Total Panic

Total Panic was an American variety show on Nickelodeon that ran from 1989 to 1990. Its original working title was Pandemonium, but producers decided that word was too long and complicated for the network’s young audience.

The show initially aired for three hours on Sunday mornings and had no fixed weekly format. Audience participation was central: kids competed in trivia games and physical challenges similar to Double Dare. One game, “Eat-a-Bug,” had contestants stand before a chroma key screen and try to catch animated flies, wasps, or ladybugs with their hands while avoiding giant spiders or bumblebees. Designed by Dean Friedman, it served as a prototype for Nick Arcade, for which Friedman later created a dozen games.

Other segments included video game and movie previews and reviews, celebrity interviews, music videos, cartoon shorts like Bananaman, and comedy skits. A segment called “Road Trip” sent a young correspondent to events or locations—for example, the Boston Museum of Science. One episode featured Full House star Candace Cameron at a Macy’s in New York City demonstrating chroma key effects. Another had Jason Hervey of The Wonder Years riding the Ninja roller coaster at Magic Mountain.

Critics noted the show’s similarity to Wonderama, which aired on Metromedia stations from 1955 to 1977; Andy Edelstein of Newsday pointed this out in March 1989.

Total Panic replaced Nick Rocks as Nickelodeon’s main outlet for music videos, debuting about a week after Nick Rocks ended. Videos aired included Bobby Brown’s “On Our Own,” which beat Wire’s “Eardrum Buzz.” In a segment hosted by Greg Lee, the studio audience voted by applause intensity between Peter Gabriel and Youssou N’Dour’s “Shaking the Tree” and The Darling Buds’ “Let’s Go Round There”—the latter won. Total Panic also absorbed the film review segment from Rated K: For Kids by Kids, which had ended in December 1988. Hosted by Molly Scott, the segment used the second-generation Rated K set—a pastel-colored movie concession stand. Scott invited two audience members to share their thoughts on films like Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (including an interview with star Michael Paré) and Tom Hanks’ Turner & Hooch.

Notable guests included journalist Walter Cronkite, “Weird Al” Yankovic and his UHF castmates Victoria Jackson and Michael Richards, Hulk Hogan, former New York City mayor Ed Koch, comic book artist Walt Simonson, pinball designer Roger Sharpe, and illusionist Mark O’Brien. Jason Marsden was interviewed by Molly Scott while in costume as Eddie Munster on the set of The Munsters Today; Scott also spoke with his co-stars Hilary Van Dyke, Lee Meriwether, and Howard Morton. Andy Eddy, editor of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, discussed the TurboGrafx-16, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, and Atari Lynx.

The show officially debuted on April 1, 1989, the tenth anniversary of Nickelodeon’s launch. It was produced by Andy Bamberger, who also produced Nick Rocks and Rated K. By July 1989, the runtime shortened from three hours to two. In September 1989, Nickelodeon began airing a two-hour “best of” clip show on Saturdays before the first-run episodes on Sundays. In March 1990, Total Panic moved from New York City to Stage 20 of Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, Florida, which was still under construction and wouldn’t open until June 7, 1990. Think Fast and Double Dare had already relocated there.

The show was initially hosted by Molly Scott and Keith Diamond, who left by July 1989. Diamond was replaced by Greg Lee, who had been a warm-up comedian for the show. After Total Panic ended in 1990, Lee stayed at Nickelodeon as an announcer for Outta Here!, which ran through 1991.