LEGENDS OF THE HIDDEN TEMPLE

'''Legends of the Hidden Temple''' was a physical challenge game show hosted by Kirk Fogg that aired on Nickelodeon from 1993 to 1995.
The show was produced by Nickelodeon in association with Stone Stanley Productions. 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[1].

Contents

Theming and premise

Main game

Teams

Round 1: The Moat

Round 2: The Steps of Knowledge

Round 3: The Temple Games

Round 4: The Temple

Episodes

Temple Layouts

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

References

External links

Shirt Stores

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," and "The Jewel-Encrusted Egg of Catherine the Great," and the "Broken Wing of Icarus." The physical challenges would then be loosely themed after the legend.

Main game

Teams

In each game, six teams of two members 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 punch a button, thus setting off the team's "gong". Typically, if a team member fell in the water, that partner (or occasionally both teammates) would have to go back and try again until they could get across. The first four teams to hit their gongs advanced to the second round.

Round 2: The Steps of Knowledge

To start round two, Olmec told a story about the artifact of the day. The story was always quite detailed and after it was told, Olmec asked the teams a series of questions to test their memories. A team that knew the answer buzzed in by hitting the button on their step with their feet (if Olmec was still in the middle of asking the question, he would stop talking immediately). Each multiple-choice question had three possible answers. If the 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 would have a chance to answer. A question would be replaced if two of its three choices were eliminated by incorrect answers. The first two teams to step down to the bottom level by answering three questions correctly moved on to the next round.

Round 3: The Temple Games

Physical challenges employed on ''Legends'' were many and varied. The first season featured more of an emphasis on teams climbing and/or crossing ramps to retrieve objects, while hindered by bungee cords attached to them. Most times the ramps were covered with soap or water to make it more difficult. The second and third seasons introduced more physical activities such as climbing, riding moving or spinning objects, or spinning a giant wheel. 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 awarded a half-pendant each, and the final challenge 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. The first two Temple Games were one-on-one, and were not restricted to gender, meaning that both individual Temple Games could be (and occasionally were) boy-versus-girl. Both members of both teams took part in the final Temple Game.
In the event of a tie concerning the number of pendants each team was awarded, Fogg (or, later in seasons 2 and 3, Olmec) asked a tiebreaker question to determine the winner. A "tiebreaker pedestal" was brought out, and the first team to hit the button on top of their gong earned the chance to answer the question. The team would have three seconds to answer, and their first response had to be accepted. A correct answer allowed the team to go to the Temple. In Season 1, an incorrect answer (or running out of time) automatically awarded the other team passage to the Temple, but in the second and third seasons, the other team simply received an opportunity to answer the question correctly.

Round 4: The Temple

In the final round, often known as the Temple Run, the winning team took whatever Pendants of Life they had into the temple (1, 1½, or 2), and attempted to retrieve the day's ancient artifact and bring it to 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 randomly locked or unlocked doorways. The unlocked doors could be opened either by completing a specific task or puzzle within each room, or by simply pressing a button (known as an "actuator") located on the wall near the door. 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. If the room with the artifact was close to the entrance, then doors were often locked so that contestants were forced to take a longer route.
When a player encountered a Temple Guard, the player was forced to give up a pendant in order to go on; however, if a 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.
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 Guards "disappeared" and all locked doors instantly opened, allowing the player to escape unhindered. Just for getting into the temple, the team won a prize. If they retrieved the artifact, they would win another prize of slightly higher value, along with the original prize. If they escaped with the artifact before time ran out, the team won a vacation (sometimes to another country), or a week at NASA's Space Camp. They would also receive the previous prizes as well.

Episodes

Temple Layouts

Season 1

(''Rooms listed starting with the upper-right room and going in a counter-clockwise direction'')

Layout 1	Layout 2	Layout 3	Layout 4	Layout 5	Layout 6	Layout 7	Layout 8	Layout 9
The Room of the Three Gargoyles							The Room of the Royal Gongs
The Climb				The Wheel Room/The Troubled Bridge
The Observatory- "sundial" (S1, 1–7)							The Observatory- "celestial lights" (S1, 8–9)
The Heart Room								The Room of Fallen Columns
The Room of the Golden Idols			The Treasure Room					The Treasury of Golden Orbs
The Shrine of the Silver Monkey
The Torch Room		The Pirates' Cove			The Room of the Three Torches
The Mine Shaft		The Dungeon			The Well
The Tomb of the Ancient Kings
The Swamp	The Spider's Lair		The Swamp		The Bamboo Forest	The Holes of Python
The Throne Room (S1)			The Room of Harmonic Convergence			The Throne Room (S1)
The Cave of Size[1]

