Marc Summers
Encyclopedia
Marc Summers is an American
television personality, comedian
, game show host, producer
, and a two-time talk show host. He is best known for hosting the Nickelodeon game show
Double Dare and currently hosts Unwrapped
on The Food Network.
. He attended Westlane Middle School and North Central High School in Indianapolis. His early careers were as a radio
disc jockey
and a stand-up comedian
, though he held various television production jobs before, Summers' career boosted in 1986, when Nickelodeon hired him as the host of Double Dare. Double Dare was syndicated within two years and had a brief broadcast network run in prime time
as Fox's Family Double Dare in 1988. The show's popularity led to other hosting jobs including the syndicated Couch Potatoes
in 1989, and Nickelodeon's What Would You Do?
in 1991. GSN chose him to host their original program WinTuition
in 2002. He also had a rare dramatic performance in the Nickelodeon-produced Halloween
program Mystery Magical Special
, which also highlighted his skills as a stage magician. Summers also made celebrity guest rounds on other game shows including Scrabble
, Super Password
, Talk About
, Lingo, To Tell The Truth
, Win, Lose or Draw
, and Hollywood Squares
.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Summers appeared on television talk shows, including a stint on ABC television's
Home Show
. 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.
On March 28, 2008, the Communication and Journalism Club of Coastal Carolina University
presented Summers with the first annual Peach Cobbler Award and declared that day as "Marc Summers Day". The Peach Cobbler Award was modeled after Harvard's Hasty Pudding Award. The Peach Cobbler Award recognizes an individual who was made great accomplishments in the communication field. After the ceremony, Summers hosted a mock version of Double Dare on the university's campus.
and The Today Show. In 1999, Summers co-wrote a book 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 videos for Freedom from Fear, a non-profit organization with the goal of addressing anxiety disorders and other related behavioral disorders.. 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.
, 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 his original show. Two years later, he was the executive producer for another Nickelodeon resurrection, Wild and Crazy Kids
.
He returned to television as the host of more shows, including History IQ
on the History Channel; the Food Network
series Unwrapped
, currently in its ninth season; the Unwrapped spin-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
. Most recently, Summers has joined Chef Guy Fieri
as co-host of Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown in 2008. Off the screen, Summers has been involved as an executive producer on the Food Network's Dinner: Impossible
. Marc currently resides in 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's 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 and Steve
radio show on WMMR
, held directly before the Fourth of July weekend. The show reunited Summers with his Double Dare cohorts John Harvey and Robin Marrella.
Summers appears in the Good Charlotte
music video for their song "Last Night
", which uses Family Double Dare as the motif for the video.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television personality, comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, game show host, producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, and a two-time talk show host. He is best known for hosting the Nickelodeon game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Double Dare and currently hosts Unwrapped
Unwrapped
Unwrapped is an American television program on Food Network that reveals the origins of 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...
on The Food Network.
Early career
Summers was born Marc Berkowitz in Indianapolis, IndianaIndianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. He attended Westlane Middle School and North Central High School in Indianapolis. His early careers were as a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and a stand-up comedian
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
, though he held various television production jobs before, Summers' career boosted in 1986, when Nickelodeon hired him as the host of Double Dare. Double Dare was syndicated within two years and had a brief broadcast network run in prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
as Fox's Family Double Dare in 1988. The show's popularity led to other hosting jobs including the syndicated Couch Potatoes
Couch Potatoes (game show)
Couch Potatoes was an American game show that aired in syndication as a midseason replacement from January 23 to September 8, 1989 with reruns airing on USA Network...
in 1989, and Nickelodeon's What Would You Do?
What Would You Do?
What Would You Do? is a 30-minute television show hosted by Marc Summers shown on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1993. Robin Marrella acted as the on-camera stagehand for the show's first season. Both Summers and Marrella performed their respective duties on Double Dare, also on Nickelodeon...
in 1991. GSN chose him to host their original program WinTuition
WinTuition
WinTuition is an American game show created as an original series for Game Show Network, on which it ran from December 9, 2002 to April 1, 2003, with reruns airing until 2004. The game had a school-oriented theme in which three contestants competed to answer questions on general...
in 2002. He also had a rare dramatic performance in the Nickelodeon-produced Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
program Mystery Magical Special
Mystery Magical Special
Mystery Magical Special is an American television special aired on the Nickelodeon television network. Advertised as a Halloween-themed program, the special was originally produced in 1986, but continued air, often multiple times, every October for several years afterward.Primarily, the special was...
