Wild Bill Hickok and the Dead Man's Hand is the fourth episode of Legends of the Hidden Temple. It was the second episode to complete production and the 36th to air.
One partner from each team was kneeling on a raft while holding "an ancient staff of King Tut". When Kirk said go, each player would pull himself across the moat by hooking his staff on the knotted rope above him. Once across, he climbed off the raft and onto the deck; this was his partner's signal to pull the raft back to his side and cross exactly as his partner had. When the second teammate reached the other side, it was his job to jump off the raft - with his staff - and run over to hit the gong.
Moat Results
Finish
Team
Time
First
Silver Snakes
0:28
Second
Red Jaguars
0:31
Third
Green Monkeys
0:31
Fourth
Orange Iguanas
0:36
Steps of Knowledge
In the old West, gunfighters used to say speed is fine, but accuracy is final! And nobody knew this better than the Prince of the Pistoleers: Wild Bill Hickok. He was tall and handsome with long hair and a mustache, and was quite a ladies' man. By the time he became marshal of Abilene, Kansas, he was said to have killed more than 100 men. Wild Bill made everyone check their guns at the edge of town and asked lawbreakers to move along peaceably. But if they refused, he wasn't afraid of a shootout. After serving as marshal of Abilene, he joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. One day, playing poker in Deadwood, South Dakota, he was shot from behind by an angry gambler. His poker hand at the time was a full house- three aces and two eights. To this day, it's called the dead man's hand. Someone grabbed the cards off the table, and they found their way to the Temple.
Steps of Knowledge Results
Question
Answers
Team
Was Wild Bill Hickok the marshal of…?
Dodge City
Fort Worth
Abilene
Red Jaguars (Wrong Answer)
Silver Snakes (Correct - Two steps left)
Was Wild Bill also known as the…?
Prince of the Pistoleers
King of the Gunmen
Green Monkeys (Correct - Two steps left)
In which of these card games could you have a dead man's hand?
Solitaire
Poker
Orange Iguanas (Correct - Two steps left)
The dead man's hand is in which of these types of hands in poker?
Straight
Flush
Full House
Red Jaguars (Correct - Two steps left)
Is Abilene found in…?
Nevada
Kansas
Orange Iguanas (Correct - One step left)
Later in life, did Wild Bill work with…?
P.T. Barnum's Wild West Show
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
Orange Iguanas (Correct - Advanced to the Temple Games)
Which of these was a famous frontiers woman who was buried next to Wild Bill Hickok?
Calamity Jane
Delta Dawn
Disastrous Denise
Red Jaguars (Wrong Answer)
Silver Snakes (Previously Guessed Wrong Answer)
Which of these outfits would Wild Bill have worn as a scout in his early days?
Buckskins
Doeskins
Buckboards
Green Monkeys (Correct - One step left)
Which of these men was a friend of Wild Bill and later fought a battle at Little Big Horn?
General Grant
General Custer
Colonel Sanders
Silver Snakes (Worst Answer)
Green Monkeys (Correct - Advanced to the Temple Games)
Temple Games
The Orange Iguanas are twelve-year-old Joshua Shullener, who wants to be an astronaut, and eleven-year-old Sarah Beckmeyer, who collects postcards. The Green Monkeys are twelve-year-old Amber, who loves to cook, particularly macaroni and cheese, and thirteen-year-old Ian, who has seven cats.
Dead Man's Hand (Bungee Soap Ramp)
When Wild Bill Hickok died, he was holding a poker hand called a full house- three aces and two eights. And that hand became known as the dead man's hand. At the top of the ramp were hidden three aces and two eights. When Kirk gave the signal, each player climbed up the ramp on his knees, grabbed a card, and then slid back down and dropped it in his bucket. Then he climbed back up again, grabbed another card. They had one minute. The first player to get all of his cards or the player with the most cards won. Ian and Joshua each got two cards in their respective bucket, but Kirk miscounted the score as both having three each due to there being that many cards remaining atop the ramp.
