''Wild & Crazy Kids'' is an American television game show in which large teams, usually consisting entirely of children, participated in head-to-head physical challenges on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

. The show lasted for three seasons from 1990 until 1992 for a total of 65 episodes. ''Wild & Crazy Kids'' starred three teenage co-hosts

Omar Gooding Omar Miles Gooding Sr., also known by his stage name, Big OMati Moralejo,

Dave Aizer David Ross Aizer (born November 24, 1974) is an American television host, writer and producer. Currently he is the channel host for WSFL-TV The CW in South Florida. He hosts the weekly talk show ''Inside South Florida'', as well as the morning new ...

and Viviane Collins of

Nick GAS Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids (stylized as Nick GaS and commonly known as Nick GAS) was an American cable television network that was part of MTV Networks' suite of digital cable channels. The channel was available to all digital cable pr ...

Games

Each episode consisted of three games with one host emceeing each game. The teams were identified by the color of the shirts they wore, which varied from show to show (see below). The games varied in style; many were take-offs on

playground game This is a list of games that used to be played by children, some of which are still being played today. Traditional children's games do not include commercial products such as board games but do include games which require props such as hopscotch ...

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

with unusual rules added, or messy games involving

pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...

s or

slime Slime may refer to: Biology * Slime mold, a broad term often referring to roughly six groups of Eukaryotes * Biofilm, an aggregate of microorganisms in which cells adhere to each other and/or to a surface * Slimy (fish), also known as the pony ...

(the latter was referred to as "blap" beginning in season three). The majority of shows were filmed at various community parks and beaches in the

greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

area, including locations in

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

, Fullerton, and

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

. Occasionally, the show taped special episodes at a

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

such as

Raging Waters Raging Waters are a chain of four water theme parks in Sacramento, San Dimas, San Jose, California, and Sydney, Australia. The parks are operated by Palace Entertainment and owned by its parent company Parques Reunidos, but they each contain d ...

, Wild Rivers, and

Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newha ...

. Unlike other Nickelodeon game shows, no prizes were ever awarded to any of the players.

Take-offs on sports

* The most often repeated (once per season) game was ''Dizzy Bat Home Run Derby''. The game consisted of two teams (one of kids and one of adults) batting in three innings. The kids would attempt to hit home runs off of pitched balls (temporary and closer fencing was put up); any ball that did not leave the field in fair territory was as an out. Once the kids had three outs, the adults would bat. During their half-inning, a grownup would have up to three chances to hit home runs off a batting tee; however, the adult was first required to hold his bat upright against his forehead and spin around it three times; furthermore, each adult would only get thirty seconds to hit the balls. Three adults would bat every half-inning. Donnie Jeffcoat hosted the game all three times. * ''Three-Legged Soccer'', where kids were tied at the ankle like in a three-legged race. * ''Splash Football'', where quarterback

Rodney Peete Rodney Peete (born March 16, 1966) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders, and Carolina Panthers. He played ...

would throw footballs to kids jumping off a diving board and into a pool. * ''Bumper Boat Lacrosse'', played in

bumper boats Bumper boats are an amusement park ride that uses inner tube shaped watercraft that can be steered by the rider. Some are driven by electric motors, some by gasoline engines, and some require the rider to propel the craft by pedaling. Most are ...

. * ''Donkey Basketball'', played with kids on

donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

Playground games

* A giant game of

Simon Says Simon Says is a children's game for three or more players. One player takes the role of "Simon" and issues instructions (usually physical actions such as "jump in the air" or "stick out your tongue") to the other players, which should be follow ...

which looked more like a comedy routine by leader, Brian Seeman. *

Red light/Green light Statues (also known as Red Light, Green Light in North America, and Grandma's/Grandmother's Footsteps or Fairy Footsteps in the United Kingdom) is a popular children's game, often played in different countries. There are variations of play t ...

, retitled ''Red Pie/Green Pie'', where if a child was caught trying to advance after the call of "red light", they hit them self with a pie. If they reached their goal, they hit one of their parents with the pie. * Cops and Robbers played on the set of the ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...

'' Spectacular at

Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusemen ...

. * A

Tug of War Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

pitting three professional wrestlers against a team of kids. The wrestlers would face-off against a growing number of kids each round, starting at one and then going to all fifty kids.

