Family Feud

Family Feud is a popular television game show in the USA 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.

Rules of the game

Representatives of the family are posed questions that have already been answered by 100 persons. An answer is considered correct if at least two people in the survey had answered the question in the same way, with more points given for answers that had been given by more persons (one point per person).

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Sample questions are "Name a famous George" or "Tell me a popular family vacation spot."

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The participants are not 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 did not appear on the survey).

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However, the questions often result in funny distortions by contestants, who give off-the-wall answers. A classic example is, "What month does a pregnant woman begin to show?" 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 an episode during the Richard Karn-era, 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.

Related Topics:
British - Richard Karn - The Andy Griffith Show

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Main game

Two family members face off to see which family would gain control of that particular question. Whoever guesses the more popular answer in the survey has the option to play the question or pass it to the other family. (If both answers are worth the same amount of points, control goes to the player that buzzed in first.) If a family guessed an answer that was not on the board (or sometimes failed to respond), they would get a "strike"; three "strikes" would cause the family to relinquish control of the board.

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The other family then gets the chance to steal the points in the bank if they guessed one of the remaining answers. Any remaining answers are then revealed.

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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 goal was 200, there was no triple, and the 3rd question on, all questions were doubled. On March 5, 1979, when 300 became the rule, there was 1-1-1-2-3 (same as most of the Combs' era), but two weeks later, it changed to 1-1-2-2-3. In the current version, the first two questions are for single points, the third for double points, and the fourth for triple points. If neither family scores 300 points after four rounds, a "sudden death" question is played. Point values are still tripled, and the first person to ring in and guess the number one answer takes the points for their family. In the rare case that this does not give them 300, another sudden death question is played.

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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 the other is given 20 seconds (15 seconds before 1994) to answer those questions. 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.

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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.

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If one or both family members accumulate a total of at least 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 $5,000 on the daytime version and $10,000 on the syndicated version. The top prize has been $20,000 since 2001.

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Rule changes

Originally, the first family to score 200 or more points advanced to Fast Money. The winning score increased to 300 on March 5, 1979 (though the 300-point rule had been in effect for all but the earliest syndicated episodes). During the 1984-1985 season (Richard Dawson's last), the target score was 400.

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The "play or pass" option was eliminated when the show was revived in 1988, and the target score to win the game reverted to 300 points.

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In 1992, a "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.

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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.

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When the show was revived in 1999 with Louie Anderson hosting, the "bullseye" round was eliminated and the "play or pass" option was reinstated. Three regular rounds were played, and a fourth round was played for triple points -- but the family in control would only get one strike before they lost control in the triple round. Some felt that this rule was unfair, as 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.

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The one-strike rule was eliminated at the beginning of Richard Karn's second season as host in the fall of 2003, and the format of the game reverted to that of the previous versions, where the first family to score 300 points wins. "Sudden death" rounds, which are played if neither family reaches 300 points after four rounds, were also added that year.

Related Topics:
Richard Karn - 2003

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