Masters Of The Maze
Encyclopedia
Masters of the Maze is a children's television
game show
that aired on the Family Channel
from August 29, 1994 to September 22, 1996. The first season was hosted by J. D. Roth, and the second season was hosted by Mario Lopez
.
and Rubik's Cube
." Hal Berger, through his company IMAGE design and entertainment turned Fenton's Maze into an electronic game then licensed the product to Tiger Electronics [purchased by Hasbro in 1998] and then sold the game show concept to the Family Channel
.
Masters of the Maze, a two time Emmy
-nominated (1995 and 1996) game show for kids, was taped at a 65-by-85 foot studio at the CBS Studio Center. The second season consisted of 40 shows, taped five per day.
N. F. Mendoza, in an article in the Los Angeles Times
printed the day before the show's premiere, referred to defusing a multi-level time bomb, and at one point in the article, referenced the show with the title TimeBomb
Before being allowed to enter the maze, the runner was briefed on the maze's layout by the "Lady of the Maze". In the Roth season this was simply the face of an older woman (played by Renae Jacobs
); in the Lopez season, the likeness of a younger redhead woman appeared with a high-pitched voice (played by Clea Montville). The "Lady of the Maze" also appeared again when the runner had reached the halfway point.
In the earliest episodes, the players were given 10 seconds for each picture, which grew clearer as time passed, and the first person to buzz-in and identify the picture won one point for each second left on the clock, and an opportunity to answer the question about the picture to double the points. When one player earned 50 points or more, and thus the right to enter the maze, the other players played more pictures without the clock, at 10 points per picture, until another player reached 50 points.
The first section was called the Mirror Maze. In this section, the contestant navigated a series of mirrors. Once the runner reached the end of the Mirror Maze, the "Mirror Man" blocked the path, not moving unless the runner correctly answered a question posed by Roth. A correct answer meant that the runner passed, while an incorrect answer or pass meant that the runner was asked another question. A contestant missing three questions had to wait five more seconds before being allowed to proceed.
Once the runner had passed the Mirror Maze, the runner had to find two of several Power Sticks that were hidden in the mountains between the Mirror Maze and the Honeycomb Maze. (Occasionally there was a Power Stick hidden in the Mirror Maze itself.) Once the runner found two, they entered the Honeycomb Maze. In this section, the runner had to lower their visor and rely on the partner to guide them through the network of doors and walls.
Once through the Honeycomb Maze, the runner raised the visor and entered a small briefing room. Here, the Lady of the Maze reappeared to give the runner instructions on what to do inside the Chamber of Knowledge, which the runner entered using one of the two Power Sticks.
Inside the Chamber of Knowledge, the runner was asked three different true or false questions by three of the six different guardians. A correct answer caused one of the three gates blocking the way out to open. An incorrect answer penalized the runner five seconds, after which the same guardian asked another true or false question. If the runner missed this question, one more true or false question was asked. If the runner missed all three, the gate automatically opened after five more seconds. Once all three gates were open, the runner exited the chamber (and the maze itself) by inserting his/her remaining power stick into a holder at the finish line to stop the clock.
The first team set the time that their opponents had to beat. The second team then entered the maze, and had the amount of time established by the first team to make their way through. If the second team ran out of time, an alarm went off, the game ended immediately, and the first team won. If the second team made it out before time ran out, they won the game. The winners of this version also won prizes and the right to play a bonus round.
The quickest team in this version of the show won the right to play a special bonus round, which featured a mountain with five television monitors that constantly altered between a "Prize" screen and a "No Prize" screen. The runner faced the first TV on the mountain and shouted for the partner to fire the laser. If the team stopped at least three of the five monitors on "Prize" (before the team stopped at three monitors on "No Prize", which ended the game immediately), they won a $500 shopping spree at The Sharper Image
in Beverly Hills.
The maze was extended and featured new obstacles. Its four sections were the Mirror Maze, the Ice Cave, the Chamber of Knowledge, and Lightning Mountain (which consisted of the same set as the first season's Prize Mountain).
The Mirror Maze remained unchanged. However, the run to find the power stick was removed from this part of the game, and the Mirror Man's question was posed by the Mirror Man himself and his face was larger than last season's. If a contestant gave a wrong answer or ran out of time to answer, another question was read. A runner failing to answer that question correctly had to wait at least three seconds before proceeding.
Once the runner arrived at the entrance to the Ice Cave, the Lady of The Maze showed the runner a distorted picture on a monitor (as in the first round). A runner identifying it within five seconds took the shorter path through the cave, but otherwise had to take the longer path. In either case, the runner was required to lower the visor before entering the Ice Cave. While navigating the cave, the runner had to find a Power Stick; in addition, the contestant also had to avoid kicking two groups of sensors and Mirror Man placards that were placed on the cave floor. If the runner touched one of these objects, several large icicles descended from the cave ceiling, blocking the runner's path. Upon finding the Power Stick and getting through the Ice Cave, the player lifted their visor and enter the Chamber of Knowledge.
There were now only four guardians in this portion of the maze, and only one correct answer was required to exit. If the answer was incorrect, the runner had to answer another true or false question, and if the player missed that one, a five second penalty was assessed before the gates unlocked.
