 In the late 80s and early 90s, weekday afternoon television was pretty fantastic. In between DuckTales, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego, Square One TV, and the occasional rerun of Small Wonder, there was this zany, exciting, oft-messy game show called Fun House. Each day, two teams of kids would compete for a chance to run through a prize-tag-filled fun house. The first round of competitions involved trivia and doing messy or goofy tasks, like trying to run with slimy balloons or building each other into foam sandwiches. The second round featured a race around a track, where one teammate would often push the other in some kind of cart, they would try to collect things for points. Those rounds were all fine and good. But they were nothing compared to to the end result, the grand finale, the place every kid wished she could live... THE FUN HOUSE  (Photos courtesy of The Fun House Factory. Used with permission.) In the Fun House round, the team with the highest score in the earlier rounds got 2 minutes to run through a multi-level construction filled with booby traps, barriers, and goop, trying to collect prize tags. The players had to go one at a time, and each person could only take 3 tags per trip (before having to trade out with the other player). Those 2 minutes went by fast, so while more adept teams could often score 6-7 tags, some teams got fewer. The prizes were things any kid between 10 and 14 could want: TVs, stereos, walkmen, bikes, trips to Disney World... and cash, beautiful cash. Evolving over time, the Fun House seemed to get better and better. I remember a rotating tube they could crawl through. A room filled with balloons they had to push or pop past. A room with shower doors, where some were locked and some weren't -- thereby turning it into a maze. Later in the show's run, there was a water slide that dropped you into a pool. The Fun House Factory has a great list (with pictures!) of many of the features included in the House over the years. My brother and I loved Fun House so much, we tried constructing our own interpretation in the basement... but we only got as far as the balloons and a hastily-made tunnel. We made lofty plans to apply for the show together, as soon as both of us were old enough (you had to be at least 10.) Unfortunately, it was canceled more than a year before we both reached that age. In 1990, Fun House went into syndication and moved to another channel -- our local FOX affiliate, which our TV only barely received. This was devastating. It was worse than if the show had been outright canceled, because we knew it was airing -- we just couldn't see much more than than gray static. Maybe a red arm here, a glint of a giant foam sandwich there... And so, sadly, we moved on. J.D. Roth, Fun House's young, spunky, red-headed host would not be forgotten. I saw his name appear as producer on The Biggest Loser recently. I picture him looking just like he did 20 years ago. It's quite comical, actually. And when I see his name, I remember the fun house, the waterslide, the race track, the stunts... and I smile. Every kid should have a show like Fun House -- a legendary, messy, all-kinds-of-awesome weekday afternoon show. Return to the My TV Top 40 5/3/2008 (c)2008 AlligatorJuice.com  |
