History YMMV / DoubleDare1986

** Also, a 1990 ''Family'' episode had the joke answer "Donald Trump's foreclosure on ''Series/PeeWeesPlayhouse''", one year before Creator/PaulReubens' infamous arrest.

* EpicFail: On one of the celebrity weeks from the second-half of the Syndicated run in 1988, [[Series/SmallWonder Jerry Supiran's]] team only cleared ONE obstacle (The 1-Ton Human Hamster Wheel) and lost the rest of their time on the next one (Pick It). And you wouldn't know it from looking only at that failure of an obstacle course run, but Jerry and another teammate actually DID clear all eight obstacles on the previous episode of that same week. And that episode ALSO used the same layout as this one in particular.

* WhatAnIdiot: On two separate episodes, both from 1989, neither team could guess the answer to "How many arms did Babe Ruth have?" and "How many ankles did Michael J. Fox have?".

* BreatherLevel: The obstacle course usually had one or two straight-forward obstacles to balance the more difficult ones. Drawbridge, where all a contestant had to do was push down a door, is one such example.

** The first obstacle on the first taped obstacle course fell victim to this. The obstacle was called "Nightmare" where a contestant had to find a flag in a giant feather pillow. On the first two takes, the flag wasn't even in there, leaving the contestant to dig around the feathers for two whole minutes. The flag was finally found on the third take but not only did the clock freeze, a cameraman also fell and blocked their path. This required a ''fourth'' take which went into the episode as aired. Seems "Nightmare" was also an appropriate description for what the staff and the contestants went through that day.

* GoodBadBugs: In the first taped obstacle course win from 1990, the clock froze at 11 seconds during the exchange between the seventh and eighth obstacles. This is noticeable from the music ending with 3 seconds to go.

*** Marc Summers has said publicly that he was undiagnosed and the rumors about him have blown up over time. He could have left anytime he wanted if it felt overwhelming, as after Double Dare he was getting huge offers from other companies to leave Double Dare, but said that he didn't feel the need too and enjoyed his time there. He sometimes felt a bit uneasy after some shows but was able to decompress after the taping.

** Many obstacle course runs in the early years were derailed by the original version of "The Sundae Slide", which required contestants to climb up a 45 degree incline covered with grease and slime before going down the eponymous slide. If they did not make a point of only putting their feet on the padding under the rails on either side of the incline (which had no grease on it), they could waste 15 or 20 seconds just trying to get to the top of the slide. In the ''Super Sloppy'' era, even trying to climb up the padding was far from foolproof if the contestant's shoes were already covered in gunge from previous obstacles. Though arguably one of the most popular obstacles with young audiences, it proved the difference between getting all eight flags and getting only seven (or fewer) so frequently that one could be forgiven for suspecting that it was deliberately engineered to prevent the obstacle course from being won too often.[[note]] Summers often made jokes about the program's limited budget in the early years, and this included the prizes.[[/note]] It got to a point where in the final season, the incline was replaced by a regular ladder; the incline returned for ''2000''.

* ThatOneRule: Physical challenges where the goal was to break hanging balloons had one such rule. If a balloon fell off without popping, the challenge was deemed a loss. This happened to at least two teams who got understandably pissed at the outcome.

** Some teams on the original run had names that would never fly in today's society. Two teams from 1988 called themselves "Salt & Pepper", both consisting of a white player and a black player. If that isn't bad enough, another team from that year was called "Chocolate & Vanilla". If those weren't bad enough, two teams from later seasons called themselves called the "Redskins" after the then-NFL team.

** Some teams on the original run had names that would never fly in today's society. Two teams from 1988 called themselves "Salt & Pepper", both consisting of a white player and a black player. If that isn't bad enough, another team from that year was called "Chocolate & Vanilla". A ''Family'' episode from 1990 had a team called the "Redskins".

** Two teams from 1988 called themselves "Salt & Pepper", both consisting of a white player and a black player. If that isn't bad enough, another team from that year was called "Chocolate & Vanilla".
** Two teams on difrerent ''Family'' episodes are just as problematic: one called themselves the "Redskins" while another was the "Red Indians".

** Two teams from 1988 called themselves "Salt & Pepper", both consisting of a white player and a black player. If that isn't bad enough, another team from that year was called "Chocolate & Vanilla". Good luck getting away with those team names today.

* PeripheryDemographic: Managed to go through this twice. When ''Double Dare'' originally aired, it was quite popular among college students. These days, it has an audience mainly consisting of adults who grew up watching the show or its reruns growing up.

* EpicFail: On one of the celebrity weeks from the second-half of the Syndicated run in 1988, [[Series/SmallWonder Jerry Supiran's]] team only cleared ONE obstacle (The 1-Ton Human Hamster Wheel) and lost the rest of their time on the next one (Pick It). And you wouldn't know it from looking only at that failure of an obstacle course run, but Jerry and another teammate actually DID clear all eight obstacles on the previous episode of that same week. And that episode ALSO used the same lineup as this one in particular.

