January 3, 2025 • 31 mins
In 2024 we had so many amazing people stop by Elvis Duran and the Morning Show. Here's one of our favorites!
Nickelodeon's Marc Summers Reveals He Walked Out Of 'Quiet On Set' Doc, 'They Lied And Ambushed Me!'
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're going to get an exclusive here.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I got called by these folks saying they wanted to
do a documentary on Nickelodeon, and so.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
I said, sure, the Mercedes Benz Interview Lounge.
Speaker 4 (00:10):
What a way to kick off the weekend. Mark Sommers is.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Here, Thank you? How are you well?
Speaker 3 (00:15):
We're told and we're told everyone Mark Summers is coming in.
Everyone's just kind of melted. Oh my god, is he
going to slim? You got a reputation, you know, throughout
my entire career. That's what people are afraid of that
I'm going to slim Double Dare.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
I mean, let's talk about it.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Let's talk about well, there's several things we're going to
talk about today, let's start with Double Dare. Of course,
this would you say, arguably put you on the map.
Me and Nickelodeon at the same time, talk about it.
They were running bad puppet shows at four in the
morning mostly and nobody was watching the channel, and they
decided they did a research, you know, focus group, and
(00:52):
kids said they lived vicariously through their parents game shows.
They'd watched Prices Rider, we didn't have their own show,
and so they came up with this thing where they
were getting rewarded for getting messy, and they had auditioned
a thousand people in New York. Didn't like anybody, and
came to LA. I was the first person to audition.
They auditioned me four times and it came down to
me and another person and.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I called him up and I said, you're shooting in
two weeks. What's going on?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
They said, well, we can't decide because when they did
the auditions, they had grown ups playing the part of kids,
and they didn't know if we were good with kids.
So I suggested, why don't you fly us both in
New York and put us in a studio with kids,
And that's what they did and I got the job.
And I said, well, after two thousand people, why did
I get it? And they said at the end of
his audition, he said, you guys done. You want me
to do something else? And I looked at the camera
(01:38):
and I said, we'll be back with more doubledare after this,
I threw to commercial and they said that was more
professional and that changed my life.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Wow, something so simple even.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Meant so much? It did you know?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
And there's a line in my actors in the show
when I say who would have thought that watching TV
would be the smartest thing I ever did.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
But I just did what I thought host did. Obviously,
you were a TV nerd growing up.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
That's all I did. I watched TV twenty four to seven.
Bob Barker was my idol, right, And my first job
in Los Angeles was writing Truth or Consequences the last
year he hosted that show. So I'm twenty two years
old and here's this, you know, guy that I've looked
up to forever. And then I became a page at
CBS and I was a page on Prices, right, so
I got to know Barker and he was my mentor
for a number of years.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
And then you know, as a page, I was working
on Sonny and Share and All in the Family and
holy crap. Yeah, that was like the coolest I thought
I had did. Gone to heaven. That was the best
it got. I was happy with that. I was there
the last day they did the Sonny and Share show
when they announced their divorce. Oh my god, and Cher
just wanted to get the hell out of there, and
Sonny didn't want to ever leave. And it's two in
the morning. He's throwing a football back in the area
(02:41):
trying to delay things, and they finally got them on
stage to close it.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
You should write several books over everything that you had witnessed.
I mean, okay, maybe not write a book, how about
do a play. Another reason we invited Martin comc is
he is this off Broadway show called The Life and
Slimes of Mark Summers, and of course doubled Nickelodeon all
a part of it. But do you go back and
talk about these amazingly interesting stories. I do how you
(03:05):
grew up on TV or behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I relay all that information in more and sort of
the turning point of the show. We played double there
for about ten minutes and we grab people out of
the audience and of course they love this. But the
one thing I didn't know when we were doing double
theare was all the mess they didn't tell me about
the obstacle course. When we audition first day in the studio,
they're pouring chocolate chirrup on a slide and they're mixing
(03:30):
whipped cream and I said, what are you guys doing
and they said, well, this is the obstacle course. I said,
what's that and they said, well, at the end whoever wins,
they have to go through this stuff. Well I didn't
know that what I had had a name, but I
had obsessive compulsive disorder and I was a neatness freak
and everything had to be perfect and I could not
have you a drop of anything on me. And now
I've waited till I was thirty four years old to
(03:51):
get this opportunity. I go, Okay, now what are you
gonna do? You're not going to blow this. So I
went through it, but internally it was driving me molse.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
This I mean with OCD.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah, I mean, arguably doubledare the messiest show in the history.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Thank you, Oh you know too much about the show students.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, Well I had to make a decision do you
wait thirty four years and get this opportunity and blow
it or do you go for it? And at one
point after I was we do sixty five episodes, I
don't get a mess on me? And the focus group say,
we'd love the show, but we want the host to
get messy. So the network comes to me and said,
you got to get the stuff on you And I
said why and they said, because that's what they want.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Did you explain to them that there's an issue here.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Well, I didn't know what it was yet, and so
so I started to get messy. But as soon as
I would get dumped with stuff, I would start to
take off my clothes in front of the audience. I
would start on do my shows, and then executives would say,
can you do that like behind these kids the other
kids here, and I just wanted to get out and
take a shower and get back. So we do five
hundred and twenty five episodes of Double Dare. We toured
(04:55):
it around the country. We were filling the Palace of
Auburn Hills with twenty thousand people on a weekend without
any problem. And fast forward the tape. I do a host.
I host a show on Lifetime Television called Biggers and Summers,
me and Sissy Biggers, and we have an expert on,
doctor Eric Hollander, who discusses he's an expert on obsessive
compulsive disorder. So I'm doing the research in my apartment
(05:18):
here in New York the night before and I'm saying, oh, God,
I do that, I do that. Oh this thing has
a name. So I have to make a decision. Do
I go on television the next day and pretend I
don't have this, or do.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
I come out?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
And I came out and the next thing I know,
I'm on Oprah and I'm on The Today Show and
I'm on Howard Stern. Remember discussing, Yes, I did all this,
and my parents stopped talking to me because they said,
you know, because I mentioned that they did it. It
was hereditary thing, and they said, we don't do that stuff,
and they cut me off. And you know, it was
(05:51):
a very stressful time. I was supposed to host Hollywood
Squares and they find out about the OCD thing and
so it and they fired me. What yeah, I cut
the promos. Hi Mark Summers joined me, you know, on
the new Hollywood Squares and they made the announcement at
the CBS Affiliates Meeting standing ovation and then I get fired.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
The only slim going on on the Hollywood Squares is
Paul In and I'm probing at the raincoat around that guy.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
So horny.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Anyway, moving on, Yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
So talk about the beginning days of doubledare Oh my,
so low budget.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I'm assuming nine thousand dollars in an episode we shot
at WHYY and Philadelphia because New York studios were too
expensive for Nickelodeon, and nobody there really had done a
game show before. I was the only one. I had
written game shows or whatever. And the first day we
were there we were supposed to shoot four episodes. We
barely got one done because when we went to the
obstacle course, the first thing was called Nightmare. It was
(06:48):
a pillow filled with feathers, and the first time we
did it sixty seconds, nobody does anything. Somebody forgot to
put the flag in the thing, so we stopped. Okay, boy, okay,
and so then they put the flag in, but the
kids turn the thing upside down and all the feathers
were on top of the thing.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
They couldn't find it again.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It took us three times before we actually got the
first obstacle course run, and all the executives were Nickelodeon
where they're holding their heads, going what have we done?
