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Marc Summers’ Mystery Magical Special!


X-E reviews The Mystery Magical Special, also known as Marc Summers' Mystery Magical Special, also known as Marc Summers' Mystery Magical Tour. The 1986 Halloween special hasn't stood the test of time, but it's worth noting that it stood longer than anyone could've reasonably expected it to. Starring a fresh-faced Marc Summers as the leader of a group of kids (including Jonathan Brandis, don't you go crying on me) who find themselves trapped in some kind of weird haunted mansion that fancies itself a magician's stage. The special wasn't huge enough to have anything more than a mild cult following, and the people who remember it do so for one reason only: Skeleton Dude, the fencing pirate skull creature guy. Review is pretty long for a Countdown entry, and includes video clips.

Posted by Matt on 10/15/2006. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 96 comments

First reply?

I don’t know if I should be proud or ashamed at my excitement right now. So tormented…

Chestnuts roasted by Retro Playback @ 10/15/2006 11:07 PM

Anyone else remember Marc Summers covering the early days of the WACO standoff for GMA on abc?

Skeleton Dude doesn’t seem scary, judging by the still photo.  It looks like he’s just wearing a cardboard cutout from the back of a cereal box.

Chestnuts roasted by jrh @ 10/15/2006 11:12 PM

Marc Summers…Marc Summers… jeeziz kryst, that’s the dude from that Food Network show, Unwrapped! Ooh! Marc! Marc! Tell me how they make Cheez Whiz! Marc! Boo-Berry! Reese’s Pieces! Marc!

Chestnuts roasted by Roadblock @ 10/15/2006 11:23 PM

I wish Nick GAS still showed old Super Sloppy Double Dare and/or Family Double Dare. Harvy was a total badass and DD 2000 sucks so hard it’s not even watchable. I also wish something /really/ spooky would happen. Lol yay fat kid :D

Chestnuts roasted by Eddie Lightning Frog @ 10/15/2006 11:27 PM

Okay, I was thoroughly convinced I’d never seen this particular special when I began reading the article… then I saw SKELETON DUDE!! Yeah, it all came back in a rush. But for some reason I remembered Marc being Skeleton Dude… *shrug*

Chestnuts roasted by broomstickjockey @ 10/15/2006 11:43 PM

Is this that thing with the elevator? And the skeleton? I should probably read the article. If it is, I never understood why it was Marc Summers.

I also never understood why there was more than one summer-named gameshow host on Nickelodeon. (Marc Summers! Summer Sanders!)

Chestnuts roasted by Katherine @ 10/15/2006 11:52 PM

As soon as the page loaded and I saw Marc Summers (who stole my last name, thanks) in a dark environment with two-to-three kids, I immediately remembered the Halloween year I watched this special on Nickelodeon, right after Double Dare, at 8pm, Eastern.

Haven’t read the entry yet, but dammit, I remember watching it. Vividly, for some odd reason.

Chestnuts roasted by ColonelCatsup @ 10/16/2006 12:03 AM

Just be glad he wasn’t sitting on the floor, trying to straighten the tassles on the rugs. Then they never would have escaped :P

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 10/16/2006 12:03 AM

…and, wow, I still love the “Worst Witch”-stravaganza, even though I didn’t actually see “The Worst Witch” until 2004.

Gee! What was up with 1986?

Chestnuts roasted by Katherine @ 10/16/2006 12:13 AM

That sucks that Jonathan Brandis killed himself. Oh, well…. I guess it’s better to burn out than fade away.

Chestnuts roasted by Billy @ 10/16/2006 12:26 AM

I remembered this one immediately, although I only ever saw the first half, for some reason. I always wanted to know if Marc and those kids ever got out of that house. Now I do. Good to see that head-on-a-platter and that creepy painting again too, images that have been somewhere in the back of my mind for 15 years.

Chestnuts roasted by Wilkins @ 10/16/2006 12:28 AM

I remember this special all too well. Magic intrigued me as a kid, and yet this bored me to death. Still, it had Marc Summers.

Chestnuts roasted by Cid @ 10/16/2006 12:30 AM

I should mention it bored the piss outta me DESPITE the fact that Lance Burton was performing. When Lance can’t even save a show, you know it’s bad. Still, I’d pay top dollar to see this one again. Ah, memories.

Chestnuts roasted by Cid @ 10/16/2006 12:35 AM

By the way, that rabbit skittles commercial has stuck with me all week. When did skittles change their image to stupendous? I share.
http://skittles.com/advertising/index.jsp

Chestnuts roasted by Billy @ 10/16/2006 12:38 AM

That’s a great commercial. Cracks me up.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 10/16/2006 12:39 AM

I must have worn out my copy of this on Beta, watching it not only on halloween, but also on days when ghostbusters and those pieced together loony toons specials wouldn’t do

Chestnuts roasted by pete @ 10/16/2006 12:44 AM

Just be glad he wasn’t sitting on the floor, trying to straighten the tassles on the rugs. Then they never would have escaped :P
Ghosted by K-

hah! i remember that. i think he was on oprah when they mentioned the whole rug tassle thing. he has ocd i believe. aw, well now i feel bad for poking fun at this guy…. oh well :-/

Chestnuts roasted by niki @ 10/16/2006 12:49 AM

Holy crap, I ACTUALLY REMEMBER THIS!!!

The parts that I really remembered until this article was the skeleton in the phone booth, Marc & Lance revealing that everything was a trick, and of course, Skeleton Dude.

And just in the last thread I talked about how much I missed all the Nickelodeon specials! And I just remembered another block of holiday toons long extinct from that: The Thanksgiving Episodes, as well as their Non-Stop Nicktoons Weekend for all 4 days of Thanksgiving Weekend (although they don’t call this now because all Nickelodeon ever show now ARE all nicktoons, and that godawful Drake & Josh show)

Chestnuts roasted by Invader Norbert @ 10/16/2006 12:53 AM

those kids heads are now part of YTMND history. I guess. http://ropehead.ytmnd.com/

Chestnuts roasted by Cid @ 10/16/2006 1:05 AM

Niki, he was on Oprah, but also the Today Show. I guess he was plugging the fact he was “coming out of the closet”

I just remember, aside from the rug tassles, was how disgusted he felt when Robin, or whoever else, would throw gunk on him at the end of Double Dare. He’d run backstage and basically all but bleach his skin after the fact.

And Double Dare 2000 DOES suck ass.

Chestnuts roasted by ColonelCatsup @ 10/16/2006 1:07 AM

Seriously, forget Jason and Freddy… I want to be Marc Summers for Halloween!

Tell me I’m not the only person who randomnly gets the What Would You Do? theme song stuck in their head?

Chestnuts roasted by Review the World @ 10/16/2006 1:33 AM

How would you put that together, though, Review?

Don a suit and wield a lent roller?

Chestnuts roasted by ColonelCatsup @ 10/16/2006 1:37 AM

No, Colonel, the key to any good Marc Summers outfit is the hair. You have to get the hair JUST RIGHT or it doesn’t work. That, and constantly ask people if they want to “sit in the pie pod”.

Chestnuts roasted by Cid @ 10/16/2006 1:50 AM

Not just anyone got to sit in the pie pod, sir. Just the winner. Hence the time you waste appearing on and sitting through the show.

And sure, Marc Summers does have trademark hair, but it’s nothing compared to something like Burt Reynolds. I don’t care if was a wig or not.

Chestnuts roasted by ColonelCatsup @ 10/16/2006 2:12 AM

Yeah, all Bandit. Reynold’s Style.

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 10/16/2006 2:17 AM

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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 15th, 2006 at 11:04 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.