The CW Cancels Its Legends Of The Hidden Temple Reboot After One Season

The CW giveth and The CW taketh away. Last month the network made headlines by going on an all-out killing spree and canning seven shows in one day. The lucky few titles not on the chopping block might've felt safe for a minute there, but it turns out The CW wasn't quite done trimming down its lineup. 

The latest cancellation will be a nostalgia-fueled blow to '90s kids everywhere. After resurrecting the long-lost Nickelodeon adventure game show of their childhood, The CW has now canceled "Legends Of The Hidden Temple." TVLine reports that the reboot will not return for a second season. Turns out that despite all the folks with fond memories of the original series, mining that nostalgia wasn't enough to get the reboot off the ground: "Legends Of The Hidden Temple" was one of The CW's lowest-rated series this past season, and averaged below 300,000 total viewers over its 13-episode run.

"Legends Of The Hidden Temple" is among the many CW titles that won't return to the network, including "Legacies," 'Charmed," "Naomi," "Roswell, New Mexico," "Legends of Tomorrow," and many, many more. The CW won't be completely barren though — despite the absolute overhaul, titles like "Riverdale," "Nancy Drew," and "The Flash" are returning for at least one more season, along with new entries like "Walker: Independence," the DC show "Gotham Knights," and the "Supernatural" prequel "The Winchesters."

"Legends of the Hidden Temple" getting the ax is a real shame. For one thing, this means all the former '90s kids who spent years yelling about a reboot are on the verge of restarting their campaign. But more importantly, this show is absolute genius and deserves a place on our screens.  

If you don't remember the original Nickelodeon series, then I apologize for your empty childhood, but it looked a little like this: a bunch of kids were pitted against each other, working in duos to run around a plastic jungle and engage in a series of challenges that appeared mind-numbingly easy to the viewers at home who were holding their heads in agony because honestly, the Silver Monkey has like three pieces, it isn't that hard to put together! The show ran from 1993 to 1995 on Nickelodeon and every episode started with six teams of two contestants answering trivia questions on the Steps of Knowledge. The teams that progressed would compete in physical challenges, and eventually one team would emerge victorious and win the chance to compete in the final Temple Run, an obstacle course where they had to find treasure and avoid the temple guards. Also, there was a giant talking stone head named Olmec.

So how do you resurrect an already perfect concept? Easy — take those former Nickelodeon junkies who spent their childhoods yelling at the Blue Barracudas to just do better, dammit! and toss them into the games, to be taunted by Olmec and attacked by temple guards. And that's not all! The rebooted version was also taken out of the studio and took place on a jungle set, where it was scaled up with much more difficult challenges, and a $25,000 prize. Sounds incredible, right? Too bad no one was watching. 

Alas, your opportunity to actually be a member of the Red Jaguars, Blue Barracudas, Green Monkeys, Orange Iguanas, Purple Parrots, or Silver Snakes has ended. But hey, nostalgia will always be there for you: the original series is available to stream on Paramount+, along with the TV movie adaptation from 2016.