WEBVTT - How did Nickelodeon Revolutionize Television? 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:03.760 I guess what will? What's that? So when I was 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:07.200 in third grade, cable came into our neighborhood and for 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:11.200 one glorious summer, my parents got us cable TV, and 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:14.040 of course we abused the heck out of it. So 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:17.560 I saw Spaceballs at least twenty times that summer. I 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:20.640 watched all these old Disney classics on the Disney Channel, 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:24.640 and best of all, we got Nickelodeon, which just transformed 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:28.000 our neighborhood. Oh man, I watched so much Nickelodeon during 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:30.000 the summers. But I'm curious for you, what what? Why 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:32.320 did you feel like it transformed your summer? I mean, 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:34.280 this is when you can't do that on television. Was 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.360 on and I just thought it was the funniest show 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:38.080 in the world. It almost felt like it was written 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:41.360 by kids, four kids. But Double Dare was really what 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:44.240 caught fire with the other kids in the neighborhood. And 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:47.000 we didn't know how TV worked, so we just assumed 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:49.519 one day like Double Dare would come to town and 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:51.400 they'd call us on the phone, and we just have 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:54.880 to be prepared for that moment. So every day, honestly, 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.240 every day, we'd like quiz each other on trivia questions 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:00.280 and then we'd like create these ridiculous physical challenges. We 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:02.520 had a creek behind our house, so we'd get all 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:05.080 money and like roam through it and we'd like climb 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.280 trees and whatever we could come up with. And uh, 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:10.759 you know, we practiced hard because we knew one day 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:13.640 that call was going to come and it had to 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:16.080 so so so did it finally come for you? I mean, 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:20.520 of course not. You know, that hasn't reduced my enthusiasm 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.000 for Nickelodeon. And today we're talking about everything from the 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:26.039 channel's early history to how it became synonymous with slime, 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:28.880 to why it really got into the cartoon business. So 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:53.040 let's dive in. Hey there, podcast listeners, Welcome to Part 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.600 Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:57.920 by my good friend Manes Ticketer and on the other 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.240 side of the soundproof blasts wearing a spa on recreation 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.320 of quail Man. You know, the Quailman costume from from Doug. 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:07.800 Of course, that's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil. Now 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:12.480 you remember quail Man, right mano vaguely. He was the 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.960 kind of the imaginary superhero persona that Doug was always 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:18.600 doodling in his little journal. You remember this. So I 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:20.520 like Doug, but I was really more of a hey, 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:24.160 Arnold guy myself. I'll be honest, I'm with you on that. 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:26.840 But you know, it's tough to choose a favor from 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:30.240 so many of the iconic shows from Nickelodeon. The network's 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:33.160 golden age gave us so many memorable characters. In fact, 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:34.919 I'm not sure if you knew this, but Nickelodeon is 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:37.320 actually going through a bit of a resurgence right now, 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.400 and that's thanks largely to the nostalgia that people feel 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:43.720 for those early shows. Yeah, it's funny to me because 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:46.040 my son was at camp and while they were waiting 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:49.280 at pick up, like, they were all watching Rocco's Modern Life, 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.120 and I could believe it. It feels like a TV 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:56.040 show that was so many generations ago. Well, and actually, 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.160 if you you look at the Hollywood headlines from recent years, 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:01.600 I mean it's kind of crazy how many old Nick 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.800 shows are currently set for revivals and reboots. So I 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:07.760 was just making a list of these. You've got Hey Arnold, 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:12.080 Rocko's Modern Life, Doubled Air, which is awesome. Clarissa explains, 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:15.160 it all. Are you afraid of the Dark Invader, zim 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:18.200 Ren and Stimpy and the Wild Thornberries. I mean, the 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:20.840 list just goes on and on. Yeah, that's got everything 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:23.520 on there except Dog for some reason. Yeah, but you 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:25.880 know that that is, of course a notable emission. But 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:28.040 maybe today's show will drum up some interest and a 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:31.200 Doug come back. And you know, with Nickelodeon being back 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:33.760 in the limelight, now feels like a pretty good time 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:36.080 to take a closer look at the network's history and 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:38.280 trying to get a sense of what made those Nick 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.440 shows so special in the first place. And also I 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:43.240 think we both just want to know how they got 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:45.640 into the slime business to begin with. That's right, But 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:47.400 I do feel like we're getting a little ahead of 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:50.680 ourselves because Nickelodeon wasn't always the network that Slime built. 