Legends of the Hidden Temple

For anyone who had access to Nickolodeon in 1993 and ever had a dream of becoming an archaeologist or adventurer someday, "Legends of the Hidden Temple" was a dream come true.

A show went like this: six teams consisting of two ordinary kids would start out on a quest for some sort of item, usually a historical artifact such as a paintbrush belonging to Leonardo da Vinci. The six teams--the Red Jaguars, the Blue Barracudas, the Green Monkeys, the Orange Iguanas, the Purple Parrots, and the Silver Snakes--would line up and wait for the signal from the show's host, Kirk Fogg, cleverly dressed in "adventurer" gear. In this sample show, one team member has to paddle a boat across a pool surrounded by enough jungle scenery to qualify as a moat. The boat has a rope attached to it, and when the first team member gets out of the boat, he or she tied the rope around a pole. The second team member then had to walk across this rope with the help of a bar placed above the moat. As soon as the second player was on the other side, that player ran to a pedestal and hit the button on top. The first four teams to do so go on to the next round. The two slowest teams, the Green Monkeys and Orange Iguanas in this case, went home with $50 savings bonds.

Next come the Steps of Knowledge. The mysterious talking stone head dominating the scenery, aptly named "Olmec", would tell a story to the four teams. Kirk Fogg then asked questions about the story. Players stomped on markings in front of their steps to ring in and answer. The first two teams with three right answers move on to the next round. The Red Jaguars and the Silver Snakes go home with a pair of Skechers sneakers.

Next are the Temple Games, three physical tests such as crawling along a slick plastic mat while attached to a bungee cord. These were somehow incorporated into the story told by Olmec. There are two individual games and one team game. Each individual game won gives the team a half Pendant of Life (more on this later), while the team game awards a full Pendant. The team with the most Pendants at the end of the Temple Games wins the right to go into the Temple. The Blue Barracudas go home with two video games apiece, while the Purple Parrots go on to the Temple with a full Pendant and a half-Pendant.

The Purple Parrots now go into the Temple itself to try to get the artifact and get out of the Temple within three minutes. If they can do that, they get a trip to Space Camp. The paintbrush is hidden in the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. In the way are three Temple Guards who are assigned to three specific rooms in the Temple. The contestants go in one at a time. If a contestant enters that room, the contestant is "captured". The contestant can give the Temple Guard a Pendant of Life to go on, but if the contestant is caught without a Pendant, that player is taken out of the Temple and the player's partner must go into the Temple.

The first Purple Parrot, Joanna, runs in the lower entrance, the Cave. She crawls through to the Pit of the Pendulum, knocks over a column, and goes to the highest room of the Temple, the Observatory. A Temple Guard catches her there, but she has a pendant, so she can go on. She spins the compass and goes down to the Treasure Room. She opens the treasure chest and climbs down into the Swamp. She screams as a Temple Guard pops out of the muck to capture her. She doesn't have a pendant, so she must leave. Mitch must now run into the Temple. He follows his team-mate's path to avoid any Temple Guards and grabs the half-Pendant of Life hidden in the Treasure Room, giving him a full Pendant. He's safe now. He goes into the Tomb of the Ancient Kings and opens the sarcophagus to find the hidden key, then applies it to a tomb on the wall. It opens, and so Mitch climbs up...into the Shrine of the Silver Monkey! He grabs the paintbrush. Now all the doors are unlocked and the last Temple Guard is gone. He has thirty seconds to make his way back to the Temple Gate. He runs and runs and finally makes it back with two seconds to spare. They're off to Space Camp!

The Temple changed rooms often. There were picturesquely named rooms such as the Jester's Court, the Mine Shaft, the Crypt, the Tomb of the Headless Kings, the Hall of the Ancient Warriors, and the Throne Room, just to name a few. It was a good time and a new action adventure on weekday afternoons, all packed into a half-hour. I remember that I enjoyed the show very much, and if you have a chance to see a rerun (as on the Nickolodeon Games and Sports Channel), do so. You might be surprised by how much you enjoy it.

Believe it or not, this show isn't really gone from the airwaves. Unlike what the previous person said, this show is indeed on Nick GAS and has been for a long time.

If you do not have the channel, don't worry, it should come to you.

Off the topic, Nick GAS is a channel that shows many old favorites from Nick's past. Double Dare, Super Sloppy Double Dare, etc. Not much is new.. and that's a very nice thing, mind you.

Legends of the Hidden Temple.. hmm.. it is really a good game show. Very well made. The host, Kirk Fogg, has the perfect voice for television. The only drawback is that about four teams get eliminated pretty quickly to go home with a pair of Sketchers shoes or something.

But Olmec's maze is just amazing. You know, the end when the last remaining team goes through a big maze of rooms and such. And they have to give a pendant to a temple guard if one ever comes in the precense of the room.

As corny as this sounds, it's pretty riviting sometimes. That's a lot when keeping in mind that this was aimed to children.. coming from a seventeen year old. Hah, whatever. These shows are appealing for the whole family, believe it or not.

I remember watching this show when I was young, and for years all I ever wanted was to be on it. Sadly, no such luck.

This was a fun show that kept me and a million other kids coming back every week. I'm afraid I'll have to correct a previous reviewer that this show consisted of six teams and four rounds, not four and three. To trim the fat down to four, the teams had to cross a "moat" using some cleverly named "ancient" apparatus. Once across, four teams would listen to a giant stone head tell them a "legend" (normally a story from history, occassionally mythology), and answer questions on it. The crux of the game was an object from the "legend" placed in the temple. After that, the two remaining teams would do battle against one another to enter the temple. Prizes were won if the team retrieved the object.

Whenever I flip around and see reruns of this, I smile and remember my younger days. While this show of course won't have such meaning for anyone else who today watches it, it's always fun to suspend reality and root along something that happened 5-10 years ago. This show would still work if it were produced today (the target audience wouldn't care about repetition) just as it did then. A nostalgic show for me, a nice time for virtually anyone.

Some things never lose their appeal. Scared, prize hungry 12 year olds, a giant talking Mayan statue, some goofy guy swinging from a rope, that silver monkey that nobody seemed to be able to put together, and some freaky temple guards all came together to make the perfect action game show on Nickelodeon. "Legends of the Hidden Temple" is an excellent game show that was featured on Nickelodeon from 1993 to 1995. Although hosted by Kirk Fogg, Legends is most famous for a much different host: a talking stone head by the name of Olmec. This television show will always be remembered for its creativity and its suspenseful action.

No matter what team won, you could have always done better then them.

oh and by the way there is a site selling the team shirts which is amazing.

HiddenTempleTees.com

"Legends of the Hidden Temple" has to be one of my favorite childhood game shows. It began right around the time I started first grade. I remember watching this show with my sister every time it aired. We both always wanted to be on the show.

The scenery of the game show was very well done and I loved Olmec the talking rock. He always introduced the new legend of that day. Host Kirk Fogg was also a very good host. My favorite team would have to be the Silver Snakes. That was an awesome name.

My favorite part of each episode was the fourth round: The Temple. It had a lot interesting rooms including the shrine of the silver monkey and the observatory. I give this show 10/10 stars.