Classic Nickelodeon Show Gets Canceled After Revival
Well that was quick!
For a kid in the 1990s, there was nothing better than Nickelodeon and the variety of television shows it broadcasted. From Salute Your Shorts to Double Dare, there seemed to be endless amounts of entertaining content available to kids of all ages on Nickelodeon. One of the more successful game shows of that era, Legends of the Hidden Temple, was revived by The CW in 2021, with a slightly different tone and age group. Unfortunately, bad news seems to be on the horizon for this once great competition show and the network that made an effort to take it on.
As reported by popculture, The CW’s reboot of Legends of the Hidden Temple has been canceled at the network. The classic game show was turned into an adults only scripted series, which lasted only one season before news of its cancellation spread this week. Deadline reports that the twelve episode series hosted by American comedian and actress Cristela Alonzo was the lowest rated of all of The Cw’s scripted series during the past season. Part of the issue may have been the restructuring of the game show altogether.
Concluding its final episode back in January 2022, Legends of the Hidden Temple was a failed effort at reinventing a beloved classic game show. Initially meant for kids to compete when it ran for several seasons in the 1990s on Nickelodeon, The CW version of the series took adults and had them compete in a quasi-Survivor style competition. Playing familiar games like crossing the moat, hiking up the Steps of Knowledge, and attempting the Temple Run, contestants were under intense pressure to win. Producers most likely wanted to lean on the nostalgia of the original show, but never really finding the audience the show desired, it now appears that Legends of the Hidden Temple is done.
Things are not looking great for reboots and many of the series at The CW. Joining a long list of cancellations from the network this past season, Legends of the Hidden Temple is just the latest. According to TVLine, The CW has recently cancelled a variety of series, including Charmed, Legacies, 4400, In the Dark, Dynasty, Naomi, and Roswell, New Mexico. The network’s leading series, Riverdale, is set to premiere its final season, which will conclude sometime in 2023. With all of these cancellations, TVLine states that there are rumors of an upcoming sale of The CW, which might end up being to the Nexstar Media Group.
Regardless of the sale or not of The CW, rebooting classic game shows may not be a favorite of every fan. Legends of the Hidden Temple is just one of many shows that networks have tried to revive to take advantage of treasures from childhood past, but adding to the original concept of the show may be what took this newest version down. But for fans of the 90s version, to get some of that nostalgia back, Paramount+ has the complete series featured on its streaming platform. That’s some good news for a once popular program.
