Family Feud

Family Feud
The current Family Feud logo.
Format	Game show
Created by	Mark Goodson Bill Todman
Directed by	Paul Alter (1976-1990) Marc Breslow (1990) Andrew Felsher (1990-1995) Lenn Goodside (1999-2002) Bruce Gowers (1999) Ken Fuchs (2002-present)
Presented by	Richard Dawson (1976-1985, 1994–1995) Ray Combs (1988–1994) Louie Anderson (1999–2002) Richard Karn (2002–2006) John O'Hurley (2006–2010) Steve Harvey (2010-present)
Narrated by	Gene Wood (1976–1995) Burton Richardson (1999–2010) Joey Fatone (2010-present)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	ABC: 9 CBS: 5 Syndicated (1977-1985): 8 Syndicated (1988-1995): 7 Syndicated (1999-present): 11
No. of episodes	ABC: 2,311 Syndicated (1977–1985): 976 Syndicated (1999-present): 1,300
Production
Location(s)	Vine Street Theater Los Angeles, California (1976) The Prospect Studios Los Angeles, California (1977-1985) CBS Television City Hollywood, California (1988-1995, 1999-2000) NBC Studios Burbank, California (2000-2003) Sunset Bronson Studios Hollywood, California (2003-2010) Universal Studios Florida Orlando, Florida (2010-present)
Running time	30 minutes: ABC (1976–1985)[1] CBS (1988–1992) Syndicated (1977–1994, 1999–present) 60 minutes: ABC Specials (1978–1984) CBS (1992–1993) Syndicated (1994–1995)
Production company(s)	Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions (1976-1982) Mark Goodson Productions (1982-2002) The Family Company (1976-1985) The New Family Company (1988-1994) Mark Goodson Productions, L.P. (1994-1995) Feudin' Productions (1999-present) Pearson Television (1999-2002) FremantleMedia (2002-present)
Distributor	Viacom Enterprises (1977-1985) LBS Communications (1988-1991) All American Television (1991-1995) Pearson Television (1999-2002) Tribune Entertainment (2002-2007) 20th Television (2007-present, ad sales only) Debmar-Mercury (2007-present)
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC (1976–1985) CBS (1988–1993) Syndicated (1977–1985, 1988–1995, 1999-present)
Original run	July 12, 1976 (1976-07-12) - June 14, 1985 (1985-06-14) July 4, 1988 (1988-07-04) - May 27, 1994 (1994-05-27) September 12, 1994 (1994-09-12) - May 26, 1995 (1995-05-26) September 20, 1999 (1999-09-20) – present

Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey-type question posed to 100 people. The format, which originated in the United States, airs in numerous local formats worldwide.

The original version premiered on ABC and was hosted by Richard Dawson from 1976^[1] until it was cancelled in 1985, by which point it had been popular on both the network and in syndication. The series was revived by CBS in 1988 with Ray Combs hosting it until its cancellation in 1993 and its accompanying syndicated series until 1994, when he was replaced by Dawson for one season. The series was activated again in 1999 and continues to air with the twelfth season beginning on September 13, 2010. During that time, it has been hosted by Louie Anderson, Richard Karn and John O'Hurley.^[2] Steve Harvey will assume the hosting role for the 2010-2011 season.

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Basics 1.2 Bullseye/Bankroll round 1.3 Scoring format 1.3.1 Daytime version 1.3.2 Syndicated version 1.4 Lollipop trees 1.5 Fast Money 2 Broadcast history 2.1 1976–1985 2.2 1988–1994 2.3 1994–1995 2.4 1999–2002 2.5 2002–2006 2.6 2006–2010 2.7 2010-present 3 Production 3.1 Other production staff 3.2 Production company and distribution 3.3 Taping locations 3.4 Theme music 3.5 Returning champions 4 Tournament of Champions 4.1 1988–1994 4.2 2002–2009 5 Special weeks 6 Prime Time "All-Star Specials" 6.1 Celebrity Family Feud 7 Family Feud Live! 8 International versions 9 Home versions 10 Episode status and reruns 11 References 12 External links

Gameplay

Representatives of the family of contestants are posed questions that have already been answered by a survey of 100 people (although, sometimes, the surveyed audience would be further narrowed down, e.g. "100 women"). An answer is considered correct if it is one of the concealed answers on the game board, or judged to be equivalent. More points are given for answers that have been given by more people in the survey, with one point per person. Dollars were used before 1992 (see below for more information). Answers must have been given by at least two of the 100 people to be included on the board, and a question must have yielded at least three different answers. There are five members on each team; this was reduced to four during the 1994–1995 season.

Examples of questions might be "Name a famous George", "Tell me a popular family vacation spot", "Name something you do at school", or "Give me a slang name for policemen".

