Legends of the Hidden Temple was a game show hosted by Kirk Fogg that aired on Nickelodeon from 1993 to 1996. It was a physical challenge game show, with six teams of 2 people competing for prizes. The format of Legends was similar to other physical challenge shows of the time, such as Double Dare and GUTS, although the stunts were less messy than Double Dare's.

The set design resembled various ancient Central American iconographies, especially the Olmec. It included areas for different types of physical challenges; a set of steps (the Steps of Knowledge); and a large, two-floor vertical labyrinth (the Hidden Temple) in the back of the stage. At the labyrinth's gate was a giant animatronic talking Olmec head simply named Olmec.

Every episode had a theme: a particular Legend was picked (written), regarding a certain artifact from around the world that found its way to the Temple, and the winning team had to retrieve it.

Gameplay

Teams

In each game, six teams of 2 members each competed in 3 rounds to get to the temple. Each team was designated a color and animal:

• Red Jaguars
• Blue Barracudas
• Orange Iguanas
• Green Monkeys
• Purple Parrots
• Silver Snakes

Round 1

The first round of the show involved a stunt where the six teams had to cross a small swimming pool. All six teams attempted to get both members across according to the rules and hit their respective podium button. Upon doing so, the podium lit up and a gong sound played over the studio speakers. The first four teams to successfully make it across went on to round 2.

Round 2: Steps of Knowledge

Round two allowed Olmec to tell a story about the artifact of the day. The story was always quite detailed, and after it was told, the 4 teams were asked a series of questions testing the teams' memory of the story. A team that knew the answer buzzed in by hitting the button on their step with their feet. If the team knew the answer, they were allowed to step down to the next level. The first two teams to step down to the bottom level moved on to the physical challenge rounds.

Round 3: The Temple Games

Physical challenges employed on Legends were many and varied. After each challenge, the winning team was awarded some portion of a protective Pendant of Life. The first two challenges awarded a half-pendant each, and the final challenge awarded a full pendant. After these rounds, the team with the most pendants went on to the final round. In the event of a tie, Fogg asked a tiebreaker question to determine the winner.

Round 4: The Temple

In the final round, the winning team took whatever Pendants of Life they had (most commonly, a full pendant and half of the second) into the labyrinth. The labyrinth consisted of about 10 rooms, each connected by a doorway which may or may not have been open during the game, depending on the setup used that day. One room in the labyrinth had the themed artifact; three rooms held Temple Guards. If the winning team had an incomplete pendant, the remaining half-pendant would be in a room as well.

The winning team had three minutes to retrieve the artifact. One player was sent in first, with a complete pendant. The second player remained outside the Temple gate to watch the first player's progress. In each room, completing a puzzle or accomplishing a task would unlock a door to another room. For example, the Shrine of the Silver Monkey held three pieces of a silver monkey statue, and completing the statue would unlock a door. The Jester's Court placed the switches to the door at the hands of one of three outlines; posing in the position of the correct outline and pressing the buttons opened the door.

When a player encountered a Temple Guard, the player was forced to give up a full pendant in order to continue or be pulled backstage as if he were swept away to oblivion. The second player now had the chance to enter, with all opened doors remaining open and all known Temple Guards nonexistent. If the second player possessed only half a Pendant of Life, a Temple Guard could catch him or her and end the game. To prevent that, the second player would also have to find the other half of the pendant.

If either player reached the artifact, all Guards disappeared and all doors opened, allowing the player to escape unhindered. Different prizes were awarded depending on whether the team merely made it to the temple, retrieved the artifact, or escaped with the artifact.

Show trivia

• 3 seasons of the show aired, and 120 episodes were produced. Of those 120 episodes, only 32 episodes featured teams successfully getting out of the temple with the artifact.
• Fogg's entrances onto the set were different for each season. At the beginning of each episode in season one, Fogg would come down the steps to the temple. In seasons two and three, Fogg entered the set on a rope. In season two, Fogg would come straight down on the rope from the rafters, but he swung onto the set in season three. Also, Fogg's entrances onto the set for seasons two and three were pre-taped, as the same entrance was used in each episode of the second and third seasons.
• Some of the show's temple runs in the third season were taped without an audience.
• In the show's first season, Fogg gave the instructions for the moat round and the temple games. In season two, these duties were turned over to Olmec, and many began to question the relevance of Fogg on the show. Nonetheless, Fogg stayed throughout.
• In season one, Fogg wore shorts with the denim shirt and work boots he wore throughout the series' run. Beginning in season two, Fogg wore blue jeans.
• The first season's temple featured nine different layouts, as rooms changed almost every episode; the second season's temple featured five different layouts. Only season three's temple never changed layouts. The only room in the temple that was featured in all 120 episodes was the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
• Olmec's voice was provided by Dee Bradley Baker, who also announced prizes on the show in his normal voice. To make Olmec's mouth move, Baker pulled a wire. Baker went on to provide voices in Nickelodeon cartoons, most notably SpongeBob SquarePants.

External link

• Rules of the game - includes a diagram of the labyrinth and description of each puzzle