, which also highlighted his skills as a stage magician. Summers also made celebrity guest rounds on other game shows including Scrabble
Scrabble (game show)
Scrabble is an American television game show that was based on the Scrabble board game. The show was co-produced by Exposure Unlimited and Reg Grundy Productions. It ran from July 2, 1984 to March 23, 1990, and again from January 18 to June 11, 1993, both runs on NBC. A total of 1,335 episodes were...
, Super Password
Password Plus and Super Password
Password Plus and Super Password are American game shows that are revivals of the game show Password. Both Password Plus and Super Password had the same format other than some subtle changes....
, Talk About
Talk About (game show)
Talk About is a game show produced in Canada for CBC, which bears some similarities to the board game Outburst. Originally produced for CBC for the 1988-89 season, it was later picked up for American television syndication, airing from September 18, 1989 to March 16, 1990, with repeats later airing...
, Lingo, To Tell The Truth
To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
, Win, Lose or Draw
Win, Lose or Draw
Win, Lose or Draw is an American television game show that aired from 1987 to 1990 in syndication and on NBC. It was taped at CBS Television City, often in Studios 31, 33, and 43 at various times...
, and Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants...
.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Summers appeared on television talk shows, including a stint on ABC television's
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Home Show
Home Show
Home, also referred to as The Home Show, was a daytime/nighttime informational talk show that aired on ABC from 1988 to 1994.The program was co-hosted by Robb Weller and former Good Morning America co-host Sandy Hill during the first season. Gary Collins hosted the show for the remainder of its run...
. After Double Dare's cancellation in 1993, Summers co-hosted Our Home
Our Home
Our Home is a one stop Home retailing chain owned by SM Group of Companies and is by affiliated by SM Prime HoldingsOur Home branches is located at selected branches of SM Department Store and SM Supermalls. The main competitors of Our Home is Homeworks of Ever Gotesco and some other competitors of...
, 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.
On March 28, 2008, the Communication and Journalism Club of Coastal Carolina University
Coastal Carolina University
Coastal Carolina University is an independent, state-supported, liberal arts university in Conway, South Carolina, USA, located eight miles west of Myrtle Beach. Founded in 1954, Coastal became an independent university in 1993. The University enrolls approximately 8,300 students on its campus...
presented Summers with the first annual Peach Cobbler Award and declared that day as "Marc Summers Day". The Peach Cobbler Award was modeled after Harvard's Hasty Pudding Award. The Peach Cobbler Award recognizes an individual who was made great accomplishments in the communication field. After the ceremony, Summers hosted a mock version of Double Dare on the university's campus.
Health
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 ShowThe Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
and The Today Show. In 1999, Summers co-wrote a book with Hollander about his experience, called Everything in Its Place: My Trials and Triumphs with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Everything in Its Place
Everything in Its Place: My Trials and Triumphs with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a book by Marc Summers that outlines the game show host's struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder....
. Summers also participated in a series of videos for Freedom from Fear, a non-profit organization with the goal of addressing anxiety disorders and other related behavioral disorders.. 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.
Later career
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 BrainPick Your Brain
Pick Your Brain was an American syndicated game show that featured children as contestants. The series ran on weekends for one year, debuting on September 18, 1993 and running until September 1994. Pick Your Brain was created by former Double Dare host Marc Summers, who also served as its host and...
, co-hosted Great Day America on the PAX Network, produced I Can't Believe You Said That
I Can't Believe You Said That
I Can't Believe You Said That! was the title of a short-lived game show that aired from August 1998 to early 1999 on Fox Family Channel with a companion series, Outrageous, and was a charter original series of the relaunched network...
, and hosted It's a Surprise on Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
.
