Family Feud
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Family Feud | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Game show |
| Creator(s) | Mark Goodson & Bill Todman |
| Starring | John O'Hurley (2006–present) Richard Karn (2002–2006) Louie Anderson (1999–2002) Ray Combs (1988–1994) Richard Dawson (1976–1985; 1994–1995) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | ABC: 2,311 Syndicated 1977-1985: 976 |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 0:30 (per episode), 22 minutes without commercials |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC, CBS & syndication |
| Original run | July 12, 1976 – present (with intermittent arrests in production) |
Family Feud is a television game show that pits two families against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey-type question posed of 100 people. The format, which originated in the United States, has been exported to many countries. See Family Fortunes for the UK version of the show, and Que Dice la Gente for the Spanish US version.
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[edit] Broadcast / show history
The show premiered on ABC in 1976 with Richard Dawson as host. It ran until ABC (the nighttime show premiere in 1977 till 1985) canceled it in 1985. The show returned in 1988 on CBS (and Syndication premiered 2 months later) with Ray Combs as host until 1994, when Richard Dawson returned for one season. Feud then moved to full syndication with three different hosts, Louie Anderson, Richard Karn and currently John O'Hurley.The Richard Karn Episodes currently air on Game Show Network starting 11 P.M. EST
[edit] Production
[edit] Rules
Representatives of the family (a total of five members on each team; in 1994 there were only four members) are posed questions that have already been answered by 100 people. An answer is considered correct if it is one of the concealed answers on the game board. More points are given for answers that have been given by more people in the survey (one point per person); answers must have been given by at least two of the 100 people in order to be included on the board.
Examples of questions might be "Name a famous George", "Tell me a popular family vacation spot", or "Name something you do at school."
The participants are not asked questions about what is true or how things really are; instead, they are asked questions about what other people think are true. As thus, a perfectly logical answer may be considered incorrect because it failed to make the survey (e.g.: for the question about Georges, George Jones was a popular country singer, but if his name was given by fewer than two people, it would be considered "wrong").
[edit] Main game
Two family members "face off" to see which family will gain control of that particular question. Traditionally, they greet each other with a handshake before the question is read. Whoever guesses the more popular answer in the survey has the option to play the question or pass it to the other family (except during the 1988-1995 version, when they were automatically given control of the board). If neither player gives a valid answer, the next member of each family gets a chance to answer, with control again going to the family giving the most popular answer. If both answers are worth the same amount of points, control goes to the player that buzzed in first.
The family in control then attempts to give all the remaining answers on the board. Starting with the next family member in line, each gets a chance to give one answer. The family gets a "strike" if a player gives an answer that is not on the board or fails to respond. (There is no firm time limit, but the host has the discretion to impose a three second count if time is short or the contestant appears to be stalling.) Three strikes cause the family to relinquish control of the board, giving the other family a chance to steal the cash/points in the bank by correctly guessing one of the remaining answers.
In all versions except the 1988-1994 version, the entire family could confer before the answer was given. In the 1988-1994 version, each of the four members of the family would give his or her opinion one at a time. The head of household could then either select one of those four or give his or her own.
After determining who takes the bank for a round, any remaining answers are then revealed; per tradition, the audience yells each unrevealed answer in a choral response.
From 1992 until 1995, and from 1999 until 2003, if the family stole the cash/points in the bank by guessing one of the remaining answers, the value of the answer that "stole" would also be added to the bank (a rule first instituted in the 1987 computer version, see "Home versions" below).