'The Room of the Three Gargoyles':
In this room, the player needed to push in the correct tongue of the three gargoyles to advance in the temple.
'The Room of the Royal Gongs':
In this room, the player needed to push in the correct base of the three gongs to advance in the temple.
'The Wall Climb (The Pit of Despair)':
Players have a choice of climbing the walls, or simply crawling through the pit, the hit an actuator. Several ropes were added in Layout 2 to assist contestants.
'The Pit of Despair (The Wheel Room) / The Troubled Bridge':
If the player came from the bottom, he or she was required to turn a wheel to raise a stone slab covering the door and its actuator. At the top of the room was a bridge connecting the two doors and their actuators that partitioned the room into two pieces inaccessible from one another.
'The Observatory (S1, 1–7)':
In this room, the player needed to spin a centrally-placed sundial to open the door(s).
'The Observatory (S1, 8–9)':
In this room, the player needed to spin the central celestial lights to open the door(s).
'The Heart Room':
In this room, the player needed only to hit an actuator of the corresponding door to go through it.
'The Room of Fallen Columns':
Similar to the Heart Room, except that several large columns were strewn around the room to slow down contestants.
'The Room of the Golden Idols':
By pushing down on the base of the golden idols at the front of the room, the downward door(s) could open. Otherwise, players only needed to hit an actuator to open its corresponding side door.
'The Treasure Room':
Players entering this room had a choice of opening the treasure chest and climbing down through it, if unlocked, or hitting actuators to open their corresponding side doors.
'The Treasury of Golden Orbs':
In this room, players needed to place a golden orb in one of three pedestals at the center of the room. Placing an orb in the correct pedestal opened the door.
'The Shrine of the Silver Monkey':
The only room in the temple used in every layout each season; contestants were required to retrieve and correctly assemble three pieces of a monkey statue. The statue contained a base, a torso, and the head with a long vertical pole attached to it, which had to be assembled in this specific order. After assembling the statue at the front of the room and pushing it down into the podium, a door would open. While simple in concept, the task of assembling the silver monkey became the source of many failed temple attempts, as the three piece puzzle was often too complex.
'The Pirates' Cove':
After a player entered this room from the Dungeon, he or she took one of three torches placed on the outside walls of the room, and placed it in one of three torch holders at the front of the room. Placing the correct torch in the appropriate holder opened the door to the right. If the player entered from the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, he or she spun the central ship's wheel to raise a rock slab covering the ladder to the Dungeon.
'The Torch Room/The Room of the Three Torches':
Same as above, but with no ship's wheel; if the player entered from the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, he or she only needed to ride the elevator downwards into the Well or the Mine Shaft.
'The Mine Shaft':
If the player rode the elevator down to the room, they could take the ladder up to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, or bash through the wall and head to the Tomb of the Ancient Kings. If they entered from the Tomb of the Ancient Kings, they could ride the elevator up to the Torch Room, if available, or take the ladder up to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
'The Dungeon':
If the player came from the Pirates' Cove, they could take the ladder up to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, or bash through the wall and head to the Tomb of the Ancient Kings. If they entered from the Tomb of the Ancient Kings, they could take the ladder up to the Pirate's Cove, or take the other ladder up to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
'The Well':
If the player rode the bucket down to the room, they could take the ladder up to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, or bash through the wall and head to the Tomb of the Ancient Kings. If they entered from the Tomb of the Ancient Kings, they could ride the bucket up to the Room of the Three Torches, if it was available, or take the ladder up to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
'The Tomb of the Ancient Kings':
If the player entered this room from the Mine Shaft, the Well, or the Dungeon, he or she would take a key found in the coffin at the center of the room and proceed either upward or to the right. If the player entered from the right, he or she could either bash through the wall to go left, or find the key to go upwards into The Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
'The Swamp':
The Swamp was filled with lots of aged netting. Players hit actuators to open their corresponding doors.
'The Spider's Lair':
After the players navigated the large spider web, they could hit actuators to open the corresponding doors.
'The Bamboo Forest':
The Bamboo Forest was filled with long bamboo rods. After making his or her way through the room, the player could hit an actuator and progress through one of the doors.
'The Holes of Python':
The Holes of Python was a large room that featured wooden partitions extending from the front of the room to the back, and each had one or more holes carved into them. After making his or her way through the room, the player would hit an actuator to open a door.
'The Throne Room (S1)':
In the Throne Room, the player sat on the "Throne of the Pretender" placed at the front of the room to open any doors.
'The Room of Harmonic Convergence':
In the Room of Harmonic Convergence, five red floor markings were placed around a central ladder. The player would have to press down on the correct two steps out of the five to open the door(s).
'The Cave of Size¹':
The Cave of Size was a room of different ledges that the player had to navigate.