And the next thing we know, we become the biggest
hit and we put Nickelodeon on the map. You know,
if you get a rating and cable now at a
point two or a point three, that's massive. We were
getting fives, not fives five, And they said I read
(07:28):
an ark Broadcasting magazine, which I don't even know what
still exists, but they said the three most important people
to get cable going first was Larry King on CNN
because his kind of show didn't exist, Gallagher because of
his comedy specials on Showtime, and me on Doubledare because
I got kids to tell their parents to go get
cable because they wanted to see the show where they
jumped into five thousand pounds of baked beans.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
So I think it was also every kid's dream to
be on that show.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Oh my god, to this day. Yeah, yeah, see, that's it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
I think if we brought it back as an adult
show with be massive. But you know when we pick
people from the audience to come up, who are all
your ages, they're like, they become six years old again,
it's fantastic cool.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Well, so triple there, we'll call it.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
So Mark, they were paying you, I'm sure a fortune
to host this show back in the day, five.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Hundred bucks in episode that's it.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, twenty five hundred bucks a week, which is, by
the way, the most money I'd never made up to
that point. Right, but then we went into syndication.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Right, I was an adult when Double Dare was out
right as you were.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
But some a lot of people here were kids.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, and so Gandhi's parents wouldn't even let her watch
TV really, but tell them the only wholesome show that
would always be wholesome until till today that they let
you watch was.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Really Look how that turned out? That?
Speaker 6 (08:55):
Man, Well, haven't watch anything. But when I would go
over to friends houses and double Edair would come on,
I'd be like, yes, I'm over here. Yeah, so now
I get to watch this and I loved it.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
That's cool. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
There used to be something called playground talk where kids
would tell the other kids there's this crazy show where
the giving away trips to space camp, and so they
would go to the other friend's house who had cable
like you did, and that's that's what opened the doors.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
So Scotty Bee, who's over there in the Scottie talk
about it?
Speaker 7 (09:18):
Well, I mean we used to get in trouble as
kids because we always wanted to play in the ear,
you know.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Oh yeah, in one ear and out the other show.
Speaker 7 (09:24):
Yeah, So we would we would get cottage cheese and
we would color it with green food color, oh my,
and we would get it all over the walls and
we stained the walls in the house, and we would
get in trouble all the time, but we were constantly
doing the physical challenges for we had to take it outside,
you know, as we progressed, because we made these big,
elaborate things.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
But I mean, that's all we ever wanted to do.
And then as I got older, we wanted to be on.
Speaker 7 (09:44):
Family Double Day of course, yeah, you know, and we
sent in our applications, but that never happened.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
The stories of parents who said to me they're living
in dining rooms were ruined because kids would make their
own slime and obstacle courses through there. And so one
year I opened my door for trick or treat Halloween.
The lady goes, oh, my god, you're that guy from Nickelodeon.
I said, yeah, can I tell you my kids have
destroyed my house because they're copying everything like that. And
the next morning I got up and there was styrofoam
in all of the beds of my uh you know,
(10:12):
flowers and transcaping and yes, and landscaping because that was
their way to get back at me.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
So yes, story did Now did you come up with
a lot of the stuff. After a while, that was
Almo the story. Yes I did.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I was one of the writers and exec producers, and
the most fun was testing physical challenges from six to
nine every night with kids because nothing worked, so you
had to figure out what the One day they did
a thing where they made paper planes and you had
to throw it into a mailbox on the other side
of the stage, and I said, this will never work. Okay,
this will never work. We're gonna do it. Okay. So
I looked at the camera and we're doing it, and
(10:43):
I said, Okay, this is physical challenge that I don't
want to do.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Folks.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
I don't think it'll ever work. But if one here's
the deal. They have twenty seconds to get one paper
plane in the mailbox. If they do it, I'll give
you my house. I said, okay. Oh, Mark on your
Market said though the first first one boom right in
the mailbox. They got close up of me and I said, well,
(11:06):
we'll discuss this during the commercial.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Yes, so nay.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Growing up in Erie, Pennsylvania, I mean was an event.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
My brothers and I would watch this and I have
to ask you Mark, yes, sir, because we would.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Watch this and critique the kids doing the charity.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Oh yeah, you will probably pick a red team or
a blue team and then figure out why you could
do it better exactly.
Speaker 8 (11:27):
But then even the individual kid, I remember, I'm like,
this kid's a little dumb ass.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Come on, you didn't do it. You were so magnanimous hosting.
But in your head do you think, oh, come.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
On, come yes, yes, yes, And the network was always
very protective. I will tell you a story that I've
never told him. I should probably be very careful about this,
But Drew Gasperini, who introduced me to Alex Brightman, who
wrote our show, I love Alex. Alex Brightman is the
best guy ever.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
He said in this very chair right now. Yeah, when
he's Beetle Juicy.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Beetlejuice and U he's spaml out now and he did
the School of Rock.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
He's brilliant.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So he wrote this, this show, and he wanted to
do a show. This is now ten twelve years ago,
the most disgusting show in the history of New York.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
So we're at Joe's Pub.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
I'm am seeing this show, okay, and Alex was doing
dirty highkups. I mean it was the whole thing was
just so insane. But they showed an obstacle course of
me saying, you know, you gotta get through there, you
gotta grab the flave. You got ten seconds, and then
we rolled it back and I said, this is what
I was really thinking when they were doing that, And
God forbid, if anybody would have a tape of that,
(12:30):
I would never be working in this business again. But
you know, you do think I was thirty four when
I started that show, okay, And by the way, I
never wanted to do a kid's show.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
I just wanted to host a show.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
So the reason I think the show was successful in
many ways is I didn't talk down to the kids
and say.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Mahpi, do you have a girlfriend. I talked to him
like they were grown ups.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
And I would screw around with him and they would,
you know, fight back with me, and it was actually fun.
So I think that all those things contributed. But yes,
in my head, I was going, you can't get that
gets right there?
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Just turning us on Mark Summers. Is here the new
off Broadway show. It's called The Life and Slimes of
Mark Summers. Not it's only going on till June.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
You check in sixteen week run.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
We gotta make sure there's a lot more.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
To the show than your Double Dare days. I wanna
get into that. Garrett DoD you have a memory.
Speaker 8 (13:22):
From growing up on Staten Islands, Well, it's great to
finally meet my babysitter, like this was the after school special.
I mean at first, and if my mom was here,
you'd be yelling at you right now because I would say, hey,
they can pick their nose on Double Dare, why can't
I pick my nose? And she was like, well, you
don't have a flag up your nose.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
We can make that out. I mean to the fact where.
Speaker 8 (13:43):
I was so addicted to Double Dare where I would
bring the flags to the bullpit and McDonald's and really
and put the ball and put the flag in there
and try to like time myself to see if I
could find the flag.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
You were a bullpit, Oh of course.
Speaker 8 (13:55):
I mean to the point where I would go to
Universal to see if you guys are taping down there
just by chance, and everybody be like, well, let's go online,
let's go on King Kong, let's go.
Speaker 9 (14:05):
I was like, no, no, I need to get on
Double now. So thank you, Oh yeah, no, thank you, unbelievable,
thank you. I do people get people like they help
you and start crying.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yes, all the time.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
It's unbelievable because the memories that they have and the
other reason they do it.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
We talk. The show takes a dramatic turn halfway through.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
When I discovered I had obsessive compulsive disorder, I was
hosting the talk show and doctor Hollander comes on and
I had been on National TV that I haven't So
people who come to the show have obsessive compulsive disorder,
A lot of them do, and they stay at the
stage door and want to talk. And the amount of
people who I've hugged and who have been crying after
the show has been quite amazing, and the fact that
(14:47):
we're sort of getting this message out. When I got diagnosed,
there was no help pretty much. Now you can take medication,
cognitive behavior therapy, all sorts of things. But back in
the day when I discovered I had it, there wasn't
a lot going on. So yes, there's a lot of
warm and fuzzy moments going on after the show one hundred.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
See, that's the thing. This show has been on for
thirty years.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
So when I went out on a book tour and
when we go out, they're like, you know, their grandkids
listen to us now, and so I see.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
But there's the bond here is this when we.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Look back to our childhood years, those as innocent as
they could have been and should have been years, and
connect with them now when we live in this fed
up world that we live in.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
It does bring.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
This peace, yes, and we connect with the innocence and
the times that made us so happy and Mark Summers,
you do that.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
You still have the ability to do that now. Obviously
it's so odd.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
I grew up with Soupy Sales who right when I
was a kid, he was the person who did kid
shows and I became friends with Soupye and that was
like dying to going to heaven kind of moment. And
I guess, unbeknownst to me at the time, that I
am that to an entire different generation. What's so funny
is the other day somebody said, well, you signed my
program and I said sure. I said you want me
(16:03):
to mention something about double there or unwrapped, and they said,
what's double there? Wow?
