Family Feud

For the concept, see feud.

Family Feud
Format	Game show
Created by	Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions
Directed by	Paul Alter (1976–1990) Marc Breslow (1990) Andrew Felsher (1990–1995) Bruce Gowers (1999) Lenn Goodside (1999–2002) 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)
Composer(s)	Score Productions (1976–1985, 1988–1994, 2002–2003, 2008–present) Edd Kalehoff (1994–1995) John Lewis Parker (1999–present)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	ABC: 9 CBS: 5 Syndicated (1977–1985): 8 Syndicated (1988–1995): 7 Syndicated (1999–present): 13
No. of episodes	ABC: 2,311 Syndicated (1977–1985): 976 ABC Specials: 17 CBS: unknown Syndicated (1988–1995): unknown Syndicated (1999–present): 1,300+
Production
Running time	approx. 22 minutes: ABC (1976–1985) CBS (1988–1992) Syndicated (1977–1994, 1999–present) approx. 44 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) Pearson Television (1999–2002) Feudin' Productions (1999–2010) FremantleMedia (2002–present) Wanderlust Productions (2010–present) Georgia Entertainment Industries (2011–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) (ABC Daytime) September 19, 1977 – May 17, 1985 (Daily Syndication) July 4, 1988 (1988-07-04) – March 26, 1993 (CBS Daytime) September 19, 1988 – May 26, 1995 (1995-05-26) (Syndication) September 20, 1999 (1999-09-20) – present (Syndication)

Family Feud is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two families compete against each other to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people. The program also airs in numerous local formats worldwide.

It premiered on ABC, hosted by Richard Dawson, from 1976 until cancelled in 1985. Revived by CBS in 1988 with Ray Combs hosting, it ran until 1993, continuing in syndication until 1995. Combs was fired in 1994 and Richard Dawson was re-hired as the host for the syndicated version's final season. Reactivated in 1999, now in its 13th season, it has been hosted by Louie Anderson, Richard Karn, John O'Hurley and (currently) Steve Harvey.

Gameplay

There are five members on each team. Contestants are posed questions that have been answered by a survey of 100 people. The questions are about what other people think is true. A contestant's answer is considered correct if it is one of the survey's answers or equivalent. Points are given equal to the number of surveyed answers.

Examples of questions might be "What might a woman ask her husband to do in bed", "What might an airplane pilot be holding on a long flight?", "Name something a bear does in the woods", or "Give me a slang name for policemen".

Basics

Two opposing family members "face off" to see which family will gain control of the question. Whoever guesses the more popular answer in the survey has the option to play the question or pass it to the other team.

The members then take turns giving answers. A "strike" is given if a player gives an answer that is not on the board or fails to respond. If the family is able to reveal all the answers on the board before accumulating three strikes, they win the round. Three strikes cause the family to lose control of the board, giving the other team one chance to steal the points.

After a round is won, remaining answers are revealed.

Bullseye/Bankroll round

From 1992 to 1994 and 2009–2010, the "Bullseye" round was played before the traditional game began. Starting with the team captain, each member of the family answered 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 bankroll. The first question was worth $500, the second $1,000, and so on up to $2,500 for the fifth question. 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 for the first, $2,000 for the second, and continuing to $5,000 for the fifth. The highest potential bank was $20,000.

The Bullseye round was revised as the "Bankroll" round for Dawson's return, and was played twice each episode, as the syndicated series was expanded to sixty minutes. 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 to $1,000−$3,000−$5,000, making the highest potential bank $14,000.

The round was eliminated for the show's revival in 1999, but was revived in September 2009 for the final O’Hurley season. The starting bankroll was $15,000, with five questions valued from $1,000 to $5,000 in $1,000 increments. This version only lasted one season.

Scoring format

Questions are played for double and triple points toward the end of the game. Before 1992, families received money in the amount of their score added to their winnings.

Daytime version

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

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 to 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 to 2003, until the tie is broken.

