Legends of the Hidden Temple

"Legends! Of The Hidden Temple! With your guide, Kirk Fogg! And here he is now!"

''"Thank you, Olmec. Welcome to Legends of the Hidden Temple. The Rooms are filled with lost treasures that are protected by Mysterious Mayan Temple Guards. Only Olmec knows the Legend behind each of the treasures in his Temple. Which one are we going to hear about today?" (insert legend)''

Legends of the Hidden Temple was a physical challenge game show for children. Hosted by Kirk Fogg, the show aired on Nickelodeon from 1993 to 1996. The show was produced by Nickelodeon in association with Stone Stanley Productions and was taped at Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Each episode featured six teams of two children (one boy and one girl) competing for prizes. The show incorporated physical stunts, as well as questions based on topics related to history, mythology, and geography. The series won a CableACE award for Game Show Special or Series. Though there are no international versions for this show with different hosts, the American version is dubbed over for foreign countries.

Broadcast history
Legends of the Hidden Temple began airing on Nickelodeon in 1993. The show aired interspersed first-run and rerun episodes until 1997, when the show went out of production and all the episodes became reruns. In the late 1990s, the show disappeared from Nickelodeon. However, in 2002, the show once again began airing in reruns on Nick GAS. In May 2007, the show appeared back on Nickelodeon's schedule, airing every weekday morning; however, it was unexpectedly taken off the schedule after its last Nickelodeon airing on June 7, 2007. On December 31, 2007, Nick GAS was slated to leave the digital cable channel lineup and was intended to become an online-only service on TurboNick.

Theming and premise
The set design resembled various Ancient Central American iconographies, especially Mayan (and to some extent Aztec). It included areas for different types of physical challenges: a large pool of water (the Moat), a set of steps (the Steps of Knowledge), and a large, two-floor vertical labyrinth (the Hidden Temple) at the back of the stage. At the labyrinth's gate was a giant animatronic talking Olmec head simply named Olmec (voiced by Dee Baker). 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 (a replica of the actual artifact, if such an artifact existed in real life), and the winning team had to retrieve it. Some artifacts included "Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress," "The Walking Stick of Harriet Tubman," "The Jewel-Encrusted Egg of Catherine the Great," and the "Broken Wing of Icarus." The physical challenges were then loosely themed after the legend.

Teams
In each episode, six teams of two players (one boy and one girl) each competed in three rounds to get to the temple. Each team was designated a color and an animal, indicated on their uniform shirts:
 * Red Jaguars
 * Blue Barracudas
 * Green Monkeys
 * Orange Iguanas
 * Purple Parrots
 * Silver Snakes

Round 1: The Moat
The first round of the show involved a stunt where the six teams had to get across a narrow swimming pool known as the "moat". Some of the commonly used methods included rafts, ropes, and bridges. All six teams attempted to get both members across according to the rules and push a button, thus setting off the team's "gong." Typically, if a team member fell in the water, that partner (or occasionally both teammates) had to go back and try again until successful. The first four teams to cross the moat and hit their gongs advanced to the second round.

Round 2: The Steps of Knowledge
Olmec began the Steps of Knowledge by telling the four remaining teams the episode's legend. After finishing, he asked the teams a series of questions to test their memories. Each multiple-choice question had three possible answers. A team that knew the answer buzzed in by stomping on the button on their step. (If Olmec was still in the middle of asking the question, he would stop talking immediately.) If a team answered correctly, they moved down to the next level. If a team answered incorrectly or went too long without an answer (three seconds after being called upon), the other teams had a chance to answer. A question was replaced when two of its three choices were eliminated by incorrect answers. The first two teams to step down to the bottom level by answering a total of three questions correctly moved on to the next round.

Round 3: The Temple Games
The Temple Games round was introduced as a turning point in the episode away from the unpredictable Moat and mind games of the Steps of Knowledge. Here, "the glory [went] to the fastest and the strongest" as the two remaining teams competed for as many pendants of life as possible in three physical challenges. Legends employed a number of diverse Temple Games. Temple Game challenges were either untimed or lasted for a maximum of 60 seconds (ending either when time expired or when a team completed the objective). After each challenge, the winning team (the team who completed the objective first or, failing that, the team who made the most progress) was awarded some portion of a protective Pendant of Life. The first two challenges, which pitted single members from each team, awarded a half-pendant each, and the final challenge, involving both players on both teams, awarded a full pendant. If a Temple Game ended in a tie, both teams were awarded the pendant value of that game. After these rounds, the team with the greater number of pendants went on to the final round.

Bonus Round: The Temple
In the final round, often known as the Temple Run, the winning team took whatever Pendants of Life they earned into the temple (1, 1½, or 2), and attempted to retrieve the day's ancient artifact and bring it back to the temple gate successfully. The player designated to go into the temple first would receive one pendant, and the second player received the remainder of what the team had won in the Temple Games (no pendant, a half pendant, or one pendant).