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So there's a whole generation of people who don't even
know me from that. They only know me from the
Food Network. I was there for twenty years.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
Well, Unwrapped is one of the best shows ever.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Thanks, So, I mean the premise of Unwrapped is at
least the history of the thing we buy every day. Yes,
where'd they come from? Where do they come from?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
And you know why is there you know of different
colored em and ms and you know what do they
used to make the mike and ikes taste the way
they do? And I did you know, hundreds of episodes
of that for eleven years, and then I exec produced
Dinner Impossible and Restaurant Impossible. So I've had this crazy
life where I started off as a magician. I became
a regular at the Comedy Store in seventy six with
Dave and Jay and Robin, and then you know, become
(16:47):
a host of a kids show. Then I'm at Food Network,
and you know now I am off Broadway doing a
one man show. So it's been quite an interesting run
of events over the last seventy two years. Old, I've
been doing this almost fifty years.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Was talking it?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I mean in a car accident once you broke every
bone in your face.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yes, I was coming back from a restaurant and possible shoot,
didn't wear a seat belt and yeah, the credit card
machine hit me and broke every bone in my face.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
That was a lovely moment.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Credit card machine.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Yeah, you know that when you get ran into.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
A credit what Yes, I was sitting on the back
of the cab right and you know the thing were
oh yeah, and I the guys slammed on the brakes,
hit the center divider, and my head went right into
the credit cards.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
In a life of cancer, not one, not two, but
three bouts of cancer? What kind of cancer?
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Was it?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
A chronic elymphatic leukemia? And I'm on medication I will
be for the rest of my life. They're only fifteen
thousand dollars a month for the pills, but yeah, it's
keiven me alive.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
So yeah. I went through chemo twice.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Third time I was on immuno therapy didn't work and
that's why they tried the pills in a work.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
So yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
So we see these people that we love and we
adore and that we either grew up with or we
continue to learn from. On TV, you never really stop
all the time to think about, well, this is a
human being who's living a life of maybe being married,
maybe not, maybe be with OCD or you don't know
where they came from or where they're going. You just
know who they are while you're watching it.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
And Elvis, that's why I did this show.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
And I also have a podcast called Mark Summerson Wraps
and it's based on the fact that you go to
a movie, a TV show Broadway So and you go, boy,
the person on that show is so lucky, and it's like, no,
they work their asses off to get there. And what
is it about some people who can go over under
a round or through the wall and other people go, man,
I'm not doing this and they retreat, and I'm more
interested in the people who figured out a way to
(18:30):
get where they're going. We had Richard Kain on recently,
we had Kevin Pollack on, we had Highway Men down on.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
We've had some really good people tell their stories.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
And everybody in this room has this story as well.
You're not sitting here because somebody called you up and
said I want you to work here. You figure out
a way to get in this room. Not everybody can
do that.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Hey, So doing a one man show about your life,
what do you learn from it?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Don't mind?
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I mean it's the same as when you write a biography,
an autobiography, you actually learn a lot about yourself.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
This has to be that times ten.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
It's an emotional roller coaster on a nightly basis because
I'm up there telling the story that I lived, and
some nights I get so emotional.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I do break down. I could never control it.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
In certain moments where I'm reliving the moments, because if
you're going to tell the story, it's got to be authentic.
You can't go up there and pretend to do the story.
You're telling them about your life. So yes, it's very emotional.
It's sort of like less expensive than going to a
psychiatrist on a regular basis. And I do learn a
lot about myself. But at this point in my life,
(19:34):
it's funny. I used to go on stage when I
worked at the Magic Castle. I would throw up every
time before I went and did a show because I
had no idea what I was doing. I am so
confident now and I don't get nervous. I can't wait
to get to that theater and perform this on a
nightly basis. And you know, it took me this long
to get that confident, but the journey was necessary. Oh
my god, Yes, I could have never done this even
(19:54):
five years ago, I could have never performed it. The
best compliment I got. Brightman saw me initially when we
started this eight nine years ago, and he hadn't seen
me since opening night. We did open the nineteenth of February,
and he came up to me and he said, I
gotta ask you a question.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I said, what's that? He said, when did you learn
to act? And I broke down.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I thought, coming from Alex Brightman, that was a really emotional.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Moment for me.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
But you aren't acting.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
It's it's a combination of things. Selvis. It's fascinating. Okay,
So I have to ask you this question, yes, sir,
And I asked this with all due respect.
Speaker 8 (20:29):
I heard an urban legend one time that you would
have to, in regards to your OCD, vacuum yourself out
of hotel rooms.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Is that true? No?
Speaker 2 (20:38):
All these you know things between me and Howie Mendel
that have been made up, how he used to put
towels down on the floor and get a pair of
tongs to take the bed sheet off, and all.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
The time, and hotel rooms. I would do that without.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, exactly, Yeah, none of that stuff you know, I
didn't do. I can By the way, I'm a great vacuumer,
and at my house I can. I came out of
every room without a footprint. I mean, I can teach
you that if you want. But no, that thing about
the hotel, that that never happened. So but thank you
for asking. Yeah, now, all those urban legend things happened.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
You know.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I was doing another radio show and a guy said,
I came up to you an airport.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
You refused to shake my hand. No, I didn't. I
shake everybody. Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Funny thing is when you arrived, I said, can we
shake his hand?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
I don't want to make you uncomfortable.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
We love you.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
It was never germ phobic.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
It was all about cleanliness and orderliness and you know,
putting things symmetrical and making sure.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Everything was perfect.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
As a matter of fact, this studio is making me nuts.
Could you turn that up?
Speaker 5 (21:44):
I used to I feel like I used to like
touch things like four or five times.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Oh really, even when I would go through stores.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
I would like rearrange things in the store and I'd
be like, and then I'd walk away. And the funny
thing is, you and I talk about that. Our thing
is odd numbers. I used to have to everything, even
amount of.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Some people are even some people are somehow changed.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Well the rule book with people who see the changes
on a daily basis, it really does yeah yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah, odd numbers. So isn't that weird that people
have to flip a light switch so many times?
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Or walking uh to a room.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
So Daniel will walk into a door and she cannot
leave through another where she has to go out through
the door.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
I came in that way, I'm going out down because
and you know, because then you get these thoughts you
haven't thoughts it's gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
See, that's in my show that I was afraid that
if I my room wasn't clean that when my parents
got in the car, they'd get in a car accident
and die.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
So that's why you kept doing that?
Speaker 5 (22:37):
Why do we why do you think those things?
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Well, I'll send you the doctor's number.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
And if I'm walking down a staircase, if I drag
my left heel on the step, I have to even
and out with my right.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Really I do.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
But I don't think there's doom.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
On the way.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
If I don't, I just don't know what it is.
