Nickelodeon is reviving a 15-year-old favorite game show — Figure It Out. The cable channel has ordered 40 episodes of the new version of Figure It Out and is expected to begin production next month. Episodes will begin airing sometime later this year.

The original Figure This Out ran for four seasons, from 1997 until 1999, and was hosted by Olympic gold medalist Summer Sanders. Panelists included Kenan Thompson, Aaron Carter, Amanda Bynes, Chris Jericho, Coolio, Jack Hanna, Sherman Helmsley, Evander Holyfield, and Joe Namath.

The new series order comes after TeenNick found success with repeats of 1990s shows like Clarissa Explains It All, Rugrats, All That, and The Amanda Show.

Here’s the press release with additional details:

Nickelodeon Brings Back Popular 90’s Game Series, “Figure It Out,” Greenlighting 40 Episodes

Production Begins in April with Host Jeff Sutphen and Bevy of Celebrity Panelists to Figure Out Kids’ Hidden Talents

LOS ANGELES, March 7, 2012 — 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, Aaron Carter, Amanda Bynes, Chris Jericho, Coolio, Jack Hanna, Sherman Helmsley, Evander Holyfield, Joe Namath, Julius Erving, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mike O’Malley 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 (’08), BrainSurge (’09) and Family BrainSurge (’11) — 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. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).

What do you think? Do you remember watching Figure It Out? Do you think it’s a good idea to bring it back?