DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

Video Game TV shows you’ve never heard of No.1: The Super Mario Challenge - By Larry Bundy Jr Age 39 1/2

2/10/2018

3 Comments

 
Picture
As a tweenager growing up in the early ‘90s, I managed to pester convince my parents into getting Sky TV. 

​It’s hard to encapsulate the feeling in today’s Netflix-laden, on-demand world, but the euphoria of being able to watch more than four channels was truly liberating at the time. While I only really begged my parents to get it so I could see The Simpsons and WWF, having a love for video games also allowed me to discover a host of related shows to cater my fixation. 

One of which was The Children’s Channel’s “The Super Mario Challenge”.

Officially produced in association with Nintendo, Super Mario Challenge was essentially a TV version of cult Nintendo 90 minute advert movie: The Wizard, only less of a kiddies knock-off of Rain Man and with 100% less Fred Savage.
Picture
The show was presented by John Lenahan, whose namesake makes him sound like a Beatle with a speech impediment. He was in fact an American magician jobbing as the host of a kid’s game show , that was only ever watched by me and whoever uploaded this video to YouTube.
​
Coincidentally, John’s costume is also exactly what Mario would look like if he was American, and a magician.

Mr. Lenahan also seems to be having an identity crisis throughout the show, as he calls himself by his real name, while also constantly referring to himself as Mario in the first-person. Despite looking more like Luigi.
Picture
Lenehan kindly reminds Douglas what holes in his face he can breathe through.
Anyhoo, a typical episode of The Super Mario Challenge always begins with John/Mario Meeting the contestants.

In this episode we welcome Douglas from London. He likes drawing, making Super Mario comics and has a pet rat, which John is disappointed that he didn’t bring along.

​And secondly, we have Chris Stiff, who drew traced a Mario badge to wear on the show.  Chris wants to be a doctor or a “Super Mario designer” when he grows up, but with a name like Stiff, he was obviously destined for a career in porn or undertaking (or the two combined).
Picture
​The first round of TSMBC is a race to the end of the level. John tells the contestants they’re playing Super Mario Bros. 1, despite the fact it’s quite clearly Super Mario 3.
Picture
John barks at the viewer, while the people behind him contemplate what they did wrong in a previous life to be stuck in the audience.
Douglas completely arses up the challenge by dying in the first thirty seconds, so Chris is awarded a giant polystyrene coin (it’s probably oversized so he can’t try to use it wrangling a free Mars Bar from the vending machine down the hall).
Picture
​The next segment of the show is “Super Mario Tips”, where Mr. Lenehan gives essential game-winning advice, such as how we can discover the holy grail of Super Mario 3; a block that has ten coins in it!  

It may sound like blatant filler (which it is), but John promises us that getting ten coins is always worth our while (which it isn’t).
Picture
​Back to round two, the points round, where Chris and Douglas must get as high a score as possible on the level with the “dreaded micro Goomba blocks”. John tells them he doesn’t care how many lives they lose, as long as they don’t lose all of them.

I think we’ve established that Mr. Lenehan clearly never listens to himself on the show by now.
 
The match is pretty close, but Douglas loses once again thanks for his aamazing tactic of jumping over enemies, rather than on top of them.
Picture
​Douglas begins to look tearful when his rival is awarded TWO giant polystyrene coins this time. John tells him not to worry about this humiliating defeat. Can Douglas make a comeback in the final round?
Picture
​The final round is a single level, where the players must get as many points and coins as possible, while keeping all their lives. This round takes place on “the land of the giants” according to John.

​Douglas feels that craning his neck back whenever he jumps will get him to leap higher, which it ultimately does, as he wins the round by the skin of his teeth.
Picture
​Thanks to the show’s nonsensical scoring system, Douglas is awarded THREE polystyrene coins for his victory, securing a sudden death tie-breaker…
Picture
The face of a man who gave up a life of putting his hands down toilets plucking out poo, to live in a magical land eating mushrooms and stamping tortoises to death.
Alas, Douglas’ previous victory was a fluke, losing the round after immeaditly deciding to become friends with a piranha plant. Thanks to Chris’ superior ability in “not dying as much”, he makes his way to the semi-finals. 

Unfortunately, I don’t know what happened to Chris afterwards, as no one ever recorded those episodes and uploaded them to YouTube twenty- seven years in the future, but I’m sure he’s living a life of luxury designing Super Marios in a mansion paid with giant polystyrene coins.

The Super Mario Challenge sadly only lasted one season, most likely due to only three Super Mario games being available in the UK at the time of recording (in fact, Super Mario 3 wasn’t even released until half way through filming the series). So, the tiny number of games available only gave it limited scope.  

TSMBC was replaced the following year with Head to Head, presented by the ever awesome Violet Berlin. Head to Head covered multiple SNES and Mega Drive games, and also had me on as a contestant, sporting a highly regrettable mullet.
Picture
As for John Lenahan, he stayed in the UK and still continues his magic career to this day. John’s probably best known now for voicing the infamous Talkie Toaster in Red Dwarf, and was also the first person to ever be kicked out of The Magic Circle after showing how a Three Card Monte scam works on an episode of the BBC's How Do They Do That?. 
​

John still also occasionally dresses up as Mario, probably, but only when he’s feeling lonely.
If you fancy checking out this episode,  you can have a butchers on the YouChoobs here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elA96IO1P4c
​

Also, my video gaming drivel is at: http://www.youtube.com/Larry  if you’re interested.
3 Comments
Walter Hunt
2/10/2018 03:13:09 pm

Oh man. This is pure gold. Being a Yank, I remember watching the awful Nick Arcade which makes this show look good.
Also, it's weird to hear the phrase "faffing about" in an American accent.

Reply
Insincere Dave, honest!!!
2/10/2018 10:26:02 pm

The audience are literally paralysed by excitement between rounds!!?!

Reply
HdE
3/10/2018 11:14:21 am

And you just KNOW that the Super Mario comics that kid on the show was drawing were immdiately hit by a C&D letter from Nintendo, torn up before his tear filled eyes, incinerated, then put in a wooden box and strapped to a rocket that was fired into the heart of the sun.

Because that's how The Big N rolls.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