Double Dare: From Start To Finish
           DOUBLE DARE- The original series premiered at 5:30pm, October 6, 1986 on Nickelodeon. Originating from the 55'x90' main studio of public television station WHYY-TV located at 150 North 6th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, Double Dare quickly became the most successful kids game show in history. In just the first few weeks of airing, Nickelodeon's afternoon ratings nearly tripled! Of course, this set the television world on fire for slime! Double Dare spurred a memorable copycat called Fun House that hasn't stood the test of time as Double Dare has. Besides, Double Dare host Marc Summers brought along his special brand of humor that made the show fun to watch not just for kids, but for adults as well. Adding to the unmistakeable atmosphere of Double Dare was the show's announcer -- a local Philadelphia morning radio host named John Harvey (or Harvey as he was more commonly known.) There were also two original stage assistants (sometimes a third, whose name escapes me) - they were Robin Marrella and Dave Shikiar. Robin stayed with the show throughout its original history, but Dave left after Super Sloppy Double Dare to pursue a career as a producer. Double Dare had certainly garnered the attention of many people in the TV Biz -- it became one of the first cable television shows to enter first-run syndication.  The Fox Television Network bought the syndication rights for the show and distributed Double Dare to its affiliates from February 22, 1988 through September 8, 1989 as well as DD's short-lived sibling, Finders Keepers. Assistants on the show were still Robin Marrella and Dave Shikiar. This also happened to be the only series that used the "Dueling D's" characters on the set (other than Fox FDD) and the player's shirts. They even produced a mock 3-D episode that many people have since forgotten: Double Double Dare...complete with great camera angles that made it look like things were flying right at the viewer.
           Fox's FAMILY DOUBLE DARE- This brief, yet instrumental development in Double Dare's history aired weekly from April 3, 1988 - July 23, 1988. It was an important advancement because Fox was betting that Family Double Dare could make it in primetime. In 1988, after taping 130 Double Dare episodes, they produced the first 13 primetime Family Double Dare episodes. This version introduced the most radical change to the overall Double Dare set by clipping on chase light diffusers, tacking a confetti-pattern on the walls, and building new yellow four-person podiums. The changes were all temporary, of course, because the original Double Dare was still being taped at the same WHYY-TV studios in Philadelphia. All of the set changes were made at the command of Fox Television executives because their staff art director felt the original set design by James Fenhagen was too "circus-y." Hard to believe, I know.   In addition to the visual changes, they also added an updated theme and new opening. This was the only series that didn't start each show with Marc Summers saying "On your mark, get set, go!" Instead the show began with the audience shouting "Take the Physical Challenge!" followed by Harvey with a voice-over during a montage of video clips - it would then cut to Marc who would start the show just as every Double Dare would start.  Another major change involved the uniforms that each team wore. Instead of the standard-issue Double Dare T-shirt, each team member wore a red or blue polo shirt with the Family Double Dare logo in white on the left side. One of these shirts can still be seen daily on the Nickelodeon Studios Tour -- it's on a manniquin in the window of the wardrobe department! Just a little something extra for the show's biggest fans.  You might be wondering why the Fox version of Family Double Dare was so short-lived. Well, late into the summer of 1988, the entire set and crew were back in New York City  in preparation for another 40 Family Double Dare episodes. It was the night before the first taping when everyone was notified that they would not be shooting the following day.
           SUPER SLOPPY DOUBLE DARE- The well-known Super Sloppy Double Dare (II) premiered on Fox affiliates in the spring of 1989 originating from WHYY's "Forum Theatre," a former IMAX theatre from the Bicentennial and previous home for Nick's Finders Keepers. 50 Super Sloppy Double Dare episodes were taped in Philadelphia before moving to Nickelodeon's new permanent home at Universal Studios Florida.  When it came time to begin taping in Florida, the new Nick studios weren't finished just yet as the park wasn't even open so another 50 episodes were shot on Universal's sound stage 23 along with the "How To Throw A Double Dare Party" home video. As an avid viewer of Double Dare, you may be able tell the difference between the Philly and Florida versions of SSDD by looking at how the stunt floor meets the obstacle course floor. In Philly, they were on the same level - in Florida, there is a step between the two.  The SSDD (II) set was HUGE - an extra portion was added to the front of the stage to accomodate this version's extremely messy physical challenges. Everything was bigger and better! From obstacles like "The Big Kahuna" to "Lake Double Dare" to "WrestleMania" - the sheer size of the stage allowed for some big obstacles unlike those ever seen on Double Dare.   Super Sloppy Double Dare (II) lived shortly in syndication only to return to Nickelodeon for the rest of it's run near the end of 1990. By moving to Florida, this allowed for EASY clean-up of the obstacles. Unlike Philadelphia where everything had to be cleaned by hand, the obstacles could be taken outside and hosed off - even in winter!  There was a little-known predecessor to Super Sloppy Double Dare that shared the same name - but was produced for weekends-only airing during the summer of 1987. This version included home viewer participation with a chance for a lucky kid to win a prize. Whenever a physical challenge was played, Marc would choose a post card from a giant clear plastic mailbox. That kid would win a prize if the team could complete their physical challenge.   This early version of Super Sloppy Double Dare is often forgotten because of its similarity to the original Double Dare. It marks the first time that the show was taped in New York City. It was in the Unitel studios, TV studios available for anybody to rent that was first converted from a movie theatre to a TV studio by CBS in the 1950's. It was a big studio, about 100'x110'. If you ever had the chance to see this version of Double Dare - it was identical to the Philadelphia version, only the Double Dare logo on the wall had the words "Super Sloppy" added overhead and the chase lights on the stage moved very quickly - the fastest of any Double Dare series. (This set can be seen in the "Double Dare Messiest Moments" video from Kids Klassics Home Video).
             NICKELODEON'S FAMILY DOUBLE DARE- When Super Sloppy Double Dare ended its run in 1990, Nickelodeon decided to revive a former format of the show and was determined to make it work. On August 13, 1990, an all-new version of Family Double Dare returned to Nickelodeon featuring a new logo similar to that used on the Fox version (without the "ticking clock"). For the first season, however, the uniform shirts actually still contained the "ticking clock" that was the main symbol for the Fox version. The set was nearly the same used for Super Sloppy Double Dare except the contestant podiums were changed back to the four-person family version. This series lasted in first-run production from early 1990 after Nickelodeon Studios opened in Orlando until March, 1994 with repeats running continuously on weekends (later, just early Sunday mornings) until 1998 on Nickelodeon.   This new version of Family Double Dare was taped on Nick sound stage 19. During the first season of Family Double Dare, many elements remained in use from the Fox version - including the old logo as mentioned earlier. The only place there was an update of the new logo during the first season was on the graphics used to open the show. It was the original Double Dare logo with the word "Family" added above - all on the foreground of a slime-splat.   Later, during the second and third seasons, the logos on the team shirts, podiums, and everywhere around the set were updated to the new splat logo - and this became the main logo for the series, the main logo that would end the American television phenomenon the world knew as Double Dare.  When Nick Studios opened, the home base set of Double Dare was used for musical performances on a live broadcast hosted by Marc Summers from sound stage 19. Also, in 1992, the same set was used to tape a few special NBA superstar episodes and a Welcome Freshmen vs. Clarissa Explains it All episode (these are known as Super Special Double Dare).
 

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