Marc Summers (born Marc Berkowitz; November 11, 1951)[1] 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 Network; he was the executive producer for both Dinner: Impossible and Restaurant: Impossible also for Food Network.
Since 2023 he has hosted the podcast Marc Summers Unwraps. He currently stars in a one-man show about his life titled The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers.
After consulting with Rabbi Weitzman of Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation about whether to pursue a career as a rabbi or as an entertainer, Rabbi Weitzman told Summers, "As a rabbi, you can help a small congregation a lot, but as a performer you can help a lot of people a little."[3] Summers decided he preferred to help a lot of people, which set his path to becoming a performer.
In the beginning of his career he was a radio DJ and a stand-up comedian; although he held various television production jobs before a career boost in 1986, when he worked as the co-announcer with Gene Wood on ABC's short lived game show Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak.
According to Summers, a ventriloquist friend was called for an interview at Double Dare, but having never heard of Nickelodeon, sent Summers for the interview in his place.[3] Summers was the first to interview for the job and was hired as both the host and producer.
In 1989, he auditioned to host the CBS daytime version of Wheel of Fortune; however, Bob Goen was hired instead.[4]
Double Dare's popularity led Summers to other hosting jobs including the syndicated Couch Potatoes in 1989, and Nickelodeon's What Would You Do? in 1991.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Summers appeared on television talk shows, including a stint on ABC television'sHome Show.
Summers also had a rare dramatic performance in the Nickelodeon-produced Halloween program Mystery Magical Special, which also highlighted his skills as a stage magician.
After Double Dare's cancellation in 1993, Summers co-hosted Our Home, a daily talk show aimed at homemakers, on Lifetime. Summers left Our Home after a couple of seasons to co-host another Lifetime talk show, Biggers & Summers.
In 1993, Summers hosted a special episode of Nova, called "The NOVA Quiz", celebrating the show's 20th anniversary season on PBS. Contestants answered science questions and participated in science experiments, for a chance to go on a science expedition.
Summers made an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on October 17, 1994, where he sat next to Burt Reynolds. The two traded jabs before Reynolds dumped water from his mug onto Summers' lap; the two ended up pieing each other. Regarding the experience, Summers later recalled: "Burt Reynolds was going through a bad divorce with Loni Anderson. This was not planned, it was all real. Jay called me afterward and asked, 'What's going on between you and Burt?' It was like survival of the fittest. I was a comic. You wait your entire life to get on the Tonight Show, I wasn't going to let this guy fuck it up for me."[5]
During the 1990s, Summers continued work on television shows, each with varying success. He created and hosted the short-lived children's game show Pick Your Brain, co-hosted Great Day America on the PAX Network, produced I Can't Believe You Said That, and hosted It's a Surprise on Food Network.
Summers returned to Nickelodeon in 2000 as the executive consultant for Double Dare 2000, an updated version of the original show. Two years later, he was the executive producer for another Nickelodeon resurrection, Wild and Crazy Kids.
GSN chose Summers to host its original program WinTuition in 2002.
On March 28, 2008, the Communication and Journalism Club of Coastal Carolina University presented Summers with the first annual Peach Cobbler Award, an honor modeled after Harvard's Hasty Pudding Award. The Peach Cobbler Award recognizes an individual and their accomplishments in the communication field. The Communication and Journalism Club also declared that same day as "Marc Summers Day". After the ceremony, Summers hosted a mock version of Double Dare on the university's campus.
He returned to television as the host of more shows, including History IQ with his old announcer Harvey on the History Channel; the Food Network series Unwrapped; the Unwrappedspin-off game show, Trivia Unwrapped; and the Game Show Network series WinTuition. In 2005, Summers became the host of Food Network's reality series The Next Food Network Star. Summers joined Chef Guy Fieri as co-host of Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown in 2008. In late 2006, Sony Pictures Television and KingWorld planned a new game show called Combination Lock, with Summers hosting the first pilot. It was to be paired with a revival of the classic game show, The Joker's Wild.[6] However, a deal could not be reached between KingWorld and station groups.[7] Off the screen, Summers has been involved as an executive producer on the Food Network's Dinner: Impossible and Restaurant: Impossible. Summers currently splits his time between homes in Los Angeles and Philadelphia where his company Marc Summers Productions has a branch.