I mean, I live a life of doom. Any ways,
I'm already paying the price.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
I still have trouble in grocery stores where I get
fixated on reading labels, and so my wife goes grocery
shopping without me because I can get stuck in a
place and you know, you say yourself, I have to
read it perfect.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Well what does perfect mean? You know?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
And when I was doing the talk show here in
New York, they our execut producers said get out of here.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Driving us crazy.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
I would make the staff nuts, so he threw me
out and I would walk from one in the afternoon
until nine, up and down the streets of New York.
But sometimes would get stuck at a place reading you know,
a sign in Tiffany's over and over and over again,
and you know, you get stuck and then you got
to get yourself out of it. So yeah, I mean,
thank god, I don't do that much anymore, but it
(23:43):
is still. I always say I'm eighty two percent cured.
I don't think you're ever one hundred percent cured.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Well, I guess if it slows you down, if it
stops progression or progress in life, then you got to
address it.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Yep. Scary. I just want to say I love you man,
I have.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
No questions, very kind, no questions, just a few, just
some love for you.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Thank you, I love it. That was the most beautiful moment.
I love these guys. Those are fantastic.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
I have a question on a completely different topic, because
you've done one hundred things. You've talked about all of it,
from doubled Air to Unwrapped, and now you're doing this play.
I most recently saw you and quiet on the side
that just came out. Oh my, how was that being
able to talk about all that? Was that like a
cleansing feeling to you to finally be able to say, like, hey,
I wanted to advocate for these kids and I saw
what was going on.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Let me tell you about that. You're going to get
an exclusive here.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
I got called by these folks saying they wanted to
do a documentary on Nickelodeon, and so I said sure,
and I went there and they asked me what I
thought of Nick and the first ten or twelve seconds
from what I understand this documentary or me saying all
these wonderful things, but they did a bait and switch
on me. They am wuished me. They never told me
what this documenting was really about. And so they showed
me a video of something that I couldn't believe was
(24:59):
on Nicolos and I said, well, let's stop.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Tape right here. What are we doing.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Well, we're doing this thing. Do you know this guy?
And all this kind of stuff, and I left.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
So I got a phone call about six weeks ago
saying you're totally out of the show, and I went great.
Then they called me about four weeks ago and said, well,
you're in it, but you're only in the first part
of it because you talked about the positive stuff of Nickelodeon.
What they didn't tell me, and they lied to me about,
was the fact that they put in that other thing
where they had the camera on me when they ambushed
(25:30):
me and uh away. So now we get into a
whole situation about who's unethical.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
That's a very interesting I had no idea. I was
wondering about so many of the interviews that they've done
and how they did it.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I never met Den Schneier when we got done doing
Doubledare and we had run our run. Those people came
in after and took over our studios. Never met the man,
have no idea about any of those things. I mean,
I know Keenan from Keenan and Kel because we've done
stuff together.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
But as far as anything that happened on that show
with any of those people, I never met any of them.
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Anybody, but they made it seem like I knew those people.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Definitely did.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
They knew exactly what they were doing a documentary about,
and ethically they should have said something to you about,
you think and given you a shot to say, I
don't know them. I shouldn't even be there. You're If
I knew something, maybe i'd to come talk to you,
but I don't.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
Is there anything you can do about that now?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Or well there's a phone call coming in today at
three o'clock.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
There we go. This is exclusive it Look, you know,
I through it all.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
You obviously make so many people so happy for so
many reasons. And the fact that you're doing your your show,
The Life and Slimes of Mark Summers is just another layer.
Speaker 4 (26:47):
And so do we have more layers to come?
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Are you?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
Are you?
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Are you ready to move forward into something else?
Speaker 4 (26:54):
Or what do you want to do?
Speaker 1 (26:55):
What do I want to do?
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Well, there's a possibility we could tour this. That would
be one thing that we've just gus doing it for
streaming services. Another discussion going on. But you know, the
one thing that has eluded me is actually being in
a Broadway show. And I auditioned for Waitress a couple
of years ago and they told me, quote that I
could never play that part.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
I was playing old Joe.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
I try to because they said that I played it
too young, that I had too much energy and I
had a lot in my voice that I do not
come across as an old man.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Sort of a compliment.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
But you know, I put the word out there that
if there's any Broadway producer who has not I don't
need a lead like a third you know, lead kind
of thing one song and one thing a line.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
You would play the wacky neighbor.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Yeah, you know, the Wizard would be the great one
song you sing.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah, yeah, Well there's a debate on that. Brighten Telvie's
not sure, but let's pretend I can. But you know,
playing the Wizard in Wicked would be you know, the
kind of perfect role, you know, twelve minutes on stage
for a couple of scenes, something like that. So you know,
I put that out there. If it happens, fantastic, But
I'm gonna tell you, Elvis, if this is as.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Good as it gets, I'm the happiest man in the world.
That's amazing. That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Are you one of these guys people who's always thinking,
I'm gonna keep working till the day I kick undred percent?
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Peter Marshall, my friend who was the host of Hollywood Square,
absolutely just turned ninety eight years old, and a few
years ago I said to him, you know, I think
I'm gonna stop doing this, and he said, Mark, all
my friends who stopped doing it died, do not ever
stop doing this stuff. And so I keep moving forward.
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Let me keep moving forward. What does that mean?
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Well, even though I say I'm I'm retired, I'm always
thinking of ideas and trying to pitch him I where
I live, Dennis Miller is one of my neighbors. And
Dennis and I have lunch when I'm home every Wednesday,
and he's one of the most intelligent humans I've ever
met my entire life. We have different points of view
on certain things, but having conversations like that and jd
(29:00):
Roth who did Funhouse, and Dennis Miller and we discuss
the industry and shows and things like that. And so yes,
I'm always inspired. It's harder to get meetings now because
I'm an old guy. They want to meet with people
who are less than half my age. And so even
though I have this reputation of having success, although I
will tell you that right before I got this Broadway show,
(29:21):
off Broadway Show, I was asked to host Tick Doc Doe,
which they're bringing back, and I had to turn it
down because here was my feeling. I've hosted many shows,
but I've never done a show in New York off Broadway,
and I thought, well, you know, I got to do that.
So I turned it down. And I don't look back
and say, wow, I should have taken that job, because
I've done that before. This is something that's all new,
(29:43):
and the excitement and the energy it takes is much
more exciting than go and say, well, if you answered
this question, you get three hundred dollars.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
I've done that before.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
You know what you have, your audience, and you know
exactly who they are. I do, and so there's opportunity there.
So I bring this question up for a friend, as
you for a friend, what do you do when you've
been doing it for so long you're kind of wondering
what's next.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
You can't sell you, you just can't stop.
Speaker 4 (30:08):
I'll let them know, yes, yes, yes, please do.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
But you know the fact that this week I did
the view I did Sherry CBS Morning Show. The fact
that anybody still wants me on these shows is fascinating.
But the people who are producing and are hosting these shows,
like all of you, grew up watching me, and so
they want to reminisce. And so that's the advantage that
I have to a certain point. But you know, just
because and I have no idea how old you are,
(30:32):
but I know I'm a lot older than you, there's
no reason for us to stop. Seacrest always says to me,
he hates me because my voice sounds the same now
as it did when I was in my twenties and thirties.
He said, you should sound like an old man at
this point, and I don't. He said, Summers, you pissed
me off. So yeah, so you know, we just keep
doing what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Man, Mark Summers in the Life and Slives of Mark
Summers is going on until June, So you got to
get in there right now and.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
We'll be there.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Thank you, Mark Summers, Thank you and by the way,
if you go to ms DARE twenty four is your
code on telecharge, you can get tickets as little as
thirty nine dollars.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
Hold on, hold on, repeat that.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Ms DARE like Mark Summers and double dere ms DARE
twenty four at telecharge dot com and you can get
tickets as low as thirty nine dollars. So do that
and we'll see you there.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
You're on sale. That was we all are.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
Some of us are complimentary.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
The Mercedes Benz Interview Lounge
You're going to get an exclusive here.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I got called by these folks saying they wanted to
do a documentary on Nickelodeon, and so.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
I said, sure, the Mercedes Benz Interview Lounge.
