Figure It Out

and I've Got a Secret, both established panel shows created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman.

In Season 1, prizes consisted mainly of leftover props from then-defunct Nickelodeon shows such as Double Dare, Legends of the Hidden Temple and Global Guts.

At the start of the second and third rounds, a recap of two or three clues are shown on the monitor next to the contestant and host.

At the end of the game, after the secret talent is revealed, the contestant demonstrates or displays their skill and discusses it with the host and panel.

"J", the regular announcer for the original show, would disclose what the Secret Slime Action was for each episode in which he appeared.

Especially in the latter seasons, a successful Action has mostly been a foregone conclusion - the variables have only been when it will be triggered, and by whom (not necessarily a panelist).

Bynes (occasionally), Kopelow and Tamberelli were notorious for frequently asking silly questions and acting goofy, while Denberg was the serious panelist, who asked well-thought out questions, and frequently was the one to guess the secret phrase, during the final guesses.

The only four panelists who appeared on every season of the original run of the show were Kopelow, Bynes, Tamberelli, and Irene Ng (from The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo).

In Seasons 5 and 6, the first seat was not reserved for an adult, but Matt Bennett from Victorious and Ciara Bravo from Big Time Rush regularly appeared in the first position.

In one episode of the second season, for the first half, Lori Beth Denberg hosted the show and Summer Sanders was in her place as a panelist.

Production on the original version of Figure It Out started on March 24, 1997, and ended a month later, at Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, Florida, with a planned 40-episode order.

[6] On April 7, 1998, future country music singer/songwriter Hunter Hayes was a contestant on Figure It Out when he was six years old.

[8] Gentry Haukebo, Albuquerque rap artist better known as 1oK, was a contestant and prize winner in an episode during the show's fifth season.

1997-1999 logo.