Family Feud 

Two families compete by trying to outguess the opponents about survey results.

Stars:

Richard Dawson, Gene Wood, Johnny Gilbert

4 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Richard Dawson	...	Self - Host 2,334 episodes, 1976-1985
Gene Wood	...	Self - Announcer 2,319 episodes, 1976-1985

Storyline

Richard Dawson hosted this TV game-show, which pitted members of two families against each other. Each team tried to guess the results of survey questions faster and more accurately than the other team.

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Plot Keywords:

team | guessing game | non fiction | 

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Genres:

Game-Show

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Certificate:

TV-G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Richard Dawson realized (of course) he'd said things and got away with it, because the first run of the ABC version had kept it on the air, long enough, and he did. Many of the things that he said were absolutely outrageous or politically incorrect.

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Quotes

Richard Dawson: Name an animal with 3 letters in its name.
Contestant: Frog.
Richard Dawson: Something found in a refigerator.
Contestant: Milk.
Richard Dawson: A brand of gasoline.
Contestant: Regular.
Richard Dawson: Something that comes with a summer storm.
Contestant: Snow.
[thinks for a moment and realizes his answers]

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Connections

Version of Family Fortunes (1980)

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Soundtracks

The Feud
(theme)
Written by Robert Israel (BMI)
Performed by the Score Productions Band
Published by TattleTales Music (BMI)

User Reviews

The only version of Family Feud I watched regularly

I was working at home and my local ABC station carried "Family Feud," "Ryan's Hope," and "All My Children" from noon-2 p.m. I always had to watch "Feud," even if I missed the soaps, and for one reason--Richard Dawson. Dawson, who I understand to have been a prodigious reader, didn't suffer fools gladly and his putdowns of obviously dumb answers probably reflected what the audience was thinking. Let me give you a strictly hypothetical. Say the question is, "Name a country in Europe," top six answers are on the board. The family gets England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, but under the pressure of time just can't come up with that sixth one, so the person at bat says "Sweden." It's not up on the board but Sweden is a country in Europe, so Dawson would go easy on that contestant. But let's say the contestant says "Australia," which is about 10,000 miles literally and figuratively from Europe. Then he might tell the hapless contestant to go back to school and relearn their geography. Would you be thinking what he would be thinking? I would. He paved the way for the likes of Anne Robinson, another host who doesn't mind calling out a contestant with an obviously dumb answer.

In short, Dawson had the common touch despite his celebrity status, and I just know he was really rooting for the contestants, just as Groucho ribbed his contestants but was always happy to see them win the big money in the quiz on "You Bet Your Life" (BTW, Dawson hosted a pilot for "YBYL" in 1988; it didn't get on the air but he would have been perfect for that show).

Gene Wood proved he was a better announcer than host; I remember that on "Beat the Clock" he would get as silly as the contestants. That, to me, is the ultimate sin of the game-show host.

Steve Harvey has done extremely well with the show and I wish him many more years, but Dawson is "Family Feud" to me.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Best of Family Feud

Filming Locations:

ABC Television Center - 4151 Prospect Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Mark Goodson Television Productions, Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (2330 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (1976-1983) Stereo (1983-1985)

Color:

Color