Family Feud at 50

Family Feud set from 1976-1981.
Art by "wheelgenius" on Deviant Art

The classic game show, Family Feud premiered on July 12, 1976 on ABC. While it's run since then has not been entirely uninterrupted, it's been on the air far more often than it's been off of it. There are so many episodes now in existence that there are two distinct 24/7 streaming channels, each devoted to a different era. Family Feud is so deeply embedded in our culture that it's fair to say that the phrase "Survey Says!" immediately brings the show to mind for the vast majority of people, and that if one mentions "three strikes," there's nearly as much of a chance that one will think of this show as that they'll think of baseball.

Long-time readers will already know that I'm a fan of this show, having written about the board game versions, created a Family Feud photocomic, and hosted an online version with coworkers in the past. I'm also working on an in-person version that I hope to host at Gallifrey One next February (I'm sure it'll happen. I just don't know if I'll be able to make it an official convention event or if I'll be hosting it privately. I'll let folks know on my BlueSky account as the convention draws closer).

As much as I love the show, if I'm being truly honest, I'm not really a fan of the current Steve Harvey version which, for me at least, too often crosses the line between mild innuendo (present in quite a few classic shows, even predating the original Family Feud) into something that's just uncomfortable to watch. That said, I did actually attend a taping a number of years ago when the show was taping in California (it's in Georgia these days). Unlike, say, The Price is Right or Jeopardy!, in which most of what happens during the taping makes it to the version you see on screen, Family Feud runs much longer than you might imagine. The live audience really got to see all of the parts they cut out for time, as Harvey converses with the families and riffs on the answers, including bits that he knows could never made it through broadcast standards, but presumably the fact that he can go "uncensored" during the live taping allows him to stay spontaneous. That wasn't an issue for me, as I went in expecting most of that. The part that really bugged me was how he brought everything to a halt to evangelize the audience with a "health and wealth gospel" and all-but explicitly chastised any of us who might not appreciate the message (after all, we get to watch the taping for free!). Despite being a person of faith, myself, this was a road too far for me. I endured the whole taping, but resolved never to go back to a taping of Feud under Steve Harvey again.

That said, it's undeniable that his run on Feud has been popular, and he has now hosted the show for longer than anyone (16 solid years!), including original host Richard Dawson (only 10 years, total). In fact, Harvey not only hosts the American version of the show, but three different international versions: one for Botswana, and one for South Africa, and one for Ghana!^* I don't know if that's a record for the most concurrently-running international versions of the same show hosted by the same person, but it has to be competitive for that honor!

There are, of course, other international versions, as well. Wikipedia lists over 80 different countries that have aired their own version (often under different names, of course. For example, Family Fortunes in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and many countries use names that, when translated, would essentially mean "100 people said"), and most of those have a current version of Family Feud in production. Truly, this is a concept that is known worldwide. In a world in which there are so many conflicts and disagreements, how ironic that a "feud" can unite so much of it!

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^*Wikipedia is a little unclear about the distinction between the South African and Ghanan versions. One line seems to suggest they're the same (and they do seem to have the same premiere month), but another suggests different rules for the Ghanan version. I'm taking this to mean that they are, in fact, distinct entities, which perhaps share production details.