The Combs/Dawson '94 versions did not have the play/pass option, but it returned with the Anderson version. Complacent Gaming Syndrome: On the Dawson version, the contestant who gave the higher answer at the podium could choose to have his or her family play the question, or pass it to the opposing family passes were extremely rare.This gimmick evolved from Dawson's love of lollipops, which he would often give to winning teams, and a lollipop tree that one family gave him as a gift. If it had a black stem, that family received a $100 bonus (counted toward their final winnings, not their in-game score). When the fifth contestant on each team was introduced, they would draw a lollipop from the 'tree'. From 1983-85, wooden 'trees' with Tootsie Roll Pops were placed at the end of each family's table. Over time, the only changes have been in the time limit and amount of cash offered for a win (yes, even after all these years, losses are still $5 a point). If the total is at least 200, the family wins a cash jackpot, and if below the family receives $5 a point. Two contestants from the winning family are brought out and, one at a time, asked five survey questions, with their totals added up for their answers (answers cannot be repeated if the second contestant gives a duplicate answer, he or she is asked to give another). Bonus Round: Fast Money, present in all versions.The following Game Show tropes appear in Family Feud:

It also spawned a series of video games.Ĭombs and Dawson died 16 years apart to the day: Combs in 1996 from suicide, and Dawson in 2012 from esophageal cancer. The show spawned a popular British version as well, renamed Family Fortunes. This version has managed to outlast the original. It was revived again in 1999, and has had four hosts so far: Louie Anderson, Richard Karn, John O'Hurley and current host Steve Harvey. While a ratings success, Combs never quite caught on with fans and critics like Dawson did, so when ratings dipped (and the show started bringing on B/C-List celebrities and professional wrestlers as contestants as a gimmick) Combs was fired and Dawson came back for one last season before the show was mercifully removed from the airwaves. The CBS show was renamed Family Feud Challenge in 1992, with the syndicated version being renamed The New Family Feud later that year. Ray Combs was the host of the first Family Feud Revival on CBS and in syndication starting in 1988. The original version began in 1976, with a concurrent syndication run starting up a year later both ended in 1985 within a month of each other. Richard Dawson was the original host when the show debuted on ABC. Family Feud is a Game Show from Mark Goodson Productions in which two families compete to guess the most popular answers to survey questions.

Family feud sets through the years