Family Challenge

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Family Challenge was a game show that aired on The Family Channel from October 2, 1995 to September 1997, lasting for two seasons. Ray Combs hosted the first season, and Michael Burger hosted the second. Gene Wood announced the first season, Charlie Glaize did the second.

[edit] The Premise

Two teams of six family members competed. Each team consisted of two adults and four children; it was a common sight to see nieces & nephews playing alongside a couple's children. Five stunts were played, each worth a varying amount of points. The stunts varied in each show; the following are a few stunts used on the show during the first season.

All six members of the first team would play a game of Tug-O-War...against Lee Reherman, better known as Hawk the American Gladiator. The game would be held over a tank full of green "gunk". The team won 1 point for each second they could stay up. They won 60 points if they stay up for 30 seconds or pulled Hawk into the gunk. This process would be repeated for the second team.

The "Backwards Relay Race" was a complicated event. Three teammates from each team competed. The first team started at a table with various items on it. The first teammate would run backwards to a board. They would read a short message written backwards on a board, which would correspond to an item on the table. Then they run backwards to their starting position and do something with the item. (For example, "This Icy Sensation Causes A Gyration" means they must pour a pitcher of water down their pants, and "Simple Simon Met A Pie Man" means they must smash a pie into their face.) This would continue until all three teammates had a chance to do two things. After the first team finishes, the second team was brought out of isolation to try and beat their time. The team who could do it in the fastest time won 100 points.

One event involved three doors and one member of each team. The player on the first team would pick a door, behind which was a live animal. They would have to kiss it on the lips. If they kept contact with it for 5 seconds, their team would win 10 points. The player on the second team then picked a second door, and had to kiss that. After this, each player could elect to kiss whatever was behind the unpicked door...but had to do it blindfolded, for 10 seconds. Doing this won 20 points.

Two members of each team would wade in a giant tank of gunk looking for pearls. Each white pearl collected won 10 points, and each black pearl won 50. This event lasted for two minutes.

At the end of the fifth event, the team with the most points was the winner. That team won two prizes (such as a new living room group & a ceiling fan), and a trophy called "The Family Challenge Cup".

[edit] Trivia

The announcer stated at the end of each episode, "All of the food used on Family Challenge is food that is no longer edible." Ray also mentioned this during some events -- they wanted to let viewers know that they weren't wasting food.
A blooper occurred during a playing of the Backwards Relay Race. Ray handed the microphone to a young contestant. After she read the clue, she threw the microphone into Ray's face, actually drawing blood. Ray laughed it off, saying "A little blood never hurt anybody!"
The second season brought many changes. Besides the new host, the show was re-titled "The New Family Challenge" and given a new set. It was taped at Universal Studios Hollywood.
This was Ray Combs's final network game show. He committed suicide on June 2, 1996.
This was Gene Wood's final announcing game show. He went on to announce some game show on GSN (then Game Show Network), before retiring for good. He died of cancer on May 21, 2004.
This is the second time that both Combs & Wood would work together on a game show. In the late 1980's, they worked together both as host/announcer on Family Feud.