Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Nickelodeon Brings Back Popular 90's Game Series, Figure It Out, Greenlighting 40 Episodes

Below is a Nickelodeon Press Release from PRNewswire:
Nickelodeon Brings Back Popular 90's Game Series, Figure It Out, Greenlighting 40 Episodes

Production Begins in April with Host Jeff Sutphen (Pick Boy) and Bevy of Celebrity Panelists to Figure Out Kids' Hidden Talents

LOS ANGELES, March 7, 2012 /Nickelodeon Press Release via PRNewswire/ -- Continuing its legacy of serving up family-friendly game shows, Nickelodeon has ordered 40 brand-new episodes of its popular game show from the 1990s, Figure It Out, it was announced today by Marjorie Cohn, Nickelodeon's President of Development and Original Programming. Set to premiere later this year, Figure It Out challenges celebrities to guess kid contestants' unique talents and skills. The series is slated to begin production in April in Los Angeles, Calif.

"Figure It Out is a show that celebrates kids and their wonderful and often bizarre talents," said Cohn. "In this internet age where kids are expressing themselves online, it feels timely to give them a TV platform to showcase those talents in a uniquely Nickelodeon way."

Every Figure It Out episode features a panel of celebrities trying to guess the unique feat or accomplishment of two kid contestants each, in three rounds of game play, by asking 'yes' or 'no' questions and being bombarded by messy visual and tactile clues. For every round the panel fails to figure it out, the contestant wins a prize. If, after three rounds, the panel can't figure out the kid's unique feat, the contestant takes home the grand prize. Each game culminates in the reveal of the talent with an in-studio demo.

Figure It Out originally aired for four seasons on Nickelodeon from July 1997 to December 1999 and was hosted by Olympic gold medalist swimmer Summer Sanders. Panelists from the original broadcast included Kenan Thompson [All That, Kenan And Kel, iParty With Victorious], Aaron Carter, Amanda Bynes [All That, The Amanda Show, What I Like About You], Chris Jericho, Coolio, Jack Hanna, Sherman Helmsley, Evander Holyfield, Joe Namath, Julius Erving, Michelle Trachtenberg [The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Harriet The Spy], Mike O'Malley [Guts, Global Guts] and Mya, among several others. The series was created by Kevin Kay and Magda Liolis with Eileen Braun and Magda Liolis currently serving as executive producers.

Nickelodeon has a long history of developing original, hit game shows. The first game show that aired on the network was Double Dare in 1986, featuring Nick's signatory slime. Over the next 16 years, Nickelodeon launched many other game shows including hits such as Finders Keepers and Super Sloppy Double Dare ('87), Family Double Dare, ('88), Make the Grade and Think Fast ('89), Wild and Crazy Kids ('90), Get the Picture ('91), GUTS and Nick Arcade ('92), Legends of the Hidden Temple ('93), Global GUTS, ('95), Figure it Out ('97), You're On! and Figure it Out: Family Style ('98), Figure it Out: Wild Style ('99), Double Dare 2000 ('00), and Nick Robot Wars and Scaredy Camp ('02). Six years later came Family GUTS [My Family's Got GUTS] ('08), BrainSurge ('09) and Family BrainSurge ('11) [and Nickelodeon Internationals Camp Orange] -- the new wave of game shows for the first generation of Nickelodeon parents and adults that grew up watching shows like Double Dare and GUTS.

Season to date, Nickelodeon's most recent hit game show, Family BrainSurge, has averaged 2 million total viewers.

Nickelodeon, now in its 32nd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 17 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).

SOURCE Nickelodeon

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http://www.nick.com
Nickelodeon UK unfortunately never showed the original "Figure It Out" series.

