Family Feud (Nine, 1978-1984, Seven, 1990-1996)
Family Feud is the long-running American game show that launched in the UK in the early-80s, and was renamed Family Fortunes, because the thought of people feuding to win prizes was just too much for us reserved Brits. The Australian version began in the late-70s though, and didn’t receive a name change. Again, I’ll concentrate on the early years.
The hosts of the earliest editions included Tony Barber and Daryl Somers. This version in its presentation was very similar to the American one. And this is a show that is famous enough that the rules don’t have to be thoroughly explained really. There are some differences though that are worth pointing out. Firstly, two teams of four took part, not five, clearly Australia doesn’t have a huge amount of people to go round.
Of course they have to find the top scoring answers in the various surveys of 100 people, but if they give three incorrect answers, they could be in trouble, and lose control of the game. There was also a combination of old and new technology. The correct answers on the board flipped over, but were on an electronic display. And there were only three rounds played.
The first two were played for single points (as this would probably be described now), and the third was for double points. The first team to reach 200 (not 300) points goes into the final, where they can play for a rather large amount of money (for the time anyway). Again, this is rather familiar, as two contestants have to try and score 200 points between them from the five questions.
If they succeed, they win the money. They can also return as defending champions, and they can play up to five editions, so they really could win big money. The original run of Family Feud lasted for six years, and this was followed in the 90s by another six-year run. And there have been two further revivals in more recent years, that seem to concentrate more on questions set up to receive rather unusual answers.
ADAM'S NOSTALGIC MEMORIES 