join in.
There was also a physical challenge based on Hollywood Squares that involved throwing sponges at a tic-tac-toe board. However, it was infamously hard and was never completed.
Once during his pre-Obstacle Course rundown, Marc ran into Baravelli (Chico Marx's character from Horse Feathers). He demanded a password before letting him through the drawbridge.
During one episode of Family Double Dare, Marc had a box on stage containing a head similar to the Pedro puppet used by Señor Wences.
Marc is a big fan of comedians and shows from the 1950s-60s, and would do an impression of one if something reminded him of them. For example, during Stupid Hat Day, he was given a sombrero after a question and did a quick impression of the Mel Blanc character Sy from The Jack Benny Program.
In a later episode, one of the questions asked was "What is the only game show on PBS?", which was Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?. When neither team could think of the answer, Marc gave it out and took time to acknowledge the fact that host Greg Lee was a former staffer on Double Dare.
The Teaser / Cold Open: Each episode began with a physical challenge to determine initial control of the board. This was the only game show to open in such a manner.
Timed Mission: The physical challenges were usually played in 20 or 30 seconds (always 30 on 2000, barring a time reduction due to a "Triple Dare Challenge"), although in earlier episodes 10 and 15-second challenges were not unheard of. The Obstacle Course had a time limit of 60 seconds.
Title Scream: Subverted; each FOX Family Double Dare episode began with the audience yelling "Take the Physical Challenge!"
In 2000, this was more or less done intentionally in the second round due to the main mechanic of the second round's physical challenge, the "Triple Dare Challenge".
Very Special Episode: There have been a few episodes with differently able individuals competing. For example, an episode of Family Double Dare featured wheelchair athletes competing. There was also a 2000 episode which featured Special Olympians.
Who Writes This Crap?!: Marc and Harvey were not shy about expressing their disdain for what they felt were some of the weaker ideas for themed episodes. For example, when the production staff bought a pink blazer while buying clothes for physical challenges, they "justified" the purchase by building a Super Sloppy episode around Miami Vice and giving Marc the pink blazer to wear. Marc makes no effort to hide how silly he finds the idea each time he explains it, and Harvey closes the episode by inviting the viewer to see "whatever other dumb idea the producers come up with for a theme show."
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Marc Summers did a show that got very messy despite suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, though he didn't know he had it during the show's run.
Womb Level: Several of the obstacles: "Pick-It" (a giant nose); "Down the Hatch" and later "Big Gulp" (huge mouths, the latter being a Sundae Slide retool); "In One Ear" (a big head filled with "earwax"). "Foot Locker"/"Toe Jam", a huge foot, may also qualify somewhat.
, which was just like regular Double Dare except it took place in New York, and Fox's Family Double Dare
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