Before Nickelodeon hit its stride with classic cartoons, they had a ton of game shows where kids were contestants. Out of all the different live programs there was only one that young athletes wanted to be on, GUTS.
“Do You Have It?” From the opening intro theme Mike O’Malley, best known for acting on “Yes Dear” and “Glee”, hosts to hype up athletes, viewers, and the crowd. Mo was everyone’s favorite Australian (behind Steve Irwin) and the “head official” of GUTS. Her job was to explain the rules of each game to the audience.
Each event resembled regular sports but with a twist. Almost like “American Gladiator’s” without the Gladiators. The basketball game was a “most baskets wins”, but the participants were in these anti-gravity harnesses so they were able to dunk. There was a cycling race, pool games, a ton of track/field variations, but nothing was better than the final event, The AGGRO CRAG.
The object was to climb to the top through fog and mist. The winner received a piece of this giant plastic mountain, and it was the most coveted trophy for kids. It was the Heisman Trophy of elementary school children. To make the show even better, they even had a an “All-Stars” were winners returned, and “Global Guts” which was equivalent to their Olympics.
A reboot of GUTS can go one of two ways. Either keep the kids between the ages of 12-14, or get millennials who are washed up in their 30’s. The latter might be more amusing. Old high school athletes that think they still got it, and are gassed by the end of the first event. Whoever wants to fund this needs Mike O’Malley as a host to keep the nostalgia factor, and if Mo can’t return get Summer Sanders. Not only a gold medalist herself, but has hosted multiple shows on Nickelodeon. The reboot of GUTS would make massive money. “Do You Have It!?”
