How to Become a Fan of the Legends of the Hidden Temple TV Game Show

Memorize the introductory sequence. After a sequence where the cameras would zoom and move about in an area where there was a Mayan rainforest, the camera would wander into that of Olmec, an Olmec talking head, who'd start out saying the name of the show ("Legends of the Hidden Temple"). Olmec would then continue after you'd see a technological icon of a Pendant of Life crash into each other saying "With your guide" and introduce the host of the show (which, as you'll learn a little later, was Kirk Fogg). He'd continue, "And here he is now," as you'd generally start seeing him swinging on a rope-vine coming into the stage just in front of Olmec at such an angle where when he turned 180 degrees, he'd be looking at Olmec. At other times, he'd come down the stairs next to Olmec and talk to the crowd to announce his presence. He'd welcome it's viewers "Welcome to the Hidden Temple. The rooms are filled with lost treasures (talked about a little later), but mysterious Mayan Temple Guards protect the rooms." He'd generally always say that "Olmec knows the mystery behind each of the treasures hidden in his temple," which would get the viewer to the words "Which story are we going to hear today?" Olmec would respond with the title of the show's treasure for the day. The guide host would then introduce the teams just by team color as the camera moved from the team closest to him towards the farthest team away from him." He'd have a shot at explaining that the teams would have to pass certain tests, both physical and mental and that only one team can make it to the temple. They'd explain how the Moat had to be crossed in the daily challenge, and you'd hear Olmec try to get things started. Olmec would burst out with "Oh yeah!" or "let's rock" or something to that effect.

Recognize how the game was played. On this show, there were four separate components. Starting with six teams (each team contained one boy and one girl), each round eliminated a few teams. The show started with six teams (team names/types announced in an upcoming step soon), but teams were eliminated after the moat crossing (Round 1). After the mental challenge (questions round) in the "Steps of Knowledge," it narrowed the field to two teams. These two teams went head-to-head in the Temple Games, with other games testing the teammates' physical abilities. This led to only one team entering the temple and competing for the grand prize. (This will be described below.)

Be able to understand the objective of the Moat round. The Moat always had to be crossed. Whether it was one team walking on the Moat's bottom floor while the other walked a rope across or fording the Moat with an unsinkable foam and some oars or some other form of crossing, this had to be completed. Once both team members were out of the Moat, one of the two members (second member to cross) had to strike the golden pedestal gong denoting their team color had crossed. The first four of the six teams to reach and slam their gongs that displayed their colored light for their team color would be able to advance to the Steps of Knowledge in the next round. This event had no time limit in most games.

• If you are thinking that crossing a pool of water is unsafe, well, would you walk or cross in an unsafe pool? - think again! Near the moat, the viewer would notice spotters on site who would ensure the team's safety. (However, they also doubled as procedure verifiers, who more or less verified that all procedures were carried out accurately for each challenge.)

Watch the game and see what happened in the Steps of Knowledge round. The Steps of Knowledge began with Olmec, an Olmec talking head, giving the four teams the information about the legend they heard in the introduction. This information was used (along with some knowledge from History classes at school) to answer questions that Olmec asked about the legend). After describing the treasure's history, the guide/host would then ask Olmec for information on where the treasure was located in that day's challenge/game. This took place on a set of steps onstage. Most of these questions were multiple-choice, so it wasn't tough for the team not to guess something completely incorrect the first time, but some teams made it look a lot easier and answered incorrectly before the choices were read (because some teams were impatient to wait). Once players thought they knew the answers to the questions, the team-mate could step on a button or ancient Mayan-like marking on the floor. If the team got the question right and Olmec said they had answered the question correctly, they could advance one step further. If they answered the question incorrectly, they could not advance but would not have to take a step back (they were just not allowed to answer the question again until the next question began. After four main "Steps" on the Steps of Knowledge, the first two teams to reach the bottom step would go on to the next round in the temple games. This stage was never a timed stage/round.

Get used to the Temple Games. The Temple Games were challenges that tested each team in three games of strength, smarts, and stamina^[1] (as the guide host says, "the glory goes to the fastest and strongest"). Whether it was turning around or crawling up a rock wall to grab pieces of foam that looked like wood or attempting to grab an item from a pedestal from an incline that the contestant had to climb while holding on to hand grips or something else physically challenging but not impossible to complete, each of the two remaining teams had to compete and race head to head in these games. After each game, Pendants of Life were awarded. If only one team completed the challenge to the fullest extent within the 60 second period (the first two games were a half Pendant and the third was a full pendant, but in this game, generally both players from the team competed together, a full pendant of life was awarded). If the teams tied, each team would get a half pendant. If neither team achieved the task (a rare occurrence), no pendants were awarded. There were generally three Temple Games the teams needed to compete in simultaneously. One partner attempted the one, then the second player of the team would attempt to compete in the other). However, in the third game, both players of both teams had to compete. All of these games lasted 60 seconds on a time clock. (But don't confuse this with the ultimate Temple Run-named round that happened due to this.)