Also, from Deadline Hollywood's 'Deadline TV':
Nickelodeon Revives 1990s Game Show ‘Figure It Out’ With 40-Episode Order

Tags: Figure It Out, Nickelodeon

EXCLUSIVE: More than a decade after it went off the air, Nickelodeon’s 1990s game show Figure It Out is making a comeback. The cable network has ordered 40 brand new episodes of the family-friendly game show to begin production in April in Los Angeles for a premiere later this year. Every Figure It Out episode features a panel of celebrities trying to guess kid contestants’ unique talents and skills by asking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions while being bombarded by messy visual and tactile clues. If, after three rounds, the panel still can’t figure out the kid’s feat, the contestant takes home the grand prize. Each game culminates in the reveal of the talent with an in-studio demo. “Figure It Out is a show that celebrates kids and their wonderful and often bizarre talents” said Marjorie Cohn, Nickelodeon’s president of development and original programming. “In this internet age where kids are expressing themselves online, it feels timely to give them a TV platform to showcase those talents in a uniquely Nickelodeon way.”

Created by Kevin Kay and Magda Liolis, Figure It Out originally aired on Nickelodeon for four seasons from July 1997 to December 1999 and was hosted by Olympic gold medalist swimmer Summer Sanders. The panel was a mix of Nick personalities and celebrities and included Kenan Thompson, Amanda Bynes, Aaron Carter, Chris Jericho, Coolio, Jack Hanna, Sherman Helmsley, Evander Holyfield, Joe Namath, Julius Erving, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mike O’Malley and Mya, among several others. The show also spawned 2 offshoots, Figure it Out: Family Style and Figure it Out: Wild Style.

The reboot of Figure It Out, which will be executive produced by Eileen Braun and Magda Liolis, continues the 1990s’ boom on Nickelodeon. The midnight-4 AM block The '90s Are All That, which features reruns of 1990s Nick sitcoms, has done quite well on Nickelodeon's sibling Teen Nick. Figure Out also is the latest in a string of original game show franchises developed and launched by Nickelodeon in the past 25 years. The first game show that aired on the network was Double Dare in 1986, featuring Nick’s now signatory slime. It was followed by Finders Keepers and Super Sloppy Double Dare (’87), Family Double Dare, (’88), Make the Grade and Think Fast (’89), Wild and Crazy Kids (’90), Get the Picture (’91), GUTS and Nick Arcade (’92), Legends of the Hidden Temple (’93), Global GUTS, (’95), Figure it Out (’97), You’re On! and Figure it Out: Family Style (’98), Figure it Out: Wild Style (’99), Double Dare 2000 (’00), and Nick Robot Wars and Scaredy Camp (’02). The network’s most recent entries in the genre were Family GUTS (’08), BrainSurge (‘09) and Family BrainSurge (’11). Here is a [streaming video] clip from the original Figure It Out [featuring Nickelodeon Stars Lori Beth Denberg [All That], Danny Tamberelli [Pete and Pete] and Kenan Thompson [All That, Kenan & Kel], and American singer Aaron Carter]:

Also, from C21Media:
Nick returns to 90s gameshow

US kidsnet Nickelodeon has looked to one of its 90s formats for its latest gameshow order.

Figure It Out - original version

The channel has commissioned 40 half-hour episodes of Figure It Out, a studio-based series that ran for four seasons from July 1997 to December 1999.

The format sees celebrities challenged to guess child contestants’ unique talents and abilities through a series of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions and visual clues. Each episode ends with an in-studio talent reveal.

“Figure It Out is a show that celebrates kids and their wonderful and often bizarre talents,” said Marjorie Cohn, Nick’s president of development and original progrmming.

“In this internet age where kids are expressing themselves online, it feels timely to give them a TV platform to showcase those talents in a uniquely Nickelodeon way.”

Nick’s most recent studio gameshow, Family BrainSurge, averaged two million total viewers.

Nick began producing gameshow formats in 1986 with Double Dare, and has gone on to create others such as Finders Keepers, Nick Arcade, Nick Robot Wars and Scaredy Camp.

Jesse Whittock
08-03-2012
©C21Media

GENRES: Children's, Gameshow

SHOWS: Family BrainSurge, Figure it out

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