The Opening
"On your mark...get set, go!"
The most often used phrase in the show; in the opening Marc's use of it coupled with the superb theme song makes for one of the most exciting introes to any game show. What follows is one of many toss-up stunts, a much simpler version of a physical challenge. Overheard during the toss-up is Harvey's spiel. He changes it daily to accomodate each stunt. The spiel is usually witty, but always begins with, "These two teams..." and ends with the show's title. After the stunt is over, Marc will usually say, "Let's go back and play some Double Dare!" whereupon Harvey introduces Marc.

"This is a game where daring for dollars can double your bucks and here's how it works."
After Harvey finishes, Marc will usually chat with him and then introduce the two teams and their eccentric names. Marc always starts "with the team on [his] left." Afterwards Marc goes into his rules monologue, something he did not memorize until mid-way through the 3rd season. (He commemorized this event with "the burning of the [cue] cards.")

The Rules
"I'm going to ask you a question and if you don't know the answer or think the other team doesn't have a clue, you can dare the other team for double the dollars, but be careful, because they can double dare you back for four times the dollars, and then you have to either answer the question or take the physical challenge."

Variations on the rules: During the pilot, Geoffrey Darby said, "I'll be asking you a question and if you don't know it, or think it's a smart move, you can dare your opponents for double the money, but if they get it wrong, you get the bucks. Ok." During the first couple seasons, "...the other team doesn't have a clue..." was read as "the other team is stumped..."

Money Values:
DD: R1)$10, $20, $40; R2)$20, $40, $80
FDD: R1)$25, $50, $100; R2)$50, $100, $200

Commercial Breaks
"Stay right where you are to find out who's going to that obstacle course!"
It seems real remarkable now, but during the first two seasons on Nickelodeon DD only took one commercial break! The only set of ads came between rounds 1 and 2. Later they added another set of commercials between round 2 and the obstacle course. Starting with the syndicated episodes, DD included another set of commercials around the middle of round 1. The commercials would either come in after the first physical challenge, or after about 7 questions. For a long stretch of shows, the writers would come up with a totally absurd (but easy) first question, just to trick the contestants and lead them into an early physical challenge. It went something...like this: "After all the surgeries including the face lifts and touch ups, how many noses does Michael Jackson have?" 99% of the time the contestants drew a blank and went to a physical challenge.

The 2nd Round
"All the dollar values will be doubled and when you hear this sound {buzz buzz}, the game is over."
The 2nd round begins with a music cue that always ends with one of those supposedly gross sound effects such as a burp or a squawk. The toss-up is a stunt just like the opening one, except this time Marc actually runs through an explanation. This round is a tad shorter than the first, and the buzzer usually always sounds right before someone says "I'll take the physical challenge" for time constraint reasons. If a team does not achieve a score of at least $100, the money is forwarded to $100 (this rule applied in all versions). Harvey then announces the gifts for the runners up, usually adding up to $100 in gifts.

The Obstacle Course
"Listen closely and Harvey will tell you what you won!" A run down of the obstacles can be found here. The 8 obstacles on each show always included one long obstacle, such as the Sundae Slide and The 1-Ton Human Hamster Wheel (also the only 2 mainstay obstacles for most of the show's run). There usually was also one obstacle where you had to search for the flag in a bunch of goop (ie Blue Plate Special). Also there was always one obstacle that involved no mess at all, just pure agility like the Monkey Bars. Note that these obstacles were usually placed near the beginning, to lessen the chance of injury due to being slippery. In the original DD & SSDD, the grand prize was always a trip (usually to Disney World or Space Camp). In FDD, the grand prize was a car. In the final season of FDD, the normal grand prize was a trip, but the grand prize for the Tournament of Champions was a car. During the FOX version of FDD, Obstacle 7's prize would be an amount in cash, that started at $2000 or so and increased by $500 each week until won.