Lollipop trees

From March 2, 1983, 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 plays Fast Money and chooses two family members to participate in 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 to 2001 but was raised to $20,000 in 2001, an increase requested by host Louie Anderson because of inflation. The top prize remained at that level until 2009, at which point the Bullseye round was reinstated with a potential top prize of $30,000. The top prize reverted to $20,000 and the Bullseye round was removed at the beginning of the 2010–2011 season. Since 2009, five-time champion families also receive a new car.^{[citation needed]}

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 a similar show, The Neighbors, fail in the ratings, as well as have 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. 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 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^{[citation needed]}, 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^{[citation needed]}, 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.^{[citation needed]}

A nighttime syndicated version of Family Feud debuted on local stations (many of them affiliated with NBC, including the network's owned and operated stations) on September 19, 1977.^{[citation needed]} As was the custom with many other syndicated game shows at the time, the nighttime Family 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 (five on ABC and five in syndication)^{[citation needed]} when the syndicated version's fourth season debuted in September 1980.

Family Feud moved to 12:00 Noon on June 30, 1980^{[citation needed]} 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's ratings remained consistent^{[citation needed]} and for the next few years remained at or near the top in the daytime.^{[citation needed]}

However, in early 1984, the series' ratings began to decrease.^{[citation needed]} In October, ABC moved the show back to its original 11:30 AM time slot^{[citation needed]}, with the new Goodson show, Trivia Trap, as its lead-in. The popularity of another Goodson game show, The Price Is Right (airing opposite Family Feud on CBS), and the weak performance of Trivia Trap as the show's lead-in^{[citation needed]}, contributed to its decrease in ratings. The syndicated series was suffering through its own ratings trouble, as Wheel of Fortune quickly surpassed Family Feud in popularity^{[citation needed]} upon its September 19, 1983 debut and Jeopardy!, which premiered on September 10, 1984, became the second-most popular syndicated game show.^{[citation needed]} Eventually, both editions of Family Feud were canceled. The syndicated series left the air on May 17, 1985^{[citation needed]} and ABC canceled the daytime series on June 14. The final daytime Family Feud featured an emotional farewell from Dawson, which was cut from the episode's original airing but has been shown in reruns since then.

The syndicated Family Feud continued to air reruns until September 13, 1985.^{[citation needed]} The show's distributor, Viacom Enterprises, created a "best-of" rerun package of Family Feud, which was sold to certain stations for the 1985–1986 season.^{[citation needed]}

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^{[citation needed]}, CBS premiered the new Family Feud at 10:00 AM Eastern, replacing The $25,000 Pyramid. On September 19^{[citation needed]}, the accompanying prime time syndicated series premiered. Both series were taped at Studio 33 (now known as "The Bob Barker Studio") at CBS Television City, where The Price Is Right has taped since 1972.

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

One year later, the Bullseye round was added on both series. The round premiered on the daytime version on June 29, 1992^{[citation needed]}, 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^{[citation needed]}, with its final new episode airing on March 26^{[citation needed]}.

On September 14, 1992^{[citation needed]} the Bullseye round was added to the syndicated series, which took on the name The New Family Feud. The series' sixth season debuted on September 13, 1993^{[citation needed]} with three weeks of shows taped at Opryland USA, the first and only time that Family Feud had filmed on location. Production continued at CBS Television City after that, and the final episode of the season aired on May 27, 1994^{[citation needed]}. Toward the end of taping for the season, Combs was dismissed from the series due to declining ratings.

1994–1995

Jonathan Goodson took over Mark Goodson Productions in February 1993 following the death of his father. Richard Dawson was asked to return as host in an attempt to bring in higher ratings. Dawson had not been considered to host the revival^{[citation needed]} before due to issues between Mark Goodson and others involved in the original production, including Howard Felsher. Felsher, who had become executive producer of Family Feud by 1993, was the producer of Dawson's Family Feud and had a very contentious and problematic relationship with the host.^{[citation needed]} Dawson agreed to return for the upcoming seventh season of the syndicated series and made his return to Family Feud on September 12, 1994.^{[citation needed]} With his return, several format and aesthetic changes were made.

A set similar to that used during taping at Opryland USA 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 board was not shown outside of Fast Money and a superimposed, computer-generated board appeared over the Fast Money board for broadcast.

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 to $14,000 in the second half. During Fast Money, the first contestant received 20 seconds to answer the five questions and the second contestant received 25 seconds.

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 later changed to 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^{[citation needed]}, 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^{[citation needed]}, and reruns continued until September 8^{[citation needed]}.

1999–2002

After a four-year hiatus, Family Feud returned in syndication on September 20, 1999.^{[citation needed]} 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. 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 new version's announcer.

2002–2006

Richard Karn was selected to take over for Anderson in the fourth season, which began on September 16, 2002.^{[citation needed]} For the fourth season, the same gameplay format was used, but returning champions were reintroduced and could appear up to five days. In mid-November^{[citation needed]}, two months after the start of the season, the retooled version of the show's theme song was replaced by the one previously used on the Combs version.