The temple consisted of 12 or 13 rooms, depending on the layout, each connected to adjacent rooms by doorways, arbitrarily locked or unlocked in varied patterns. Often, doors were locked to require teams to make a more indirect and longer path to the room with the artifact. The unlocked doors could be opened either by completing a specific task or puzzle within each room, or by simply pressing a button (or actuator). One room in the labyrinth contained the themed artifact; three specific rooms other than the artifact room held Temple Guards (spotters in lavish Mayan sentinel costumes). If the winning team had 1½ pendants, the remaining half-pendant would be somewhere in a room as well. However, if the team had only one pendant going into the temple, no extra pendants were hidden.

When a player encountered a Temple Guard, the player was forced to give up a full pendant in order to go on; however, if the first contestant was caught without a pendant, he or she was taken out of the temple and it would be the second player's turn to enter, with all opened doors remaining such. Furthermore, each Temple Guard only showed himself once per run, leaving the second player with a clear route to where the first player was eliminated. If the second player did not have a full pendant upon capture, the run ended at that moment. This placed pressure on the second player to search for the hidden half pendant (if he or she had a half pendant) in order to prevent this. If the team had two pendants, they were guaranteed not to have their run end due to the guards, as the first player would remove two (one with a pendant, one with being eliminated) and the second player would remove the third guard with their pendant. Thus, the only way they could lose was by running out of time.

The team had three minutes to complete the temple in its entirety. If either player reached the artifact (being defined as actually grabbing onto the artifact, instead of merely being in the same room with it), all remaining Temple Guards "vanished" and all locked doors instantly opened, allowing the player to escape unhindered. Just for getting into the temple, the team automatically won a prize. If they picked up the artifact, they also would win another prize of slightly higher value. If they escaped with the artifact before time ran out, the team won a vacation (sometimes to another state or country), or a week at NASA's Space Camp, in addition to the two merchandise prizes.

To see pictures & drawings of the temple click here.

Episodes
In its three years of production, Legends produced 120 episodes (40 in each of the three seasons). Many historical and mythological figures were featured as subjects of legends during the show's run.

Temple Layouts
During the three seasons that the show was produced, the temple contained a wide variety of rooms that contestants had to conquer to win the grand prize.

One of the most identifiable rooms of the Hidden Temple was the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, which was the only room to remain in the Hidden Temple throughout the entirety of the show's run.

Music
David Stanley/The Music Machine

Inventors
Scott Stone, David Stanley & Stephen Brown

Merchandise

 * Clothing apparel of the teams on the show

Catchphrases
"One of these six teams will have a chance to retrieve the (insert legend artifact), will it be the Red Jaguars, (applause) The Blue Barracudas, (applause), The Green Monkeys, (applause) The Orange Iguanas, (applause), The Purple Parrots, (applause), or the Silver Snakes? (applause) They're gonna have to pass some (pretty) tough physical and mental tests. And in the end, only one team will have the right to enter Olmec's Temple. But first, they must cross the moat, and here's (Olmec), (who will tell us) how they have to do it today. - Kirk Fogg

"Teams, are you ready? (Teams: YEAH!) Olmec, are you ready? (Olmec: Oh yeah/Let's rock!/This rock is ready to roll!) On your marks, get set, go!" - Kirk Fogg (preparation for the moat)

"Going on to the steps of knowledge are (insert four winning teams)! The (insert two losing teams) gave it a great effort and they're not going away empty handed, we've got a great gift for them. Here's what it is!" - Kirk Fogg

"As we continue our/the quest/the quest continues, it's now time for Olmec to tell us about (insert legend). But, teams, pay attention/listen up because your knowledge of a legend can bring you a step closer to Olmec's temple." - Kirk Fogg

"KIRK: Thank you/Thanks, Olmec. So tell us, where is the (insert artifact of the day)"? OLMEC: The (insert artifact of the day) can be found in (insert specific Temple Room)." - Kirk Fogg telling Olmec where the artifact of the day was found in the Temple Room before explaining the rules of the Steps of Knowledge.

"Teams, you're now standing on the Steps of Knowledge. In a minute, Olmec will ask you a question. If you think you know the answer, stomp down on the Ancient Marking in front of you. If you're right, you're gonna move down to the next level, but if you're wrong or you ran out of time, I'm gonna give the other teams a chance to answer. The first two teams to make it to the bottom level, (will be going on to the Temple Games, and) will be one step closer to Olmec's temple. Olmec, we're now ready for your first question." - Kirk Fogg (explaining about the Steps of Knowledge)

"Olmec, first question please." - Kirk Fogg

"Next question Olmec" - Kirk Fogg

"That is correct." - Olmec (if an answer is correct in the steps of knowledge)

"Incorrect." - Olmec (if an answer is incorrect in the steps of knowledge)

"Incorrect, the three choices are (insert three answers)." - Olmec

"Incorrect, the other two choices are (insert two choices after the first multiple choice answer is incorrect during the Steps of Knowledge.)." - Olmec

"Incorrect, the correct answer is (insert correct answer)" - Olmec (if two teams miss)

"That is not one of the/our three choices." -  Olmec (if an answer is incorrect and not one of the multiple choice answers in the steps of knowledge)

"Time's up." - Kirk Fogg or Olmec (if the team stomps down and unable to answer during the Steps of Knowledge)

