Fox's Fun House

In the wake of the success of Nickelodeon's game show slop fest called "Double Dare", Bob Synes and Scott Stone, producers of the groundbreaking "$1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime", broke more ground with "Fun House", the messiest game show ever shown in syndication. If none of the stations in your market aired the show, you could catch it on "Chicago's Very Own" super station, WGN, that is, if you had cable. Getting back to the show, it was given a hip, youthful look, unlike the big money, tight security look of "$1M COAL". It featured a college-aged host named J.D. Roth (this would prove to be his best work), cheerleaders to support each team (Samantha "Sammi" Forrest supported the Red team; her twin sister, Jacqueline "Jackie" Forrest supported the Gold team), an exciting announcer in John "Tiny" Hurley, great synthesized-rock hybrid theme music by Score Productions (who provided the $1M COAL music), and a marvelous set, designed for messy stunts, the awesome Grand Prix race, and of course, the little thing known as the Fun House, filled with obstacles galore, crate loads of cash, and a plethora of prizes--which of those cash/prize tags was the Power Prize? Fun House was one of the best syndicated children's game shows of all-time...okay, it was probably THE best, considering that there weren't too many successful children's game shows made for syndication! When you ask people if they remember "Fun House", many would tell you about the people, but I personally remember the Whitewater Slide that went to the pool. That was one of the hundreds of ways to go in the Fun House, and I think that was a great idea, having its participants go their own way; Stone-Stanley believed in the policy that "the choices are yours and yours alone." The funny thing is that Stone-Stanley did quite well when it came to children's game shows, but not as well when it came to adult game shows! (The only exception is "$1M COAL", but that was before the Stone-Stanley name was established!) But of all the game shows they've done, "Fun House" will forever stand out as their best game show. It was the only show where they would put together silly stunts, crazy races and a massive, magnificent obstacle course and target them to those who handle them best--preteens. Too bad this show didn't last as long as it deserved (unlike "Shop 'til You Drop", which lasted longer than it deserved), or else Stone-Stanley's potential would really have been known. I hope that "Fun House" is rerun again (like on GSN or some other network), and in the words of J.D. Roth, "I hope your house is a fun house!"

Every kid has a TV clown. "Tiny" was mine. He was hilarious. I remember in one episode when he dressed up as this female chef, representing some sort of kitchen game theme. A 400 pound dude dressed up as some female cook. He and the cheerleaders are what kept me watching the show. There are a few episodes I remember pretty well, one of which guest starred the R&B group "THE BOYZ". I Remember the prizes. Duuble Dragon II for NES, BK shoes, they also won prizes like a computer, they never said what kind of computer it was. The cheerleaders always announced the cash prizes at the end. I don't think producers would release any "game show" DVD collections any time soon. Even if they did, I am sure it would be a while before they would release this particular show.

The late 80s saw a boom in children's game shows due to the success Nickelodeon had with _"Double Dare" (1986)_ (qv) in 1986. "Fun House," contrary to popular assumption, was not an attempt to "rip-off" _"Double Dare" (1986)_ (qv), "Fun House" is based on the fun houses at state fairs and carnivals and was tested in malls before a pilot was shot.

"Fun House" took kids into a different world. The stunts they used were big and usually very messy. The Grand Prix Race around the studio was also very good, and the bonus round may be the best in the entire genre of game shows.

Host J.D. Roth was terrific. He was more like the older brother helping his younger siblings get into mischiff. The announcer, "Tiny" (John Hurley), had a bigger role than most TV announcers. He was on camera just about every show, often times helping along with stunts, etc. The cheerleaders (Jackie & Sammi) also helped out with the stunts, as well as introduced the contestants. And the theme music is FANTASTIC.

When the show moved out of syndication and onto FOX in September 1990, huge changes were put in place. Tiny was gone, replaced with rapper M.C. Mike (Michael Chambers). The set was transformed from a carnival atmosphere, to a ghetto, and the theme music was changed accordingly. Game play was virtually identical, and Roth and the cheerleaders remained intact, but the changes around them made the show BAD.

The syndicated version is FAR superior and I score it a perfect 10/10. The FOX version was dreadful and I give it 4/10.

I was on FunHOuse in 1988 when i was 11 yrs old and i lost lol but i had a blast i remember every time that episode aired we got the same prizes all over again!!! If anyone has that episode (it was me tying a big BK shoe in chocolate) me and my cousin was on the show and it was so much fun we were also stand ins for other contestants and sat in the audience for the first five days we were auditioning for the show...actually we were to go on Double Dare but Nickolodeon had moved its studios to Florida so we couldn't go...But we still had a great time...i have been trying to find that episode of me but i have no luck...i am African-American and i was on the (chocolate episode) i was tying a big shoe with chocolate shoelaces if anyone finds it please send me a message here..thanks again, Latesha

He ain't nothing compared to Marc Summers and his everlasting career, even today. (Food TV) JD Roth felt the need, to ask kids questions randomly during intro that would make them look like complete idiots. I would be more clear on words if JD Roth had not been putting 10 year olds on the spot asking questions about their interests, that mostly, none of them could answer, on the spot, on camera. He bombed on hosting a Double Dare clone that producers shouldve just hired, Mike O'Malley or Summer Sanders. At least Summer Sanders is worth having a crush over... Did JD Roth ever grow past the age of 21? If anything the show FunHouse was good, but had a bad choice of a host. He is not the type like a high profile Marc Summers was, as Marc was highly interactive to the children on his game shows. Marc always involved the stage cast as well as getting himself gacked up in the process. My honest, and long lived opinion. JD Roth is not Marc Summers, and I'm glad he is off Nick TV and onto Discovery Kids. He needs his own identity away from the Double Dare clones. This is not to flame JD Roth, but its a shame he was subjected to be compared to the legendary Marc Summers.