- For rivalries between families, see feud.
Family Feud is a popular 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.
| Family Feud | |
|---|---|
| File:FeudUSLogos.jpg | |
| Created by | 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 | USA |
| No. of episodes | ABC: 2,311 Syndicated 1977-1985: 976 |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 0:30 (per episode) |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC, CBS & syndication |
| Release | July 12, 1976 – present (with intermittent arrests in production) |
| Release | File:BertsFamilyFeud.BMP |
| Release | File:BertsFamilyFeud.BMP |
| Release | File:BertsFamilyFeud.BMP |
| Release | File:BertsFamilyFeud.BMP |
| Release | File:BertsFamilyFeud.BMP |
| Release | File:BertsFamilyFeud.BMP |
| Release | File:BertsFamilyFeud.BMP |
Broadcast / show history
The Richard Dawson / ABC era
The longest running and most popular version of Family Feud, a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production, was hosted by Richard Dawson. The daytime version debuted on ABC on July 12, 1976. A nighttime syndicated version debuted in September 1977; it originally aired as a weekly series before expanding to two nights a week in January 1979 and to five nights a week in September 1980. Goodson originated the idea for Feud from one of his other hit game shows, CBS's Match Game. The first half of the "Super Match" round of Match Game included the results of a studio audience survey where audience members gave their answers to a fill-in-the-blank phrase. The top three responses to that phrase were concealed on the board, and the contestant won more money by choosing a more popular answer. Family Feud was spun off from this very same survey concept, although fill-in-the-blanks were not used in "Feud". Rather, questions like "name a popular brand of cereal" were incorporated instead. Mark Goodson's emcee-hunting did not take long. He hired Richard Dawson, a charming celebrity who helped contestants win thousands of dollars as a Match Game regular panelist.
Family Feud was the highest-rated daytime game show for two seasons (1977-78 and 1978-79) until CBS's The Price Is Right surpassed it. It was also the highest-rated syndicated game show from 1978 until 1984, when Wheel of Fortune took over the top spot. In May 1978, during the height of the show's popularity, ABC aired the first in a series of All-Star Family Feud prime time specials where teams of celebrities -— often the cast members of a television show — played the game to raise money for various charities. The show won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Game Show in 1977, while Dawson won the Daytime Emmy for Best Host or Hostess in a Game Show in 1978. Richard Dawson's hosting style was very unusual: for example, he almost always kissed the female players, and gave some of the women and their children lollipops from a special "lollipop tree" (introduced in the middle of the 1982-83 season) at the end of each family podium.
Dawson also did not let sobriety or good taste stand in the way of his hosting. A number of times contestants could not understand the question due to Dawson's slurred speech. Dawson also did not let race relations deter his jokes. In one show an African American contestant picked a black lollipop, the winning color, and Dawson held the lollipop up to the contestant's skin and asked the crowd if the contestant had an advantage. On another show, an Asian family was not ready to answer a question when Dawson asked, so he yelled gibberish Chinese at the family until they turned around and answered. This personable style made him very popular as a game show host, but makes old versions of the show somewhat inappropriate by contemporary standards.
The last ABC daytime episode aired on June 14, 1985, with Dawson delivering an emotional farewell speech at the end of the show. The syndicated nighttime edition of Feud continued for three months afterwards, before wrapping up in September after eight years. (Viacom, the show's syndicator, offered reruns to stations, including WOR-TV in New York, for one year after that, packaged as The Best of Family Feud. Due to WOR's status as a superstation, those markets where a local station did not pick up the reruns still got the show.) In its nine-year existence, 2,311 network daytime shows, 976 syndicated evening half-hour shows, and 17 ABC primetime hour-long specials (1978-1984) had been produced, with $1,557,150 given away to charity on 170 celebrity specials on the daytime and nighttime shows, and $14,833,000 won by contestants.