"Time's up, the correct answer is (insert correct answer)" - Olmec (if a team runs out of time)

"Teams, you might wanna wait until you hear all the answers before you stomp in." - Kirk Fogg (reminding teams to wait for the multiple choice answers in the steps of knowledge)

"These two teams will be going on to the temple games! It's the (insert winning team #1) and (insert winning team #2)! (insert two losing teams) are not going away empty handed, we got a great gift for them. Here's what it is!" - Kirk Fogg

"These two teams will be playing for the right to enter Olmec's temple and they're gonna do it right after this!" - Kirk Fogg

"Welcome back to Legends. Now the glory goes to the fastest and the strongest." - Kirk Fogg (at the start of the Temple Games)

"In the Temple Games, each team is competing to win Pendants of Life. The winning team will need those Pendants to protect them from the dreaded Temple Guards as they make their way to the Temple. There are three Temple Games." - Kirk Fogg

"Here are the Tiebreaker Rules: I'm gonna ask/read you a question. If you think you know the answer, hit the gong in front of you. You'll have three seconds to answer, and I must accept your first response. If you're right, you and your partner will be going to the Temple (and search for (insert legend.) If you're wrong, or you ran out of time, your opponents automatically win. All clear?" - Kirk Fogg (explaining about the Tiebreaker from Season 1)

"Here are the Tiebreaker Rules: In a minute, Olmec will ask you a question. If you think you know the answer, hit the gong in front of you. You'll have three seconds to answer, and I must accept your first response. If you're right, you and your partner will be going to the Temple (and search for (insert legend.) If you're wrong, or you ran out of time, I'm gonna give the other team/your opponents a chance to answer. All clear?" - Kirk Fogg (explaining about the Tiebreaker from Seasons 2 and 3)

"The (winning team) is going to the Temple! (Losing team), nice try, great effort. You're not going away empty handed, we got a great gift for you. Here's what it is!" - Kirk Fogg

"We'll see if the (winning team) can make it to Olmec's Temple, and retrieve the (insert artifact of the day) right after this!" - Kirk Fogg

"Welcome back to Legends. (insert two winning contestants) have proven themselves worthy and now have earned the right to enter Olmec's temple. But first, Olmec will give them some information to help them retrieve (insert artifact of the day)." - Kirk Fogg

"The choices are yours and yours alone. Good luck." - Olmec (in Season 1)

"Thank you/Thanks, Olmec. All right, you guys won (insert number of pendants here) in the temple games. Who's going first? (Contestant: I AM!). Okay, now, which way you're gonna go, up or down? (Contestant: UP./DOWN.) Okay, now, when I say 'Go', you're gonna race through the temple gates into the Temple and make your way towards the (insert specific room) and grab the (insert artifact of the day). But be careful, because the Temple has many locked doors and dead ends, and also hidden inside the Temple are Temple Guards, assigned to protect three specific rooms. If you enter one of those rooms, a Temple Guard will run/jump out and capture you, but you can trade your pendant in for an extra life and go on, but, if you're caught without a pendant, you'll be taken out of the temple and it will be (insert name)'s turn to enter and try his/her luck. (Now, you have a pendant in a half. Hidden somewhere inside the temple is the other half of your pendant. If you find the half pendant and you're carrying the other half, you'll also get an extra life.) As soon as you can reach the (insert artifact of the day), all of the doors of the temple will instantly unlock and the temple guards will vanish/disappear. And you'll have three minutes, and for your efforts, you will both be handsomely rewarded. And here's how." - Kirk Fogg (in Season 1)

"The choices are yours and yours alone. You won (insert number of pendants here) in the temple games. Who's going first? (Contestant: I AM!) Very well, (insert name)! When Kirk gives the signal, you'll race through the gates, into the Temple and make your way towards, (insert artifact of the day). Hidden inside the Temple are Temple Guards, assigned to protect three specific rooms. You can trade your pendant for an extra life and go on, but, if you're caught without a pendant, you'll be taken out of the temple and it will be (insert name)'s turn to enter and try his/her luck. (Hidden somewhere inside the temple is the other half of your pendant. If you can find it and you're carrying the other half, you will get an extra life.) If you can reach the (insert artifact of the day), all of the doors of the temple will instantly unlock and the temple guards will vanish. Return through the gates with the (insert artifact of the day here) in 3:00, and you will both be handsomely rewarded. And here's how!" - Olmec (in Seasons 2 and 3)

"For just getting into the Temple/First, you're both gonna get (insert first prize). Grab the (insert artifact of the day) within three minutes, and you'll also receive (insert prize). And if you bring back (insert artifact of the day) out of the Temple before three minutes is up, you'll both be going to (insert grand prize)." - Dee Bradley Baker (announcing prizes for the Temple Run)

"Olmec, lower your gate please." - Kirk Fogg

"OH TEMPLE GUARD!" - Kirk Fogg

Tagline
"Join us again next time for another adventure and another great legend of the hidden temple! Bye Bye!" - Kirk Fogg (1993-1996)

Links

 * Legends of the Hidden Temple Wiki
 * The King's Storeroom - A fan site with an episode list, picture gallery, interactive game, and interviews with former contestants