Summers returned to Nickelodeon in 2000 as the executive consultant for Double Dare 2000, an updated version of his original show. Two years later, he was the executive producer for another Nickelodeon resurrection, Wild and Crazy Kids
Wild and Crazy Kids
Wild and 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, that aired from 1990 until 1992 for a total of 65 episodes. It was hosted by Omar Gooding, Donnie Jeffcoat, and...
.
He returned to television as the host of more shows, including History IQ
History IQ
History IQ is a game show on the History Channel which premiered on October 2, 2000 and aired for two seasons. Marc Summers hosted and Harvey announced. History IQ was produced by Glow in the Dark Productions....
on the History Channel; the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
series Unwrapped
Unwrapped
Unwrapped is an American television program on Food Network that reveals the origins of 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...
, currently in its ninth season; the Unwrapped spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
game show, Trivia Unwrapped; and the Game Show Network
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
series WinTuition
WinTuition
WinTuition is an American game show created as an original series for Game Show Network, on which it ran from December 9, 2002 to April 1, 2003, with reruns airing until 2004. The game had a school-oriented theme in which three contestants competed to answer questions on general...
. In 2005, Summers became the host of Food Network's reality
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
series The Next Food Network Star
The Next Food Network Star
The Next Food Network Star is a reality television series produced by and aired on the Food Network in the United States that awards the winner his or her own series on the Food Network...
. Most recently, Summers has joined Chef Guy Fieri
Guy Fieri
Guy Fieri is an American restaurateur, author, television personality, and game show host. He co-owns five restaurants in California and is widely known for his television series on the Food Network....
as co-host of Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown in 2008. Off the screen, Summers has been involved as an executive producer on the Food Network's Dinner: Impossible
Dinner: Impossible
Dinner: Impossible is an American television program broadcast by the Food Network. The first episode aired on January 24, 2007. Food Network began airing the eighth season on March 3, 2010....
. Marc currently resides in Philadelphia where his company Marc Summers Productions has a branch.
Summers has hosted stage versions of The Price Is Right and credits Bob Barker
Bob Barker
Robert William "Bob" Barker is a former American television game show host. He is best known for hosting CBS's The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American television history, and for hosting Truth or Consequences from 1956 to 1975.Born...
and The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right (US game show)
The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...
for helping him pursue a game-show career. Summers was a young page at CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
when The Price Is Right premiered with The Joker's Wild
The Joker's Wild
The Joker's Wild is an American television game show that aired at different times during the 1970s through the 1990s. Contestants answered questions based on categories that were determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine....
and Gambit
Gambit (game show)
Gambit is a television game show, created by Wayne Cruseturner and produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions, that originally ran on CBS from September 4, 1972 to December 10, 1976. A slightly retooled version, Las Vegas Gambit, aired on NBC from October 27, 1980 to November 27, 1981, originating...
in 1972, and he often asked advice of Barker, Jack Barry and Wink Martindale
Wink Martindale
Winston Conrad Martindale , known professionally as Wink Martindale, is an American disc jockey and television game show host.-Radio:...
—the shows' respective hosts—about a hosting career. He claims it's 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 and Steve
Preston and Steve
The Preston and Steve show is a morning radio comedy and variety broadcast on Philadelphia Active Rock station 93.3 FM WMMR featuring DJs Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison. The show, which originated at Y100 in Philadelphia, features daily telephone interviews, in-studio guests, celebrity...
radio show on WMMR
WMMR
WMMR is an active rock radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, broadcasting at 93.3 MHz FM. The station is owned by Greater Media....
, held directly before the Fourth of July weekend. The show reunited Summers with his Double Dare cohorts John Harvey and Robin Marrella.
Summers appears in the Good Charlotte
Good Charlotte
Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 1998, the band's constant members have been lead vocalist Joel Madden, lead guitarist and back-up vocalist Benji Madden, bass guitarist Paul Thomas and rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Billy Martin...
music video for their song "Last Night
Last Night (Good Charlotte song)
"Last Night" is a song performed by the American pop punk band Good Charlotte, taken from fifth third studio album Cardiology. It was released as the third single under Capitol Records on March 7, 2011. The song is a pop rock track and was written by the band and talks about having a...
", which uses Family Double Dare as the motif for the video.