On July 4, 1988, CBS brought the show back with a new host, Ray Combs. A new syndicated primetime edition premiered two months later. CBS expanded the show from 30 minutes to one hour with the addition of a "Bullseye" round to the show and renamed it The New Family Feud Challenge on June 29, 1992. (The "Bullseye" round was added to the syndicated version that fall, when it was renamed The New Family Feud.) On Family Feud Challenge, two new families competed in the first half of the show, with the winner playing the returning champions in the second half. The CBS version went into reruns on March 29, 1993 and was canceled on September 10 of that year, when CBS decided to give back the hour to their local affiliates (although Guiding Light airs in that hour on some affiliates, most notably WCBS).
At the end of the 1993-1994 season, Combs was replaced by Richard Dawson in an effort to boost the syndicated version's declining ratings. (His replacement was one of many factors in Combs' 1996 suicide.) The show also expanded to one hour and used a format similar to that of the Family Feud Challenge with families from the original ABC version playing in the second half of the show. (Some stations, however opted to carry only the second half-hour.) The ratings improved with Dawson back as host, but in large part due to the O. J. Simpson trial pre-empting the daily broadcast, the show only lasted one more season with Dawson as host, ending on September 8, 1995, after seven seasons.
In 1999 a third version premiered in syndication with host Louie Anderson. In 2002 Anderson was replaced as host by Richard Karn. This version is still airing and is produced by FremantleMedia (formerly Pearson Television), who currently owns the rights to the Goodson-Todman library of game shows. Tribune Entertainment distributes the series.
On the E! True Hollywood Story: Family Feud, Anderson was quoted in 2002 saying that the show would last one season without him. His prediction proved to be wrong, as the show has continued for four additional seasons, and is slated to be on at least through the 2006-2007 season. Richard Karn has decided to step down as host.
On March 28, 2006, a press release from Fremantle [1] stated that Dancing with the Stars competitor and former To Tell the Truth host John O'Hurley will be the show's new host starting in Fall 2006, and the show will be revamped with a new look to celebrate the show's 30th anniversary.
In 2006, Family Feud will be among the seven game shows being used in the upcoming CBS series Gameshow Marathon. Ricki Lake will serve as host for the entire seven-episode program. The Family Feud episode will use a set modeled after the original Dawson-era set.
Host contenders
In addition to the four regular hosts, there were additional contenders for the hosting spot as well.
- In 1976, Geoff Edwards was approached by Mark Goodson and offered him the job to host. Edwards though was still under contract with both Chuck Barris Productions and NBC, and was unable to accept the job.
- In 1988, Joe Namath was slated to host the show, but when producers discovered Combs, Namath was soon replaced.
- In 1999, Dolly Parton was Anderson's main challenger for the hosting job. Richard Dawson himself was offered the hosting job for the current series, but elected not to host.
- In 2002. Mark Curry from Hangin' with Mr. Cooper auditioned for the job.
Substitute hosts include Sammy Davis, Jr., who guest hosted one round during the Richard Dawson era, and Caryn Lucas, the show's contestant coordinator, who temporarily replaced Dawson for part of one episode when he suffered broken ribs. Producer Howard Felsher also hosted one round due to a judging disagreement between him and Dawson.
Announcers
Gene Wood was the original announcer of Family Feud. Johnny Olson announced the pilot, Johnny Gilbert substituted once during the Dawson era in the spring of 1981 (including one episode when Richard met his second and current wife as a contestant). Rod Roddy filled in during the Combs era during the summer of 1991, and Art James also served as a fill-in announcer during the Combs era during November 1989. Burton Richardson has been the show's regular announcer since 1999.
Episode status
All episodes are believed to exist. The Game Show Network currently airs the '70s Dawson and the pre-Bullseye Combs versions. The Family Feud Challenge was aired for a short time on GSN in 2002, as was the 1994 Dawson version. The i network (formerly PAX) rerun the 1999 Anderson version until 2004, when it began showing episodes of the current Karn version.
