SLIME TIME

 

SLIME TIME
(Syndication, June 11-September 3, 1988)
 
Hunt-Jaffe Productions, O.K.T. Inc.

 

MAIN CAST:
Marty Cohen – Host
Dean Goss – Announcer

  

Nickelodeon struck gold when it debuted its kid-centric game show Double Dare in 1986. Double Dare would pit two teams of two kids against each other by having them win money answering trivia questions. If they didn’t know an answer, or thought the other team didn’t, they could pass it over with a “dare” for double the money. But it could be “double dared” back for four times the money, in which case that dared team either had to answer or take a “physical challenge”. These physical challenges often featured deceptively simple and incredibly messy tasks; like building an ice cream sundae on their partner’s head, popping goop-filled balloons with a needle headpiece, plucking cherries out of gelatin with their mouths, etc. Success won them the money; failure gave it to the opposing team. The team with the most money then went on to an even messier obstacle course for a chance to win up to 8 prizes within a minute.

Slime being dumped on the losing team's teacher.

In the world of entertainment, a success breeds imitators trying to duplicate that success. One of the most blatant copycats was Slime Time; dubbed “the messiest half hour on TV”. Slime Time was played between two teams comprised of three students and a teacher, adorned in either red or blue sweat pants and shirts (the same colors as Double Dare) supplied by Jerzees. The students each had to answer questions and perform stunts with their teams to build up their cash score to $1,000. The first team to do so got to watch the opposing team’s teacher be doused with slime, along with taking home the cash and additional prizes consisting of educational items, musical instruments, various electronics and clothing.

Host Marty Cohen between the two teams as they prepare to get messy with the opening stunt.

Similarly to Double Dare, the show opened up with the two teams performing a stunt that would net the winning team a $25 head start towards their cash goal (Double Dare’s would decide which team would get to answer questions first). After taking their places at their respective podiums and introducing themselves, one student from each team would go up to the host podium to answer a buzz-in toss-up question akin to Family Feud. The correct answer would net $25 and a chance to choose a stunt; but an incorrect answer would give that to the other team. A snafu in the production was that sometimes these questions would be the same ones used during try-outs or practice rounds, accidentally giving anyone paying attention a bit of an edge.

Mr. Slimehead.

Stunts were chosen from a giant ugly head on center stage dubbed “Mr. Slimehead”. The students could pick either eye, ear, or nostril to have a card with the stunt’s description pop out of Mr. Slimehead’s mouth on a slimy tongue. Sometimes the stunt would have a prize attached to it that the team would keep, win or lose. Both teams would then have to perform the prescribed stunt to win another $25 (awarded to both in the event of a tie). These could include “rescuing” a fake spider or bobbing for worms with their mouths by plunging their faces into pie tins of whipped cream and chocolate syrup; the teachers having to carry ice cream sundaes in their mouths across the stage on tricycles so that the students can cover them in whipped cream; putting novelty snakes back in their cans (a stunt seen on Double Dare) with the addition of the teachers’ being made extra slimy with—you guessed it—whipped cream; finding the most “sea creatures” in fish tanks full of murky water and oil; the teachers having to catch and break goop-filled balloons tossed to them with symbols strapped to their arms or through basketball hoops while they wore pin-tipped caps under them; the students smearing peanut butter and sticking the most pieces of bread to their teachers; and more. Any stunt with a time limit was always given 20 seconds.

The teachers under the slime faucet.

After two questions and stunts, the game moved on to round two where the dollar values were doubled and Mr. Slimehead was reloaded with new stunts and nicer prizes. Once time for the round ran out, the game moved on to the final round. Unlike Double Dare’s obstacle course, the final challenge was a series of toss-up questions worth $100 apiece; with wrong answers giving the opposing team the money. Mr. Slimehead was turned around to reveal the slime faucet, under which each teacher stood. The faucet waved back and forth while the students answered their questions. Once $1,000 was reached, the faucet would stop over the losing team’s teacher and dump gallons of slime on them. The winning team got the cash and a large prize package while the losing team got a consolation prize, along with whatever else both teams won along the way.

Gunk-filled balloons being tossed and popped on the teachers' heads.

Slime Time debuted in syndication on June 11^th, 1988; usually paired up with fellow children’s game show Treasure Mall. The series was created by Barry Jaffe and Gary Hunt through their company Hunt-Jaffe Productions in association with O.K.T., Inc. Jaffe also served as the primary writer. Actor, stand-up comic, and frequent game show guest Marty Cohen was the host and opened the show with a bit leading into the first stunt. He was always dressed like a referee. Announcing duties went to Dean Goss, marking his second children’s game show after I’m Telling! Joey Carbone was the series’ composer, with William Harris (who also worked on another Double Dare clone, Fun House) and Fred Duer serving as the art directors and James Hundhausen operating Mr. Slimehead.

Popping goop-filled balloons with arm symbols.

Despite copious amounts of messy shenanigans and going as far as they could to copy Double Dare short of a lawsuit, Slime Time failed to garner the same response as Double Dare. After 13 weeks, it was cancelled along with Treasure Mall and has fallen into relative obscurity save for some video recordings uploaded to YouTube. In a bit of turnabout, Nickelodeon would later produce another game show called Slime Time Live from 2000 to 2004. It initially served as promotion for the launch of the short-lived Double Dare 2000, but ended up far outliving it. The series had nothing to do with the original Slime Time beyond coopting the name and being as messy as possible, reaffirming Nickelodeon’s place as home of the messy kids’ game shows.