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 such, 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 not given by at least two people it is considered incorrect).

Basics

To start each round of the main game, two opposing family members "face off" to see which family will gain control of that particular question. Traditionally, the contestants 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. Players are also automatically given control if they guess the "Number one answer," the answer most commonly given. If both answers are worth the same amount of points, control goes to the player that buzzed in first. In the 1976-1985 and 1988-1995 versions, 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 more popular answer. Since 1999, should neither player give a valid answer, the question is edited out of the broadcast and replaced with a new question. ^[3]

Starting with the next family member in line, each gets a chance to give one answer. Family members may not confer with one another while in control of the board. The family gets a "strike" if a player gives an answer that is not on the board or fails to respond. There is no 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 one chance to steal the 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 and 2008 prime time versions, each family member gave his or her opinion one at a time. The team captain could then either select one of those four or give his or her own. If the family guesses a remaining answer correctly, they receive the points accumulated by the other family. From 1992-1995 and 1999–2003, the revealed answer's value was also added.

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.

Bullseye/Bankroll round

From 1992–1994 and 2009–2010, the "Bullseye" round was played before the traditional gameplay began. One at a time and starting with the team captain, each member of the family went up to the podium to answer a survey question worth a dollar amount. Only the number one answer was accepted. Correctly guessing the number one answer added the value of that question to the family's bankroll.

The Bullseye round first appeared on Family Feud Challenge where it was played in both halves of the hour-long show. In the first half, each family began with $2,500 as their starting bankroll and the five questions were worth in order: $500/$1,000/$1,500/$2,000/$2,500. The highest bank a family could play for was $10,000. In the second half hour, as well as on the syndicated series when the round was introduced, all of these values were doubled, with the starting bankroll at $5,000. The questions were worth $1,000/$2,000/$3,000/$4,000/$5,000 and the highest potential bank was doubled to $20,000. Number one answers were seen on a specially constructed prop that was lowered from the ceiling every time the round began and raised back up every time the round ended. Each family's bankroll was seen displayed on their podium.

The Bullseye round was revised as the "Bankroll" round for Dawson's return, and was reintroduced after that series expanded to 60 minutes. The Bankroll round featured only three questions and again, it was played in both halves of the show. Instead of each family member going up to answer a question, only one person on each team was required and the two contestants participated in all three questions. The starting bankroll in the first half was $2,500 and the question values were changed to $500/$1,500/$2,500, for a possible bank total of $7,000. These figures were doubled for the second half, making the highest potential bank $14,000.

The round was eliminated for Family Feud's later revival in 1999, but was revived in September 2009, for the final O'Hurley season.^[4][5] The starting bankroll was $15,000, with five questions in values from $1,000 to $5,000 in $1,000 increments. This version only lasted one season.^[4]

Scoring format

Questions are played for double and triple points toward the end of the game. Before 1992, families also received money in the amount of their score added to their winnings. The number of double- and triple-point questions in the game has varied over the years.

Daytime version

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From	To	Goal	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6+
1976	1979	200	Single		Double
1979		300	Single			Double	Triple
1979	1982	300	Single		Double		Triple
1982	1984	300	Single			Double	Triple
1984	1985	400	Single				Double	Triple
1988		300	Single			Double	Triple
1988	1990	300	Single		Double	Triple
1990	1992	300	Single			Double	Triple
1992	1993	300	Single		Double	Triple
1993		300	Single	Double	Triple

Syndicated version

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From	To	Goal	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6+
1977		200	Single		Double
1977	1984	300	Single			Double	Triple
1984	1985	400	Single				Double	Triple
1988		300	Single			Double	Triple
1988	1990	300	Single		Double	Triple
1990	1992	300	Single			Double	Triple
1992	1995	300	Single	Double	Triple
1999	2003	—	Single			Triple1	Sudden Death2
2003	2009	300	Single		Double	Triple	Sudden Death
2009	2010	300	Single	Double	Triple	Sudden Death
2010	present	300	Single		Double	Triple	Sudden Death

¹From 1999-2003, the family in the lead after Round 4 automatically won the game regardless of their score, though the majority of the winning families of that period still reached 300 points. Also, in Round 4, the family in control was only allowed one strike. This sometimes created an unusual situation in which a family could give an incorrect answer and still win if there were not enough points in the bank for the other family to win by a successful steal.

²The Sudden Death round, played similarly to the Bullseye round, uses only the number one answer from a new survey worth triple points. Additional questions are played until the team reaches the 300 point goal, or from 1999–2003, until the tie is broken.

