Double Dare (partially lost Nickelodeon game show; 1986-1993)

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Double Dare splat logo.png

Logo used for the original series.

Status: Partially Lost

Double Dare is a game show that ran on Nickelodeon from 1986 to 1993, had another short-lived run in 2000, and had yet another short-lived run from 2018 to 2019. Hosted by Marc Summers, the classic game show focused primarily on kids, who would have to go through obstacle courses in order to win prizes of trips and small amounts of money.

While the show certainly has fared better than most game shows by having the privilege of years of reruns for fans to record, roughly 20 episodes are still unable to be seen online - or anywhere, for that matter.[1]

Lost Episodes

Of the 482 episodes of every variation, (with the exception of Double Dare 2000, and the 2018 revival), give or take a few, only 463 are in the public's circuit (Not including the unaired "Old Timers" special, unearthed by co-creator Geoffrey Darby in 2015). Every episode of Family Double Dare made is accounted for, including the short-lived Fox primetime series which was posted to iTunes in 2013.

Almost all of the episodes from the first 70-episode season are online, with the most prominent missing episode being "Extraordinaires vs. Challengers". The only footage that is available is a 5-minute clip, which was uploaded by YouTube user "Josh Lieberman" back in 2011. Jacin Ferrell, older brother of Dion of the Extraordinaries team, said in the comments that he has the full episode revealing that his brother lost the obstacle course.

Possibly the most notable chunk of the series missing is the second half of the 1987 season of Super Sloppy Double Dare. Only 23 episodes of the now-confirmed 28-episode run are available. One of the episodes missing is the infamous "Man in the Boat" episode, where Marc loses it over a plastic man in a boat, which was placed on all of the obstacles. This portion of the episode (as well as a few others) can be seen on the 1988 Kids Klassics compilation tape, The Inside Scoop. In 2010, a YouTuber named "pricefan2007" said he has the full episode, but it is unknown if he still has it. In 2021, Marc revealed that he is in possession of the Man in the Boat episode.[2] The masters for 1987 Super Sloppy were rumored to have totaled 40 episodes with half of them having been destroyed by a flood, however, this has mostly been debunked.

123 of the 130 episodes (First half: 62; Second half: 61) that were taped for syndication in 1988 exist in the trading circuit.

There are no exact numbers for missing episodes from seasons 1 and 2, and the 1989 episodes of Super Sloppy, though allegedly, the 1989 version had 95 episodes (55 at the studios of WHYY-TV Philadelphia and 40 at the then-yet-to-open Universal Studios in Orlando). All of Philly's episodes are in the circuits whereas the Orlando batch is missing just two.

Another episode that is missing, albeit one that wasn't fit for broadcast, is the test pilot hosted by Geoffrey Darby. It's nothing like the final product and is more of a prototype than anything else. A small portion can also be seen on The Inside Scoop.

In an article for The Philadelphia Inquirer on July 15, 1987, Gail Shister wrote that Harvey (the announcer; full name John Harvey) would be doing his radio show in his New York hotel room while taping 26 episodes of the show there.[3] But in a later article written a couple of months later, Shister wrote that 170 episodes of the show had been taped at WHYY-TV in Philadelphia.[4] Whether the original Super Sloppy version did indeed have an initial total of 26 episodes, with two extra episodes filmed at the end or whether an extra 12-14 shows were taped in Philadelphia, is unclear.

In the April 5, 1989 issue of Weekly Variety Magazine, Geoffrey Darby stated "Normally, 3-4 episodes are shot a day at a capacious studio rented from WWHY Philadelphia, a PBS station. 300 are in the can, and 95 new ones will be ready by fall. They are shown first in syndication, at 150-some stations across the country, and then on Nickelodeon after a 6-month window."[5] This quote suggests that the 95 in question was the 1989 run of Super Sloppy (again, 55 in Philly, and 40 in Orlando), and also suggests that the total number of aired shows from 1986 to 1989 was 395, this is still unclear, however.

