By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 12 seconds ago

If you read that headline, and immediately was filled with the rage of a thousand burning suns, let this be your reminder to stretch. We may be getting old, but we still get unreasonably angry over the inability to put together a three-piece statue. It had a top, a middle, and a base. That’s it. It’s not difficult. Nickelodeon’s Legend of the Hidden Temple started airing in 1993, went off the air in 1995, but its impact has traumatized a generation. 

Legends Of The Hidden Temple Was An Afterschool Staple

Legend of the Hidden Temple was one of the many game shows filmed at the network’s Universal Studio location in the early 90s. This one pit six teams against each other in a race across the temple moat. The Red Jaguars, Green Monkeys, Blue Barracudas, Orange Iguanas, Silver Snakes, and the best of them, Purple Parrots, were all comprised of one boy and one girl, and after the race, only four would be left to descend the Steps of Knowledge. This was the shoe-horned in “educational” component of the show with questions centered around the legendary artifact they have to receive from the Temple at the end of the game. 

Round 3 let teams win pendants, and the team with the most at the end of three games was able to go on a run through the Temple. This was why every kid was watching Legend of the Hidden Temple in the first place. We all daydreamed about making the run, going from room to room, evading temple guards, and getting the artifact. Waiting for every team at some point during the run was the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. It spelled doom for all of the idiot pre-teens. 

That’s what I thought at least, watching from the floor after I got home from school. The pieces of the monkey were set around the room at random, and yet, for some reason, countless kids would try to put the head on the base. Or install the middle without the base in place. Even pure guessing trial and error should get them to the right combination. THERE WERE ONLY THREE PIECES. What I didn’t know as a kid watching, was the depths of evil that the show’s producers tapped into when designing the Silver Monkey.

I knew it was frustrating for the contestants between the host, Kirk Fogg, the studio lights, the audience cheering them on, and the very tight three minute time limit. What I didn’t know until later was that the statue was purposely designed to be as difficult as possible. The head of the statue has a pole that goes through the middle and the base at the right angle, will hit a button at the bottom that opens the door to the next room. It was especially brutal for the shorter contestants. 

Now, host Kirk Fogg and co-host Olmec (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) never let on that there was an added degree of difficulty. The angle was purposely designed to be hard, and looking back, the pedestal was set up juuuuust high enough to where it would be hard to aim the rod. Every kid watching Legends of the Hidden Temple was getting angry at the wrong people. 

The Forgotten Legend Of The Hidden Temple Movie

In 2016, Nickelodeon aired the TV movie Legend of the Hidden Temple, starring DC’s Hawkgirl Isabela Merced as Sadie, which brought back Fogg and Baker to reprise their roles. Of course, it turns out the Temple isn’t a run-down theme park attraction, but an actual Temple. Sadie and her two younger siblings have to run through the Temple, retrieve the pendant, and get out. And yes, they have to solve the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. 

The Nickelodeon movie was watched by 1.6 million viewers, and then, in 2021, The CW brought back the original game show, except now, it was for adults. Slapping in reality television style confessionals between the rounds helped pad out each episode to 60-minutes, but also wrecked the flow of the game show. To the shock of absolutely no one, it was cancelled after one season. 

Legend of the Hidden Temple only aired for 120 episodes over three seasons, but it was one of those shows that felt like it was on forever. The entire genre of cheap game shows made for kids has been overtaken now by YouTubers. It’s how MrBeast got so big in the first place. If kids today wanted to see why the mere mention of the Shrine of the Silver Monkey causes eye twitches in Millennials, they can catch the entire original run on Paramount+.

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The 2026 World Cup is down to four teams, but there’s only two spots in the final. That’ll be decided this week with two absolutely huge semi-final matchups, starting with France vs. Spain. This is a battle between two of the pre-tournament favorites, pitting Mbappé against Yamal.

It all kicks off at 3 p.m. ET. Here’s all the information you need to watch this semi-final fixture.

FIFA World Cup schedule today: July 14

How to watch FIFA World Cup games today

Watch France vs. Spain

Before the tournament started, most fans would have expected these teams to reach this late stage. It’s the Euro 2024 champions against a team that has dominated every team they’ve faced. It’s a battle between two teams stacked with talent, including Real Madrid’s Mbappé and Barcelona’s Yamal. What more could you want?

It’s impossible to predict which team will come out on the top. All we’ll say is that Spain haven’t looked as slick as we’re used to. They relied on late goals to beat Portugal and Belgium, whereas France haven’t really looked troubled.

Live coverage will be on Fox and Fox One. Peacock will carry the live Spanish-language coverage.

More live streaming options

Live TV cable replacement

Not interested in signing up for a standalone streaming service like Fox One or Peacock? You can sign up for a live TV cable replacement service, like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV.

These services carry over 100 live channels, but run off a WiFi connection. You’ll get live access to Fox and FS1, plus a whole lot more. Here are some options to consider:

Watch the World Cup for free with a VPN

It’s possible to watch the World Cup for free on international services like ITVX, BBC iPlayer, NOS, or RTÉ. Our global World Cup watch guide can walk you through the process.

You will need a VPN to live stream the World Cup on these free streaming services. We recommend ExpressVPN — a Mashable-tested service and an Official Tournament Supporter of the FIFA World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Europe — as our VPN of choice for sport. It offers servers in 105 countries, a user-friendly app available on all major devices, a speedy connection, and up to 10 simultaneous connections.

SAVE $43: As of July 14, get the ASUS Tuf Gaming 1000W Gold power supply for $151.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $194.99. That’s a discount of 22%.

Thinking about building your own gaming PC? You’re going to need a power supply to bring it all together. It can be pricey right now to gather all the components needed for your own custom build, but that’s all the more reason to go ahead and buy when you find some of them on sale. We’ve found one right now that you can pick up for a planned build or use as an upgrade for one you’ve already got.

As of July 14, get the ASUS Tuf Gaming 1000W Gold power supply for $151.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $194.99. That’s $43 off and a discount of 22%.

This 1000W power supply is a great pick for your build, with a protective PCB coating to help guard against moisture, dust, and high temperatures when you’ve got it installed. It also uses dual ball fan bearings for a long-lasting build that you can count on twice as long as alternative sleeve-bearing options. For the uninitiated, it converts electricity from the wall into the type of low-voltage power your motherboard, GPU, CPU, drives, and fans use.

This one in particular has high enough wattage and voltage to power your high-end GPU and CPU, replace one that just isn’t making the grade, or to install and leave extra capacity for any future upgrades you may be planning. It’s also a great pick if you want more than enough power for an everyday work or casual PC.

It’s a good time to go ahead and buy at this price, even if you aren’t planning to enter the PC-building race with the high component and RAM prices happening right now.