Lollipop trees

Starting on March 2, 1983^[1] and continuing through June 14, 1985, a tree of Tootsie Pops was placed next to the anchor player on each team. When it was introduced, the player chose a lollipop, and if it had a black stem the team won a $100 bonus, which did not affect the outcome of the game. Originally, only one lollipop in each tree had a black stem, but within weeks, there were ten in each tree.

Fast Money

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. The clock begins counting down after the host finishes reading the first question. If he or she cannot think up an answer to a question, he or she may pass. A contestant may revisit a passed question at the end if time permits. If time runs out and all the questions have not been asked yet, they will still be in play as long as they have not been passed. 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, it is most commonly revealed with the phrase, "(Our) Survey said!"

Once all the points for the first player are tallied, the second family member comes back on stage with the first contestant's answers covered and is given 25 seconds (20 seconds before 1994) to answer the same five questions. If the second player gives the same answer as the first player on a question, a double buzzer will sound and the host will ask for another response, usually by saying "try again."

If one or both family members accumulate a total of 200 points or more, the family wins the top prize. If both family members score a total of less than 200 points, each point awards the family $5. Until 1992, the bonus for winning Fast Money was $5,000 on all daytime versions and $10,000 on all syndicated versions. From 1992-1995 and 2009–2010, the top prize was the amount accumulated in the Bullseye/Bankroll round (see above). The top prize reverted to $10,000 from 1999–2001 and was raised to $20,000 from 2001–2009 and again since 2010, an increase requested by host Louie Anderson because of inflation.^[6][7]

On the Gameshow Marathon episode in 2006, the top prize was increased to $50,000 for a home viewer. On Celebrity Family Feud, the jackpot was $50,000 to the winners' charity. If the goal was not reached, the $5/point rule was discarded and $25,000 was awarded to the charity instead.

Broadcast history

1976–1985

Family Feud was created during the increasing popularity of the Goodson-Todman game show, Match Game, which set daytime ratings records in 1976. Geoff Edwards, then hosting The New Treasure Hunt in weekly syndication, was originally offered the show's pilot. However, he turned it down after seeing The Neighbors with Regis Philbin tank and also having a deal pending with Bob Stewart for what became Shoot for the Stars on NBC, which was later placed in direct competition with Family Feud and did not last long.^[8] Richard Dawson, one of Match Game's most popular panelists, was the immediate next choice as host of the spin-off, which combined the team format and form of questioning (e.g. "Name a type of fruit") from the original 1960s Match Game with the survey polling used for the 1970s version's "Audience Match".

Family Feud premiered on ABC's daytime lineup on July 12, 1976 at 1:30 PM Eastern, with Dawson as host and Gene Wood as announcer. Although it was not an immediate hit, ABC moved the series to 11:30 AM on April 25, 1977, where the series became a ratings winner and eventually surpassed the series it was spun off from, Match Game, to become the #1 game show in daytime.

A nighttime syndicated version of Family Feud debuted on local stations on September 19. As was the custom with many other syndicated game shows at the time, the nighttime Feud aired as a weekly series. In January 1979, midway through its second season, the syndicated version began airing twice weekly due to its popularity. The show continued to be such a solid hit that it expanded again to become a daily series, and Family Feud became the first game show to air ten episodes per week when the syndicated version's fourth season debuted in September 1980.

Family Feud moved to 12:00 Noon on June 30 after The $20,000 Pyramid was cancelled, while reruns of The Love Boat filled the 11:00 AM hour. While most series that aired in the time slot on various networks usually saw some large ratings drop, often due in part to local affiliates opting to air newscasts or more profitable syndicated programming, Family Feud saw its ratings remain consistent and for the next few years remained at or near the top in the daytime.

However, in early 1984, the series' ratings begin to decrease. In October, ABC decided to move the veteran game show back to its original 11:30 AM time slot, with the new Goodson show, Trivia Trap, as its lead-in. The matter was not helped for two reasons. One was the popularity of another Goodson game show, The Price Is Right, airing opposite Family Feud on CBS. The other was the weak performance of Trivia Trap as Family Feud's lead-in, which failed to find an audience up against the first half of The Price Is Right and other programming and was canceled on April 5, 1985. The syndicated series was suffering through its own ratings trouble, as Wheel of Fortune quickly surpassed Family Feud in popularity upon its September 19, 1983 debut and Jeopardy!, which debuted on September 10, 1984, became the second-most popular syndicated game show. Eventually, both editions of Family Feud were canceled in mid-1985. The syndicated series left the air on May 17 and ABC canceled the daytime series shortly thereafter. The final daytime Feud aired on June 14 and featured an emotional farewell from Dawson, which was cut from the episode's original airing but has been shown in reruns ever since then.

The syndicated Family Feud continued to air reruns until September 13. The show's distributor, Viacom Enterprises, then decided to put together a "best-of" rerun package of Family Feud, which was sold to certain stations for the 1985-1986 season.