[edit] Scoring format
Questions are played for double and triple points toward the end of the game. The number of double and triple-point questions in the game has varied over the years:
Daytime Version
| From | To | Goal | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7/12/1976 | 3/4/1979 | 200 | Single | Single | Double | Double | Double | |
| 3/5/1979 | 3/18/1979 | 300 | Single | Single | Single | Double | Triple | Triple |
| 3/19/1979 | 1984 | 300 | Single | Single | Double | Double | Triple | Triple |
| 1984 | 1985 | 400 | Single | Single | Single | Single | Double | Triple |
| 1988 | 300 | Single | Single | Single | Double | Triple | Triple | |
| 1988 | 1990 | 300 | Single | Single | Double | Triple | Triple | Triple |
| 1990 | 1992 | 300 | Single | Single | Single | Double | Triple | Triple |
| 1992 | 1993 | 300 | Single | Single | Double | Triple | Triple | |
| 300 | Single | Double | Triple | Triple | Triple |
Syndicated Version
| From | To | Goal | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 200 | Single | Single | Double | Double | Double | ||
| 1977 | 1984 | 300 | Single | Single | Single | Double | Triple | Triple |
| 1984 | 1985 | 400 | Single | Single | Single | Single | Double | Triple |
| 1988 | 300 | Single | Single | Single | Double | Triple | Triple | |
| 1988 | 1990 | 300 | Single | Single | Double | Triple | Triple | Triple |
| 1990 | 1992 | 300 | Single | Single | Single | Double | Triple | Triple |
| 1992 | 1995 | 300 | Single | Double | Triple | Triple | Triple | |
| 1999 | 2003 | -- | Single | Single | Single | Triple | Tiebreaker++ | |
| 2003 | Present | 300 | Single | Single | Double | Triple | Sudden Death |
- From 1999 to 2003, the family in the lead after round four automatically won the game, regardless of their score. If necessary, a one-answer survey tiebreaker was played (similar to a 1992-1994 Bullseye round question).
- As of 2003, Round 5 and subsequent rounds offer only the #1 answer presented on the survey board. The family that identifies this answer automatically wins triple the value of the answer and the round. Families play until one scores 300 points.
[edit] Fast Money round
The winning family goes on to play Fast Money and chooses two family members to play the round. One family member leaves the stage and is placed in an isolation booth, while the other is given 20 seconds (15 seconds prior to 1994) to answer five questions. If he or she cannot think up an answer to a question, he or she may pass. Except in the earliest episodes, a contestant may revisit a passed question at the end, time permitting. The number of people giving each answer is revealed once all five answers are given or time has expired (whichever comes first). The player earns one point for each person that gave the same answer; at least two people must have given that answer for it to score. When revealing the number of people giving the same response, the host often says the familiar phrase, "Survey said!..." This is the origination of this phrase, which has since become ingrained in popular culture.
Once all the points for the first player are tallied, the second family member comes back on stage and is given 25 seconds (20 seconds prior to 1994) to answer the same five questions. The host will ask for another response should a duplicate answer be made.
If one or both family members accumulate a total of 200 points or more, the family wins the top prize; if they score less than 200, they earn $5 for every point (Example: 198 x $5 = $990). From the show's beginning until 1992, the top prize a family could win in Fast Money was $5,000 on both the ABC and CBS daytime versions, $10,000 on the syndicated versions, or the amount accumulated in the Bullseye or Bankroll round. The top prize has been $20,000 since 2001. It was increased to $50,000 for a lucky home viewer for Gameshow Marathon.
[edit] Returning champions
From 1976 until 1985, on the ABC daytime show, champions could stay until defeated or reach the limit of $25,000, per the limits imposed by ABC (this was raised to $30,000 in 1984). On the syndicated nighttime version of the era and the Louie Anderson version from 1999-2002, there were no returning champions; two new families appeared on the show nightly and daily.
From 1988 until 1995, and again since 2002, all versions featured returning champions (for a limit of 5 times; limit was lifted in 1992 on the CBS and syndicated runs with the introduction of the Bullseye round), which resulted in returning for a tournament of champions (see below).
[edit] Tournament of Champions
[edit] 1988-94 version
The 1988-94 version carried special tournament for the four highest winning families from certain periods of time returning for a Winner-Take-All Tournament of Champions. These were held rarely at first for both the CBS and the syndicated versions.