Season 2

(''Rooms listed starting with the upper-right room and going in a counter-clockwise direction'')

Layout 1	Layout 2	Layout 3	Layout 4	Layout 5
The Crypt
The Pit of Despair		The Rock Quarry/ The Troubled Bridge	The Pit
The Observatory (S2)
The Heart Room	Medusa's Lair			The Room of the Mandarin Hand
The King's Storeroom (S2)
The Shrine of the Silver Monkey
The Vipers' Nest		The Lightning [Ball] Room	The Room of the Secret Password
The Mine Shaft
The Dark Forest
The Swamp			The Jesters' Court
The Throne Room (S2)		The Laser Light Room
The Ledges

'The Crypt':
Three skeletons were placed at the edges of the room. By pulling the correct book from one of the skeletons, a door would open.
'The Pit of Despair':
As the name implies, the Pit of Despair was a large pit. In this room, the player would need to climb the outer walls in order to hit one of two actuators, or remain at the ground level and continue to the room on the left.
'The Rock Quarry / The Troubled Bridge':
This room was divided into two halves. When the player entered from either the Crypt or the Observatory he or she would only need to hit an actuator at the opposite side of the bridge to open the door. If the player entered from the Ledges, he or she had to put five rocks into a large bucket to lift the stone slab covering the door to the Laser Light Room.
'The Pit':
The Pit was a very simple room. There were two rock slabs on either side of the room, with a rope hanging from the ceiling in the center. The contestant only needed to swing across the chasm to hit an actuator, and the corresponding door could open.
'The Observatory (S2)':
In the Observatory, a stone column was placed at the front of the room. To open the door(s), the column needed to be arranged so that it formed a complete picture.
'Medusa's Lair':
A small "Medusa head" was placed at the front of the room. In order to open the door(s), the player had to place a number of snakes in Medusa's head. In earlier episodes players had to put four snakes into Medusa's head, but this was later reduced to two.
'The Room of the Mandarin Hand':
A large hand was placed at the center of this room, holding a globe with its thumb. The players needed to push the fingers of the hand around the globe to open the doors.
'The King's Storeroom (S2)':
In this room, a pot was placed on each of three pedestals at the center of the room. The player entering this room needed to break open the pots in search of a key, and then place the key in the correct pedestal to open the door(s).
'The Vipers' Nest':
After a player entered this room from the Mine Shaft, he or she had to open the pots placed at the front of the room, each containing rubber snakes. If a player opened the wrong jar, the snakes would jump out of it, but the snake in the correct jar would not move. Once the unmoving snake is pulled out of its jar, the door to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey opened. If the player entered from the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, he or she would only need to ride the elevator downwards into the Mine Shaft.
'The Lightning [Ball] Room':
The player had to connect four power cords into the pedestal holding the central "lightning ball" to "create their own lightning" and open the Shrine door. However, if they entered from the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, they could simply ride the elevator downwards.
'The Room of the Secret Password':
If the player entered from the Mine Shaft, he or she had to open the cabinets placed on the outer walls, and shout out the inscription which was written inside the cabinet. (The three inscriptions were "Klaatu Barada Nikto," "Long live Olmec," and "Open Sesame.") If it was the correct passage, the door to the right could open. If the player entered from the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, he or she would only need to ride the elevator downwards into the Mine Shaft.
'The Mine Shaft':
If the player rode the elevator down to the room, they could take the ladder up to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, or bash through the wall and head to the Dark Forest. If they entered from the Dark Forest, they could ride the elevator up to The Vipers' Nest, The Lightning Ball Room, or The Room of the Secret Password, or take the ladder up to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
'The Dark Forest':
This room featured two large trees with long arms and holes in their trunks. The player that entered this room had to look for a key in the holes of the trees. If they were unsuccessful, they could run through a breakaway stone wall to enter the Mine Shaft. In this room, one of the trees would sometimes be haunted by the "spirit" of a Temple Guard; if a tree grabbed the player, he or she had to give up a Pendant of Life to go on. (The Dark Forest took the place of the Tomb of the Ancient Kings in the Temple, but some of the objects in the room, namely the images on the doors behind the trees, retained their previous appearance and were never updated.)
'The Jesters' Court':
In the Jesters' Court, players needed to align themselves with three wall paintings, while simultaneously pressing three actuators within each painting. If they had aligned themselves with the correct painting, the doors would open. This is one of the few rooms that never housed a Temple Guard.
'The Throne Room (S2)':
The Throne of the Pretender was placed on a reversible wall that blocked access to the left. The player sat upon the throne and pushed down on two actuators placed on the armrests to swing around the wall, allowing access to open doors.
'The Laser Light Room':
In the center of this room, eight square tiles were placed on a wall, each covering a "laser". The player that entered this room would need to pull the tiles down to unleash the special white laser, which was the one and only among the other red lasers.
'The Ledges':
A simple series of ledges through which the player had to climb. Beginning in this season, contestants could no longer enter this room from the front, but had to pass behind Olmec or enter from the room above.