1988–1994

Three years after airing its final episodes, Family Feud returned to both daytime and syndication with stand-up comedian Ray Combs taking over for Dawson as host. On July 4, 1988, CBS premiered the new Family Feud at 10:00 AM Eastern, replacing The $25,000 Pyramid. On September 19, the accompanying prime time syndicated series premiered. Both series were taped at Studio 33 at CBS Television City.

The daytime Family Feud aired at 10:00 AM until January 11, 1991. The following Monday, after Wheel of Fortune was moved to NBC, Family Feud moved into Wheel's 10:30 AM time slot to make room for a talk show hosted by Barbara DeAngelis.

In 1992, the series' producers decided to add the Bullseye round on both series. The round premiered on the daytime version on June 29, coinciding with an expansion to a full hour and a renaming to Family Feud Challenge. The change in the format resulted in three families competing on each episode. Two families competed in the first half hour for the right to play the returning champions in the second half. Family Feud Challenge aired on CBS until September 10, 1993, with its final new episode airing on March 26 of that year.

On September 14, the Bullseye round was added to the syndicated series, which took on the name The New Family Feud. The series' sixth season debuted in September with three weeks of shows taped at Opryland USA, the first and only time that Family Feud had filmed on location, and used a scaled back set that eventually became the permanent set in September 1994. Production continued at CBS Television City after that, and the final episode of the season aired on May 27. Toward the end of taping for the season, Combs was dismissed from the series due to declining ratings, and he left Studio 33 during the end credits of the season finale without saying a word.

1994–1995

Jonathan Goodson took over Mark Goodson Productions in February 1993 following the death of his father, and Family Feud producers decided to look for ways to drive ratings back up. A consensus was eventually reached to ask Richard Dawson to return as host. Dawson had not been considered to host the revival before due to issues between Mark Goodson and others involved in the original production, including Howard Felsher. Felsher, who was the executive producer of Feud at this time, was the producer of Dawson's Feud and had a very contentious and problematic relationship with the host. Dawson agreed to return for the upcoming seventh season of the syndicated series and made his return to Family Feud on September 12. With his return, several format and aesthetic changes were made.

As noted above, the Opryland USA set from the opening of the previous year was redesigned and rebuilt to serve as the set at Television City. Instead of the traditional three-paneled game board a scaled back version of the Ferranti-Packard Fast Money board was used to display answers for the entire game, as it had been at Opryland. However, the producers decided not to show the board outside of Fast Money and superimposed a computer-generated board over the Fast Money board for broadcast. The empty spaces in the Opryland set were filled in by hundreds of clear translucent glass panels, and the set's backlighting went from dark blue during regular game play to red for Fast Money.

The team size was reduced to four for this season, and the name sliders removing the scenery that they hid, a staple of Family Feud since its debut in 1976, were also removed. Instead, each family was introduced in a caricature drawing with each family member's head superimposed on one of the figures in the picture. The Bullseye round was reworked to accommodate this, becoming known as the Bankroll round. In this round, one player from each side played for the entire round and three questions were asked. A maximum of $7,000 was available in the first half of the show and doubled in the second half.

For the first few weeks of episodes in the new hour-long format, two new families competed in the first half hour. The winning family played a family from Dawson's first run as host of Family Feud. This was then scrapped in favor of the format used for Family Feud Challenge, where the two families competed to meet the returning champions in the second half of the show. Despite an initial rise in the ratings, the momentum could not be sustained and Dawson did not last beyond the one season as host. The final episode aired on May 26, 1995, and reruns continued until September 8.

There were three reasons given for the cancellation of Family Feud after seven seasons. One was the O.J. Simpson murder trial, which began in January. Another was the lack of clearances for the full hour, as many of the stations airing Family Feud only cleared the second half hour. A third involved a series that was paired with Family Feud in many markets. On the same day that Dawson returned to Family Feud, Goodson and Paramount Domestic Television premiered The New Price Is Right, a syndicated version of The Price Is Right. Many of the stations carrying Family Feud also picked up The New Price Is Right, which never found an audience and was canceled after sixteen weeks.

1999–2002

After a four-year hiatus, Family Feud returned in syndication on September 20, 1999. Dawson was offered the choice of returning to the hosting position, but turned it down and decided to have no further involvement with the show.^[9] With Dawson's retirement, producers chose Louie Anderson to host the new incarnation of the show over other leading candidate Dolly Parton. Burton Richardson became the version's announcer.

