Gen Xers and Millennials grew up watching one of the most iconic Nickelodeon game shows: Double Dare. Known for its competitive trivia and wacky physical challenges, it holds a permanent place in ’80s and ’90s nostalgia. The most memorable part of the show, however, was arguably the notorious green slime—a Nickelodeon staple used across various shows and events.
Hosted by Marc Summers (who also hosted the show’s spinoffs Family Double Dare and Super Sloppy Double Dare), the show premiered on October 6, 1986. It aired its final episode on February 7, 1993.
The show recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, and Summers finally spilled the “secret” recipe to green slime.
Nickelodeon’s infamous slime
In an exclusive interview with People, Summers shared the exact makeup of the show’s green slime that was frequently spilled on contestants (and Summers himself).
“People always want to know what the slime was. Well, the insurance people back in the day said that if the slime gets in the kids’ mouths, it has to be edible,” he said. “So the original recipe was: vanilla pudding, applesauce, green food coloring, and a little oatmeal to thicken it up.”
He added that for the show’s first 65 episodes, “I never got a bit on me, especially slime or whipped cream.” Summers was living with undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder, adding, “I just knew I didn’t like getting messy, so I was able to dodge it. I wasn’t wearing Reeboks. I was wearing penny loafers. And I kind of did things my own way.”
He notes that the show eventually took off. After it was picked up for another 65 episodes, things changed for him regarding the slime.
“They did a focus group with kids, and they said, ‘We love the show. The only thing that’s missing is we want to get the host messy,” he explained. “So the executives from Nickelodeon called me and said, ‘Everything’s going great. The kids love you. The network loves you. The ratings are great. One thing you need to change: you got to wear Reeboks, because they’re our sponsor and you should have them. And secondly, you got to get messy.”
‘Double Dare’ celebrates 40th anniversary
On October 4, Summers hosted a sold-out, one-night-only Marc Summers & Friends’ 40 Year Double Dare Reunion in Philadelphia.
He told TV Insider, “I’m thrilled all these years later, people who are now in their 50s care that this thing exists and that they want to be a part of it.”
The show had humble beginnings. When Double Dare first premiered, it was a low-budget production, costing just $12,000 per episode. Summers told Indie Wire, “It was hysterical. We could do five episodes for $60,000. Now, you can’t open a door in a studio for that!”
It was originally filmed in Philadelphia at a local PBS station. “They did focus groups and found out that kids live vicariously through their parents, watching ‘Price is Right,’ ‘Jeopardy,’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ but they didn’t have their own game show,” Summers told the publication.
Summers added that they filmed six episodes a day before eventually settling into a studio in Orlando, Florida. Double Dare became Nickelodeon’s longest-running game show, according to Variety. The show briefly returned in 2000 as Double Dare 2000 (hosted by Jason Harris), and again in 2018 with host Liza Koshy.