The runner now faced a single television monitor at the base of Lightning Mountain with faces of the Mirror Man flying on it. The runner had to blast two of these images with his laser before being allowed to run up the mountain and stop the clock. As in the Roth era, the first team set the time, the second team had to beat it, and the second team was not allowed to finish their maze run if their time exceeded the first team's time. The bonus round was removed. The team that won the game automatically won the $500 shopping spree for the runner and the prizes for the navigator. The runner-up team members each received $75 shopping sprees.
Mark Maxwell-Smith provided the voices of all the Chamber of Knowledge guardians in both seasons, as well as the Mirror Man in the Lopez era.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
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...
that aired on the Family Channel
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
from August 29, 1994 to September 22, 1996. The first season was hosted by J. D. Roth, and the second season was hosted by Mario Lopez
Mario López
Mario Michael Lopez, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway. He is best known for his portrayal of the character A.C. Slater on Saved By The Bell, which he also portrayed as a regular on Saved by the Bell: The College Years...
.
Broadcast and production history
A few years before Masters of the Maze first aired, Australian Fenton Rosewarne created a puzzle called "Fenton's Maze," which Janet Weeks said "combined elements of Trivial PursuitTrivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...
and Rubik's Cube
Rubik's Cube
Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik.Originally called the "Magic Cube", the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980 and won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle that...
." Hal Berger, through his company IMAGE design and entertainment turned Fenton's Maze into an electronic game then licensed the product to Tiger Electronics [purchased by Hasbro in 1998] and then sold the game show concept to the Family Channel
Family Channel
Family is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service marketed to children and teenagers aged 2-15. It is owned by Astral Media...
.
Masters of the Maze, a two time Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-nominated (1995 and 1996) game show for kids, was taped at a 65-by-85 foot studio at the CBS Studio Center. The second season consisted of 40 shows, taped five per day.
N. F. Mendoza, in an article in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
printed the day before the show's premiere, referred to defusing a multi-level time bomb, and at one point in the article, referenced the show with the title TimeBomb
Audition process
For the second season, there were 500 prospective contestants, many from San Fernando Valley schools, vying for 120 contestant spots. The auditions included a 25-question test, a narrative, as well as inhibition-testing events like a tug-of-war, a story-completion exercise, and a blindfolded trip through an obstacle course of folding chairs.Round 1 (both versions)
Three two-member teams competed. Each team chose one member to play the question and answer format of the game, while the other went offstage. At this point, the host showed distorted pictures to the players, each of which became more clear as time progressed. The first player to buzz in and identify the picture won ten points and a chance to answer a question about the picture for five additional points. The first two teams to reach 50 points won the right to enter the maze, with the first team doing so earning the right to decide who went into the maze first. After one team reached 50 points, the other teams played out the rest of the round, but without bonus questions. In the speed round, if a player buzzed in and was incorrect or unable to identify the picture, the host read a clue to the opponent without further revealing the picture.Before being allowed to enter the maze, the runner was briefed on the maze's layout by the "Lady of the Maze". In the Roth season this was simply the face of an older woman (played by Renae Jacobs
Renae Jacobs
Renae Jacobs is an American voice actress who is perhaps best known for voicing April O'Neil in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series....
); in the Lopez season, the likeness of a younger redhead woman appeared with a high-pitched voice (played by Clea Montville). The "Lady of the Maze" also appeared again when the runner had reached the halfway point.
In the earliest episodes, the players were given 10 seconds for each picture, which grew clearer as time passed, and the first person to buzz-in and identify the picture won one point for each second left on the clock, and an opportunity to answer the question about the picture to double the points. When one player earned 50 points or more, and thus the right to enter the maze, the other players played more pictures without the clock, at 10 points per picture, until another player reached 50 points.
Roth version
The maze had three sections: the Mirror Maze, the Honeycomb Maze, and the Chamber of Knowledge. The person that answered the questions in the first part of the game was also the one responsible for running through the maze, with their team partner guiding them through the maze by moving a giant joystick. This device controlled a computerized voice telling the contestant which direction to go, and triggered rumble devices on the outfit the runner wore as an additional directional aid. The joystick also had a button that controlled the runner's laser which was used in various parts of the game.The first section was called the Mirror Maze. In this section, the contestant navigated a series of mirrors. Once the runner reached the end of the Mirror Maze, the "Mirror Man" blocked the path, not moving unless the runner correctly answered a question posed by Roth. A correct answer meant that the runner passed, while an incorrect answer or pass meant that the runner was asked another question. A contestant missing three questions had to wait five more seconds before being allowed to proceed.
Once the runner had passed the Mirror Maze, the runner had to find two of several Power Sticks that were hidden in the mountains between the Mirror Maze and the Honeycomb Maze. (Occasionally there was a Power Stick hidden in the Mirror Maze itself.) Once the runner found two, they entered the Honeycomb Maze. In this section, the runner had to lower their visor and rely on the partner to guide them through the network of doors and walls.