Speaker 4 (00:10):
What a way to kick off the weekend. Mark Sommers is.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Here, Thank you? How are you well?
Speaker 3 (00:15):
We're told and we're told everyone Mark Summers is coming in.
Everyone's just kind of melted. Oh my god, is he
going to slim? You got a reputation, you know, throughout
my entire career. That's what people are afraid of that
I'm going to slim Double Dare.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
I mean, let's talk about it.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Let's talk about well, there's several things we're going to
talk about today, let's start with Double Dare. Of course,
this would you say, arguably put you on the map.
Me and Nickelodeon at the same time, talk about it.
They were running bad puppet shows at four in the
morning mostly and nobody was watching the channel, and they
decided they did a research, you know, focus group, and
(00:52):
kids said they lived vicariously through their parents game shows.
They'd watched Prices Rider, we didn't have their own show,
and so they came up with this thing where they
were getting rewarded for getting messy, and they had auditioned
a thousand people in New York. Didn't like anybody, and
came to LA. I was the first person to audition.
They auditioned me four times and it came down to
me and another person and.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I called him up and I said, you're shooting in
two weeks. What's going on?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
They said, well, we can't decide because when they did
the auditions, they had grown ups playing the part of kids,
and they didn't know if we were good with kids.
So I suggested, why don't you fly us both in
New York and put us in a studio with kids,
And that's what they did and I got the job.
And I said, well, after two thousand people, why did
I get it? And they said at the end of
his audition, he said, you guys done. You want me
to do something else? And I looked at the camera
(01:38):
and I said, we'll be back with more doubledare after this,
I threw to commercial and they said that was more
professional and that changed my life.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Wow, something so simple even.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Meant so much? It did you know?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
And there's a line in my actors in the show
when I say who would have thought that watching TV
would be the smartest thing I ever did.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
But I just did what I thought host did. Obviously,
you were a TV nerd growing up.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
That's all I did. I watched TV twenty four to seven.
Bob Barker was my idol, right, And my first job
in Los Angeles was writing Truth or Consequences the last
year he hosted that show. So I'm twenty two years
old and here's this, you know, guy that I've looked
up to forever. And then I became a page at
CBS and I was a page on Prices, right, so
I got to know Barker and he was my mentor
for a number of years.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
And then you know, as a page, I was working
on Sonny and Share and All in the Family and
holy crap. Yeah, that was like the coolest I thought
I had did. Gone to heaven. That was the best
it got. I was happy with that. I was there
the last day they did the Sonny and Share show
when they announced their divorce. Oh my god, and Cher
just wanted to get the hell out of there, and
Sonny didn't want to ever leave. And it's two in
the morning. He's throwing a football back in the area
(02:41):
trying to delay things, and they finally got them on
stage to close it.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
You should write several books over everything that you had witnessed.
I mean, okay, maybe not write a book, how about
do a play. Another reason we invited Martin comc is
he is this off Broadway show called The Life and
Slimes of Mark Summers, and of course doubled Nickelodeon all
a part of it. But do you go back and
talk about these amazingly interesting stories. I do how you
(03:05):
grew up on TV or behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I relay all that information in more and sort of
the turning point of the show. We played double there
for about ten minutes and we grab people out of
the audience and of course they love this. But the
one thing I didn't know when we were doing double
theare was all the mess they didn't tell me about
the obstacle course. When we audition first day in the studio,
they're pouring chocolate chirrup on a slide and they're mixing
(03:30):
whipped cream and I said, what are you guys doing
and they said, well, this is the obstacle course. I said,
what's that and they said, well, at the end whoever wins,
they have to go through this stuff. Well I didn't
know that what I had had a name, but I
had obsessive compulsive disorder and I was a neatness freak
and everything had to be perfect and I could not
have you a drop of anything on me. And now
I've waited till I was thirty four years old to
(03:51):
get this opportunity. I go, Okay, now what are you
gonna do? You're not going to blow this. So I
went through it, but internally it was driving me molse.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
This I mean with OCD.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah, I mean, arguably doubledare the messiest show in the history.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Thank you, Oh you know too much about the show students.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, Well I had to make a decision do you
wait thirty four years and get this opportunity and blow
it or do you go for it? And at one
point after I was we do sixty five episodes, I
don't get a mess on me? And the focus group say,
we'd love the show, but we want the host to
get messy. So the network comes to me and said,
you got to get the stuff on you And I
said why and they said, because that's what they want.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Did you explain to them that there's an issue here.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Well, I didn't know what it was yet, and so
so I started to get messy. But as soon as
I would get dumped with stuff, I would start to
take off my clothes in front of the audience. I
would start on do my shows, and then executives would say,
can you do that like behind these kids the other
kids here, and I just wanted to get out and
take a shower and get back. So we do five
hundred and twenty five episodes of Double Dare. We toured
(04:55):
it around the country. We were filling the Palace of
Auburn Hills with twenty thousand people on a weekend without
any problem. And fast forward the tape. I do a host.
I host a show on Lifetime Television called Biggers and Summers,
me and Sissy Biggers, and we have an expert on,
doctor Eric Hollander, who discusses he's an expert on obsessive
compulsive disorder. So I'm doing the research in my apartment
(05:18):
here in New York the night before and I'm saying, oh, God,
I do that, I do that. Oh this thing has
a name. So I have to make a decision. Do
I go on television the next day and pretend I
don't have this, or do.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
I come out?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
And I came out and the next thing I know,
I'm on Oprah and I'm on The Today Show and
I'm on Howard Stern. Remember discussing, Yes, I did all this,
and my parents stopped talking to me because they said,
you know, because I mentioned that they did it. It
was hereditary thing, and they said, we don't do that stuff,
and they cut me off. And you know, it was
(05:51):
a very stressful time. I was supposed to host Hollywood
Squares and they find out about the OCD thing and
so it and they fired me. What yeah, I cut
the promos. Hi Mark Summers joined me, you know, on
the new Hollywood Squares and they made the announcement at
the CBS Affiliates Meeting standing ovation and then I get fired.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
The only slim going on on the Hollywood Squares is
Paul In and I'm probing at the raincoat around that guy.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
So horny.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Anyway, moving on, Yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
So talk about the beginning days of doubledare Oh my,
so low budget.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I'm assuming nine thousand dollars in an episode we shot
at WHYY and Philadelphia because New York studios were too
expensive for Nickelodeon, and nobody there really had done a
game show before. I was the only one. I had
written game shows or whatever. And the first day we
were there we were supposed to shoot four episodes. We
barely got one done because when we went to the
obstacle course, the first thing was called Nightmare. It was
(06:48):
a pillow filled with feathers, and the first time we
did it sixty seconds, nobody does anything. Somebody forgot to
put the flag in the thing, so we stopped. Okay, boy, okay,
and so then they put the flag in, but the
kids turn the thing upside down and all the feathers
were on top of the thing.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
They couldn't find it again.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It took us three times before we actually got the
first obstacle course run, and all the executives were Nickelodeon
where they're holding their heads, going what have we done?