On January 17, 2016, A user named "Adam Barcan" uploaded an episode of the 1987 version to YouTube, featuring his team, "The Schwarzeneggers", albeit in poor aspect ratio quality.

On October 19, 2018, Chris Bryant uploaded the Columbus Cougars Vs. K-Team episode of the first season of Super Sloppy Double Dare to Dailymotion and June 18, 2020, the same user uploaded the Cosmic Sparks vs. Slimey Worms in its entirety.[6]

In December 2020, audio from the "Man In The Boat" episode surfaced on Dailymotion.[7]

On June 2, 2022, the Raging Raskals Vs. Looney Barbarians episode from the Orlando season of Super Sloppy resurfaced on YouTube, courtesy of Danny Gura from the latter. It came from Fox's Orlando affiliate, making it an original Syndicated airing. [8]

On April 27, 2023, episode 19 from the '86 season, "Beavers vs. Navigators," was uploaded to the Internet Archive by YoshiKiller2S with the help of Racelympics.[9]

On September 13, 2023, episode 38 from the '86 season, Terminators Vs. Falcons was posted to YouTube by Matt Anderson, one of the contestants; although it was removed by Paramount ironically exactly three months later, an archive exists of it.[10]

On July 4, 2024, Racelympics obtained episode 78 from the '87 season, Munchkins vs. Burgers from its original February 16, 1987 broadcast. It was previously obtained by Chuck Donegan via Chris Jaunsen, unaware of its status.[11]

The classic seasons of the show have been released to Paramount+, Viacom's streaming service, however the missing episodes that were previously mentioned are still not found on the service.

Incidents

Aside from "Old Timers", there was at least one other episode of Double Dare that was filmed, but never aired. The episode involved a child that had a condition called "brittle bone disease"[12] that made his bones more fragile than the average contestant on the show. He lied about it on the application and made it onto the show.

During the filming of the episode, the predictable happened - the kid broke his arm, while doing one of the obstacles on the obstacle course. Marc said that the kid's bone went right through his skin, and Marc had to leave the set immediately, almost puking. The obstacle course was not redone, as the episode never aired on television.[13]

Another episode that involved an incident was when a kid went down the "Sewer Chute", and Marc thought the kid died. After the show, the kid's father, who happened to be an attorney, forced the staff to give his son the prize for obstacle #7, a large screen TV, otherwise, he would sue them. The TV was given to the contestant, and the staff, from that point on, checked the applications to make sure that the kids' parents weren't attorneys.

Gallery

Part of The Inside Scoop that incudes clips from the "Man In The Boat"

5 minutes of "Extraordinaires vs. Challengers"

Clips from two missing episodes

A previously lost episode of Family Double Dare

Marc talking about the Sewer Chute incident. From 11:04 - 11:40

See Also

Double Dare

Anthology and Short Series

Bumpers and Promos

Films

Game Shows

Inaugural Series

Live Action

Pilots

Other

References

  1. ↑ https://doubledare.fandom.com/wiki/Double_Dare_(1986)_Episode_Guide
  2. ↑ https://twitter.com/realmarcsummers/status/1448860955727728640
  3. ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer; Gail Shister; July 15, 1987.
  4. ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer; Gail Shister; October 13, 1987.
  5. ↑ Weekly Variety Magazine; April 5, 1989 issue; Page 68
  6. ↑ https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ujkqz
  7. ↑ https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7xqeuh
  8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w0sr28gms0
  9. ↑ https://archive.org/details/double-dare-odd-19-e-beamers-vs.-navigators
  10. ↑ https://archive.org/details/dds-1-falcons-vs-terminators-oct-1986
  11. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjqsHrPaZhw
  12. ↑ Brittle Bone Disease Retrieved 06 Jul '18
  13. ↑ Marc talking about the kid breaking his arm. 10:30 - 11:03
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