User:TheMisterFree/Masters Of The Maze Video Archive

The Family Channel: 8/29/94–9/15/95 (taped at CBS Studio Center) Masters of the Maze was one of the many memorable, yet low-budget, cable games of the 90s. It's weird, but strangely awesome. Basically, it seems Kline and Friends and the Family Channel decided to take elements from The Money Maze, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Knightmare, and even tokusatsu shows like Power Rangers (or, more accurately, VR Troopers), mashed them all together, and gave it a bake in the oven.

Apparently, the show may have started out differently; this newspaper article describes the show as being a race to defuse a multi-level bomb, teams competing in the bonus round, and alternates between the actual title and calling it TimeBomb. I dunno if this was what the plan was before they changed them (possibly because Family Channel management didn't like the bomb aspect), or if this was bad reporting. Nonetheless, it's interesting to mention.

Three kids would compete against each other in a Get The Picture-style round where they attempted to identify pictures that gradually cleared up. The two kids that got to 50 points would then run the titular Maze with the help of their partners. The mystical "Lady of the Maze" would also appear to inform them of what awaited in the Maze. But outside of those core concepts, the two seasons differed radically.

Also, the theme song (composed by Greg Edmonson, would later become composer for King of the Hill, Firefly, and the video game series Uncharted) is completely kickass. Sadly to my knowledge, a clean theme doesn't circulate.

Also sadly, the show hasn't been rerun since 1995, given the Family Channel's acquisition and near-constant renaming. Disney most likely holds the rights now. (Apparently, GSN had the show on a Feast of Favorites poll around 2002, but I can't confirm this; if they did, it was most likely because of the deal they had struck with IFE/MTM to rerun Family Challenge.) As a result, all these linked videos vary in quality.

LEGAL STUFF SO I'M NOT SUED:  I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©1994 Kline & Friends, International Family Entertainment and associated entities.

Season 1
Hosted by JD Roth of Fun House fame, each episode typically began with JD welcoming us to the show and introducing us to the contestants (sometimes with him arriving on-set via skateboard, other time they'd just zoom out from the monitor wall), before telling us the name of the show and to "check it out!" As the logo animated, the camera would pan around the maze set.

Renae Jacobs played the Lady of the Maze for this season, and she was only seen from the neck up via a projection. Renae is better known as the voice of April O'Neil from the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, and had previously been a contestant on daytime Sale of the Century in 1985.

Despite the show's uniqueness, Kline and Friends were able to recycle some elements from their previous shows; the buzz-in noise from the front game was recycled from the 1990-91 Joker's Wild, while the spinning diamond seen in Prize Mountain was previously used as part of the intro to Strike it Rich.


 * 1994 (Janna/Janelle vs. Robert/Bill vs. Katy/Harrison {early episode, apparently}; saved from Game Show Temple prior to that website's end, kinda-blurry/pixellated video)
 * (All the pictures in the front game are displayed on a pink-purple background and are tinted to match, and the credits are in a different font. And one of the consolation prizes is a Watara Supervision!)
 * 1994 (Marina/Mark vs. Jordan/Daniel vs. Lauren/Hayden)
 * (Pictures in the front game are still pink-purple, but credits are now in their normal font.)
 * 1994 (Peachie {yes, really}/Joy vs. Ben/Sam vs. Raheem/Brian)
 * (Pictures are still largely tinted pink-purple, though some aren't.)
 * 1994 (Melanie/Stuart vs. Matthew/Mikey vs. Danielle/Ian; a close game; average quality, cuts off towards end of credits)
 * (J.D. mentions at one point the best Maze time so far is 1:56.)
 * 1994 (Joseph/Brian vs. Dani/Joyce vs. Matthew/Jamil; rather blurry video, freezes/cuts-off towards end of credits)
 * (Jamil is Jamil W. Smith, who would become the first voice of Gerald on Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!)
 * 1994 (Frankie/Ernie vs. Marc/Robert vs. Fallon/Mary {some pretty weird contestants}, and J.D. misspells "yellow"!; taped from FamTV, buzzy/hissy audio)