With a new host came other changes to show. The basic structure of the show's set was retooled into a very modern design in lieu of continuing to use the "country house" motif of the previous versions. The game board was replaced with a rear projection display with each family's scores now being displayed on their podiums, similar to the Bullseye and Bankroll readouts on the previous version. The show's theme song was replaced by a very upbeat song nicknamed "The Party Theme" by show enthusiasts. The game format was altered so that the family with the most points after four rounds, with the fourth round being a triple-point round with only one strike allowed, played Fast Money, regardless if their score reached 300 points. The only elements to be unaltered from the previous versions were the sound effects, several of which had been used since 1976.

Production was at CBS Television City's Studio 36 during the first season. In the second season, production was moved to NBC Studios in Burbank, California. By the third season, Anderson convinced producers to increase the Fast Money pay-out to $20,000. By the end of the season, Anderson was let go from the show.

2002–2006

Richard Karn was selected to take over for Anderson in the fourth season. Shortly thereafter, the show's set was updated to feature more Earth tones, similar to those used on the original series and the theme song was remixed. For the fourth season, the same game play format was used, but returning champions for up to five days were reintroduced. Midway through the season, the retooled version of the show's theme song was replaced by the theme song previously used on the Combs version to cross-promote with a series of Old Navy commercials which featured a parody of the original series.

Beginning with the 2003-2004 season, production moved to Tribune Studios in Hollywood, California and the goal of 300 points was reinstated. The Combs-era theme was replaced by the retooled theme and remained unchanged for the rest of Karn's run. Another new set was built for the seventh season, which ran from September 12, 2005 to June 16, 2006. By the end of the season, Karn left the show. Pieces from the set were later sold on eBay.

2006–2010

On March 28, John O'Hurley was announced as the new host. With O'Hurley's first episode, which aired on September 11, the set was overhauled into an updated version of the classic set. The first week of shows began the same as the original series with Richardson reading the classic opening spiel. Beginning with the tenth season, which surpassed the original series run of nine seasons, the show began using the Combs-era theme again, along with the set changes introduced on Celebrity Family Feud from the previous summer.

Beginning with the eleventh season, which ran from September 7, 2009 to May 28, 2010, the Bullseye round was reintroduced with families' banks beginning at $15,000 with a total jackpot of $30,000 available. Families who retire as five-day champions also win a new car as a bonus prize. The Bullseye round will not be returning for the twelfth season. Link

This was also Burton Richardson's last season as announcer.

2010-present

On January 20, comedian Steve Harvey was announced as the new host for the twelfth season after O'Hurley's departure from the show, along with new announcer Joey Fatone.^[10] The show also moved taping locations to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and taping of the season began on July 10; it is scheduled to end on September 19.^[11] The set will remain the same, but with minor differences such as new podiums. The gameplay will also return to its 2003-2009 format.

Production

Other production staff

Gabrielle Johnston, a Goodson-Todman staffer since the 1970s, is currently the show's executive producer, years after she was the show's associate producer of the 1980s version. Kristin Bjorklund is the current producer and was also an associate producer of the 1980s version. Lauri Chryss is the associate director.

Previous staff members include Howard Felsher, the show's original producer before being an executive producer in the 1980s version, who was also a Goodson-Todman staffer since the 1960s, and Cathy Hughart Dawson, the show's original associate producer, who then became producer. Georgia Purcell assumed the associate producer role later in the series. Chester Feldman, who was a creative consultant for Goodson-Todman in the 1970s, was the show's executive producer in the 1980s version.

During the Dawson and Combs versions, Gene Wood was the announcer, with periodic fill-ins from Johnny Gilbert, Art James and Rod Roddy. Burton Richardson was the announcer for all episodes of the current version from 1999-2010, except for the Gameshow Marathon finale episode, which was announced by Rich Fields in 2006. Joey Fatone will become the new announcer beginning in the twelfth season.

Production company and distribution

Originally, Family Feud was billed as "A Mark Goodson/Bill Todman Production", but after Todman's death in 1979, the unit was simply known as "Mark Goodson Productions" and was announced as such until 1995. During the first three seasons of the 1999 revival, the show used the Mark Goodson Productions name and logo at the end of each episode, but not the announcement, even though the original production company no longer existed. However, when Richard Karn began hosting in 2002, the traditional practice was abandoned entirely.

The show's copyright holder was called "The Family Company" from 1976–1985, "The New Family Company" from 1988–1994 and "Mark Goodson Productions, L.P." from 1994-1995. Currently, as of 1999, Family Feud's copyright holder is called "Feudin' Productions". Since 2002, the show has been produced by RTL Group subsidiary FremantleMedia North America, as a successor to Mark Goodson Productions.

Viacom Enterprises, currently known as CBS Television Distribution, distributed the syndicated version from 1977-1985.