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:53.920 In fact, in its earliest days, it wasn't even called Nickelodeon. 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:57.720 Back in the network launched as Pinwheel, which was this 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:00.920 low budget channel aimed at preschoolers, and this was during 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:03.640 the earliest days of cable tv, and and then after 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:06.480 two years of modest success, the network decided to expand 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:09.120 its audience and in that process is when it was 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:13.640 rebranded as Nickelodeon, which is I guess that that word 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:16.560 means kind of like an old movie theater, right, Yeah, 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:19.120 so I didn't actually realize that like a Nickelodeon was 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.840 this pop up small theater. And and the name actually 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.520 comes from a combination of the admission price, which was 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:28.480 obviously just a nickel, and the Greek word for theater. Apparently, 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:30.839 the first of these Nickelodeon's opened in Pittsburgh, and this 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.120 was way back in and then they popped up all 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:34.800 over the country for the next five years or so, 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:38.920 at least until the larger movie palaces began to replace them. 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:40.880 And it wasn't something I thought about as a kid. 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:43.159 I just I didn't even know the word came from anything. 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.479 But it does feel like a little bit of a 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:49.279 weird name for kids network in hindsight. Yeah, that's true. 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:51.040 And and actually people in general tend to be a 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:54.000 little confused about the word really means, and that's partly 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:56.960 because of a popular song from the late forties includes 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:00.360 the line put another nickel in the nickelodeon, which was 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:03.760 I guess more of a coin operated jukebox or music 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:06.760 box or piano player. I don't know exactly what it was, 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:10.080 but there's actually a third meaning to Nickelodeon, which refers 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:13.159 to these old timey movie picture viewers where you turn 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:16.479 a crank and through like a viewfinder you'd watch a 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:19.559 short vaudeville act or something. And it's actually that last 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:21.599 one that the network had in mind when they chose 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.960 the name Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon's first logo was a cartoon I'm 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:27.400 looking into a viewer. I've never seen this before, but 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:30.320 apparently it was shown as an interstitial between shows, and 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:32.320 the mind would always turn the crank when the next 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:34.640 program was about to start. Yeah, and I can't imagine 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.040 the mime logos stuck around for all that long though, 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:39.479 right Like, it feels like a very outdated idea to 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:41.719 even be using a mime in the first place. Yeah, 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:43.960 it really was, And the network changed logos a few 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:46.400 times in those early years. Eventually they settled on this 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:49.000 big silver pinball with the name of the channel written 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:51.719 in rainbow letters, and they stuck with that until the 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.120 iconic orange splat logo hit the scene. And this was 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:58.279 in alright, so everybody can remember that one or everybody 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:00.720 that watched TV in this generation. So, so how did 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:04.080 that come about exactly? Because it is this strange transition 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:06.680 to go from mind a pinball to orange slime. I 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:09.760 wouldn't say it's a very clear cut progression. Yeah, The 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:12.479 slime actually debuted on the network's first hit show, You 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:14.880 Can't Do That on Television, which we talked about earlier. 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:18.080 The series had started abroad in ninety nine, but Nickelodeon 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:21.680 did begin airing it until I Guess one in the US, 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:25.320 and it featured both scripted and improvised skits with a 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:27.960 few adults and a rotating cast of teen actors or 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:31.520 preteen actors actually, and those were the first folks that 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:35.440 were slimed by Nickelodeon. So if at that point, so 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:38.320 it slime was a recurring part of the sketches, I mean, 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:40.040 I feel like that would be hard to write in 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.359 over and over again. So that's the thing. Apparently, the 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.560 green slime was Roger Price's idea. He was the show's creator, 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:48.599 and he came up with it as kind of a 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:50.919 punishment for whenever one of the kids would say I 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:53.880 don't know during a sketch. I'm sure you remember that 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:55.479 was a code word to get slimmed. And I always 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:57.800 thought it was just like a fun joke, but the 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:01.520 phrase really got on his nerve. And then Price also 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:03.960 took to dumping water on the actors whenever they said water. 