Rules of the game
Representatives of the family 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. The game board originally had 12 spaces, but usually three to nine answers were used per question. Since 1994, only up to eight answers (six in double or triple value rounds) were used since the game was played on the electronic display board (with the viewers seeing a computer graphic display instead in the 1994 version). (Since the show's revival in 1999, the electronic display board and video board have the same graphic, so what the audience sees is the same as on television.) More points are given for answers that had been given by more people in the survey (one point per person). Note: Responses on each survey have to have been given by at least 2 of the 100 people to be included. Until the Bullseye round was introduced in 1992 on the Combs version, matches were played for money instead of points.
Sample questions are "Name a famous George", "Tell me a popular family vacation spot" or "Name something you do at school."
The participants aren't asked questions about what is true or how things really are. 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 yet his name didn't appear on the survey). However, sometimes questions were improperly phrased to indicate that they were looking for a specific answer. For instance, Richard Karn asked a family to "name the fastest growing sport in America." The intent of the question was what the surveyed people thought was such, and the family had to guess what the audience believed was the fastest-growing sport in America. The phrasing as it should have said is what they thought was such.
However, the questions often result in funny distortions by contestants, who give off-the-wall answers. A classic example is: "Name the month a pregnant woman begins to look pregnant," to which one contestant replied "September" (resulting in such uproarious laughter taping had to be stopped). In the British version of the show, a question was "Something you wouldn't try, not even once." to which a contestant replied "Sex on a train!" In a 2003 episode, a question asked contestants to name characters on The Andy Griffith Show; it was clear that one family — through their answers — had never seen the show. Someone once commented that Family Feud measures the social fitness of contestants.
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 popular 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 they give an answer that is not on the board or fail to respond (following of which the host says "Three seconds"). Three strikes cause the family to relinquish control of the board and the other family then gets the chance to steal the cash in the bank if they correctly guess one of the remaining answers. Except in the 1988-1994 version, the entire family may confer before the answer is given. Any remaining answers are then revealed; per tradition, the audience yells each unrevealed answer in a choral response.
From 1991 until 1995, and from 1999 until 2003, if the family steals the cash in the bank by guessing one of the remaining answers, the value of an answer that "stole" would also be added to the bank.
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:
- Originally, when the first family to reach $200 won the game, the format was 1-1-2-2.
- On March 5, 1979, when $300 became the goal, there was 1-1-1-2-3-3 (this format was also used in the CBS daytime version, 1988-1991, syndicated version 1988, later from 1990-1992 and also used in Dawson's nighttime show), but two weeks later, it changed to 1-1-2-2-3-3, and also for the 1988 primetime version, and a modified version was also used in 2003 (see below), it also changed to 1-1-2-3. (Same structure to the Combs version from 1989-1990 and special versions of the Family Feud. I.E. CBS vs. NBC, The Price Is Right vs. The Young and the Restless, Louie Anderson version when the family reaches 500 points on the Family Circle Tournament of Champions and the current Richard Karn version if the family reaches 300 points individually.)
- Briefly on Dawson's era, around 1980, the format was briefly changed to 1-3-3-3. It was quickly removed.
- When the target score was increased to $400 during Dawson's last season (1984-1985), the format was 1-1-1-1-2-3-3. During this time when celebrities would play, the game was played to $300.
- From 1999-2003, four rounds were played, as 1-1-1-3. In the fourth round (triple), the team in control of the question would only give it up after one "strike". Thus, a family who won the first three rounds could still lose the game in the fourth round after giving only one incorrect answer. Also, in this version, a family didn't necessarily have to win 300 points to win the game. After four rounds were played, the family who had the most points won the game. In the rare case of a tie after four rounds, a fifth round, similar to the 1992 Bullseye round, would be played. The player who buzzes correctly with the top answer in the final round wins the game. This format was heavily criticized for making the first three rounds essentially worthless, as quite frequently the total value of the fourth-round bank would be higher than the combined total banks of the first three rounds, meaning in effect that a family could have won all three preceding rounds, give up the fourth, and lose the overall game.