Following Mark Goodson's death, FremantleMedia, the eventual successor of respective distributors/successors LBS Communications, All-American Television and Pearson Television, distributed Family Feud. In March 2002, Tribune Entertainment was awarded syndication duties, when FremantleMedia chose to focus on producing rather than distribution. Tribune's participation in the series ended in the spring of 2007, when they dismantled their television distribution arm. That fall, Lionsgate-owned Debmar-Mercury assumed distribution and 20th Television assumed ad sales.

Taping locations

• 1976: Vine Street Theater, Los Angeles, California
• 1977–1985: Studio 54, ABC Television Center, Los Angeles, California
• 1988–1995: Studio 33, CBS Television City, Hollywood, California
• 1999–2000: Studio 36, CBS Television City, Hollywood, California
• 2000–2003: NBC Studios, Burbank, California
• 2003–2010: Sunset Bronson Studios (formerly Tribune Studios), Hollywood, California
• 2010–present: Universal Studios Florida, Orlando, Florida

Theme music

The original theme music for Family Feud, simply named "The Feud", was a more elaborate version of a prize cue heard on The Price Is Right. In addition, the final measure of the theme music is used to introduce the Grand Game on The Price Is Right. The theme was composed by Robert Israel for Score Productions. It was remixed with synthesized drums in 1988 for the Ray Combs version and for Richard Dawson's 1994 return, the theme was re-recorded by Edd Kalehoff with jazz instruments. In 1999, John Lewis Parker orchestrated "The Party Theme" complete with a portion of the original Robert Israel theme in the opening.

This theme was remixed in 2002 and again in 2006. These versions did not feature the sample from the original theme. The 1988–1994 "Feud" theme from the Ray Combs version was brought back in an edited form for the latter part of Richard Karn's first season from November 2002–May 2003. It was revived yet again in June 2008 for NBC's Celebrity Family Feud with a looped intro and was used as the opening/closing themes and as face-off/commercial cues and has also been used since the beginning of the 2008-2009 syndicated season.

For the Gameshow Marathon episode, both the 1976 and 1988 versions were used. The 1988 version used for the opening was toned down to emulate the 1976 version as it was heard during Family Feud's first season on ABC. The 1988 opening cue was used, however, without manipulation of any kind, yet when the announcer introduced the second family, the theme music started over instead. However, the actual 1976 main theme and its related music, which were also toned down, were used for face-offs and bumper music going to and returning from commercial breaks.

Returning champions

On the ABC daytime version, champion families could stay until they were defeated or reached ABC's winnings limit of $25,000. On the syndicated version from 1977–1985 and again from 1999–2002, two new families competed on each episode.

The 1988–1995 version featured returning champions, as has the current version since 2002. From 1988-1993 and again since 2002, the limit has been five appearances. From 1988-1992, a Tournament of Champions format was used (see below), but in the syndicated version, there was no returning champion limit. Since the 2009-2010 season, families who win retire undefeated also win a new car.

Tournament of Champions

1988–1994

The 1988–1994 version carried special tournaments for the four highest winning families from certain periods of time returning for a Winner-Take-All Tournament of Champions. These were rarely held at first for both the CBS and 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 syndicated 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 the best-of-three games, with the first family in each one to win two games advancing to the finals, which was also a best-of-three match. There was no Fast Money round played during the finals. The scoring was similar to the 1984–1985 season (single-single-single-single-double-triple) or the regular CBS/Syndicated version from late 1989-1990 (single-single-single-double-triple) 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 additional tournaments were conducted on the syndicated version after the second season. The CBS version continued conducting them, but in mid-1990, tournaments were held every month, with the top four money-winning families of the previous month returning. The main game point goals for winning a semifinal and a final game were the same, but the match format was changed from the best-of-three to a one-game match for both the semifinals and the finals. Thus, the potential maximum was lowered to $35,000.

2002–2009

The current 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, which was $112,230. The runners-up for this tournament won a trip to Jamaica.

This version, however, did not do tournaments on an occasional basis until May 2005. Again, eight families were brought back, but this time, they 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 began at $10,000. Losses in Fast Money did not add anything to the jackpot, as in the 1988–1994 version and the championship game was played to 400 points. Trips were sometimes 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.

The winning family of the Big Money Tournament from the 2007-2008 season won a $60,000 jackpot out of a possible $120,000. In the 2008-2009 season, the winning family won $80,000.

Special weeks

Special-themed weeks have been prominent during "sweeps" weeks during the show's long history, through all versions. Among them were soap opera stars playing against each other; a week of "Hatfields vs McCoys" in 1979, with the podium buzz-in sound replaced with the sound of a gunshot and a staged "shootout" at the end of the Friday show, pro wrestlers, 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 competed against each other for a week. ABC held Major League Baseball rights at the time, but did not air the 1980 World Series as their contract entitled them to the series in odd numbered years. The 1980 World Series aired on NBC and most of the stations that aired the nighttime Feud were NBC affiliates.