Other popular games

* Gunk in the Sky Challenge; similar to Pie in the Sky from ''What Would You Do?'', except featuring slime instead of pies. Players would sit under a large bucket of slop, and if they flinched, their opponent got to dump the slime on them. * ''Human

Battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

''; where the spaces selected by the players had a giant bucket of navy beans dumped on them (as well as any participant serving as a "ship" in that space.) from giant crane above the board. * Mustard-Ketchup Quickdraw; where opposing teammates would draw and shoot ketchup and mustard bottles at each-other. The winner received a large number of points for their team, while the loser could earn consolation points by enacting a dramatic death, ultimately falling into an inflatable pool of pie filling. * Pass the Bucket; A modified version of "Steal the Bacon" involving three teams where the object to be retrieved was a bucket of a mystery substance; contestants who lost a round got its contents dumped onto their heads. To win a round, a player must either steal the bucket without getting tagged by both opponents or tag a thieving player. * Slime by Numbers; Kids sat above their parents holding numbered buckets of slime. The parents had to pick a number, and the kid who had the bucket with the number the parent chose got to pour the bucket of slime over the head of the person seated below them. The last parent remaining would move on to the final round. Kids and parents then reversed, and likewise, the last kid not to be slimed also got to move on to the last round. In it, the last two players would be seated below two extra large buckets (one had green slime, and the other had confetti). They would pick a number, and the loser (usually the parent) was slimed. * Slime Dump-Off; where players would sit across from each-other with a big bucket of slime raised between them, and the winning team would get to dump the slime on the loser. * Sloppy Word Find; where players would face off to find a hidden word (such as baked beans, eggs, and dog food) on a crossword puzzle style board, with the winner getting to dump a bucket of the word they find on the loser. * Smelly Slip 'n' Slide; A Slip 'n' Slide race between two teams would be racing to see who could make it past the finish line first. The loser would be dumped on with buckets of stewed tomatoes upon finishing. * Other games included; A massive game of

Twister Twister may refer to: Weather * Tornado Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design Entertainment * ''Twister'' (198 ...

, ''Human

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter and set ...

'', Bleacher Pass Relay, and Spiderweb Stickup.

Pilot

A pilot was shot in 1989, hosted by Matt Brown (who co-hosted ''

Don't Just Sit There ''Don't Just Sit There!'' is a television show on Nickelodeon that first aired in 1988 and lasted for three seasons. It was a variety talk show comedy show. Segments included making food or taking things apart such as a Nintendo, interviews with ce ...

'' on Nickelodeon), Leslie Hibbard and Cory Tyler.

Guest appearances

During the first and second seasons, there were occasionally adult celebrity guests, and one of Season 2's final episodes held a kids and teens celebrity slide competition game at Raging Waters in San Dimas, California to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The entire third season in 1992 featured at least one (and sometimes more) kid celebrity guest(s) every episode. Guests were people like actor and former bodybuilder

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

Lark Voorhies Lark Voorhies (born Lark Holloway; March 25, 1974) is an American actress, singer, spokeswoman and model. Voorhies rose to fame playing Lisa Marie Turtle on the NBC sitcom ''Saved by the Bell'' (1989–1993). Voorhies was nominated for the Youn ...

from ''

Saved by the Bell ''Saved by the Bell'' is an American television sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in primetime, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday night. Targeted at kids and teens, ''Saved by the Bell'' was broadcast in the United States ...

'',

Jonathan Taylor Thomas Jonathan Taylor Thomas (born Jonathan Taylor Weiss; September 8, 1981) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Randy Taylor on ''Home Improvement'' and voicing young Simba in Disney's 1994 film ''The Lion King'' and Pinocch ...

from ''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

'', Ashley Johnson from ''

Growing Pains ''Growing Pains'' is an American television sitcom created by Neal Marlens that aired on ABC from September 24, 1985, to April 25, 1992. The show ran for seven seasons, consisting of 166 episodes. The series followed the misadventures of the Se ...

'', and

Michael Fishman Michael Aaron Fishman (born October 22, 1981) is an American actor, writer, and producer known for playing D.J. Conner on the long-running series ''Roseanne'' and its spin-off show, ''The Conners''. Early life Fishman was born in Los Angeles C ...

from ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Roseann ...

''. A young

Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent Maguire (born June 27, 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing Peter Parker (Sam Raimi film series), the title character from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in film#Sam Raimi films, ''Spider-Man'' tril ...

appeared on the show long before he was famous, promoting the short-lived

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

sitcom ''

Great Scott! "Great Scott!" is an interjection of surprise, amazement, or dismay. It is a distinctive but inoffensive exclamation, popular in the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, and now considered dated. It originated as a minc ...