Summers has hosted stage versions of The Price Is Right and credits Bob Barker and The Price Is Right for helping him pursue a game-show career. Summers was a young page at CBS when The Price Is Right premiered with The Joker's Wild and Gambit in 1972, and he often asked advice of Barker, Jack Barry and Wink Martindale—the shows' respective hosts—about a hosting career. He claims it was the best possible education and training in the game show field, and it was during this time that Summers got his first on-air experience, as a fill-in announcer on The Joker's Wild.
Summers served as host of "Drunk Double Dare" during Drunk Day, an annual episode of the Philadelphia-based Preston & Steve radio show on WMMR, held directly before the Fourth of July weekend. The show reunited Summers with his Double Dare cohorts Harvey and Robin Marrella. He has also hosted "Dunkel Dare" during the annual Beer Week in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Summers returned to host a 30th anniversary of Double Dare at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con. Summers also appeared in a commemorative half-hour special in honor of the show's 30th anniversary that aired on Nickelodeon on November 23, 2016.[12]
In 2018, Summers provided color commentary along with his vast knowledge of the game on the revival of Double Dare with Liza Koshy, produced by RTL Group / FremantleMedia, and served as executive producer.[13] In 2019, Summers hosted Double Dare Live, a non-broadcast, national touring version of the show.[14]
Summers began hosting the Marc Summers Unwraps podcast in 2023.[15]
During an interview with Dr. Eric Hollander on Biggers & Summers, Summers revealed that he has obsessive–compulsive disorder. Summers went public about his condition on various television shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show and Today. In 1999, Summers produced a VHS video box set with Hollander about his experience, called Everything in Its Place: My Trials and Triumphs with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Summers also participated in a series of VHS videos for Freedom from Fear, a non-profit organization with the goal of addressing anxiety disorders and other related behavioral disorders.[17] Despite his OCD, he was able to interact fully with his fans and contestants on Double Dare to the point of even allowing himself to get slimed, as well as shaking hands with contestants. Going public with his OCD cost Summers a job as host of a Hollywood Squares revival, and he was replaced by Tom Bergeron.[18]
In August 2012, Summers suffered severe head injuries in an accident in a Philadelphia taxicab equipped with a partition.[19]
In a 2015 interview on the Philadelphia-based Preston & Steve radio show on WMMR, Summers revealed that six years before, in 2009, he had "stomach problems" and had been in a lot of pain. Exploratory surgery revealed that he had chronic lymphatic leukemia. The initial doctor recommended chemotherapy, but fearing the pain and illness involved, Summers sought the opinion of another oncologist in Chicago. The oncologist promptly misdiagnosed him with mantle cell lymphoma and told him that he only had six months to live. Summers went back to his initial doctor in a panic; ultimately the original diagnosis of chronic lymphatic leukemia was confirmed. Chemotherapy would go on for the next two years, which he described as "brutal". Summers has had PET scans ever since his chemo finished, and as of 2016[update] is in remission.[20] On April 10, 2018, Summers was again a guest on Preston & Steve, and discussed flying to the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center from his home in Santa Barbara for further treatment.
In late 2019, in an in-person interview on KTLA's morning show, Summers revealed that he is again battling cancer. He did not volunteer which type of cancer he had, only saying that he was taking medication, and added, "I feel good, it's all going to be fantastic".[21]
Related Research Articles
You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. It featured adolescent and teenage actors performing in a sketch comedy format similar to America's Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Canada's Second City Television. Each episode had a specific theme, typically relating to the popular culture of the time.
Double Dare is an American game show in which two teams compete to win cash and prizes by answering trivia questions and completing messy stunts known as physical challenges. It originally ran from 1986 to 1993. A revival ran in 2000, and the most recent revival ran from 2018 to 2019.
Unwrapped, also known as Unwrapped with Marc Summers, is an American television program on Food Network that reveals the origins of sponsored foods. It first aired in June 2001 and is hosted by Marc Summers. The show leads viewers on tours of factories and other food-related locations. Popular subjects include candy, breakfast cereal, snacks, and TV dinners. The show's spin-off, Trivia Unwrapped, is a game show also hosted by Marc Summers. In February 2015, a revival series, Unwrapped 2.0, began airing; it's hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro.
