Marc Summers Says Nickelodeon Is ‘In The Dumper’

Marc Summers and Nickelodeon aren’t the best of friends at the moment. In fact, he revealed that he is not even on speaking terms with the kids network’s management.

Summers is best known as host of the popular Double Dare show on Nickelodeon from 1986 to 1992. He is also well known as the host of Food Network’s Unwrapped, and he is currently the executive producer of Restaurant Impossible also on the Food Network.

It seems Summers wouldn’t give a nickel for Nickelodeon right now. In a recent interview on Tampa, Fla., radio station, Summers blasted the network, in particular for wanting him to appear on what apparently amounts to a reboot of Double Dare, but wouldn’t pay him. That aside, he expressed the belief that the content of the cable channel has gone down the tubes.

About Nickelodeon, Summers said that “The network is going into the dumper. Disney beats it. They have no idea what they’re doing over there; they put on a bunch of cartoons and stuffed animals as opposed to real humans that other people can associate with… whatever they want to do is fine. They play games with me, I play games with them. I have offered to sit down and have a conversation. I still own a percentage of [Double Dare], and so there’s all sorts of silliness that goes on back and forth…”

According to Summers, there is a particular Nickelodeon executive that hates him, but when that individual eventually gets fired, he believes he can patch things up.

Summers added that the network’s philosophy has changed 180 degrees drastically since the 1990s: “The creative people are gone and its become a ‘how much money can we make off of this merchandise and how many tours can we put out with people in big-headed costumes and steal from the parents… it’s just sad…”

In August 2012, Summers was seriously injured while riding in a cab in Philadelphia, but he apparently is fine now.

Do you agree with Marc Summers that the quality of Nickelodeon programming has gone downhill?