The main game rules applied, but if a family reached 200 points in Fast Money, $5,000 went into a jackpot that started at $25,000, and went up to potentially $55,000 on the CBS version. Likewise, on the sydnicated version, the jackpot started at $50,000 and went up $10,000 for each time Fast Money was won, up to a possible $110,000. If the score was less than 200, nothing was added to the jackpot as the $5 a point rule was discarded for the tournament. Each semifinal was best-of-three games, with the first family in each one to win two games advancing to the finals, which was also best-of-three. There was no Fast Money round played during the finals. The scoring was similar to the 1984-1985 season (1-1-1-1-2-3) or the Combs' regular CBS/Syndicated version from late 1989-1990 (1-1-1-2-3) in the finals, with the first family to reach $400 winning the game instead of $300. The first family to win two out of three games won everything in the jackpot in addition to what they won in the regular game (no Fast Money was played).
No more of these were done on the syndicated version after the second season. The CBS version, however, continued doing them, but in mid-1990 started doing them every month, with the top four money-winning families of the previous month returning. The maingame point goals for winning a semifinal and a final game were the same, but the match format was changed from best-of-three to a one-game match for both the semifinals and the finals. Thus, the potential maximum was lowered to $35,000.
[edit] Current version
The current syndicated version began doing tournaments in 2002. The first occurred in May 2002 with the Family Circle Tournament of Champions, with eight winning families returning in a single-elimination tournament. The jackpot started at $50,000, and went up $20,000 for each time Fast Money was won, up to a possible $170,000. For this particular tournament only, if Fast Money was not won, $5 per point was added to the jackpot. Each game was played to 300 points except for the finals, which required 500 points to win the game and the jackpot. The winning team for this tournament won a trip to Charleston, South Carolina, and tickets to the Family Circle Cup women's tennis tournament in nearby Daniel Island, in addition to the money. The runners-up for this tournament won a trip to Jamaica.
This version, however, did not do tournaments on an occasional basis again until three years later, May 2005. Again, eight families were brought back, but this time consisted of either families who previously lost their first game (for the tournament that was held in May 2005 and May 2006), or previously winning families but not necessarily focusing on the higher winning families of the past (for the Tournament held in February 2006). The differences at this point for the tournaments were that the jackpot started with nothing (except for the February 2006 Tournament of Champions, which started at $10,000), losses in Fast Money did not add anything to the jackpot (like the 1988-1995 version), and the championship game was played to 400 points. Trips were sometimes also awarded to the jackpot-winning family, including Hawaii during the February 2006 tournament and Mexico during the May 2006 tournament. Again, no Fast Money was played in the finals.
[edit] Special weeks
Special-themed weeks have been prominent during "sweeps" weeks during the show's long history, through all eras. Among them were soap opera stars playing against each other; pro wrestlers also played for a week (with a special "Beauties Vs. Beasts" opening in which Gene Wood would imitate a referee going out onstage); stars from Baywatch; and even a week of game show hosts competing against each other in 1983, featuring on one team, Jim Perry, Bob Eubanks, Nipsey Russell, Betty White and Bill Cullen; and on the other team, Bert Parks, Jim Lange, Tom Kennedy, Leslie Uggams and Peter Marshall. In 1980, members of the Kansas City Royals and the Philadelphia Phillies squared off against each other in a 6-show series, to reflect the teams' 6-game World Series that was held shortly before taping (ABC held Major League Baseball rights, and aired Feud.). There was a week of The Price is Right vs. The Young and the Restless, (both aired back to back in CBS daytime, some stations only) played for charity in November 1991. In September 1993, a special week of shows was also filmed in Nashville, Tennessee, using certain set/game elements that would later be seen on the syndicated 1994-95 version. Some special weeks on the aforementioned 1994 season include one featuring Carol Burnett and her family playing against Betty White and her poker players.
