Family Feud

After Richard Dawson stepped down from the Feud in 1985, we went 3 years without it until 1988, when it finally returned, with a slightly new set, airing on a new network, and with a new host: Ray Combs!

Unlike Dawson, who was a modest, wry British comedian, Combs was loud and energetic, and it actually works, defying a difference between Dawson's era and Combs' era.

It initially started off strong (maybe not as strong as Dawson's run, but good enough), but it later started to wane, with CBS expanding the show to an hour and added the "wildly beloved" Bullseye round to the mix, which *spoiler alert*: didn't work and thus led to the end of the CBS daytime run, while the syndicated run continued on, but by that point, Combs grew weary of the formula and was eventually let go and was replaced by the man that he succeeded: Richard Dawson.

But even with Dawson's returning star-power, it ended after his only return season.

Sadly, Combs didn't have much success on finding another long-running gig following his firing from Feud, and outside of taping a pilot for his own talk show that never got picked up and hosting Family Challenge on The Family Channel (now Freeform) for a year, the offers dried up against his favor. And even though Combs is no longer with us since his passing in 1996, his upbeat, energetic humor has never been forgotten.

RIP Ray Combs (1956-1996)

I previously reviewed the original Richard Dawson run of "Family Feud", then the first episode of the 2nd run with Ray Combs. Now, I'm reviewing the very last one hosted by him with the returning champs the Beckwiths competing against the Trans. Combs seemed to be a little more excited than I remember him being when I watched his hosting stint in first-run syndication and CBS back then. Anyway, the Trans end up in the Fast Money round with the second contestant getting 0 points-of which he passed on three of the questions-leaving Ray to say "I've been doing this for 6 years now and this is the first time I've had someone who got no points. I'd say it's a damn fine way to go out. I thought I was a loser till you came in and made me feel like a man." Apparently, however, it wasn't better enough for him to stay to talk to the two families like he usually did when the show ends as he left just after saying, "See you next time" as there wouldn't be one. Two years later, after getting in an accident, losing his comedy club businesses, and then his wife and kids leaving him-and despite hosting a new game show called "Family Challenge", Ray Combs would hang himself in a mental hospital. What a sad end to what seemed to be a charmed life during his run on "Family Feud". One hopes he didn't suffer too badly when he made the decision...

You know I have watched this game show over the years and i have found several things out. One thing The show was a whole lot better with Richard Dawson on it than it was with Ray Combs. One thing I found out from an official message that was on the Mark Goodson productions website is that the real reason Ray Combs replaced Richard Dawson is because Richard had gotten into an argument with Mark Goodson. What it says that they were yelling at each other over is how Mark forced Richard to stop kissing the Female Contestants and when that happened the popularity of the show went downhill then Mark comes along yelling at Richard wanting him to start kissing them again so the show can be popular again. Well the two got into that fight and then that is when Ray Combs came on the show. Then after Mark Goodson died and his son took over it is said that Ray Combs had a bad wreck in his car and doctors said he would be laid up for over a year. So Mark Goodson's son had Richard Dawson come back. Well Ray got healed up in less time than the doctors said it would take. When Ray came to work he was told that he had to wait for Richard's two year contract to run out. Well Ray's wife had stated that her husband started getting suicidal because of how Richard was on the show instead of him. Then when his wife had the doctors put him in a mental institution they made the mistake of putting him in a room that the closet had a hanging bar strong enough to hold Ray up and so Ray killed himself by making a hangman noose out of a sheet off of the bed. When Richard heard that Ray had killed himself he refused to sign a new contract after the two year contract ran out. So right there is what i know is the real history of the events of the game show

This was the "Family Feud" show that I grew up with. Unlike the previous version, this version seemed to have more life and enthusiasm in it. I particularly liked Ray's sense of humor and making the contestants feel at home. He didn't belittle them if they gave a wrong answer, sometimes he would make a funny joke out of it. I loved the format of the show, with the three strikes, and that 'clang' sound when the answers flipped. I don't remember seeing too many of the 'Bullseye' episodes, I must have been in school at the time (I was home-schooled during the early years of the show). However, "Family Feud" stands out in my mind as one of the greatest game shows (probably the greatest show besides "The Price Is Right") ever!

Wow, was I excited to see the DVD version of the family feud game out in the stores. I always had this great idea about being able to play family feud on the TV with my family the same way it is played on TV.

After playing the game, I think the game lacks the excitement that the television shows really pull off. For game shows like Wheel Of Fortune, Jeopardy!, and Pyramid, they hit the nail very well on board games. The family feud game really has had different variations whenever it came to the board game phase. Yet, Family Feud also has had that over 25 years with hosts like Ray Combs, Richard Dawson, Louie Anderson and Richard Karn. Yet, the way this game show has been put to DVD is really a surprise to what the survey says.

The Family Feud "Survey Says" DVD game is really quite different from the longtime successful game show. The DVD game features Richard Karn, the current Family Feud host. The game features 800 questions which does provide a lot of fun, but the game really isn't like how the longtime game show is played. The game deals with 2 players at home, trying to match all the Top 5 answers on the survey, with a twist. Both players must try to out score the opponent by scoring the most points on each question round. With a pair of duel question rounds where both must answer the same survey question, and the fast money question round where both are given separate questions to answer, and match the surveys.

I would really like to find out who makes the games and recommend some ideas of how I would like to play the game at home with my family. With the new technology that we have today, I don't understand why we aren't able to find a way to connect TV and keyboard where one of the the family members can play the host have all of the answers and type the answer in. Kind of like the girl who co host in the game show Lingo. She sits at the table and types in the answers of the players on the big screen. I would really love to see that be available for family feud. I wouldn't mind paying a couple hundred of dollars to play something advanced and fun like the game family feud at home. I would be the coolest one on the block! Would that be a very difficult process?

Sincerely, very eager to play family feud the original way at home with my family