An Ode to Nick Game Shows pt. 1: Have you ever seen a Red Jaguar? Legends of the Hidden Temple

How come no one could solve the Shrine of the Silver Monkey?

In my childhood, the "big three" game shows of Nickelodeon were GUTS, Double Dare, and of course, Legends of the Hidden Temple. In my next three blog posts, I will discuss a standard episode of each show and where the host is today. My first post features Legends of the Hidden Temple.

If you don't remember (which means you were living under a rock, or the Hidden Temple) what Legends was all about, the show featured a gigantic rock head, Olmec, giving clues about various historical figures and contestants needed to answer them in order to move into the final round - the temple. The teams that reached the trivia portion of the competition had to first swim across an olympic pool covered in steam. It was so difficult that they needed to wear protective gear (so. fucking. dangerous) 

Notice the oversized helmets and mouthguards

Once one team answered enough questions to reach the bottom of the short staircase, they moved on to other physical and mental challenges in order to earn small pendants that they could use in the Temple because, you see, there were scary Temple Guards that, if they were not given the cardboard circle, would kidnap the contestants and remove them from the Temple (it's a kids show, duh). Once one team had the majority of the pendants, they would move to the TEMPLE RUN.

Part of the Temple

The Temple consisted of 10 or so rooms, and if a team could get through the entire structure, going through the task of each room in order to open the next door. In my life, I rarely saw teams complete the Temple; it was just so ominous. Without a doubt, the hardest part of the Temple was the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. The task consisted of putting a giant aluminum monkey body together, legs, torso and head. Three pieces, hundreds of failed attempts. How freakin' hard is putting the legs down, then the torso, then the head? Its simple anatomy. 

Finally, someone can do it

What did contestants win? Nothing significant, but who cares? The entertainment value came from the giant talking head and the kids getting stuck in the giant jungle gym.

Oh yeah, the host. Kirk Fogg did not do much before Legends, and I have not seen him since. But he will always be remembered as the OTHER host of Legends, after the giant fake-rock head.