Endurance (TV series)

Endurance
Logo for Endurance: Hawaii
Created by	J. D. Roth Todd A. Nelson
Presented by	J. D. Roth
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	86 + 19 specials (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	24 minutes
Release
Original network	NBC (2002–2006) Discovery Kids (2002–2008)
Original release	October 5, 2002 (2002-10-05) – June 28, 2008 (2008-06-28)

Endurance was an American reality television children's program, previously shown on the Discovery Kids cable network in the United States and also on networks in other countries. The show's format is somewhat similar to the CBS television series Survivor, though with a teenaged cast (however, there are more elements of the U.S. version of Big Brother). Endurance contestants live in a remote location and participate in various mental and physical challenges, although Endurance contestants compete as pairs (one boy and one girl), and the outcome of the competitions determines which pair of players is eliminated.

In its six-year run between 2002 through 2008, each season began with a new slate of contestants, who were gradually eliminated as the season progressed until the remaining two teams competed to get all of the Endurance Pyramid pieces. The winning boy and girl received an all-expenses paid vacation package with their parents to an exotic location as the prize.

Production ended with the final episode of the sixth season, first aired on June 28, 2008. Reruns of Endurance continue to be televised in the U.S., on Hub Network, Discovery Kids' successor until July 22, 2013. Spanish-dubbed reruns also air on weekends on Azteca America. Three seasons of Endurance (Hawaii, Tehachapi and High Sierras) were each nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of "Outstanding Children's Series", however the show never won.

The show was produced by 3Ball Productions. Its co-creator, former actor and children's game show presenter, J. D. Roth, is the executive producer and on-screen host. Roth received a Daytime Emmy nomination in 2006 as "Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series" for Endurance: Tehachapi but did not win.

Contestants ages 12–15 were chosen each spring from five-minute audition tapes sent in by more than 12,000 teens to the show's production team. Twenty players were selected to participate in each of the first five seasons of Endurance; this was reduced to sixteen in Season 6. In a 2004 newspaper interview, Roth revealed that he looked for as diverse a group as possible. Shooting of the series took place each summer over a three-week period and began with the selected teenaged contestants arriving at a secret remote location in late July. Each season was taped in a different location, including California, Hawaii, Mexico, and Fiji.