There’s an oral-history glut on the internet—one to which The A.V. Club has happily contributed. That being said, every so often an oral history comes along that details something that never got its documentary due, that details facts and figures you’ve always wanted clarified.
That’s the case with Thrillist’s new deep dive into the history of Double Dare, the Nickelodeon game show that rocketed both Marc Summers and green slime into the middle layer of the stratosphere. Bringing together chats with both Double Dare fans and the creators and stars of the show, the lengthy history shines a light on all sorts of interesting, gak-covered facts. For example, 1,200 different people were considered for the role of the show’s host, and Summers thinks “all [his] OCD stuff has been blown out of freakin’ proportion.” There are also plenty of behind-the-scenes pictures, discussions of how the show’s Rube Goldberg-like obstacle course came together, and the insane number of shows Double Dare filmed each day. (Six or seven at its peak! Think of the gak!) It’s beyond an interesting read for any twenty- or thirtysomething fans of the show, and once again makes the strong case for Double Dare’s return.