And the next thing we know, we become the biggest
hit and we put Nickelodeon on the map. You know,
if you get a rating and cable now at a
point two or a point three, that's massive. We were
getting fives, not fives five, And they said I read
(07:28):
an ark Broadcasting magazine, which I don't even know what
still exists, but they said the three most important people
to get cable going first was Larry King on CNN
because his kind of show didn't exist, Gallagher because of
his comedy specials on Showtime, and me on Doubledare because
I got kids to tell their parents to go get
cable because they wanted to see the show where they
jumped into five thousand pounds of baked beans.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
So I think it was also every kid's dream to
be on that show.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Oh my god, to this day. Yeah, yeah, see, that's it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
I think if we brought it back as an adult
show with be massive. But you know when we pick
people from the audience to come up, who are all
your ages, they're like, they become six years old again,
it's fantastic cool.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Well, so triple there, we'll call it.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
So Mark, they were paying you, I'm sure a fortune
to host this show back in the day, five.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Hundred bucks in episode that's it.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, twenty five hundred bucks a week, which is, by
the way, the most money I'd never made up to
that point. Right, but then we went into syndication.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Right, I was an adult when Double Dare was out
right as you were.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
But some a lot of people here were kids.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, and so Gandhi's parents wouldn't even let her watch
TV really, but tell them the only wholesome show that
would always be wholesome until till today that they let
you watch was.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Really Look how that turned out? That?
Speaker 6 (08:55):
Man, Well, haven't watch anything. But when I would go
over to friends houses and double Edair would come on,
I'd be like, yes, I'm over here. Yeah, so now
I get to watch this and I loved it.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
That's cool. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
There used to be something called playground talk where kids
would tell the other kids there's this crazy show where
the giving away trips to space camp, and so they
would go to the other friend's house who had cable
like you did, and that's that's what opened the doors.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
So Scotty Bee, who's over there in the Scottie talk
about it?
Speaker 7 (09:18):
Well, I mean we used to get in trouble as
kids because we always wanted to play in the ear,
you know.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Oh yeah, in one ear and out the other show.
Speaker 7 (09:24):
Yeah, So we would we would get cottage cheese and
we would color it with green food color, oh my,
and we would get it all over the walls and
we stained the walls in the house, and we would
get in trouble all the time, but we were constantly
doing the physical challenges for we had to take it outside,
you know, as we progressed, because we made these big,
elaborate things.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
But I mean, that's all we ever wanted to do.
And then as I got older, we wanted to be on.
Speaker 7 (09:44):
Family Double Day of course, yeah, you know, and we
sent in our applications, but that never happened.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
The stories of parents who said to me they're living
in dining rooms were ruined because kids would make their
own slime and obstacle courses through there. And so one
year I opened my door for trick or treat Halloween.
The lady goes, oh, my god, you're that guy from Nickelodeon.
I said, yeah, can I tell you my kids have
destroyed my house because they're copying everything like that. And
the next morning I got up and there was styrofoam
in all of the beds of my uh you know,
(10:12):
flowers and transcaping and yes, and landscaping because that was
their way to get back at me.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
So yes, story did Now did you come up with
a lot of the stuff. After a while, that was
Almo the story. Yes I did.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I was one of the writers and exec producers, and
the most fun was testing physical challenges from six to
nine every night with kids because nothing worked, so you
had to figure out what the One day they did
a thing where they made paper planes and you had
to throw it into a mailbox on the other side
of the stage, and I said, this will never work. Okay,
this will never work. We're gonna do it. Okay. So
I looked at the camera and we're doing it, and
(10:43):
I said, Okay, this is physical challenge that I don't
want to do.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Folks.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
I don't think it'll ever work. But if one here's
the deal. They have twenty seconds to get one paper
plane in the mailbox. If they do it, I'll give
you my house. I said, okay. Oh, Mark on your
Market said though the first first one boom right in
the mailbox. They got close up of me and I said, well,
(11:06):
we'll discuss this during the commercial.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Yes, so nay.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Growing up in Erie, Pennsylvania, I mean was an event.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
My brothers and I would watch this and I have
to ask you Mark, yes, sir, because we would.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Watch this and critique the kids doing the charity.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Oh yeah, you will probably pick a red team or
a blue team and then figure out why you could
do it better exactly.
Speaker 8 (11:27):
But then even the individual kid, I remember, I'm like,
this kid's a little dumb ass.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Come on, you didn't do it. You were so magnanimous hosting.
But in your head do you think, oh, come.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
On, come yes, yes, yes, And the network was always
very protective. I will tell you a story that I've
never told him. I should probably be very careful about this,
But Drew Gasperini, who introduced me to Alex Brightman, who
wrote our show, I love Alex. Alex Brightman is the
best guy ever.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
He said in this very chair right now. Yeah, when
he's Beetle Juicy.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Beetlejuice and U he's spaml out now and he did
the School of Rock.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
He's brilliant.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So he wrote this, this show, and he wanted to
do a show. This is now ten twelve years ago,
the most disgusting show in the history of New York.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
So we're at Joe's Pub.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
I'm am seeing this show, okay, and Alex was doing
dirty highkups. I mean it was the whole thing was
just so insane. But they showed an obstacle course of
me saying, you know, you gotta get through there, you
gotta grab the flave. You got ten seconds, and then
we rolled it back and I said, this is what
I was really thinking when they were doing that, And
God forbid, if anybody would have a tape of that,
(12:30):
I would never be working in this business again. But
you know, you do think I was thirty four when
I started that show, okay, And by the way, I
never wanted to do a kid's show.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
I just wanted to host a show.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
So the reason I think the show was successful in
many ways is I didn't talk down to the kids
and say.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Mahpi, do you have a girlfriend. I talked to him
like they were grown ups.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
And I would screw around with him and they would,
you know, fight back with me, and it was actually fun.
So I think that all those things contributed. But yes,
in my head, I was going, you can't get that
gets right there?
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Just turning us on Mark Summers. Is here the new
off Broadway show. It's called The Life and Slimes of
Mark Summers. Not it's only going on till June.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
You check in sixteen week run.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
We gotta make sure there's a lot more.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
To the show than your Double Dare days. I wanna
get into that. Garrett DoD you have a memory.
Speaker 8 (13:22):
From growing up on Staten Islands, Well, it's great to
finally meet my babysitter, like this was the after school special.
I mean at first, and if my mom was here,
you'd be yelling at you right now because I would say, hey,
they can pick their nose on Double Dare, why can't
I pick my nose? And she was like, well, you
don't have a flag up your nose.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
We can make that out. I mean to the fact where.
Speaker 8 (13:43):
I was so addicted to Double Dare where I would
bring the flags to the bullpit and McDonald's and really
and put the ball and put the flag in there
and try to like time myself to see if I
could find the flag.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
You were a bullpit, Oh of course.
Speaker 8 (13:55):
I mean to the point where I would go to
Universal to see if you guys are taping down there
just by chance, and everybody be like, well, let's go online,
let's go on King Kong, let's go.
Speaker 9 (14:05):
I was like, no, no, I need to get on
Double now. So thank you, Oh yeah, no, thank you, unbelievable,
thank you. I do people get people like they help
you and start crying.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yes, all the time.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
It's unbelievable because the memories that they have and the
other reason they do it.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
We talk. The show takes a dramatic turn halfway through.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
When I discovered I had obsessive compulsive disorder, I was
hosting the talk show and doctor Hollander comes on and
I had been on National TV that I haven't So
people who come to the show have obsessive compulsive disorder,
A lot of them do, and they stay at the
stage door and want to talk. And the amount of
people who I've hugged and who have been crying after
the show has been quite amazing, and the fact that
(14:47):
we're sort of getting this message out. When I got diagnosed,
there was no help pretty much. Now you can take medication,
cognitive behavior therapy, all sorts of things. But back in
the day when I discovered I had it, there wasn't
a lot going on. So yes, there's a lot of
warm and fuzzy moments going on after the show one hundred.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
See, that's the thing. This show has been on for
thirty years.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
So when I went out on a book tour and
when we go out, they're like, you know, their grandkids
listen to us now, and so I see.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
But there's the bond here is this when we.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Look back to our childhood years, those as innocent as
they could have been and should have been years, and
connect with them now when we live in this fed
up world that we live in.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
It does bring.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
This peace, yes, and we connect with the innocence and
the times that made us so happy and Mark Summers,
you do that.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
You still have the ability to do that now. Obviously
it's so odd.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
I grew up with Soupy Sales who right when I
was a kid, he was the person who did kid
shows and I became friends with Soupye and that was
like dying to going to heaven kind of moment. And
I guess, unbeknownst to me at the time, that I
am that to an entire different generation. What's so funny
is the other day somebody said, well, you signed my
program and I said sure. I said you want me
(16:03):
to mention something about double there or unwrapped, and they said,
what's double there? Wow?
