Nickelodeon Guts facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Nickelodeon Guts |
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| Genre | Game show |
| Created by | Albie Hecht Scott Fishman Byron Taylor |
| Written by | Magda Liolis Albie Hecht |
| Directed by | Jim Dusel |
| Presented by | Mike O'Malley Moira Quirk |
| Composer(s) | Rick Witkowski for Studio L |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 160 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Albie Hecht Andy Bamberger |
| Producer(s) | Christine Woods |
| Production location(s) | Nickelodeon Studios, Universal Studios Orlando, Florida |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Chauncey Street Productions, Inc. Nickelodeon Productions |
| Distributor | MTV Networks |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nickelodeon |
| Original release | September 19, 1992 – December 10, 1995 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | My Family's Got Guts |
| Related shows | American Gladiators Gladiators 2000 |
Nickelodeon Guts (also known as Nickelodeon GUTS) was a super exciting American TV game show. It was all about action sports and ran on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1995. The show was hosted by Mike O'Malley, and the games were judged by Moira "Mo" Quirk.
In every episode, three young athletes competed in four "extreme" versions of popular sports. These events led up to a final challenge where the three competitors raced up a huge artificial "mountain." This race decided who would be the winner.
Contents
How the Game Works
Each episode of GUTS lasted half an hour. Three kids or teenagers, wearing blue, red, or purple, competed against each other. They played in four events that were like "extreme" versions of regular sports skills. Think basketball, baseball, football, and soccer, but way more intense!
Many events used a special elastic harness to make things harder. Other events used a wave pool or a racing track. As the show went on, they created even more wild and creative events. They even built a fake ski slope for some challenges!
Scoring Points
Competitors earned points based on how well they did in each event.
- First place got 300 points.
- Second place received 200 points.
- Third place earned 100 points.
If there was a tie, the players involved usually got the higher score. If players were disqualified or didn't finish, they received third-place points.
Meet the Competitors
Between events, there was a short part called "Spill Your GUTS." This was a chance to learn more about the contestants. In the first two seasons, one of the hosts would interview them. Later, the contestants introduced themselves in a pre-recorded video.
During Global GUTS, a flag of the player's country was shown. Then, the contestant would introduce themselves. A map would show where they were from, and they would share more about their hobbies or what they do.
The Crag Challenge
The fifth and final event in every episode was a race up a giant fake mountain. This mountain had different names:
- The Aggro Crag (in seasons 1–2)
- The Mega Crag (in season 3)
- The Super Aggro Crag (in Global GUTS)
Climbing the Mountain
The goal of the Crag was for all three players to race to the very top. Along the way, they had to hit special buttons called "actuators." These buttons would light up a beacon when pressed. If a player missed any buttons, a person at the top, called the "Crag Troll," would stop them. The player had to go back and hit any buttons they missed before finishing the climb.
Each player had their own side of the mountain to climb. They were not allowed to cross into another player's path. The climb was made even tougher with flashing "lightning" lights and foam "avalanches." There was also flying "snow" (glitter and confetti) and "nuclear flying crystals" (balls) that would fall down. These were triggered randomly or when players stepped on certain spots.
The first player to hit all their buttons, including the final one at the top, earned 725 points. Second place got 550 points, and third place received 375 points.
Crag Rules
Players could lose points or get third place automatically for certain mistakes on the Crag:
- Crossing into another player's climbing area.
- Hitting someone else's buttons (except the very last one).
- Grabbing a handrail to reach the top.
- Starting the climb too early.
- Finishing without lighting all of their own buttons.
- Not stepping on all the boulders in the "Boulder Canyon" part of the Crag.
The Crag had a lot of points available, so a player could still win even if they were behind by as much as 300 points before this final event.
The Aggro Crag was about 28 feet (8.5 m) tall. The Mega Crag and Super Aggro Crag were even taller, at about 30 feet (9.1 m).
Different Versions of GUTS
Nickelodeon GUTS All-Stars
The highest possible score a player could get was 1,925 points. This happened several times during the show's run. On July 25, 1993, at the start of the second season, Nickelodeon aired a special one-hour show. It was called Nickelodeon GUTS All-Stars. Three past players who had scored 1,925 points competed again. They were Mike "Superman" Schmidt, Jana "The Warrior" Waring, and Kelli "The Maniac" Marchewka. They competed for a college scholarship and a special GUTS All-Star trophy.
This special had seven events plus the Aggro Crag. It also showed five new events that were later used in the second season. The winner received a $2,500 college scholarship. Second place got $1,500, and third place received $1,000.
Global GUTS
For its last season, Nickelodeon GUTS became Global Guts. This version featured competitors from many different countries. Players came from the USA, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Israel, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.). Even though countries had many contestants, only one player from each country appeared in a single episode. An exception was a special episode for the Special Olympics, which had two U.S. players.
The game format was the same as the original GUTS. However, the Mega Crag was upgraded to the Super Aggro Crag. When non-English-speaking contestants spoke in the "Spill Your GUTS" parts, an interpreter would speak over their lines.
Global GUTS episodes were filmed from July 12 to August 15, 1995. They started airing on September 5, 1995.
When medals were given out, the flag of the winning country was raised. Their national anthem was also played. All three contestants would then take a victory lap, wrapped in their home countries' flags. A medal count was also shown at the beginning of each episode, just like in the Olympics.
Global GUTS was shown in many countries:
- Germany: Nickelodeon
- Israel: Israeli's Children Channel
- Mexico: MVS Multivisión
- Portugal: SIC
- Spain: TVE
- Ukraine (C.I.S.): Ukrainian Television Network
- United Kingdom: Nickelodeon UK
My Family's Got Guts
A new version of the show, called My Family's Got Guts, started on September 15, 2008. It was also filmed at Universal Studios Florida. This version was hosted by Ben Lyons, with Asha Kuerten as the referee.
Unlike the original show, My Family's Got Guts had two families competing as teams in each episode. The points they earned gave them a head start during the Aggro Crag, instead of deciding the winner directly.
Video Game
In November 1994, a video game based on Nickelodeon Guts was released for the Super NES. It was made by Viacom New Media. One or two players could compete in many of the events from the TV show, including the Aggro Crag. The game used actual video footage from the show, featuring the real contestants. The magazine Nintendo Power liked the game's graphics but said the controls were not very good.
