Editor’s Note: It was fantastic talking to one of my favorite people from my childhood. I remember the physical challenges, the one-ton human hamster wheel, the slime, and the infamous blue-plate special where it seemed like no one could ever find the flag in the blue-plate special from the Nickelodeon game show “Double Dare”. Now a chef, comedian, television host, and a foodie, Marc Summers will be hosting “Thanksgiving Movie Feast”, which will occur on Thanksgiving Day. For further information on “Thanksgiving Movie Feast” on HDNET, click here. Also, follow Marc Summers on Twitter at www.twitter.com/realmarcsummers
Madness To Creation: Thank you for taking the time with me Marc, this is truly an honor, I see that you have “Thanksgiving Movie Feast” on HDNET Movies coming up, what can people expect from it and what are some of your favorite memories of Thanksgiving?
Marc: My favorite memories of Thanksgiving are anytime when my family can get together, for better or for worse, people get stressed out about it, I go back to Indiana where I grew up, a Midwest guy, and it seemed like the only time that we used the dining room was during Thanksgiving, as time went on, I moved to the East Coast initially and my brother moved to the West Coast, and trying to get everybody back to Indiana and everybody in the same room together is not that easy. But as time has gone on, my wife’s family is pretty much based in Southern California where I live now. We have a big feast upwards of 20 to 25 people traditionally I do the turkey and the dressing. My wife does all the other stuff, it’s just something we’ve been doing for about 40 years, and I really look forward to it.
Madness To Creation: What’s your favorite foods to make?
Marc: I think it’s the stuffing, it’s a little secret thing I’ve been doing for years, and everybody can’t wait to taste it, I spend about two hours trying to assemble the whole thing, it’s certainly my pride and joy, everybody looks forward to it, it’s probably the most tasty thing at the table in my opinion, it’s those traditions that are kind of fun to live up to, especially when the kids go, “you’re making your stuffing aren’t you”.
Madness To Creation: What is your craziest memory from hosting Restaurant: Impossible?
Marc: Restaurant: Impossible, people called it “The Candy Show”, although it was really only 20% candy, but for some reason people remember that stuff, we did a thing called “cowgirl chocolates” once, and they said “whatever you do, do not eat them”, they were from the hottest peppers in the world, and every time someone tells me not to do something, I always want to do it, and then I bit into the cowgirl chocolates and for the first 30 seconds, it was lava hot, and we had to almost shut down for an hour because my tongue was on fire, we tried bread, we tried milk, and we tried everything that they tell you to do. I couldn’t talk, I had tears in my eyes, and my face was redder than a beet, so I guess when they tell you something, I guess you should listen. That was the one thing that happened that was weird on that. Obviously, we are excited about the “Thanksgiving Movie Feast” that is on HDNet, especially with the movies that are involved such as “Sideways” and “Chocolat”, and we hope that people will tune in and make it a family affair as well.
Madness To Creation: What are your favorite scenes from “Sideways” and “Chocolat”?
Marc: I love “Sideways” because I live up in that neck of the woods and the winery world has grown tremendously, in fact when that movie was up, I was living up there at the time, and “Chocolat” because of the beautiful scenery, and I’m a dessert guy. I’m the type of guy that says “you should eat dessert first, and if you have any room left, you should eat the main course”, if it has sweets in it, I’m a big fan of.
Madness To Creation: What inspired you to reboot “Double Dare”?
Marc: I’ve been with Nickelodeon for years and after so many years, I decided that it was time. We’re doing 40 episodes and we’re doing a tour in Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, Nashville, and I think we close in Pittsburgh, which is fun. It’s a two-generational show with moms and dads who grew up watching the show and participating, we’re selling out arenas across the country. We’re scheduled to do an even bigger tour in 2019. It’s all in good fun, I’ve lived sort of a charmed existence, first I took food and threw it at people, since we’re talking about the history of it, and now kind of going back full circle being on the Food Network, and I was on Nickelodeon from ’86 to ’94, and we’ve made a reunion happen over the last several months, and just having fun.
Madness To Creation: Anything else you would like to add?
Marc: We’re hoping people tune in on Thanksgiving, and that people support Meals On Wheels, and that people will tune in to enjoy “Sideways”, “Like Water For Chocolate”, “Moonstruck” and “Chocolat”, I want to thank you so much for your time, this is really appreciated!
And there you have it! Thank you so much to AXS TV for granting us this opportunity and for a preview of “Thanksgiving Movie Feast” with host Marc Summers, check out the video below!