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:05.880 But that was just because he thought it was funny. 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:08.279 I mean, it was pretty funny. It was always exciting 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:10.440 as a kid to see this happening. And of course 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:12.880 would pretend to have these kinds of scenes at home 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:14.800 where you'd say I don't know and pretend to dump 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.560 slime on each other. But it is funny that he 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:19.800 came up with this idea just because the phrase got 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:21.680 on his nerves. I mean, it doesn't really sound like 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:24.239 the type of guy who should be working with kids. Yeah, 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:26.360 And I think the network was more or less aware 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:28.160 of that, because the show actually had this rule where 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.800 no parents were allowed on set and the kids weren't 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:33.240 allowed to take scripts home with them either. But to 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.960 be fair, when the cast started complaining about how frequently 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:38.840 they were getting slimed and soaked, Price did start paying 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:41.960 out bonuses of twenty five or fifty dollars for each sliming. 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.119 So these kids, every time they got slimed, they would 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:47.400 get an extra payment, and it feels like maybe they 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:49.520 would just start saying I don't know, on purpose, just 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:52.200 like an extra fifty buck. But it also feels like 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.360 a lot of effort just to keep the whole Slime 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.960 gag going. I mean, it was kind of out of necessity. 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:00.000 What's interesting is that you can't do that on televion, 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:01.800 and it was pretty much all the network had going 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:04.320 for it at this point, and even that wasn't enough 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:08.840 because the channel had lost four million dollars and they 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:12.640 routinely finished last in ratings among table channels. Wow. I mean, 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:14.920 it's kind of surprising to look back because that was 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:17.600 such a popular show that it's hard to remember that 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:19.960 there was a time where they weren't doing that well. 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.240 So so how did they manage to turn things around? 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:25.320 So this is so strange, But the thing that actually 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:27.920 turned it around was the Slime, or at least I 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:31.520 guess this like wild messy attitude, you know that Slime represents. 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.160 There was no other place on television where kids could 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:38.040 see themselves acting up right alongside grown ups or playing games, 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:41.680 joking around and of course making a huge mess as well. 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.360 And people at the network took notice of this appeal. 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:47.400 I mean, this sounds dumb, but that summer I was 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:50.440 talking about the reason we all love Nickelodeon so much 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:52.839 was that instead of being something dished out and given 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.040 to kids, it actually felt inclusive, like kids were part 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:58.480 of the process or something, and that it was created 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:01.600 for you. And honestly, it's it's part of that spirit 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:04.200 that we were trying to tap into. Like at Mental Plus, 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.840 it was super playful without ever talking down and everyone 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:11.560 was welcome. Except now I'm thinking we should have used 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.520 more Slime in the process, and we missed this opportunity. 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:16.520 But but speaking what you were talking about the logo, 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:20.720 so obviously Slime was the network surprise breakout star from 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:23.280 that show, and and I'm curious, is that where the 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:27.520 Splat logo comes in. Yeah, So, with the channel struggling overall, 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.000 the network president decided to hire a team to overhaul 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:33.240 the Nickelodeon brand and they decided to use Slime as 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:35.360 a jumping off point and the first thing to go 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:38.080 was the Pinball logo and to replace it, there was 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:40.600 this designer named Tom Corey. He came up with a 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.360 familiar splat logo. He actually saw this as something that 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:47.320 was expressive and flexible and Corey used two