Funny / Double Dare (1986)

Besides the obvious fun of watching people getting slimed, pied, and otherwise Covered in Gunge, there are some gems here.

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• On earliest taped shows, any time the audience laughed and even screamed at potentially messy physical challenges. It was a strong indication that kids had never seen such things on television game shows before.
• 1986: This exchange on the first taped episode:
  Contestant: We'll take the physical chair.
  Marc: All righty—Physical chair? Which is similar to the physical challenge.
• 1986: An early physical challenge had a contestant tossing pies over a high bar to their partner who had to catch them using boxing gloves. A boy kept slipping and falling with each pie thrown. Luckily he was alright.
• 1987: Marc accidentally asks a male audience member if he had a boyfriend.
• 1987: On a different episode, a toy boat kept showing up at various points in the Obstacle Course as a Running Gag. Marc broke down in uncontrollable laughter every time he saw it, and even needed a drink of water to calm himself down — which he promptly spat all over the camera lens.
• 1988: The "Salute to The Hollywood Squares" episode had a very infamous Physical Challenge. One player had to stomp "grapes" with rubber feet and the other player had to collect the juice via a bucket attached to a helmet. During the challenge, the spigot kept closing and needing to be reopened, and on top of that, the plastic walls weren't very sturdy and with about 5 seconds left on the clock, they burst out of the frame, soaking the kid in juice and making quite a mess. Marc, bursting with laughter, counts it as a win, as the juice did go past the line on the bucket. There's a reason this was the only time it was used.
• 1988: Another Nickelodeon game show rates many mentions in one episode.
  • It all starts when Andrea, aged two, gives an unexpected answer to Marc's question.
    Marc: This is Andrea, and I did a personal appearance in New Hampshire and you came on stage with me, didn't you? (Andrea nods) And now you came to Philadelphia to see us, huh?
    Andrea: Yeah.
    Marc: And what's your favorite show on TV?
    Andrea: Finders Keepers.
  • Throughout the rest of the show, Marc would make subtle references to Finders Keepers, such as introducing himself as Finders Keepers host Wesley Eure, inserting the "Find it!" catchphrase in his Rules Spiel, and starts to introduce a physical challenge as if the contestants were about to search a room in the Finders Keepers house.
  • And to cap it all off, during the pre-Obstacle Course spiel, Marc talks to Andrea again and offers her a choice of two T-shirts, a Finders Keepers T-shirt or a Double Dare T-shirt; he makes a point of emphasising the words "Double Dare" to persuade her to choose that one. Unsurprisingly, she still chooses the Finders Keepers T-shirt (Marc gives her both shirts anyway).
• 1988: While throwing to the first commercial break, the staff ambushes Marc by throwing pies at him. His suit gets covered in whipped cream, and Robin gives him a sparkling coat to replace his jacket. A contestant on the red team tells Marc, "You look like Elvis!"
  • Speaking of Elvis, before one game, Marc did an Elvis impression, complete with the women in the audience cheering every time he said the name.
• 1989: Marc Vs. Harvey. One particular moment stands out while Jim J. Bullock describes the Thar She Blows! obstacle:
  Jim J. Bullock: And you're gonna try to punch one of those valves. A fag's gonna sp- (laughs) A mean a flag's gonna spew out.
  Marc: You're coming out of there!
• 1989: During the show's "Be Kind to Animals" special, Marc demonstrates what a team has to do for the Hot Dogs in the Doghouse physical challenge. He rocks the catapult with so much force that the dog dish with all the hot dogs on it falls to the floor.
• 1990: On an early Family Double Dare episode with the three-digit scoreboards, a team wins the game with $1,050 causing the display to show only "050".
• 1990: After one family wins the obstacle course at the last second, the father picks up Marc and carries him into Lake Double Dare.
• On two Family episodes, Marc had Robin demonstrate a messy obstacle and she proceeded to get him messy through the course descriptions.
• 1990: On one Family episode, the show looks normal, but where's Marc Summers? He's not there. Then we see Harvey up on stage. He asks "Has anybody seen Marc Summers?" Then, we cut to the backlot of Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios Florida. And we see Marc hastily parking his sedan. He shuts it off, then jumps back realizing he forgot his microphone, then runs into the studio. And then, the show starts. Marc Summers had to explain to the audience that the Florida traffic slowed him down, and he's not even wearing his usual suit when he arrives. It's pretty clear this whole thing was staged.
  John Harvey: Marc? Marc? Marc Summers? (Stops the theme song) Where? Marc? Oh my God, I can't believe it. He knows when the show starts. (laughs) Has anybody seen Marc Summers?
  Studio audience: No, no.
  (We then cut to the Universal/Nick backlot. And there's Marc Summers speeding down the road in his sedan. He parks, and is about to run into the studio. Then he realizes he forgot his microphone and has to go back and get it)
  Marc Summers: Oh man, I'm just...Oh, I forgot my microphone! (runs into the studio) Oh, gosh. I hope they haven't started. Man, it's cold in here. It's like an obstacle course back here. Unbelievable! Oh man, the audience is here. (runs on stage) Hi Harvey, I'm sorry.
• 1990: After one opening Toss-Up takes nearly two minutes to be decided, Harvey continues his opening spiel with, "Believe it or not, it's still Family Double Dare!"
• The episode titles and descriptions on iTunes.
• This exchange, which proudly stands among the greatest burns of all time:
  Marc: In the movie Encino Man, what actor played the caveman?
  Contestant: Pauly Shore?
  Marc: No, it's not Pauly Shore. This person has talent.
• Marc imitating Tori Spelling when she is the answer to a question.
  Marc: (falsetto with crossed eyes) Hi, there! I'm the producer's daughter. Do I get the part, whaddaya think?
• On two separate 1992 episodes, one of them the Tournament of Champions, Marc asked which character from The Ren & Stimpy Show was the cat: Ren or Stimpy. Both times, it was answered incorrectly.^note Answer: Stimpy.
• Also on two different 1992 episodes, the answer was in a question but neither was answered correctly.
  • "Alcatraz Prison is located on what island?" went to a physical challenge.
  • One team was dared to answer the question "Gene Kelly sang 'Singin' in the Rain' in what movie?" They answered with The Music Man.
• Any time the show made a jab at Fun House (1988). One episode had a physical challenge involving a chalkboard with "I will not watch Fun House" written all over it. Then Marc would ask questions involving gruesome happenings to J. D. Roth before adding "and he should".
• The staff recounting the time they filled The Tank with baked beans. The beans stunk to high heavens by the middle of the obstacle course taping sessions and the end result was so disgusting they hired a septic tank truck to clean it (which was made even more difficult by the foam squares they had used as simulated chunks of pork, as they kept clogging the hose). And to cap it all off, the guy in charge of the tank truck told the crew "You guys know what I do for a living? This is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen."
• The Running Gag of steam blowing out of Mount Saint Double Dare whenever its name is mentioned in the 2018 revival. In the earliest taped episodes, Liza Koshy would jump when this happened.

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