** ''2000'' had an upgrade of "Hunt and Peck" from ''Super Sloppy'' and the first season of ''Family'' called "Double Click". The earlier version was a breather obstacle which had seven keys, one of which mechanically raised a flag. "Double Click" had the same objective, but it had ''sixteen'' keys across three rows. The correct key would light up a virtual flag with the message "You've got flag!" serving as the signal to grab the real flag. Many times, the keys would be stuck together, and contestants would lose track of which ones were already hit. The obstacle could be even harder if a contestant previously completed a messy one beforehand.

** ''2000''' had an upgrade of "Hunt and Peck" from ''Super Sloppy'' and the first season of ''Family'' called "Double Click". The earlier version was a breather obstacle which had seven keys, one of which mechanically raised a flag. "Double Click" had the same objective, but it had ''sixteen'' keys across three rows. The correct key would light up a virtual flag with the message "You've got flag!" serving as the signal to grab the real flag. Many times, the keys would be stuck together, and contestants would lose track of which ones were already hit. The obstacle could be even harder if a contestant previously completed a messy one beforehand.

* ReplacementScrappy: Jason Harris and Tiffany Phelps, the host/announcer tandem on ''2000''. Jason, while doing the best he could, couldn't hold a candle to Marc Summers, and Tiffany didn't share the same dynamic Marc and Harvey had with Jason.

* BreatherLevel: The obstacle course usually had one or two straight-forward obstacles to balance the more difficult ones.

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: Very rarely did a team use the "I Dare you to answer it because I don't think you know it" strategy.

* TooGoodToLast: The 2018 revival was cancelled near the end of its second season and will end the following year.

* ValuesDissonance: Two teams from 1988 called themselves "Salt & Pepper", both consisting of a white player and a black player. If that isn't bad enough, another team from that year was called "Chocolate & Vanilla". Good luck getting away with those team names today.

* ThatOneRule: Physical challenges where the goal was to pop hanging balloons had one such rule. If a balloon fell off without breaking, the challenge was deemed a loss. This happened to at least two teams who got understandably pissed at the outcome.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Some of Edd Kalehoff's most recognizeable work can be found here. Taken UpToEleven on the FOX version with ''countless'' remixes of the ThemeTune and in-game music (and not just the ones that were kept after this version ended).

** On the FunnyAneurysmMoment side, the first obstacle on the first taped obstacle course fell victim to this. The obstacle was called "Nightmare" where a contestant had to find a flag in a giant feather pillow. On the first two takes, the flag wasn't even in there, leaving the contestant to dig around the feathers for two whole minutes. The flag was finally found on the third take but not only did the clock freeze, a cameraman also fell and blocked their path. This required a ''fourth'' take which went into the episode as aired. Seems "Nightmare" was also an appropriate description for what the staff and the contestants went through that day.

* CueIrony / FunnyAneurysmMoment:

* GoodBadBugs: In the first taped obstacle course win from 1990, the clock froze at 11 seconds during the exchange between the seventh and eighth obstacles. This is noticeable from the music ending with 3 seconds to go.

** A 1987 episode asked which actor hadn't played James Bond. Pierce Brosnan was the correct answer, but he would eventually play as him for four movies, beginning in 1995.

** Even ''worse'' than "The Sundae Slide" in the first season or two was a variant entitled the "Fireman's Flag-Pull", where once you climbed up the chocolate covered ramp you ''then'' had to pull in a clothesline to retrieve the flag before sliding down a fireman's pole to pass it off. At least one contestant forgot to pull in the flag and had to repeat the obstacle. Made particularly egregious on a Halloween episode where there were Trick-or-Treat bags on the clothesline with the flag hidden in one of them (naturally, the last one). It was used on 17 episodes, and on the last four, it was changed to have the flag hung on the pole. It only made things worse, as there were people who would slide down the pole and ''forgot'' to get the flag. The course was only won twice with "Fireman's Flag-Pull". That should tell you how bad it was.

* WhatAnIdiot: On two separate episodes, both from 1989, neither team could guess the answer to "How many arms did Babe Ruth have?" and "How many ankles did Michael J. Fox have?". Hilariously, the question "How many arms does the drummer from Music/MotleyCrue have?" was answered incorrectly with "One", the one-armed Rick Allen being a member of Music/DefLeppard.
** When a team did not know [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4rH_3VYl9g how many ears Kirk Cameron has,]] Marc had to check with the judges to make sure they were allowed to dare.

*** Another from 1992 had the question "What feature is missing on a Manx cat?" and the contestant chose "C: Its sense of humor." Marc: "I just read 'em, folks."[[note]]Answer: Tail.[[/note]]

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The American version ran from 1986-1993, with a brief revival in 2000, and another one that started in the late 2010s. The Brazilian version, ''Passa ou Repassa'', ran from 1987-2000 along with a revival that has been airing since 2013.