colors for 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:50.880 the logo. He used orange and lime green, which basically 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.040 became the networks go to palette from then on. But 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:56.199 the reason he chose those was because they're both international 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.120 distress colors, so of course he hoped they'd command the 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:02.160 same attention when were on screen. Okay, I mean it 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:03.959 makes a lot of sense, and I do like his 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.760 point about the flexibility of a logo like that. I mean, 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:10.400 you know, Nickelodeon was using that pretty literally. When you 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.320 remember watching the channel, you'd see all those I guess 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:16.320 those bumpers between shows where that splat logo would come 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:18.760 onto the screen like a sticker and then it would 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:21.040 reform into like a dog bone or a hat or 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:23.240 a blimp or whatever it was, and it was it 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.000 was just this fun way to communicate the kind of 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:31.120 energy and imagination that you expect from a network like this. Definitely, 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:33.720 And another thing that came out of this rebranding effort 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:37.520 was the networks association with do Walk Music. So I 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:41.160 didn't remember this, but prior to Nickelodeon didn't have many 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:45.439 original productions and the only way to communicate that attitude 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:47.920 and vibe of the network was through these thirty second 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:51.120 on air promotions. So they've got this flexible logo. Now 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:54.319 that's super fun, but they also need an audio hook, 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:56.920 and the folks there look and look, and then some 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.840 research shows up that kids actually respond really well to 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.439 do you Want music, So that's what they went with. 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:04.760 Then a couple of animators were brought in, and pretty 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:08.160 soon Nickelodeon commercial breaks were filled with these uh sneaker 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.760 wearing dinosaurs who just danced around to do wop. It's 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.440 weird because I know that's been so long, but I 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.600 can remember this so vividly. But I'm curious, though, did it? 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:21.320 Did it work? Yeah? It's really remarkable. Within six months 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:24.360 of rebranding, Nickelodeon had become the number one channel for 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:27.400 children's programming, which was the title that actually held onto 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:29.679 for decades, even the face of all the new competition 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.760 from Disney and Cartoon Network and wherever else. I mean 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.439 six months that is pretty remarkable, and especially when you 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:38.440 remember that none of the nicktoons existed at this point, right, 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:40.920 I mean, the network had picked up some I guess 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:44.040 some pre existing cartoons to rebroadcast. There was the days 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:46.920 where they even had Looney Tune shorts on there the 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.439 Danger Mouse Show from England. But you know, if you 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:52.719 think about original cartoons like rug Rats and Dog, I mean, 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:54.800 those are still a good ways off because we're still 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.160 talking about the mid eighties at this point, right, That's right, 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:59.520 And most of the success Nickelodeon had prior to the 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:02.440 nineties really was on the creativity of its ad bumpers 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.520 and the appeal of slime. Well, I do want to 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.280 get to those nicktoons of the nineties, but first, I 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:10.360 think we have to talk about Double There. I mean, 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:12.320 we just we just have to talk about Double There 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:14.240 is big of a part of our childhood as this was, 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:17.600 and it was the first hit the network produced in house. 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:22.240 But even more importantly, Double There probably slimed more unsuspecting 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.880 kids and parents than any other show in NICK history. Well, 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:27.839 I mean, you know, I'm a huge Double R fan. 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.760 I'm still waiting for that call. But before we dive in, 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:48.120 let's take a quick break. You're listening to Part Time 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:51.280 Genius and we're talking all about Nickelodeon. Of course, this 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:55.880 children's media empire built on I guess a sticky foundation 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:58.400 of slime, you could say. And and speaking of slime, 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:00.400 I don't know about you, Mango, but one thing I've 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:03.800 always wondered while watching Doubledare was what that goopy green 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:07.360 stuff was actually made of and when If you look online, 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:10.360 there are a million different recipes for homemade slime, with 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:14.440 ingredients from like corn syrup to what my kids use of, 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:17.400 you know, school