RTL, which produces Feud (through FremantleMedia), has featured in recent years as sweeps weeks cast members of Survivor, even though they weren't allowed to use the name in the US (RTL holds international rights to the show, but not US rights, which is also the case with many Mark Burnett shows), figure skaters from the Stars on Ice Tour, and NASCAR, with Feud's "NASCAR week," taped during Pop Secret 500 weekend in late August 2004, airing in the week leading to NASCAR Championship Weekend in Homestead, Florida, featuring teams from all three national series.
During the NASCAR themed week, a Nextel Cup show car appeared on the stage, and NASCAR's own theme music played instead of the usual music as the teams lined up for the face-off.
[edit] International versions
With the success of the US, UK and Australian versions, countries all over the world have attempted to emulate the success of these game shows. A summary of such attempts may be found at the article above.
[edit] Home versions
Milton Bradley made eight editions of the ABC version after 1976 which were given to contestants on the show. Pressman Games created two editions (similar to the MB editions) based on the CBS version: one from 1990 and one from 1993 with the Bullseye round called "The New Family Feud." Endless Games created three editions since 1998.
The first computer version of Feud was released in 1983 for the Coleco Adam. Sharedata released versions for MS-DOS, Commodore 64 and Apple II computers in 1987 that were similar to the Adam version and based on the Richard Dawson era. A 1989 sequel, "The All New Family Feud," was based on the syndicated version of the Ray Combs era. GameTek released versions in 1990 for NES (similar to Dawson even though the package shows the Combs set), 1993 for SNES and Sega Genesis, 1994 for Panasonic 3DO and 1995 on CD-ROM (based on the 1992-1994 version, although the host resembles Dawson). Hasbro Interactive released a version from 2000 (featuring Louie Anderson) for the PC and Sony PlayStation. In 2003, Imagination Entertainment released a DVD game of Feud with Richard Karn. A 2nd edition was released in 2006 and a 3rd edition to be released in August 2007, with John O'Hurley hosting.
The website Uproar.com has an online version of the show from 1999 (which includes the double round even though the show did not have it from 1999 to 2003). The most current version (released in 2005) was created by IWin.com and can be bought online or downloaded for a free trial; it is based on the Karn version and can be played by single or team players. IWin.com also released a Holiday Edition of the game that was made available on a limited basis. A third version, the "Family Feud Online Party" allows multiple players to play on a team against other players.
Seattle-based Mobliss Inc. also released a mobile version of Family Feud that is available on Sprint, Verizon, and Cingular.
In 2006, a PlayStation 2 version was released. Even though it has the current logo of the show, the first set used is the one from Richard Karn's last season; another set used is the one from Richard Dawson's ABC era.
[edit] In popular culture
The American Family Feud, in all its incarnations, has had an influence in US popular culture. Some of the examples are in the accompanying article.
[edit] Current televised versions
The current version is aired in first-run syndication and has been since 1999. The ABC Dawson, Combs, and Karn episodes are aired on Game Show Network. All versions of Feud sans the Louie Anderson/John O'Hurley editions have aired on GSN.
[edit] External links
- Family Feud official website (US)
- Official Website for ¿Que Dice La Gente? on Telefutura (Spanish-language USA)
- Official website for 100 Panameños Dicen on TVN (Panama)
- Familieraad (Belgian version) on VTM
- UK Gameshows Page: Family Fortunes (UK title of the show)
- Online game, based on the 'Family Fortunes' format
- Family Feud (1976) at the Internet Movie Database
- Family Feud (1988) at the Internet Movie Database
- Family Feud (1999) at the Internet Movie Database
- Family Fortunes at the Internet Movie Database
Categories: Articles to be merged since December 2006 | 1976 television program debuts | 1970s American television series | 1980s American television series | 1990s American television series | 2000s American television series | ABC network shows | Australian game shows | CBS network shows | Family Feud | First-run syndicated television programs | Game shows | American game shows | Goodson-Todman game shows | Television spin-offs | Television series by FremantleMedia