- Since 2003, a modified version of the 1988 primetime format has been played, with one major change: the fifth round and subsequent rounds (if neither family has 300 points) are played as tiebreakers similar to the 1999-2003 format. Thus, it follows the 1-1-2-3-SD / 3 format.
Fast Money round
The winner of the game goes on to play the Fast Money round, where the host asks two different family members the same five survey questions. One family member leaves the stage and is placed in an isolation booth and the other is given 20 seconds (15 seconds before 1994) to answer those questions. If he or she can't think up an answer to a question, he or she may pass and and come back to the 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 the "survey says" gave that answer and at least two people must have given that answer to be valid.
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 before 1994) to answer the same five questions. Duplicate answers are not allowed; the host asks for another answer if the contestant gives one.
If one or both family members accumulate a total more than 200 points, 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 $5000 on the daytime version or $10,000 on the syndicated version. The top prize has been $20,000 since 2001.
Bullseye / Bankroll round
When CBS made Feud part of the Family Feud Challenge, a one-hour format in 1991 using a "challenge" format where two challengers played a round for the right to face the champion, a preliminary "Bullseye" round was added in which contestants tried to build up the amount of money they could win in Fast Money from an initial bank. One at a time and starting with the team captain, the players were asked a series of five Family Feud-type questions; only the number one answer was accepted. During the first half of the Family Feud Challenge, families started with a $2,500 bank. The first question was worth $500, the second $1,000 and so on up to $2,500 for the fifth question; thus, the maximum jackpot for any one team was $10,000. During the second half of Challenge and under the half-hour syndicated format, question values were doubled and families built on a $5,000 bank for a possible jackpot of $20,000. The "Bullseye" round was played prior to the first question.
After the "Bullseye" round was added, the format of questions was changed to 1x-2x-3x. In addition, the value of an answer that "stole" would also be added to the bank.
During Dawson's return in 1994, the "Bullseye" round was renamed the "Bankroll" round. Both families were given banks of $2,500 and only three questions worth $500; $1,500; and $2,500 were asked for a top jackpot of $7,000. Question values were doubled in the second half of the hour-long format, building on a $5,000 bank for a possible jackpot of $14,000.
When the show was revived in 1999 with Louie Anderson hosting, the "bullseye" round was eliminated. However, the "Bullseye" round format was used to break ties, and since 2003, has been used in fifth and subsequent questions if neither team has scored 300 points.
Some believe that it was the Bullseye round, not Ray Combs, that caused ratings to slip starting in 1993, thus disagreeing with Jonathan Goodson's theory.
Returning champions
Since 2002, whichever family has won the game returns on the next show, until they lose a game or having won five straight games, thus one family can win as much as $100,000. During the Dawson-era, on the daytime show, champions could stay until defeated or reach the limit of $25,000 (this was raised to $30,000 in 1984). On the syndicated nighttime version of the era, there were no returning champions; two new families appeared on the show nightly, During the Combs-era, both the CBS-and-syndicated versions featured returning champions (for a limit of 5 times; limit was lifted in 1992 on the syndicated run), which resulted in returning for a tournament of champions, see below.
Tournament of Champions
The four top-money winning families returned every month on the CBS and syndicated versions of Family Feud in 1988 in a "winner-take-all" tournament. The main game rules applied, but if a family reached 200 points in Fast Money, $5,000 went into a jackpot that went up to potentially $50,000 . If the score was less then 200, nothing was added as the $5 a point rule was discarded for the tournament. 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. On the syndicated version held two tournaments, the jackpot could go to $110,000 since it was $10,000 and started at $50,000.
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 from the NWA also played for a week; 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. There was even 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.
RTL, which produces Feud, has featured in recent years as sweeps weeks 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), 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's Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship.
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.
Taped shows
In the Dawson version from 1976-85, Family Feud was taped originally at the Vine Street Theater, and later at the ABC Television Center in Los Angeles. From 1988-95 in the Combs version (CBS/Syndicated) and Dawson version (1994-1995), it was taped at CBS Television City. The current version initially taped at CBS Television City, then at NBC Studios in Burbank, California, and finally at Tribune Studios, in the fall of 2003.