Beginning with the 2003–2004 season^{[citation needed]}, production moved to Tribune Studios in Hollywood, California and the goal of 300 points was reinstated. However, for all rounds worth triple points, Karn would not read the question again after the face-off. In addition, the Combs-era theme was replaced by the retooled theme and remained unchanged for the rest of Karn's run. At the end of the seventh season, Karn left the show.

2006-2010

Actor John O'Hurley became host of Family Feud in 2006, and relinquished the role in 2010.

2010–present

On January 20, 2010, following O'Hurley and Richardson's departures from the show, comedian Steve Harvey was announced as the new host for the twelfth season with former 'N Sync member Joey Fatone as the new announcer. The show also moved taping locations to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Taping of the season began on July 10 and ended on September 19. The gameplay also returned to its 2003–2008 format, although five-time champions still win a car as a bonus. For the twelfth season, the Bullseye round did not return and the Fast Money jackpot reverted to a flat $20,000.

After Harvey began hosting, ratings increased by as much as 40% from O'Hurley's last season as host. Clips from Harvey's version of the show were officially released on YouTube.

On May 7, 2011, announced via the show's official Twitter page, the show moved taping locations for the 2011–2012 season to the Atlanta Civic Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where Harvey lives and hosts his radio show.

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 regular announcer. Johnny Olson announced on the pilot while at the same time announcing The Price Is Right and Match Game, both for CBS. On the original Dawson versions, Johnny Gilbert substituted for Wood in the spring of 1981 and Rod Roddy substituted in 1982. On the Combs versions, Art James substituted in November 1989, Roddy returned to the show to substitute in the summer of 1991 while at the same time announcing on The Price is Right for CBS, and Charlie O'Donnell also substituted while at the same time announcing on Wheel of Fortune. 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 has been the new announcer since the beginning of 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, "Mark Goodson Productions, L.P." from 1994–1995 and "Feudin' Productions" from 1999–2010. Currently, Family Feud's copyright holder is called "Wanderlust 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.

From 1988 until 1995 and again from 1999 until 2002, FremantleMedia (previously under the names LBS Communications, All-American Television, and Pearson Television) distributed Family Feud. In March 2001, 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.

Returning champions

On the ABC daytime version, champion families could stay until they were defeated or reached or exceeded $25,000 in winnings. 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 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. Again, 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 and went up $20,000 for each time Fast Money was won, up to a possible $130,000. 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 and used the 4 singles-double-triple round format (with Sudden Death if applicable). 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.

Special weeks

Special-themed weeks have been prominent during "sweeps" weeks during the show's long history, through all versions. Among them were the following:

• Stars of American Gladiators
• Stars of American Idol
• Stars of TNA Wrestling
• World Wrestling Federation Superstars vs. World Bodybuilding Federation Bodystars
• WWE Superstars vs. Divas
• Celebrity look-alikes
• College students
• Country music stars
• Divorced couples (ex-husbands vs. ex-wives)
• Firefighters vs. policemen
• Game show hosts
• Hatfields vs. McCoys
• Playboy Playmates
• Professional athletes
• Soap opera stars
• Survivor castaways
• Roseanne Arnold and Roseanne vs. Tom Arnold and The Jackie Thomas Show
• The Price Is Right vs. The Young and the Restless
• Carol Burnett and her family playing against Betty White and her poker players
• NBA players vs. their mothers

All-Star Specials

In February 1978, the Dawson daytime version ran its first all-celebrity week, with ABC soap stars competing. As a result, ABC created hour-long All-Star Family Feud Specials, which were played between cast members of hit prime time and, on rare occasions, daytime series for charity. The first installment aired on May 8, 1978 continuing to air as a semi-regular sweeps event until May 25, 1984.

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. 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:

• Barney Miller
• 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.

Celebrity Family Feud

Main article: Celebrity Family Feud

Celebrity Family Feud premiered on June 24, 2008 as a six-week series with Al Roker as host, with teams of celebrities and friends.

Family Feud Live!

Family Feud Live! is a stage show 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. The show ran at two Atlantic City casinos in 2006.

International versions

Countries with their own version of Family Feud.

Main article: International versions of Family Feud

Other countries have attempted to copy the show, see above link.

Home versions

Home versions have been released.

External links

• Official website
• 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