Nickelodeon revival of "Double Dare" is no more

[goldroadfanatic]

I really enjoyed this revival.  It captured what made the show a hit with children of previous generations and brought it to a 2018-2019 audience.  The set and music were nicely updated for the late 2010s.  Liza was a great host.  She knew how to keep the game moving, root for the contestants, and entertain audiences.  Plus, having Marc as the announcer/sidekick drew in the parents and original fans of the show.  When he pinch-hit for Liza last year as she was losing her voice, it was like he never left. 

Unlike the later versions of the show, the focus was more on teamwork rather than getting messy, so the physical challenges and obstacles were throwbacks to the show's early years, which emphasized skill and patience, rather than getting messy for the sake of it.

I liked how they went back to a 2 vs. 2 format for the teams after having families in the later years of the original and Double Dare 2000.  They even featured former contestants from Super Sloppy Double Dare, Family Double Dare, and Double Dare 2000 play with their child relatives, which was neat.  Could those returning contestants beat the course?  That was a great hook to entice fans like me to watch.

I wish the bulk of episodes this year weren't the tournament format; I enjoyed the standalone episodes featuring contestants winning a bank of money in the main game, plus several nice prizes in the obstacle course.  Also, so far, two tournaments had no obstacle course wins at all (Kids Choice Awards week and Halloween Week), which was a huge letdown considering all the buildup they had about a total of $25,000 being up for grabs.

It was great that they revived the live tour as well, allowing Marc to host and Robin to reprise her role as an assistant.  I got to meet Marc and Robin back in April, when they visited Hartford, Connecticut.  They signed my copy of Slimed!: An Oral History of Nickelodeon, which I bought six years ago.  It was a lifelong dream come true to meet them.  Here's the photo of me and a fellow fan, wearing retro shirts, posing with them:



I'm going to see them again tomorrow night when they visit Medford, Massachusetts.  I hope I get to go onstage and participate in the games.

Maybe Double Dare will be revived again in the future.  If it is, I can't wait to see it again.

[dagdoggnh]

Another thing about Family Double Dare. They thought about taping another season right after 1992, hence Mark's comment about a 1994 Tournament of Champions after Granite Toast won it all.

Granite Toast was from New Hampshire, the same state as me.  I was smiling from ear to ear when they won that tournament.

[BD]

Another thing about Family Double Dare. They thought about taping another season right after 1992, hence Mark's comment about a 1994 Tournament of Champions after Granite Toast won it all. It's too bad they decided against it, but they had already made 500 shows at that point. For a cable game show, that's impressive already.

It is true that they wanted to make more episodes. Marc hosted the 2XL game show "Pick Your Brain" that aired from 1993-1994. The Family Double Dare tour was still going in 1994, and Marc did the Super Sloppiest Moments video that year. Marc moved on the other projects after that though. Phil Moore came in to do the rest of the Family Double Dare tour in 1995. This apparently caused Nick to make (unaired) test shows of Family Double Dare with Phil Moore as host. I'm guessing Nick decided to not bring the show back though and simply rely on reruns considering the network had multiple other game shows during the time (e.g.: Guts and Legends of The Hidden Temple).

Nick did another Family Double Dare test in 1998, but this time with Josh Server (All That cast member) as host. The episodes were called "Family Double Dare 2K". There were pictures online of Josh and a family with Family Double Dare 2K uniforms... not sure if it can be found now. Anyway, this eventually built up into the creation of Double Dare 2000.

So honestly Double Dare really didn't end in 1993. Nickelodeon just went back and forth in finding the right time to create a new season of the show. Nickelodeon aired reruns of Family Double Dare pretty much up until they started working on Double Dare 2000. Double Dare 2000 being a reboot came about because there was such a large gap of time between it and the final season of Family Double Dare.

ANYWAY, I really enjoyed the new Double Dare. Liza was a great host, and I loved how they used Marc. I also enjoyed how the show went back to basics with simple props and challenges (something that Double Dare 2000 DIDN'T do which hurt the show a lot).

[pricefan18]

ANYWAY, I really enjoyed the new Double Dare. Liza was a great host, and I loved how they used Marc. I also enjoyed how the show went back to basics with simple props and challenges (something that Double Dare 2000 DIDN'T do which hurt the show a lot).

I feel like DD2K was a product of its' time....trying to be "bigger and better" than the show before it for the new millennium. But obviously in going with that trend as other shows and products of the era were also trying to do...it kinda shot itself in the foot in the end. The Triple Dare Challenge in particular harmed it, slowing the game down considerably each time it was played. In a different less over the top era...they might have gone a different route, likely something closer to what this 2018 revival was, and perhaps lasted longer too. But will never know how it coulda done that way obviously.