Legends of the Hidden Temple (or simply Legends) was a game show on Nickelodeon. It was Mesoamerican themed, and involved both question-and-answer rounds as well as physical challenges. It was noted for Olmec, a giant talking stone head (named after a Mesoamerican tribe). Originally, host Kirk Fogg did most of the talking, but Olmec took over late in the show, leaving many to question Fogg's usefulness.
Teams
- Red Jaguars
- Orange Iguanas
- Silver Snakes
- Green Monkeys
- Blue Barracudas
- Purple Parrots
Yellow was not chosen due to the logo being yellow itself.
Rounds
Each round would narrow down the teams until only one remained to enter the Temple.
- The moat- teams had to cross the temple moat in a variety of ways
- The steps of knowledge- after hearing the story of the day, teams would answer questions relating to that story to descend the steps of knowledge
- Temple Games- various challenges in order to earn Pendants of Life to protect them from the Temple Guards
- Temple- the final round, where teams had to go through many challenging rooms in order to retrieve the lost item from the story and bring it back out of the temple safely. If the player encountered a Temple Guard, he or she had to give up half a Pendant. Without a Pendant of Life, the player could be captured by a Temple Guard. Players went one at a time, and if both were caught, the game was over. A half pendant was hidden within the Temple. A famous room was the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, where a monkey statue made up of three parts had to be assembled, although it was apparently harder than it seemed as many contestants took at least fifteen seconds to assemble it.
Trivia
- Although the show has a Mesoamerican theme, many of the stories revolved around other continents such as Europe or Asia.
- All historical facts were provided by Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- The Olmec actually built giant stone heads, found throughout the Gulf Coast of Mexico.
- Statistically, the Purple Parrots were the least successful team