Eugene Edward Wood was an American television personality, known primarily for his work as an announcer on various game shows. From the 1950s to the 1990s, he announced many game shows, primarily Mark Goodson–Bill Todman productions such as Family Feud, Classic Concentration, Card Sharks, Password, and Beat the Clock. Wood also served a brief stint as a host on this last show, and on another show, Anything You Can Do. After retiring from game shows in 1996, Wood worked as an announcer for the Game Show Network until his retirement in 1998.
Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids 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 providers and satellite provider Dish Network. With its focus on classic Nickelodeon game shows, Nick GAS was essentially a children's version of Game Show Network and ESPN.
Nickelodeon Studios was a production studio and theme park attraction run by the television network Nickelodeon at Universal Studios Florida.
Figure It Out is an American children's panel game show that aired on Nickelodeon. The original series, hosted by Summer Sanders, ran for four seasons from July 7, 1997, to December 12, 1999. The show was revived in 2012, with Jeff Sutphen as host, with the revival airing from June 11, 2012, to July 16, 2013. The series was originally recorded at Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The revival episodes were filmed on stage 19 at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles.
Charles John O'Donnell was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows, and for his distinctive baritone voice. Among them, he was best known for Wheel of Fortune, where he worked from 1975 to 1980, and again from 1989 until his death. O'Donnell was also known for announcing American Bandstand.
Weinerville is an American children's variety television program on Nickelodeon. It aired from 1993 to 1997. This series was based around a giant puppet stage that was designed to look like a city called Weinerville. It was created and hosted by Marc Weiner.
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. 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 and Donnie Jeffcoat in all three seasons, accompanied by Annette Chavez in season 1 and Jessica Gaynes for the last two seasons.
Gunge as it is known in the United Kingdom, or slime as it is known in the United States and most English-speaking areas of the world, is a thick, gooey, yet runny substance with a consistency somewhere between that of paint and custard. It has been a feature on many children's programs for many years around the world and has made appearances in game shows as well as other programming. While gunge mostly appears on television, it can also be used as a fundraising tool for charities, youth and religious groups. Gunge tanks have appeared at nightclubs and Fun Days. The British charities Comic Relief and Children in Need, supported by the BBC, have used gunge for fundraising in the past. In the U.S., slime is sometimes associated with Nickelodeon, even having several game shows revolving around it, such as Slime Time Live.
John Harvey, simply known as Harvey, is an American television and radio personality, often credited by his last name. He was the announcer for Double Dare, Finders Keepers, and History IQ. In addition to his announcer work, he hosted and built projects on Gimme Shelter, a home improvement program on The Discovery Channel in the late 1990s.
John Cramer is an American television announcer.
Jay Sheldon Wolpert was an American television producer and screenwriter.
Barry & Enright Productions was a United States television production company that was formed in 1947 by Jack Barry and Dan Enright.
Oprah Gail Winfrey, known mononymously as Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she was the richest African-American of the 20th century and was once the world's only black billionaire. By 2007, she was often ranked as the most influential woman in the world.
Mathew Klickstein is an American screenwriter, journalist, author, arts therapist and playwright.
America Goes Bananaz is a teenager-oriented variety show presented by Michael Young and Randy Hamilton. It premiered locally on QUBE's C-1 channel in 1977, with the title Columbus Goes Bananaz. The series was renamed America Goes Bananaz in preparation for a move to then-upcoming youth-oriented national network Nickelodeon; all episodes aired from January 19, 1979, onward used this title.
The children's cable television network Nickelodeon has on occasion, produced special programming in-line with its corporate cousin CBS and that network's then forthcoming Super Bowl coverage.
The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers is a one-man stage performance by American stage and screen actor Marc Summers.
↑ "Whitney Houston's Sister-In-Law Pat Houston & Model Niki Taylor." Oprah: Where Are They Now? Exec. Prod. Julie Simpson, Jill Van Lokeren, and Veronica Votypka. CEO/Chief Crea. Off. Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Winfrey Network. November 16, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