There were several weeks of The Price Is Right vs. The Young and the Restless, which played for charity in November 1991, 1993 and 1994.

In September 1993, three weeks of specials were filmed at Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee, using certain set/game elements that were later seen on the 1994-1995 syndicated version. The second week featured Barbara Mandrell and her sisters against the Statler Brothers, with special guest Brenda Lee. The third week featured regular contestants, with the winning family of the final day receiving the right to compete in the next show back in LA.

Some special weeks on the aforementioned 1994 season included one featuring Carol Burnett and her family playing against Betty White and her poker players. In fact, there were so many special weeks during the 1994–1995 season that the show's final week itself was special, featuring the Los Angeles Fire Department playing against the Los Angeles Police Department.

Both original and 2008 revival editions of the American Gladiators have participated in the Feud, with appearances in 1993, 1994 and as one of the families in the 2008 prime time series. Battles of divorced couples were also held throughout all versions, with the ex-husbands facing off against the ex-wives in each face-off.

Special holiday-themed weeks and celebrity look-alikes have aired throughout all versions.

During Louie Anderson's first season, a "Playboy Playmates vs. World Championship Wrestling Superstars" week was held. Playing on the "Playboy Playmates" team were Angela Little, Daphne Duplaix, Heather Kozar, Lisa Dergan, and Deanna Brooks, competing against Scotty Riggs, Jimmy Hart, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Hugh Morrus and Brian Knobbs on the "WCW Superstars" team.

A few weeks following the September 11 attacks, a week of shows featured the New York Fire Department competing against the New York Police Department with their combined winnings going to help the victims and families of the attacks. Anderson donated $75,000 of his own money to be built on as a jackpot.

RTL, which produces Family Feud through FremantleMedia, has featured in recent years as sweeps weeks cast members of Survivor, even though they were not 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. Also included were figure skaters from the Stars on Ice Tour, finalists from varying seasons of American Idol and NASCAR, with the show's "NASCAR week", taped during Pop Secret 500 weekend in late August 2004, airing in the week leading to the 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 used in the post-race disclaimer and also as the base theme music for international broadcasts played instead of the usual music as the teams lined up for the face-off.

The WWE special of the show aired during the week of November 5, 2007. The special featured five WWE wrestlers: Batista, Ric Flair, Mr. Kennedy, King Booker and Jonathan Coachman, competing against five WWE Divas: Candice Michelle, Layla El, Michelle McCool, Maria and Queen Sharmell.

The NBA special of the show aired during the week of November 12, 2007. The special featured six NBA Superstars, including Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Grant Hill, David Lee and Richard Jefferson competing against their mothers.

From November 10 to 18, 2008, a College Tournament aired that included teams from the University of Notre Dame, University of Southern California, Ohio State University, University of Michigan, University of Texas-Austin, University of California-Los Angeles, Harvard University and Caltech. The Ohio State University won a jackpot of $60,000 out of a possible $120,000.

Prime Time "All-Star Specials"

During the week of Valentine's Day in February 1978, the Dawson daytime version ran its first all-celebrity week, which featured ABC soap stars competing. The success of this special week not only caused the show's ratings to peak, but also caused declining ratings of the network's soaps to increase. As a result, ABC created an hour-long All-Star Family Feud Specials, played between cast members of hit prime time and on rare occasions, daytime series for charity. The first installment aired on May 8 of that year and did so well in the ratings that new specials continued to air as a semi-regular sweeps event on the network until May 25, 1984.

In the first half of the special, two teams played until one reached $200 or more. That team went on to play Fast Money for $5,000 and competed in the finals against the team that won in the second half, which was played the same way. The two winning teams then faced each other in a one-question showdown, with the team that won the pot going on to play Fast Money for an additional $10,000.

Originally, only the cast members of ABC series competed in the All-Star Specials, but when high ratings made it apparent that continuing to do so would soon exhaust the network's stable of celebrities, an agreement was reached with CBS, NBC and the production companies and stars of series from all three networks began appearing in the fall of 1979, similar to ABC's Battle of the Network Stars concept. At the time, networks did not own their own programming and had to rely on programming from the studios, who dealt with all three networks and often, the battles were between shows from two different networks, even if it was the same production company. Among the series represented were:

• Dallas
• The Dukes of Hazzard
• Dynasty
• Eight Is Enough
• Family
• The Jeffersons
• Real People
• Soap
• Three's Company
• WKRP in Cincinnati
• The Waltons
• Welcome Back, Kotter

Underlying themes to the series' casts were occasionally featured, such as Nighttime vs. Daytime, featuring daytime soap stars competing against prime time TV stars, and some specials even removed the "TV series cast" format in favor of a single unifying theme among the four teams competing, such as Mutiny On The Love Boat, in which the cast of that show competed alongside such past guest stars as Robert Goulet, Jill St. John, Bert Parks and Rhonda Fleming.