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So there's a whole generation of people who don't even
know me from that. They only know me from the
Food Network. I was there for twenty years.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
Well, Unwrapped is one of the best shows ever.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Thanks, So, I mean the premise of Unwrapped is at
least the history of the thing we buy every day. Yes,
where'd they come from? Where do they come from?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
And you know why is there you know of different
colored em and ms and you know what do they
used to make the mike and ikes taste the way
they do? And I did you know, hundreds of episodes
of that for eleven years, and then I exec produced
Dinner Impossible and Restaurant Impossible. So I've had this crazy
life where I started off as a magician. I became
a regular at the Comedy Store in seventy six with
Dave and Jay and Robin, and then you know, become
(16:47):
a host of a kids show. Then I'm at Food Network,
and you know now I am off Broadway doing a
one man show. So it's been quite an interesting run
of events over the last seventy two years. Old, I've
been doing this almost fifty years.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Was talking it?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I mean in a car accident once you broke every
bone in your face.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yes, I was coming back from a restaurant and possible shoot,
didn't wear a seat belt and yeah, the credit card
machine hit me and broke every bone in my face.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
That was a lovely moment.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Credit card machine.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Yeah, you know that when you get ran into.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
A credit what Yes, I was sitting on the back
of the cab right and you know the thing were
oh yeah, and I the guys slammed on the brakes,
hit the center divider, and my head went right into
the credit cards.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
In a life of cancer, not one, not two, but
three bouts of cancer? What kind of cancer?
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Was it?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
A chronic elymphatic leukemia? And I'm on medication I will
be for the rest of my life. They're only fifteen
thousand dollars a month for the pills, but yeah, it's
keiven me alive.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
So yeah. I went through chemo twice.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Third time I was on immuno therapy didn't work and
that's why they tried the pills in a work.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
So yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
So we see these people that we love and we
adore and that we either grew up with or we
continue to learn from. On TV, you never really stop
all the time to think about, well, this is a
human being who's living a life of maybe being married,
maybe not, maybe be with OCD or you don't know
where they came from or where they're going. You just
know who they are while you're watching it.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
And Elvis, that's why I did this show.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
And I also have a podcast called Mark Summerson Wraps
and it's based on the fact that you go to
a movie, a TV show Broadway So and you go, boy,
the person on that show is so lucky, and it's like, no,
they work their asses off to get there. And what
is it about some people who can go over under
a round or through the wall and other people go, man,
I'm not doing this and they retreat, and I'm more
interested in the people who figured out a way to
(18:30):
get where they're going. We had Richard Kain on recently,
we had Kevin Pollack on, we had Highway Men down on.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
We've had some really good people tell their stories.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
And everybody in this room has this story as well.
You're not sitting here because somebody called you up and
said I want you to work here. You figure out
a way to get in this room. Not everybody can
do that.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Hey, So doing a one man show about your life,
what do you learn from it?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Don't mind?
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I mean it's the same as when you write a biography,
an autobiography, you actually learn a lot about yourself.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
This has to be that times ten.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
It's an emotional roller coaster on a nightly basis because
I'm up there telling the story that I lived, and
some nights I get so emotional.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I do break down. I could never control it.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
In certain moments where I'm reliving the moments, because if
you're going to tell the story, it's got to be authentic.
You can't go up there and pretend to do the story.
You're telling them about your life. So yes, it's very emotional.
It's sort of like less expensive than going to a
psychiatrist on a regular basis. And I do learn a
lot about myself. But at this point in my life,
(19:34):
it's funny. I used to go on stage when I
worked at the Magic Castle. I would throw up every
time before I went and did a show because I
had no idea what I was doing. I am so
confident now and I don't get nervous. I can't wait
to get to that theater and perform this on a
nightly basis. And you know, it took me this long
to get that confident, but the journey was necessary. Oh
my god, Yes, I could have never done this even
(19:54):
five years ago, I could have never performed it. The
best compliment I got. Brightman saw me initially when we
started this eight nine years ago, and he hadn't seen
me since opening night. We did open the nineteenth of February,
and he came up to me and he said, I
gotta ask you a question.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I said, what's that? He said, when did you learn
to act? And I broke down.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I thought, coming from Alex Brightman, that was a really emotional.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Moment for me.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
But you aren't acting.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
It's it's a combination of things. Selvis. It's fascinating. Okay,
So I have to ask you this question, yes, sir,
And I asked this with all due respect.
Speaker 8 (20:29):
I heard an urban legend one time that you would
have to, in regards to your OCD, vacuum yourself out
of hotel rooms.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Is that true? No?
Speaker 2 (20:38):
All these you know things between me and Howie Mendel
that have been made up, how he used to put
towels down on the floor and get a pair of
tongs to take the bed sheet off, and all.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
The time, and hotel rooms. I would do that without.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, exactly, Yeah, none of that stuff you know, I
didn't do. I can By the way, I'm a great vacuumer,
and at my house I can. I came out of
every room without a footprint. I mean, I can teach
you that if you want. But no, that thing about
the hotel, that that never happened. So but thank you
for asking. Yeah, now, all those urban legend things happened.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
You know.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I was doing another radio show and a guy said,
I came up to you an airport.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
You refused to shake my hand. No, I didn't. I
shake everybody. Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Funny thing is when you arrived, I said, can we
shake his hand?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
I don't want to make you uncomfortable.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
We love you.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
It was never germ phobic.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
It was all about cleanliness and orderliness and you know,
putting things symmetrical and making sure.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Everything was perfect.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
As a matter of fact, this studio is making me nuts.
Could you turn that up?
Speaker 5 (21:44):
I used to I feel like I used to like
touch things like four or five times.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Oh really, even when I would go through stores.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
I would like rearrange things in the store and I'd
be like, and then I'd walk away. And the funny
thing is, you and I talk about that. Our thing
is odd numbers. I used to have to everything, even
amount of.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Some people are even some people are somehow changed.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Well the rule book with people who see the changes
on a daily basis, it really does yeah yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah, odd numbers. So isn't that weird that people
have to flip a light switch so many times?
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Or walking uh to a room.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
So Daniel will walk into a door and she cannot
leave through another where she has to go out through
the door.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
I came in that way, I'm going out down because
and you know, because then you get these thoughts you
haven't thoughts it's gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
See, that's in my show that I was afraid that
if I my room wasn't clean that when my parents
got in the car, they'd get in a car accident
and die.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
So that's why you kept doing that?
Speaker 5 (22:37):
Why do we why do you think those things?
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Well, I'll send you the doctor's number.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
And if I'm walking down a staircase, if I drag
my left heel on the step, I have to even
and out with my right.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Really I do.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
But I don't think there's doom.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
On the way.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
If I don't, I just don't know what it is.
I mean, I live a life of doom. Any ways,
I'm already paying the price.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
I still have trouble in grocery stores where I get
fixated on reading labels, and so my wife goes grocery
shopping without me because I can get stuck in a
place and you know, you say yourself, I have to
read it perfect.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Well what does perfect mean? You know?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
And when I was doing the talk show here in
New York, they our execut producers said get out of here.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Driving us crazy.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
I would make the staff nuts, so he threw me
out and I would walk from one in the afternoon
until nine, up and down the streets of New York.
