Perhaps Legends of the Hidden Temple should have stayed in the 1990s. Previously a children’s competition series that aired on Nickelodeon, Legends of the Hidden Temple was recently revived with a reboot series on The CW, but with one major twist. The contestants were now adults rather than children, possibly with the thinking that the game could be made more competitive with older players in the temple.
But today’s audiences just weren’t coming out in full force to check out the new Legends of the Hidden Temple. TVLine reports that The CW has put the axe to the reboot series after a single season with no plans to make a season 2. Over the course of its 13-episode revival season, the series hovered around 300,000 total viewers with a dismal 0.1 in the key demo rating, and that’s even with late viewership factored in. Low ratings that failed to improve by the finale seems to be enough to convince The CW that it wasn’t worth investing in a second season.
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In the revival series, the contestants were older, but there were many elements that were familiar to fans. This includes the names of the different teams, from the Purple Parrots to the Silver Snakes. Olmec, the giant talking stone head featured in the original series, had also returned with original voice Dee Bradley Baker reprising the role. Original host Kirk Fogg would make sepcial appearances, though the revival was hosted by Cristela Alonzo. The prizes were exceptionally better this time around as well, as players could potentially win $25,000 instead of a yo-yo or Trapper Keeper.
“When we asked Dee Bradley Baker to return as the one and only Olmec – our giant talking stone head, and he said, ‘Let’s Rock,’ that was all I had to hear…Olmec lives,” executive producer Scott Stone had said of getting the original Olmec to return.
“Having grown up on 90s pop culture and actually being a fan of the original Legends of the Hidden Temple, I am thrilled to be hosting the new updated version of the show,” Alonzo added. “The biggest challenge for me on this show will be trying to simultaneously host it and contain my geeked-out excitement at the same time.”
Related: Legends of the Hidden Temple Reboot Brings Back Original Host Kirk Fogg
Legends of the Hidden Temple Reimagined the Series With Adult Contestants
We can’t fault The CW for taking a chance with Legends of the Hidden Temple, given that we are living in the reboot era and that key factors of the original series had returned. The original game show was created by David G. Stanley, Scott A. Stone, and Stephen R. Brown. The revival was produced by Stone & Company Entertainment and Nickelodeon. Stone produced with Marcus Fox.
The CW booting Legends of the Hidden Temple is also not very surprising, as the network has been on a tear this year with many series cancelations. In recent weeks, the series put an end to a slew of titles including the superhero shows Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, and Naomi. Other axed shows include Legacies, Charmed, 4400, Dynasty, and In the Dark.
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