US versions of the show
Milton Bradley made eight editions of the ABC version after 1976. 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 (including two from the current version of the show) with dry-erase boards to put answers on unlike the MB and Pressman versions in which players can slide out the answers to view.
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.
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 from IWin.com and similar gaming sites like Yahoo Games; it is based on the current 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.
Versions outside the USA
Since 2001, Canal 13 in Argentina has had its own version.
The Australian version aired on the Nine Network from 1977-1984 and was hosted by Tony Barber, Daryl Somers and Sandy Scott. It was revived on the Seven Network in 1989 and aired until 1996. It was hosted by Rob Brough and then John Deeks. A celebrity version aired in primetime in 1990-1991. The Nine Network have revived the show as Bert's Family Feud, hosted by Bert Newton, for its ever-troubled 5.30pm slot leading into the news (5:00pm in Brisbane). The Nine Network has been suffering critical losses in its schedule throughout 2005, particularly from an underperforming Australian adaption of The Price is Right hosted by Larry Emdur which aired in the critical prime-time lead-in timeslot of 5:30pm (except in Brisbane where it aired at 5:00pm). It uses an LED board and is filmed by a camera on the ground
The Belgian version is called Familieraad. It's hosted by Koen Wauters, and it airs on the Flemish-language VTM network.
A Brazilian version of Family Feud, hosted by Silvio Santos, began in June 2005.
The British version of the show, which ran from 1980 to 2002, returning in 2006 on ITV, was called Family Fortunes; see this entry.
The French-Canadian version is called La Guerre des clans ("War of the clans").
Reg Grundy, who produces the Australian version of the show, also has produced Chile's version of the show, called Desafio Familiar ("Family Challenge").
A version in Colombia is called 100 Colombianos Dicen, which means "100 Colombians Say". It is hosted by Carlos Calero and airs on Caracol TV.
Estonia also has its own version of the show. It's called Rooside Sõda, and is hosted by Kristjan Jõekalda.
The title of the French version, Une famille en or, means (literally) "a golden family" and (figuratively) "a family to treasure".
The first German version was called Familien Duell ("Family Duel") and shown on RTL hosted by Werner Schulze-Erdel. The show was cancelled in 2003 after eleven years because of lower ratings in the relevant target group for advertisers. A new version will start in February 2006 on RTL II with the new title 5 gegen 5 ("5 against 5"), which also serves as the title for the Swiss version.
In Greece the show has had two incarnations; the first, broadcast in the beginning of the '90s decade was known as Kondres (Clashings) and was presented by Vlassis Bonatsos. The second, which aired at the end of the same decade, went by the name of Kondra Plake (a pun on "Kondres" and a cheap type of wood) and its host was Spyros Papadopoulos.
The Indonesian version is called Famili 100. Shown beginning from mid-1990s, it has went on to become one of the most popular game shows in Indonesia.
Malaysia also has a version of the Feud, called Famili Ceria.
A Mexican version of this show is called 100 Mexicanos Dijeron, which means "100 Mexicans Said" and is shown on Telefutura in the USA. It is produced by Televisa, the dominant network in Mexico. It is hosted by the square-jawed and ever-smiling Marco Antonio Regil.
In the mid-1990s, the Netherlands had a version of Family Feud on RTL4, titled Vijf Tegen Vijf. The show has since returned to the air, now on Talpa TV and hosted by pop singer Gordon.
The Philippines has its own version of the show. It's hosted by Ogie Alcasid, a Filipino actor and singer.
The Polish version is called Familiada (a merging of the words familia and olimpiada, i.e. "Family Olympics"). The host is Karol Strasburger, a popular actor.
Portugal is casting contestants for a version on RTP in 2006. It's called "Em Familia com Fernando Mendes", and is hosted by (as the title says) Fernando Mendes, formerly with O Preco Certo Em Euros (The Price is Right in Portugal)
Spain also has had a version of Family Feud, titled La Guerra de Familias ("The Family War").
