Total Panic is an American television variety series that aired on the cable network Nickelodeon from 1989–1990. The show's working title was going to be Pandemonium^[4] before it was determined that the word "Pandemonium" seemed too big and complicated for Nickelodeon's target audience.

The show was initially hosted by Molly Scott^[5] and Keith Diamond,^[6] who was on through July 1989 at the latest. Diamond would ultimately be replaced by Greg Lee,^[7][8] who had previously served as a warm-up comedian^[9] for Total Panic. After Total Panic ended its run in 1990, he stayed on Nickelodeon to be an announcer for another show, Outta Here!, which ran through 1991.

Initially running for three hours^[10] on Sunday mornings, Total Panic didn't necessarily have a set format week in or week out.

The show did however at is core, encourage audience participation. For example, Total Panic often invited its young audience members to compete in trivia games or Double Dare-esque physical challenges for prizes. One notable game was "Eat-a-Bug", in which the contestants would stand in front of a chroma key screen and attempt catch with their hands, animated flies, wasps, or ladybugs all the while, trying to avoid giant spiders or bumblebees. "Eat-a-Bug" was designed by Dean Friedman^[11] and it served as a prototype for the series Nick Arcade,^[12][13] for which Friedman produced a dozen games.

Other recurring segments included previews and reviews of upcoming fourth generation video games and films, celebrity interviews, music videos, cartoons shorts such as Bananaman, and comedy skits.

There was also a segment called "Road Trip", where Total Panic would dispatch a young correspondent to a fascinating locale and event. For instance, one episode featured a road trip to the Boston Museum of Science. Another episode featured Full House star Candace Cameron visiting a Macy's in New York City to help demonstrate chroma key effects in front of a blue screen. And then there was segment that featured Jason Hervey of The Wonder Years visiting Magic Mountain to ride the roller coaster known as Ninja.

All in all, the format of Total Panic was arguably similar to that of Wonderama, which originally appeared on the Metromedia-owned stations from 1955 to 1977. Andy Edelstein in the March 26, 1989 edition of Newsday himself, alluded to the apparent similarities.

Total Panic officially debuted on April 1, 1989, which was also the tenth anniversary of Nickelodeon's launch. Total Panic was produced by Andy Bamberger, who also produced Nick Rocks and Rated K: For Kids by Kids for the network. By July 1989, Total Panic would shorten its run time from three hours to two. And come September 1989, Nickelodeon would begin broadcasting a two hour long "best of" clip program on the Saturday before the first-run broadcasts the following day.

In March 1990,^[19] Total Panic would relocate from its studios in New York City to Stage 20 of Nickelodeon Studios^[20][21][22] in Orlando, Florida. At the time, Nickelodeon Studios was still under construction and wouldn't formally open until June 7, 1990. Before Total Panic's move to Orlando, Think Fast^[23] and Double Dare^[24][25] had already set up shop there.

• List of programs broadcast by Nickelodeon