Once through the Honeycomb Maze, the runner raised the visor and entered a small briefing room. Here, the Lady of the Maze reappeared to give the runner instructions on what to do inside the Chamber of Knowledge, which the runner entered using one of the two Power Sticks.
Inside the Chamber of Knowledge, the runner was asked three different true or false questions by three of the six different guardians. A correct answer caused one of the three gates blocking the way out to open. An incorrect answer penalized the runner five seconds, after which the same guardian asked another true or false question. If the runner missed this question, one more true or false question was asked. If the runner missed all three, the gate automatically opened after five more seconds. Once all three gates were open, the runner exited the chamber (and the maze itself) by inserting his/her remaining power stick into a holder at the finish line to stop the clock.
The first team set the time that their opponents had to beat. The second team then entered the maze, and had the amount of time established by the first team to make their way through. If the second team ran out of time, an alarm went off, the game ended immediately, and the first team won. If the second team made it out before time ran out, they won the game. The winners of this version also won prizes and the right to play a bonus round.
Chamber of Knowledge Guardians (Season 1)
- The Guardian of the Gate of History (gave questions about American history; represented by an old Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
woman's head) - The Guardian of the Gate of Fantasy (asked questions about story books, fairy tales, and nursery rhymes; represented by a dinosaur's head)
- The Guardian of the Gate of the Animal Kingdom (asked questions about animals; represented by a lion's head)
- The Guardian of the Gate of the Unexpected (asked questions about pop culture; represented by a somewhat extraterrestrial-looking head)
- The Guardian of the Gate of Nature (asked questions concerning all forms of nature excluding animals; represented by a face that looked to be modeled after wind)
- The Guardian of the Gate of Innovation (asked questions about science; voice usually sounded like a man, but sometimes a woman)
Prize Mountain
The quickest team in this version of the show won the right to play a special bonus round, which featured a mountain with five television monitors that constantly altered between a "Prize" screen and a "No Prize" screen. The runner faced the first TV on the mountain and shouted for the partner to fire the laser. If the team stopped at least three of the five monitors on "Prize" (before the team stopped at three monitors on "No Prize", which ended the game immediately), they won a $500 shopping spree at The Sharper Image
The Sharper Image
The Sharper Image is an American product brand, formerly associated with a defunct retail company, now licensed for use on consumer electronics and gift products....
in Beverly Hills.
Lopez version
The opening game remained the same, but with extra changes. One was that contestants now shot the picture using their laser podium before taking a guess; another was that there was now a special bonus picture at one point in the game in which five bonus points were added to the initial value, making it worth 15 points.The maze was extended and featured new obstacles. Its four sections were the Mirror Maze, the Ice Cave, the Chamber of Knowledge, and Lightning Mountain (which consisted of the same set as the first season's Prize Mountain).
The Mirror Maze remained unchanged. However, the run to find the power stick was removed from this part of the game, and the Mirror Man's question was posed by the Mirror Man himself and his face was larger than last season's. If a contestant gave a wrong answer or ran out of time to answer, another question was read. A runner failing to answer that question correctly had to wait at least three seconds before proceeding.
Once the runner arrived at the entrance to the Ice Cave, the Lady of The Maze showed the runner a distorted picture on a monitor (as in the first round). A runner identifying it within five seconds took the shorter path through the cave, but otherwise had to take the longer path. In either case, the runner was required to lower the visor before entering the Ice Cave. While navigating the cave, the runner had to find a Power Stick; in addition, the contestant also had to avoid kicking two groups of sensors and Mirror Man placards that were placed on the cave floor. If the runner touched one of these objects, several large icicles descended from the cave ceiling, blocking the runner's path. Upon finding the Power Stick and getting through the Ice Cave, the player lifted their visor and enter the Chamber of Knowledge.
There were now only four guardians in this portion of the maze, and only one correct answer was required to exit. If the answer was incorrect, the runner had to answer another true or false question, and if the player missed that one, a five second penalty was assessed before the gates unlocked.
The runner now faced a single television monitor at the base of Lightning Mountain with faces of the Mirror Man flying on it. The runner had to blast two of these images with his laser before being allowed to run up the mountain and stop the clock. As in the Roth era, the first team set the time, the second team had to beat it, and the second team was not allowed to finish their maze run if their time exceeded the first team's time. The bonus round was removed. The team that won the game automatically won the $500 shopping spree for the runner and the prizes for the navigator. The runner-up team members each received $75 shopping sprees.
Chamber of Knowledge Guardians (Season 2)
- The Guardian of the Gate of EducationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
(gave schoolSchoolA school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
-related questions; same face and voice as Season 1's Guardian of the Gate of the Unexpected) - The Guardian of the Gate of Imagination (asked questions about pop culture and other miscellaneous facts)
- The Guardian of the Gate of the Natural World (gave questions about nature; represented by a lion's head with a unicorn's horn)
- The Guardian of the Gate of Science and Discovery (gave questions about science and technology; represented by a robot's head)
Similarities between both seasons
With both the JD Roth and Mario Lopez seasons, the winning team received a trophy made from one of the power sticks.Mark Maxwell-Smith provided the voices of all the Chamber of Knowledge guardians in both seasons, as well as the Mirror Man in the Lopez era.