glue. But I've always wanted to get 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:19.600 my hands on the real deal, you know, like some 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:23.079 of that professional slime I guess you call it. I mean, 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:24.960 I can't speak for the slime on Double Dare, but 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:27.240 I can tell you that you definitely don't want to 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:30.840 recreate the first slime DApp here on Nickelodeon. And why 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:33.920 is that? Apparently the initial batch of slime for you 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:36.080 can't do that on television was just a mix of 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:40.680 green latex paint and leftover food scraps from the studio cafter, 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:45.360 so it was disgusting. It was refined later to be 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.599 this mix of cream wheat food coloring in baby shampoo, 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:51.439 which is also disgusting, but way better for all the 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:55.440 shows slime dumping needs. And while it's still gross, you know, 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:59.319 it's definitely better than straight up garbage, you know. All 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:01.360 I remember of cream of wheat when I used to 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:04.000 eat it as a kid. Where how tiny those boxes were. 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:07.160 So now I'm imagining them having to get like thousands 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.640 and thousands of tiny cream of wheat boxes just to 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:11.960 make this slime. You know, if you think about, if 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:15.280 nothing else, it's interesting to trace this evolution of slime 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:18.240 across the different shows. Like I was reading about some 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:20.840 of the ingredients that they'd used over the years. I 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.720 read cottage cheese and vegetable oil were also a key 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:26.480 ingredient at one point. And you know, to come back 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:29.200 to the idea of double dare the host Mark Summers. 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:32.600 He claims the show's slime was made from vanilla putting, 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:35.840 apple sauce, oatmeal, green food coloring, and by the third 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:39.600 day anything else that was on the obstacle course. So 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:43.640 do they really reuse the same bash across multiple days stuff? Yes, 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:45.600 And and bear in mind when the show was at 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:49.360 peak production, they were taping like six or seven episodes 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:52.240 a day, So you know, imagine these kids slepting through 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.880 these messy obstacle courses covered in that same week old 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:58.800 apple sauce, as you know, the last contestant had. And 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:01.480 actually I came across a pretty funny story about it 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:04.200 in this this interview with the show's announcer. His name 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:07.200 was John Harvey, and here's what he said. You know, 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:10.360 that tank we filled with styrofoam, peanuts or balloons or 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:13.280 sometimes water in the obstacle course. It was pretty long, 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:17.040 fifteen or twenty ft, and we'd fill it with various crap. 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:19.240 One time we filled it, like, I don't know, a 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:22.000 third of the way up with baked beans. When you 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:24.720 empty that many baked beans into a tank, you want 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:26.960 to get your money's worth. So we shot a week's 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.560 worth of shows with baked beans at the end of 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.880 the week, shooting day in and day out under hot lights. 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:36.800 It was pretty right. So, I mean, you can just 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:39.320 imagine how gross that view with all the studio lies 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:43.680 just baking all that squishy food beneath it, And you know, 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.720 I feel bad for the contestants, but also just think 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.000 about the poor stage hand whose job it was to 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:50.960 empty the tank at the end of the week. That 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:54.400 just feels so gross. Yeah, I feel way worse for 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:56.280 that person than I would any of the kids, because 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:58.200 you know, the kids love it. No matter how bad 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:00.920 it smelled. The worst it smelled, the more excited they were. 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:03.960 But I am glad that you mentioned this because Robin 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:06.920 Russo was actually the long suffering stage assistant who had 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:09.400 to deal with this kind of thing and come up 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:12.520 with ways to clean up after these huge messes. And 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:14.800 according to her, they actually called in one of those 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.200 big vacuum trucks. Those are the ones that are nicknamed 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:20.440 honey wagons, and it's what people used to empty things 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:23.880 like septic tanks and porta potties. And apparently when the 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.880 technician had finished sucking out all those baked beans that 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:29.160 we were talking about, you know, sucking those through a 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:31.600 giant hose, what he said that the crew was He 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:34.200 said it was by far the most disgusting thing he'd 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.440 ever had to do, which is probably the highest phrase 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.400 you can get on a supergross kids game show. Totally. 