Family Feud/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.



  • Adaptation Displacement: Zig-zagged like crazy. Although the current version has lasted 12 years (compared to the nine-year run of the original), it's also on its fourth host and might be seen as separate runs in the eyes of some viewers. However, even most non-fans would probably recognize the name Richard Dawson in association with the Feud.
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: Twice. The fandom was quite happy to see experienced funnyman John O'Hurley take over as host... and just as happy when Steve Harvey took over in 2010. Even before his first episode hit the airwaves, the company put several outtakes and clips on their YouTube channel, and very many people took to Harvey's acerbic hosting style quite well.
    • The fandom also rejoiced long before that, in 1994, when it was initially announced Richard Dawson would return -- keep in mind the man got a 25-second standing ovation when he first walked out, and the ratings for that first episode were the highest of that syndicated version's entire run. Though to be fair, the fandom didn't rejoice for very long.
  • Butt Monkey: The producers have started putting up select clips (some of which don't make it on the broadcast version) on YouTube, and it seems that their preference for clips during the Steve Harvey era are clips in which Steve looks like he's in incredible pain from the answer.
  • Fan Nickname: Karn's run was sometimes referred to as "Flannel Feud", a reference to his typical outfit as Al Borland on Home Improvement.
  • Gannon Banned: For the love of God, do not spell it "Family Fued".
  • Harsher in Hindsight: Ray Combs was blamed for the show's low ratings come 1994, and was essentially told by the company that he was being replaced by his predecessor, Richard Dawson. Combs' firing from Feud was the event which sent his entire life crumbling, and while he tried to recover with a talk show and Family Challenge, nothing worked and he committed suicide in 1996.
    • It didn't help that Ray's final Feud had one of the worst Fast Money rounds ever, with 77 points scored by the first player and zero by the second. While not directly stated as his finale, a few of Ray's comments make it clear that it is.
  • Internet Backdraft: Dawson-vs.-Combs debates can get incredibly heated.
  • Memetic Mutation:
    • Karn's Catch Phrases "I'M DOUBLING/TRIPLING THE POINTS!" and "THE [name] FAMILY HAVE DRAWN FIRST BLOOD!" were very popular on game show forums for a while...if not necessarily for any positive reasons.
    • The "Strike" and "Ding!" noises are used quite a bit in game show parodies.
    • Giving "naked grandma" as an answer in the comments for YouTube clips.
    • "Good answer! Good answer!"
  • More Popular Spinoff: Family Feud is based on the Audience Match portion of Match Game. It overshadowed Match Game in the ratings.
  • Replacement Scrappy:
    • Louie Anderson, who was hated mainly for his gravelly, nasal voice and seemingly bored demeanor.
    • Richard Karn. While he showed promise once he got over his first-time jitters and initially considered a marked improvement (in part because, unlike Louie, he seemed to show genuine interest in hosting the show), he became obsessed with his Catch Phrases and somehow lost what little ad-libbing ability he had initially shown.
  • Special Effects Failure: Several times.
    • On one episode of the original Dawson era, the electronic board wasn't working for Fast Money, so that round was played on cue cards.
    • The board was even more prone to glitching out in the Combs era, perhaps because it had been in storage for three years. On one episode, the electronic "FAMILY FEUD" logo it showed in the intro ended up erasing the "FE" on-camera. Combs quickly noticed this and made multiple jokes about the "Family Ud". On another occasion it read "FAM FE" for a while, but nobody seemed to notice.
    • The 1994-95 version inexplicably used chyron graphics for the board, even though the studio itself was still using the actual mechanical board. Half the time, the graphics department would forget to put up the chyrons anyway, and the home viewers would see the mechanical board.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks:
    • The last season of the daytime Combs version (last two seasons of the syndicated version) used a Bullseye round that dragged gameplay down.[1] When Dawson returned in 1994, the Bullseye round was renamed the "Bankroll" round[2] and families were cut to four members. In archived footage seen in the E! True Hollywood Story episode on the series, Dawson said that he hated the Bullseye round; it's highly likely the Bankroll round was a compromise between him and the show's producers.
      • The later Combs episodes and Dawson '94 were both hated for their increasing use of celebrity teams instead of actual families.
      • Hell, let's just go with Dawson '94 period. The above Bankroll change; the aforementioned theme song re-recording; a smaller, cheaper set (previously used when the show went to the Grand Ole Opry); and Dawson himself wasn't exactly the same Deadpan Snarker audiences knew and loved from before.
    • The O'Hurley version added a similar Bullseye round in 2009, but there were fewer complaints about this one due to its comparatively faster pace and cleaner execution. After one season, it was dropped again.
    • The Anderson version had a Golden Snitch structure of Single-Single-Single-Triple, with only one Strike in the Triple round. Many families swept the first three rounds but still lost due to just one bad answer (and one ended up winning with a dismal 187 points). This rule was retained through Karn's first season, after which it was finally changed to Single-Single-Double-Triple with a Sudden Death round if neither family hit 300 points.
    • Many things pertaining to the Harvey era:
      • Questions that are adult-oriented. During the Dawson era, a question might be, "Name something a clown might take off after the end of his show"; in the Harvey era, it is not unusual to hear the question as, "We asked 100 women: Name something you would take off a clowm before having sex with him." In addition, many questions pertain to divorce that don't really add to the question or are just played to appeal to the lowest common denominator. For instance, it is not enough to merely ask a question such as, "Name something a divorcing couple might have trouble splitting up," but the Harvey era takes it a step farther by asking such fare as "If Tarzan were to get a divorce, what would Jane get in the settlement?" and "If Santa Claus got a divorce, what would Mrs. Claus get?" Questions encouraging answers pertaining to the male anatomy and bodily functions were uttered every day. Even seemingly benign questions, such as "Name something a squirrel does with a nut," are asked to get contestants to utter responses that are euphemisms (in this example, "scratch it").
      • Structuring of the game. If one team wins the first two (single-round) questions, the maximum available score for the double-round question is never more than an amount that when added to the leading-team's score, would total 300 or more. (A score of 300 is needed to win the game, and the producers don't want the game to end early.
      • In Fast Money, getting five No. 1 answers never adds up to more than about 175, so as to allow the second player to play ... and possibly blunder and cost his family the chance at the grand prize. Some have also contended that the setup of Fast Money questions are such that some rounds are virtually impossible to win; indeed, five-time champions rarely leave with more than $42,000 (meaning, two Fast Money wins plus any consolation cash).
  • What an Idiot!: See this page, proving that Feud has few rivals when it comes to stupid game show answers.
  • What the Hell, Casting Agency?: The 1999 revival — who on Earth would pick an overweight, unattractive comedian with a flat, gravelly voice (especially over Dolly Parton, a reasonably telegenic, upbeat person with considerable experience in just about every medium)? Or his successor, a scruffy low-level actor whose only significant role was second banana on Home Improvement?
  1. (Specifically, this round involved five survey questions, ranging in value from $500 to $2,500, doubled in the second half/syndicated version. Each family member would get to play one question, and whichever family gave the number one answer to the question had its value added to their Fast Money jackpot.)
  2. (This version of the round cut the number of questions down to three, with values of $500-$1,500-$2,500 {again, doubled in the second half}, and only one person from each family would participate in all three questions.)