Season 3

(''Rooms listed starting with the upper-right room and going in a counter-clockwise direction'')

Layout 1
The Crypt
The Pit of the Pendulum
The King's Storeroom (S3)
The Chamber of the Sacred Markers
The Room of the Ancient Warriors
The Shrine of the Silver Monkey
The Room of the Secret Password
The Pharaoh's Secret Passage
The Quicksand Bog
The Dark Forest
The Jesters' Court
The Tomb of the Headless Kings
The Ledges

'The Pit of the Pendulum':
In this room, a rope swing referred to as a "pendulum" hung at the back of the room. The player had to swing on the pendulum to knock down a column set up at the fromt of the room to open one of the doors; alternately, the comtestant could simply wade through the pit and push the column over.
'The Chamber of the Sacred Markers':
On the left side of the central ladder was a certain sequence of markers, and on the right was that same sequence of markers, with a few missing. Players entering this room had to find the missing markers on the outer walls of the room, and place them in their correct positions to open a door. If, after completing this objective, the central door leading up to the King's Storeroom opened, it would sometimes reveal a Temple Guard hiding behind it.
'The Room of the Ancient Warriors':
Three sets of armor were placed at the back of the room. In here, the player needed to place him or herself into the armor, and pull two levers downward. If they did so with the correct set of armor, the door would open. If a Temple Guard was in the room, he would hide behind the correct set of armor and grab the player when he or she climbed into it and completed the objective. Unlike in the first two seasons, players could no longer climb downward after completing the objective; due to space constraints, the ladder downward had been removed.
'The Pharaoh's Secret Passage':
The Pharaoh's Secret Passage was a narrow tunnel-slide connecting the Room of the Secret Password with the Quicksand Bog.
'The Quicksand Bog':
In the Quicksand Bog, players had the options of going up into the Room of the Secret Password, up into the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, or bashing through the wall and into the Dark Forest.
'The Tomb of the Headless Kings':
Two skeletons of kings with no heads were placed at the center of the room, surrounded by vines that hung from the ceiling. In here, players needed to pull the vines to release bones, in search for the skull. After finding the skull, the runner then had to place it on the correct king to continue.

References

1. There was debate over the Season 1 name of the room that became known as The Ledges in Seasons 2 and 3. Because there was no confirmation from the producers, the most common two guesses were either The Cave of Size or The Cave of Sighs. The room's name is now generally considered to be the Cave of Sighs, but some fan sites may refer to it by other names.

External links

★ Official site

★ The King's Storeroom - A fan site with an episode list, picture gallery, interactive game, and interviews with former contestants

Shirt Stores

★ Bygoneshirts.com

★ Hiddentempletees.com

★ Templeshirts.com

★ Retroduck.com