But sometimes would get stuck at a place reading you know,
a sign in Tiffany's over and over and over again,
and you know, you get stuck and then you got
to get yourself out of it. So yeah, I mean,
thank god, I don't do that much anymore, but it
(23:43):
is still. I always say I'm eighty two percent cured.
I don't think you're ever one hundred percent cured.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Well, I guess if it slows you down, if it
stops progression or progress in life, then you got to
address it.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Yep. Scary. I just want to say I love you man,
I have.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
No questions, very kind, no questions, just a few, just
some love for you.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Thank you, I love it. That was the most beautiful moment.
I love these guys. Those are fantastic.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
I have a question on a completely different topic, because
you've done one hundred things. You've talked about all of it,
from doubled Air to Unwrapped, and now you're doing this play.
I most recently saw you and quiet on the side
that just came out. Oh my, how was that being
able to talk about all that? Was that like a
cleansing feeling to you to finally be able to say, like, hey,
I wanted to advocate for these kids and I saw
what was going on.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Let me tell you about that. You're going to get
an exclusive here.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
I got called by these folks saying they wanted to
do a documentary on Nickelodeon, and so I said sure,
and I went there and they asked me what I
thought of Nick and the first ten or twelve seconds
from what I understand this documentary or me saying all
these wonderful things, but they did a bait and switch
on me. They am wuished me. They never told me
what this documenting was really about. And so they showed
me a video of something that I couldn't believe was
(24:59):
on Nicolos and I said, well, let's stop.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Tape right here. What are we doing.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Well, we're doing this thing. Do you know this guy?
And all this kind of stuff, and I left.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
So I got a phone call about six weeks ago
saying you're totally out of the show, and I went great.
Then they called me about four weeks ago and said, well,
you're in it, but you're only in the first part
of it because you talked about the positive stuff of Nickelodeon.
What they didn't tell me, and they lied to me about,
was the fact that they put in that other thing
where they had the camera on me when they ambushed
(25:30):
me and uh away. So now we get into a
whole situation about who's unethical.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
That's a very interesting I had no idea. I was
wondering about so many of the interviews that they've done
and how they did it.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I never met Den Schneier when we got done doing
Doubledare and we had run our run. Those people came
in after and took over our studios. Never met the man,
have no idea about any of those things. I mean,
I know Keenan from Keenan and Kel because we've done
stuff together.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
But as far as anything that happened on that show
with any of those people, I never met any of them.
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Anybody, but they made it seem like I knew those people.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Definitely did.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
They knew exactly what they were doing a documentary about,
and ethically they should have said something to you about,
you think and given you a shot to say, I
don't know them. I shouldn't even be there. You're If
I knew something, maybe i'd to come talk to you,
but I don't.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
Is there anything you can do about that now?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Or well there's a phone call coming in today at
three o'clock.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
There we go. This is exclusive it Look, you know,
I through it all.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
You obviously make so many people so happy for so
many reasons. And the fact that you're doing your your show,
The Life and Slimes of Mark Summers is just another layer.
Speaker 4 (26:47):
And so do we have more layers to come?
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Are you?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
Are you?
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Are you ready to move forward into something else?
Speaker 4 (26:54):
Or what do you want to do?
Speaker 1 (26:55):
What do I want to do?
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Well, there's a possibility we could tour this. That would
be one thing that we've just gus doing it for
streaming services. Another discussion going on. But you know, the
one thing that has eluded me is actually being in
a Broadway show. And I auditioned for Waitress a couple
of years ago and they told me, quote that I
could never play that part.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
I was playing old Joe.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
I try to because they said that I played it
too young, that I had too much energy and I
had a lot in my voice that I do not
come across as an old man.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Sort of a compliment.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
But you know, I put the word out there that
if there's any Broadway producer who has not I don't
need a lead like a third you know, lead kind
of thing one song and one thing a line.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
You would play the wacky neighbor.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Yeah, you know, the Wizard would be the great one
song you sing.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah, yeah, Well there's a debate on that. Brighten Telvie's
not sure, but let's pretend I can. But you know,
playing the Wizard in Wicked would be you know, the
kind of perfect role, you know, twelve minutes on stage
for a couple of scenes, something like that. So you know,
I put that out there. If it happens, fantastic, But
I'm gonna tell you, Elvis, if this is as.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Good as it gets, I'm the happiest man in the world.
That's amazing. That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Are you one of these guys people who's always thinking,
I'm gonna keep working till the day I kick undred percent?
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Peter Marshall, my friend who was the host of Hollywood Square,
absolutely just turned ninety eight years old, and a few
years ago I said to him, you know, I think
I'm gonna stop doing this, and he said, Mark, all
my friends who stopped doing it died, do not ever
stop doing this stuff. And so I keep moving forward.
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Let me keep moving forward. What does that mean?
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Well, even though I say I'm I'm retired, I'm always
thinking of ideas and trying to pitch him I where
I live, Dennis Miller is one of my neighbors. And
Dennis and I have lunch when I'm home every Wednesday,
and he's one of the most intelligent humans I've ever
met my entire life. We have different points of view
on certain things, but having conversations like that and jd
(29:00):
Roth who did Funhouse, and Dennis Miller and we discuss
the industry and shows and things like that. And so yes,
I'm always inspired. It's harder to get meetings now because
I'm an old guy. They want to meet with people
who are less than half my age. And so even
though I have this reputation of having success, although I
will tell you that right before I got this Broadway show,
(29:21):
off Broadway Show, I was asked to host Tick Doc Doe,
which they're bringing back, and I had to turn it
down because here was my feeling. I've hosted many shows,
but I've never done a show in New York off Broadway,
and I thought, well, you know, I got to do that.
So I turned it down. And I don't look back
and say, wow, I should have taken that job, because
I've done that before. This is something that's all new,
(29:43):
and the excitement and the energy it takes is much
more exciting than go and say, well, if you answered
this question, you get three hundred dollars.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
I've done that before.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
You know what you have, your audience, and you know
exactly who they are. I do, and so there's opportunity there.
So I bring this question up for a friend, as
you for a friend, what do you do when you've
been doing it for so long you're kind of wondering
what's next.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
You can't sell you, you just can't stop.
Speaker 4 (30:08):
I'll let them know, yes, yes, yes, please do.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
But you know the fact that this week I did
the view I did Sherry CBS Morning Show. The fact
that anybody still wants me on these shows is fascinating.
But the people who are producing and are hosting these shows,
like all of you, grew up watching me, and so
they want to reminisce. And so that's the advantage that
I have to a certain point. But you know, just
because and I have no idea how old you are,
(30:32):
but I know I'm a lot older than you, there's
no reason for us to stop. Seacrest always says to me,
he hates me because my voice sounds the same now
as it did when I was in my twenties and thirties.
He said, you should sound like an old man at
this point, and I don't. He said, Summers, you pissed
me off. So yeah, so you know, we just keep
doing what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Man, Mark Summers in the Life and Slives of Mark
Summers is going on until June, So you got to
get in there right now and.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
We'll be there.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Thank you, Mark Summers, Thank you and by the way,
if you go to ms DARE twenty four is your
code on telecharge, you can get tickets as little as
thirty nine dollars.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
Hold on, hold on, repeat that.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Ms DARE like Mark Summers and double dere ms DARE
twenty four at telecharge dot com and you can get
tickets as low as thirty nine dollars. So do that
and we'll see you there.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
You're on sale. That was we all are.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
Some of us are complimentary.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
The Mercedes Benz Interview Lounge
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