Celebrity Family Feud

While technically a revival of the All-Star Family Feud Specials, this NBC prime-time summer series, entitled Celebrity Family Feud, premiered on June 24, 2008 as a six-week short series with Al Roker at the helm. This version featured teams composed of a celebrity captain and four friends or relatives, with a $50,000 charity payoff at stake. In addition, this version debuted set changes that were later introduced on the syndicated run for the 2008-2009 season.

This six-week mini-series was part of NBC's "All-American Summer", which also included America's Got Talent and MGM's revival of American Gladiators.

The game format was similar to the All-Star Specials. The families played three rounds (single-single-triple-sudden death). The winners of the two games played in another three-round match for the right to play Fast Money.

As a result of this version, Family Feud became only one of a handful of game shows to air on three different networks (the other two being ABC and CBS).

Family Feud Live!

Family Feud Live! is a stage show held at the Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Connecticut with several hosts, including Michael Burger and Marc Summers. The shows are produced in association with RTL Group officials, including former television director Andrew Felsher, producer Cathy Dawson, and others who have worked on the TV version of Family Feud and other game shows. The show also briefly ran at two Atlantic City casinos in 2006.

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.

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 has made three editions since 1998.

The first computer version of Family 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 first 1976-1985 version. In 1989, The All New Family Feud was released, based on the syndicated version from 1988. 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 for the PC and PlayStation. In 2004, Imagination Entertainment released a DVD game of Family Feud, with Richard Karn providing the welcome, rules and expectations, while Burton Richardson narrated the questions and revealed the answers. A 2nd edition was released in 2006, with Richardson as host and a 3rd edition was released in August 2007, with John O'Hurley hosting. A movie edition was released afterwards, also with O'Hurley hosting.

Uproar.com once had an online version of the show using the format from September 1999. This online version included a single, double and triple-point round, while at the time the show was using three single-point rounds and one triple-point round. In September 2006, however, Uproar.com removed all games from its lineup and functioned as a traditional search engine website.

A new computer version, released in 2005, was created by IWin.com and can be bought online or downloaded for a free trial. Based on the Karn version, it 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. Several other versions, such as a Hollywood-themed edition and "Family Feud II", a sequel to the original and this year, "Family Feud III: Dream House", have also been available.

Seattle-based Mobliss Inc. also released a mobile version of Family Feud that was available on Sprint, Verizon and Cingular. Currently, Glu Mobile has released a newer mobile version of Family Feud for other carriers.

In 2006, a PlayStation 2 and PC version was released. Even though it has the logo from O'Hurley's first season, the first set used and depicted on the packaging is the one from Karn's last season. The 1976–1985 and 1988-1994 sets are available for use also.

A Game Boy Advance version was released that same year. Like the PlayStation 2 version, it featured the first O'Hurley logo, but its set and title graphic were based on the final Karn set.

Family Feud 2010 was released for the Wii and Nintendo DS in 2009. This version featured the 2008 revamped set from O'Hurley's tenure on the show. Although the 1988 theme song is featured in the menus, "The Party Theme" from 1999 is used during game play.

Episode status and reruns

All episodes still exist. Reruns have aired on GSN since the network's launch. The network currently airs the ABC/syndicated Dawson version, the Karn version and the first two seasons of the O'Hurley version. The first three seasons of the O'Hurley version currently air on Ion Television.

A DVD set titled All-Star Family Feud was released on January 8, 2008 and featured a total of 21 celebrity episodes from the original ABC/syndicated versions on its four discs. A re-release of the DVD set titled The Best of All-Star Family Feud was introduced on February 2, 2010 and included the same shows.

References

External links

• Family Feud Channel on YouTube
• Family Feud page on Twitter
• Family Feud official website (US)
• Family Feud History at Uproar Online Games
• 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)
• Inernet version of this game
• Online version of the show in the 'Family Fortunes' format
• Russian online version of the game in 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

Preceded by The $20,000 Pyramid

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show 1977

Succeeded by Hollywood Squares

Family Feud Hosts Richard Dawson • Ray Combs • Louie Anderson • Richard Karn • John O'Hurley • Steve Harvey Announcers Gene Wood • Burton Richardson • Joey Fatone Versions Family Feud • Celebrity Family Feud • Other international versions Production staff (U.S.) Paul Alter • Howard Felsher • Mark Goodson • Chester Feldman • Bill Todman