‘Legends of the Hidden Temple’ Is Coming Back – As a Show For Adults
When Legends of the Hidden Temple was a mainstay of Nickelodeon in the 1990s, it was one of many game shows on the network that combined trivia contests and physical challenges, like Double Dare, Finders Keepers, and Nick Arcade. These days, game shows for kids have fallen out of favor — but shows that pit adults in contests of involving intense physicality are all the rage, between American Ninja Warrior, Floor Is Lava, Wipeout, and countless others. And there’s nothing the young adults on those shows love more than ’90s nostalgia so ... why not combine all of these things into a single TV show?
That’s surely the thinking that resulted in a new Legends of the Hidden Temple — this one featuring adult contestants instead of kids. The CW has ordered the updated series which, per Variety, will maintain the concepts and key elements from the original show. It will once again feature “Olmec,” the talking Mayan statue that helped host the series, plus the same sorts of games and challenges as the old series. Even the old team names like the Silver Snakes, Purple Parrots, and Red Jaguars will be back. The key difference this time, besides the age of the contestants, will be the location. The original Legends was filmed at Nickelodeon Studios. The “hidden temple” wasn’t really hidden — unless you think the front corner of Universal Studios qualifies as “hidden.” The new show will be set in a “mysterious jungle with tougher challenges and bigger prizes.” As ever, from an initial group of five contenders, one winning team will get to enter Olmec’s Temple and search for that week’s lost treasure.
Call it craven if you want, but this seems like a no-brainer. Millennials love those old Nickelodeon shows — and who didn’t want to compete on one back in the day? This gives everyone another chance, and it gives viewers at home a chance to relive those ’90s vibes. Plus, if you can’t wait for the revival, the original Legends of the Hidden Temple was recently added to the library on Paramount+. Now we need a new Family Double Dare we can go on with our kids.
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