In addition to providing an artifact, the legend also was important to other aspects of the show: the Steps of Knowledge used questions based on the historical legend, and the theme of the temple games was also loosely based on the legend. Some artifacts included "Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress", "The Electrified Key of Benjamin Franklin", "The Jewel-Encrusted Egg of Catherine the Great", and "The Broken Wing of Icarus". Each episode centered on a particular legend regarding an artifact (real or fictional) from around the world that found its way to the temple.
Game challenges (although in the first season, Fogg narrated the temple game challenges). Olmec narrated the stories told in the steps of knowledge and temple At the temple's gate was a talking Olmec head simply named Olmec (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker). It included areas for different types of physical challenges: a broad but shallow pool of water (the moat), a set of steps (the Steps of Knowledge), and a large, two-and-a-half-floor vertical labyrinth (the "hidden temple"). The set design has been described as Mayan. The set design of Legends of the Hidden Temple was based on the Indiana Jones movies, and Marianne Arneberg of the Orlando Sentinel described the program as "a combination of Jeopardy and Raiders of the Lost Ark". Both Kirk Fogg and Dee Bradley Baker reprise their roles on the show, with the show now being taped at Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York City. The current version, which began in 2013, is produced by Stone & Company Entertainment and Stanley Entertainment Group in association with Lady Luck Productions and Nickelodeon Productions with distribution by Pinetree Syndicators. Legends of the Hidden Temple was produced by Stone Stanley Productions in association with Nickelodeon and was taped at Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Six teams of two children (one boy and one girl) competed to retrieve one of the historical artifacts in the temple by performing physical stunts and answering questions based on history, mythology, and geography. Kirk Fogg hosted the program and served as the teams' guide, while Dee Bradley Baker announced and voiced a talking Olmec Head who "knows the secrets behind each of the treasures in his temple". The show centered on a temple that was "filled with lost treasures protected by mysterious Mayan temple guards". The original verson aired from 1993 to 1995 in its first-run and through 1998 in reruns.
Legends of the Hidden Temple is an action-adventure syndicated game show for children.