A version of Family Feud has aired in Switzerland as of 2005. It is called 5 Gegen 5, meaning "5 Against 5" and is hosted by Sven Epiney.
Thailand has had its own version since 2003.
In Turkey, it is called Aileler Yarisiyor, meaning "Families Are Competing" and is hosted by singer/actor Erol Evgin.
A version in Venezuela is called Que Dice la Gente?, which asks "What Say the People?" This version is hosted by a female named Maite Delgado, and it airs on Venevision.
As of 2005, a version of Family Feud has aired in Vietnam.
Fremantle's website also lists Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, India, Israel, Italy, Lebanon (which ran on LBC), Norway, Russia, and Sweden as other countries with versions of the show.
References in popular culture
- Saturday Night Live has featured several sketches parodying Family Feud. The earliest known sketch, from 1978, featured the Coneheads as one of the families and Bill Murray in the role of Richard Dawson. Later sketches featured Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman as Ray Combs.
- National Lampoon's European Vacation featured the Griswold family competing on a game show called "Pig in a Poke", which was an obvious parody of Family Feud (only, the competing families had to wear pig costumes) and it featured John Astin as the Richard Dawson-like host who kissed female contestants.
- In Living Color featured a Family Feud parody in which the Jackson Family played against the English Royal Family. The parody also included Ray Combs who portrayed himself.
- Episodes of Mama's Family (with Dawson) and 227 (with Combs) have featured characters appearing as contestants on Feud.
- Sesame Street once featured Dawson as host of a Feud parody, "Family Food."
- A television commercial for Old Navy clothing stores in 2002 featured another Feud parody, "Family Fleece". This starred actress Morgan Fairchild.
- An episode of The Jetsons had the Jetsons face the Spacelys on "Family Fallout."
- On the British satirical gameshow Have I Got News For You, team captain Paul Merton made a mocking reference to the perceived stupidity of many contestants on the UK version Family Fortunes. Also, the "uh-oh" sound heard on the British show when contestants gave an answer which was not among the answers given by the "hundred people surveyed" has become a common reference point in British popular culture.
- A November 1979 episode of ABC-TV's Angie starring Donna Pescow featured Richard Dawson playing himself on the popular game show. The set featured on the episode was not the original Family Feud set at ABC studios but a mock-up created for the sitcom.
- A May 2003 episode of NBC-TV's Watching Ellie featured Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Ellie trying to win a vacation by booking a faux family with her to appear on the show. Richard Karn played himself.
- A Family Guy DVD of Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story shows a cutaway of Peter portraying a perverted version of Richard Dawson. The cutaway shows him greeting with a contestant named Betsie, after he kisses on her cheek, he puts his hand under Betsie's shirt and touches her right breast, then the left one.
- In the beginning of the film Airplane II: The Sequel, every time a passenger goes through the security checkpoint, either the trademark bell, buzzer or ring-in sound from Family Feud can be heard.
- An episode of the sketch comedy Mad TV featured cast member Will Sasso spoofing the Louie Anderson-era Feud, yelling out at the top of his lungs, "Lord, if you have any mercy on me, please just kill me right now. Come on, do it! ...ah, I guess he's busy. Play the Feud..." Another sketch was spoofing the Karn era of feud with Lord of the Rings vs. Cold Mountain. Nobody knew who Richard Karn was!
External links
- The show's official website
- UK Gameshows Page: Family Fortunes (UK title of the show)
- Family Feud (1976) at IMDb
- Family Feud (1988) at IMDb
- Family Feud (1999) at IMDb
- Family Fortunes at IMDb
- Funny Family Feud answers
- Bert Newton's Family Feud
- Family Feud at Game Show Favorites.com
- A single-player version at Uproar.com (Requires Registration)
- A Cheat for the Uproar.com Family Feud
- Take a Family Feud survey and download the version from IWin.com
- A downloadable (same) version at Yahoo.com
- BigJon PC Games (A website with a fan-made version of "Family Feud" based on the 1994-95 edition)