''. Other appearances include: *

Marc Summers Marc Summers (born Marc Berkowitz; November 11, 1951) is an American television personality, comedian, game show host, producer, and talk show host. He is best known for hosting '' Double Dare'' for Nickelodeon, and ''Unwrapped'' for Food Networ ...

from '' Double Dare'' and '' What Would You Do?'' who appeared in 1990 in a special episode titled "''Double Dare'' vs. ''Wild & Crazy Kids''". At the end of the episode, when Team Double Dare won, and Marc tricks Donnie, Omar, and Jessica into a green sliming. He also appeared the following year to pitch in "Dizzy Bat Home Run Derby: The Sequel". *

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

pitcher

Scott Bailes Scott Alan Bailes (born December 18, 1961) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who pitched for three teams during a nine-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career. Career During his youth, he moved to Missouri, and participated in L ...

pitched the first "Dizzy Bat Home Run Derby", and

Bruce Hurst Bruce Vee Hurst (born March 24, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher. He is best remembered for his performance for the Boston Red Sox in the postseason, where he won two games while allowing only two run ...

of the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

pitched the third and final installment. *

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

quarterback

appeared on the premiere episode throwing footballs to kids jumping into a swimming pool. *

Michael Bower Anthony Michael Ray Bower (born February 12, 1975) is an American actor best known for his role as Eddie "Donkeylips" Gelfen on the television program ''Salute Your Shorts'', which aired from 1991 to 1992 on Nickelodeon and for which he won a Yo ...

, Venus DeMilo and

Danny Cooksey Daniel Ray Allen Cooksey Jr. (born November 2, 1975) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his roles in television shows, such as ''Diff'rent Strokes'' (during the final three seasons), '' The Cavanaughs'', ''Xiaolin Showdown'' ...

from the Nickelodeon series ''

Salute Your Shorts ''Salute Your Shorts'' is an American television sitcom created by Steve Slavkin and produced by Propaganda Films, which aired on Nickelodeon from July 4, 1991, to September 12, 1992. Focused around the life of young campers at the fictional Cam ...

'' appeared on one of the final episodes of the original run. This show pitted two teams—one headed by the ''Salute Your Shorts'' crew and the other headed by the three ''Wild & Crazy Kids'' co-hosts—in an all day showdown. * Olympic skier

Bode Miller Samuel Bode Miller ( ; born October 12, 1977) is an American former World Cup alpine ski racer. He is an Olympic and World Championship gold medalist, a two-time overall World Cup champion in 2005 and 2008, and the most successful male America ...

appeared on the 2002 revival. *

Brandon Call Brandon Spencer Lee Call (born November 17, 1976) is an American former television and film actor as a child and adolescent. He played Hobie Buchannon in the first year of ''Baywatch'', and J.T. Lambert over a period of seven seasons on the TV ...

was in season 2, and as payback for his ''Wild & Crazy Kids'' shirt being in the Goo Pool with shorts and shoes, he took Donnie's shirt, Omar's shorts and Jessica's shoes and ran off to put them into the Goo Pool with the hosts chasing after him. *

Daryl Sabara Daryl Christopher Sabara (born June 14, 1992) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Juni Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' film series and for a variety of television and film appearances, including ''The Polar Express'', ''Wizards of Waver ...

and

Alexa Vega Alexa Ellesse PenaVega (née Vega; born August 27, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Carmen Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' film series and Julie Corky in the 2004 film ''Sleepover''. In 2009, she starred as the ...

of the ''

Spy Kids ''Spy Kids'' is an American spy family action-adventure comedy franchise created by Robert Rodriguez. The plot follows adventures of Carmen and Juni Cortez, two children who become involved in their parents' espionage organization. The films i ...

'' movies appeared on the revival.

Production

The show was executive produced by Woody Fraser, and aired 65 episodes from July 4, 1990, to December 1, 1992. Reruns aired on

from December 2, 1992, to February 28, 1999, before moving to

on March 1, 1999, where it ran until November 1, 2005. It was produced by Woody Fraser Productions in association with Nickelodeon and

Reeves Entertainment Group Alan Landsburg Productions (ALP) was an independent television production company founded by Alan Landsburg in 1971. The company had produced '' In Search of...'' and ''That's Incredible!'', two early examples of reality television decades befor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild And Crazy Kids Nickelodeon game shows 1990s American children's game shows 2000s American children's game shows 1990s Nickelodeon original programming 2000s Nickelodeon original programming 1990 American television series debuts 1992 American television series endings 2002 American television series debuts 2002 American television series endings Sports entertainment English-language television shows American television series revived after cancellation Television series about children Television series by CBS Studios