http://www.looper.com/25328/untold-truth-double-dare/

In the '80s and early '90s, young viewers all over the country desperately wanted to be on Double Dare. It was a kid's dream come true: a far cry from adults' stuffy game shows, Double Dare gave contestants money for answering questions about movies and TV shows…and then gave them the chance to compete in incredibly messy and sloppy carnival games to win a ten-speed bike or a microscope. Double Dare spawned an entire genre of kids' game shows, many of them also on Nickelodeon (including Finders Keepers, GUTS, Think Fast!, Get the Picture, and Fun House), but there's nothing quite like the original. We double dare you to read this article full of things you probably didn't know about the show—and you can't take the physical challenge.

Read More: http://www.looper.com/25328/untold-truth-double-dare/?utm_campaign=clip

I didn't know about most of those facts...but I did know that Marc Sommers is OCD.

I'm surprised that they didn't mention anything about Greg Lee working on the show as a contestant coordinator and studio audience warm-up comedian or the fact that it was initially taped at Philadelphia PBS station WHYY-TV.

http://www.avclub.com/article/it-smelled-death-oral-history-double-dare-obstacle-245939

When Double Dare premiered in 1986, it became an instant kid-friendly sensation. Hosted by Marc Summers, the gak-soaked Nickelodeon game show aired in some form or another on the network until 1993. Although the show would return years later as Double Dare 2000 with host Jason Harris, the Summers years were the show’s glory days, a bacchanal of gloppy intensity and genial after-school gaming, something that former viewers, now in their 30s or middle-aged, have come to remember with increasing fondness as the years have gone by.

This Wednesday night, Nickelodeon will air a special commemorative episode of Double Dare celebrating the show’s 30th anniversary year. Summers will return, along with announcer John Harvey and production assistant Robin Russo. In the spirit of that super sloppy reunion, The A.V. Club set out to discover the origins of the obstacle course, the show’s most memorable and popular segment. Below, in oral history form, you’ll hear from the show’s creators and production staff, as well as from Summers, Russo, and Harvey themselves. The results are fascinating, a look back at a relatively undocumented time in television that viewers might remember but not know the stories behind. Slip on your big, white Reeboks; grab a set of kneepads; and get reading.