• If both teams had the same amount of Pendants of Life at the end, a Tie-Breaker question would be asked by Kirk (the host, in the season 1 episodes) or Olmec (in Season 2 and 3). These questions would be based on the legend in the style of the Steps of Knowledge questions. But the result of this changed between the first and following seasons.
  • In the first season, if the team that buzzed in gave an incorrect answer, the other team automatically went onto the Temple Run. But for the following seasons, the other team was given a chance to answer.^[2]
  • These Pendants of Life were later used for the winning team in the upcoming Temple Run round that was a resultant round at the end of the show.
• For winning the Temple Games, the winners would receive a prize ^[3] which would change dependent on show and season.

Get used to the Temple Run round of the show. The Temple Run was the final challenge on all shows. The Temple Games' winning team raced through thirteen different rooms trying to retrieve the day's legends item. Olmec would describe each room, ask which player was going first (the player would generally say "I am"), and Olmec would respond with that player's real name. Olmec described what would happen if they met up with a Temple Guard and mentioned what would happen if that player didn't have a Pendant for the guard. Olmec would then use the other player's name of the team and walk him through. Olmec would never let the teams know of his intended path to get to the room containing the treasure, though the path always was a bit convoluted to get to the treasure. When the host signaled that it was okay to enter, the clock would start at three minutes.^[4] Utilizing a labyrinth of rooms, the player had to climb or run a series of steps to open doors that would lead them through the course all while setting pieces together to unlock doors, the last remaining teammate would head into this temple area-of rooms. They unlocked each door using the method provided (and described before the run by Olmec). The game's objective was to retrieve and bring out the hand-made stage prop that might have looked like the real treasure from the legend earlier in the show. If the team retrieved the item, all the doors would open, and the team could exit back out to their teammate to win the grand prize. If they retrieved it within the three minute time period, they would win the grand prize trip to some exotic place most kids deem as great places to visit (as such on vacation).

• If the team that entered the Temple with only a pendant and a half of life, the remainder of the second pendant was hung in one of the rooms awaiting the second player. However, they still had to risk being caught by the third temple guard - only a half pendant would send them home with their prizes from whatever they won from before the Temple run had begun.^[5] If the teams only had one pendant, the other one was not hanging, and the second player of the team had to run in with pure luck of not saying "Hi" to a temple guard.^[6]
• Although the rooms (described later) changed and varied from show to show and season to season, an average of 40 different rooms during each season were constructed in two layers into a set of bottom level rooms and top-level rooms. Generally for each show, about 13-15 rooms were chosen to become the temple layout (split over the two levels) for that particular show. Only a select few rooms never changed their location, name, or entry and exit strategies for the contestants to enter through/exit from season one till the series ending.
• Once the treasure was retrieved, all the doors (which were sometimes walk-through and sometimes crawl-through at both high and low and activated (after completing the room's task) by a simple button on the wall. in the temple would open, Temple Guards didn't come back out, and the players would race to try to get back out the door towards their partner, awaiting them on stage all before the three-minute clock ran out.^[7]
• The team color (as described later) that was able to achieve taking the piece out of the Temple in the time provided was the Green Monkeys.^[8] .

Recognize the rooms in the Temple Run round. Those rooms on the bottom level contained The Cave of Sighs/Ledges, Pit of Despair, Wheel Room, Rock Quarry, Pit and the Pendulum, Throne Room, Room of Harmonic Convergence, Laser Light Room, Tomb of the Headless Kings, Swamp, Spider's Lair, Holes of Python, Jester's Court, Bamboo Forest, Tomb of Ancient Kings, Dark Forest, The Dungeon, Well Room, Mine Shaft and Quicksand Bog.^[9] . The rooms of the top layer included Pirates Cove, Room of Three Torches, Lightning Room, Vipers Nest, Room of the Secret Password, Shrine of the Silver Monkey, Treasure Room (rarely ever contained the day's treasure, in fact), Treasury of the Golden Orbs, Room of the Golden Idols, Kings Storeroom, Tomb of the Ancient Warrior, Heart Room, Room of the Fallen Columns, Medusa’s Lair, Room of the Mandarin Hand, Chamber of the Sacred Markers, The Observatory, Room of the Three Gargoyles, Room of the Royal Gongs, and the Crypt. ^[10] There were approximately 16 Temple Run layouts constructed for use over this series' run.^[11]

• Although the temple setups differed from year to year and episode to episode^[12] , there was only one room that never changed its place in the temple from either episode to episode or year-to-year, and that was the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.^[13]

Get used to Temple Guards. Occasionally, players encountered a Temple Guard. Temple Guards (sometimes scared the contestant) with their Mayan headdress on (as the contestant entered didn't expect to find them), but these Guards could be pacified if you had a full Pendant of Life and could continue after handing them the Pendant. However, if you didn't have it, the first player would be taken out and the second player would enter starting from the beginning of where you left off; however, if you were the second player and you didn't have a pendant, you lost the game for your team and would be taken out through a back entrance back to the stage via the Temple Guard.

Understand what the players generally won for winning the Temple Run round if they so aced it. Teams would generally win a trip back to Universal Studios Orlando if they got the item out of the Temple in the time period, along with smaller prizes, which varied by episode and by season.

• Kirk Fogg, the host of Legends of the Hidden Temple, was interviewed once when he told the world that there could only be eight shows per season that could end with grand prize winners due to financial constraints. If too many were achieved too early, the backstage people would wish the show could be over, the time would tick out, and the winner wouldn't be able to make it in time. ^[14]