Bullet through a Button Hole (Water Chute)
Wild Bill Hickok was a crack shot. They say he could put a bullet through a buttonhole at 50 feet. They made it a little simpler for the players. All they had to do was to get a ball (attached to a helmet) into the bullseye (from the other side). There was a complication, though. They had to slide down the tubes and throw them through the hole. If they missed, they had to go back for another. The player with the most bullseye in one minute won. Amber and Sarah each scored three bullseyes, but Kirk miscounted this game as well: he claimed that both girls scored four bullseyes.
High Noon Shootout (Velcro Ball Toss)
Being a lawman in the old West meant being challenged to a shootout at high noon, and they had a shootout there. But in that duel, the teams want to get hit. One player from each team was in place on the top of each platform. When Kirk gave the signal, their partners tossed a ball and the players caught them on their shirt. Then they grabbed another ball and tried to hit their partners again. The team with the most balls attached to their players shirts in one minute won. The Orange Iguanas won the game after landing eight balls over the Green Monkeys, who only landed five. Amusingly, Sarah accidentally hit Joshua in an inappropriate area with a ball, spurring "insightful" commentary from Kirk.
Temple Games Results
Team
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Pendants Won
Green Monkeys
Tied
Tied
Lost
1 Pendant
Orange Iguanas
Tied
Tied
Won
2 Pendants
Temple Run
Josh chose the Cave of Sighs as his starting point, only to encounter the first Temple Guard there. He continued across the bottom floor, until he sat on the Throne— while both doors were unlocked, the door to the Swamp did not open all the way. As a result, he ascended to the Heart Room where he was removed with 2:16 remaining.
Sarah followed his footsteps, only to be denied access to the Room of the Golden Idols and momentarily backtrack into the Wall Climb; with 1:30 left, she went up to the Observatory, which proved to be a dead end, forcing her to return to the Throne Room. Even more confused, she retreated to the Wall Climb to try the door leading to the Observatory, proceeding to complete the loop from there to the Heart Room down to the Throne Room, where the Swamp door properly opened after she stepped on the Throne. She met the third Temple Guard in the Swamp, and both doors to the Tomb of the Ancient Kings were locked, forcing her to climb upwards to the Room of the Golden Idols, when time expires.
The audience audibly laughs three times during the episode:
When Olmec says "Rock on" immediately before the moat.
The last question during the Steps of Knowledge where Silver Snakes ring in with the "Colonel Sanders!" answer (Colonel Sanders founded KFC).
During the contestant interview, when Sarah said she had a lot of postcards - and then saying she had 25.
The original prize plugs for this episode are as follows:
Fashion Bug (Moat Crossing)
Laguna Sportswear (Steps of Knowledge)
Crash Test Dummies video game for Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo (Temple Games)
Olmec's description of the aces and eights in Wild Bill Hickok's hand is incorrect. In reality, the cards in Wild Bill's hand were actually a pair of aces and a pair of eights, as seen on the card for the board game.
Throughout the episode, the dead man's hand is referred to as a card hand of three aces and two eights. However, the actual hand consists of a pair of aces, a pair of eights, and an unknown fifth card.
This is the first of the few episodes where a team guesses a wrong answer that was previously guessed in the Steps of Knowledge.
This is the first episode where a team Green Monkeys competed against a team of Orange Iguanas in the Temple Games. This was also the only time this combination occurs in season 1.
This was the first time that the Orange Iguanas made to the Temple Games and subsequently, the first to make it to Olmec's Temple.
This was the first of four episodes where a team of Orange Iguanas attempted to retrieve an artifact placed in the Bottom Corner Room.
This is the only episode where Kirk does not say "And here's how" before the prizes were announced.
This is the first episode where all three Temple Guards appear.
When the run ends, the music keeps going (it fades instead of finishing).
The team of Blue Barracudas in this episode later appeared in The Codebook of Mata Hari as the Silver Snakes.