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:42.680 I am curious, though, Like, did you get a sense 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:44.880 for how Double Dare happened in the first place? Like, 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:47.160 I know the network had a slew of game show 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.600 hits after in the nineties, but Double Dare really felt 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:53.880 so different from anything before it on TV. Yeah, it 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:56.440 was very different than anything you'd seen before. So game 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:59.480 shows were never really a staple of children's programming in 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:02.720 the same way that cartoons or variety shows were, And 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:05.240 in fact, the reason Nickelodeon decided to try one of 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:07.720 these out it actually had more to do with corporate 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:10.760 sponsorship than anything else. So in the mid eighties, the 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.480 network was approached by a production group that had already 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:16.840 signed nabisco On as a sponsor, and so apparently the 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:20.719 game show slant was really more Nabisco's idea. And so 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:22.840 as a cookie and snack company, you know, they didn't 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:26.360 have any characters or toys to promote through animated pieces, 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:28.320 so they figured that a game show might actually be 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:30.600 a better way to get their brands on kids TV. 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:32.960 So did a n Abiscoe come up with the whole 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:36.119 format to like this idea of mixing trivia questions with 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:40.240 crazy physical challenges and all those obstacle courses. Now, I 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:42.879 mean that that all really came from the show's producers. 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:44.600 They happen to be big fans of the board game 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:48.439 mouse Trap and also of Rube Goldberg machines, And actually 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:51.879 that was basically the premise that kicked the whole thing off. 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:53.920 You know, one of them said, wouldn't it be fun 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:56.720 if you made a Rube Goldberg machine, but instead of 0:17:56.720 --> 0:18:00.119 a ball, it was a person. I mean, the the 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:03.119 thing that's so associated with Double Dare to me is 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:05.760 is Mark Summers. Definitely. I don't know. He just seems 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:07.879 like one of those guys who was born to be 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:10.280 a game show host. And obviously I mean that in 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:13.280 the best possible way. Oh absolutely, And I think he 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:15.080 would say the same thing. I mean, the guy had 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:18.240 been a huge game show fan his whole life. His 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:20.520 first job in l A was actually working on Bob 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:24.120 Barker's old show that was called Truth or Consequences. Plus 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:26.919 the guy is even a member of the Stage Magician's League, 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:29.280 so you know, he was definitely a performer who knew 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:32.040 how to build this connection with the audience and you know, 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:34.840 knew how to keep a show moving along. But you know, 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:37.199 when we're talking about him, there is one aspect of 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:39.960 Summer's background that didn't gel so much with Double Dare. 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:42.679 I'm guessing you're talking about his O C. D. That 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.320 is exactly what I'm referring to, and the irony of 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:49.520 someone with that condition hosting probably the messiest game show 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:53.199 in the world wasn't lost on the host. In fact 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.639 interview that he did with Oprah a summer set of 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.960 the experience. It was like a bad sitcom there. I 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:01.160 was hosting a tell of vision show where people were 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:04.040 throwing green buckets of goo on each other and I 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:06.399 was having a good time. But you take what was 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:08.800 going on in that show and multiply it. If you 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:12.080 watch the first sixty episodes, I never got a drop 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:14.520 on me. The kids would be over there just consumed 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:17.680 and whipped cream and chocolate, and I'd be over here. 0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:20.320 And at some point the producers came to me and said, 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:23.000 you know, you really do have to participate as much 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:26.560 as possible, And to Mark Summer's credit, he totally did 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:29.240 after that. In fact, I don't think Mark Summers ever 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:32.280 let his aversion to messiness interfere with the fun of 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:34.680 the show, which is probably a big part of the 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:37.000 reason he was brought back to host later incarnations of 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:40.040 the show. And even though he seated his hosting duties 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:42.920 for the two thousand eighteen version of Doubledare, He'll still 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:45.720