Family Feud (or simply Feud) is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and currently hosted by Steve Harvey. Two families compete on each episode to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.
The show has aired in three separate incarnations since 1976. Its original run from 1976 to 1985 aired on ABC and in syndication, with Richard Dawson as host. In 1988, it was revived on CBS and in syndication with Ray Combs hosting until 1994, with Dawson returning until the latter version ended in 1995. The third and current version, also in syndication, began in 1999 and has had four hosts: Louie Anderson (1999–2002), Richard Karn (2002–2006), John O'Hurley (2006–2010), and Steve Harvey (2010–present). The show has had four announcers: Gene Wood (1976–1995), Burton Richardson (1999–2010), Joey Fatone (2010–2015), and Rubin Ervin (2015–2026).
Within a year of its debut, the original version became the number one game show in daytime television; however, as viewing habits changed, the ratings declined. Harvey becoming host in 2010 increased Nielsen ratings significantly and eventually placed the program among the top three most-popular syndicated television shows in the United States. Harvey has also surpassed every previous host in tenure.
The program has produced multiple regional adaptations in over 50 international markets outside the United States. Reruns of episodes hosted by Steve Harvey air on Game Show Network, as well as in syndication while reruns of earlier versions air on BUZZR and Pluto TV. Aside from television shows, there have also been many home editions produced in board game, interactive film, and video game formats.
Gameplay The game features two competing families, each represented by five members (four during the 1994-95 season), who compete to determine the answers to survey questions. While there is no minimum age to participate in Family Feud, as long as at least one member of the family is 18 years of age or older, producers recommend that contestants are 15 years of age or older due to the nature of some questions.
Each round begins with a "face-off" question that serves as a toss-up between two opposing contestants. The host asks a survey question that was previously posed to a group of 100 people, such as "Name something you expect to see on the streets at Christmas time." A certain number of answers are concealed on the board, ranked by popularity of the survey's responses. The first contestant to buzz in gives an answer; if it is the most popular, their family immediately wins the face-off. Otherwise, the opponent is offered a chance to answer, and the face-off is won by the contestant giving the higher-scoring answer; if the answers are tied, whoever gave the first answer wins. If neither contestant's answer is on the board or they don't answer within three seconds, the other eight contestants have a chance to respond, one at a time from alternating sides, until an answer is revealed; if the first team gives an answer that isn't the top answer, the second team gets a chance to steal. For every series except for the 1988-95 series, the winners of the face-off are given the choice to play the rest of the question or pass to the other family.
The family with control of the question then tries to win the round by guessing all of the remaining concealed answers, with each member giving one answer in sequence. Failing to give an answer on the board, or to give any answer at all, counts as a "strike". While they are doing this, the other family can confer with each other; if the team playing gets three strikes, the other family can steal the points that the first family accumulated by giving one of the remaining correct answers. The team captain is the only one who may give an answer; the only exception came during the 1988-95 series, where each team member was polled for an answer. The captain can select any suggestion or give his/her own answer. At the end of the round, any remaining concealed answers on the board that were not guessed are then revealed.
Answers are worth one point for each person in the 100-member survey who gave them, with a minimum of two separate members for any answer given, so the total points often do not add up to 100. The winning family in each round scores the total points for all revealed answers to that question; from 1992 until 1995, and again from 1999 until 2003, this included points from answers given during steals. As the game progresses, the point values are eventually doubled and tripled, while the amount of answers is reduced for each subsequent survey.
For most of the show's existence, the first team to reach or surpass a certain point total won the game. The most common goal has been 300 points but there have been exceptions. When the original series first premiered, the goal was 200 points and for its final year, it was increased to 400 points, although the goal reverted to 300 points for special weeks. From the debut of the original series until 1992, families were awarded $1 per point scored.
From 1999 to 2003, the family with the highest point total after four rounds of play won the game regardless of their score. The first three rounds were played as normal rounds. In the fourth round, the point values were tripled, but the families were only allowed one strike if they had control. In the rare instance that the family in control was trailing and could not accumulate enough points to potentially overtake the leaders before striking out, the game ended without the other family attempting to steal.
On the first two series a match continued until a family reached the goal. The current series reinstated the 300 point goal in 2003 but kept the four round format. If neither family has reached 300 points after four rounds, one more triple value question is played as a sudden death face-off. Only the top answer is displayed on the board, and the first contestant to buzz in with it wins the points and the game for their team.
In the original periodic primetime specials, three games were played, with the first two ending when a team reaches 200 points. For the third game, only one question round was played with the winning two celebrity teams from the previous rounds playing.
Beginning on March 2, 1983, each family had a small plastic tree placed at the end of their podium that had bundles of Tootsie Roll Pops on it. The anchor member of the family, who was standing next to the tree, would have a chance to draw one of the lollipops from the tree on his/her turn. If the stick of the Tootsie Roll Pop had a black mark on the bottom, the family won $100. The lollipop trees were used on the show until the cancellation of the series and made their final appearance on the last episode of the daytime series on June 14, 1985.
Fast Money At the end of the main game, the winning family selects two members to play the show's bonus round, known as Fast Money. One contestant is onstage with the host, while the other is sequestered backstage with headphones so as not to hear or see the first portion of the round. The first contestant is asked five rapid-fire survey questions and has a set time limit in which to answer them (originally 15 seconds, extended to 20 in 1994). The timer starts after the host finishes reading the first question. The contestant may pass on a question and return to it if time remains.
After the first contestant has answered all five questions or run out of time, they are awarded a point for each person in the survey who gave the same response. Once these points are tallied, the board is cleared except for the total score, while the second contestant is then brought out to answer the same five questions. The same rules are followed, but the time limit is extended by five seconds (originally 20 seconds, extended to 25 in 1994); in addition, if the second contestant duplicates an answer given by the first, the host will say "Try again," and prompt the contestant for an alternate answer. If the two contestants manage to reach a combined total of 200 points or more, the family wins a cash prize; otherwise, the family is awarded $5 for each point ($995 being the most a family can win should they not reach 200 points).
The cash prize for winning Fast Money has varied. During the ABC and CBS incarnations of the show, the top prize was $5,000. In the original periodic primetime specials, each game was followed by a Fast Money round. The first two were each worth $5,000, and the final one was worth $10,000. The prize money was increased to $10,000 on the syndicated version until September 2001.
In September 2001, the prize money was doubled to $20,000 at the request of then-host Louie Anderson. This initially lasted until September 2009, when the Bullseye round returned at the start of the show, meaning the total for Fast Money was an adjustable amount between $15,000 and $30,000 depending on how much each family won during Bullseye. In July 2010, however, Bullseye was removed and the prize money reverted to $20,000, which has remained ever since.
For the 2026–27 season (the twenty-eighth season on syndication), the Fast Money jackpot increases to $50,000 for ten episodes only, to celebrate the show's 50th anniversary. Before the Fast Money round starts, the first participating member must choose one of the five envelopes, ranging from $20,000 to $50,000.
Returning champions When Family Feud premiered on ABC, network rules dictated how much a family could win. Once any family reached $25,000, they were retired as champions. The accompanying syndicated series that premiered in 1977 featured two new families each episode because of a then common television syndication practice known as "bicycling" (wherein individual stations sent an episode of a series they had already aired to another station, reducing the number of tapes a syndicator had to send out but also ensuring that stations did not air the same episode of a show the same day, nor were they assured of airing in a proper sequence).
The CBS daytime and syndicated versions which began airing in 1988 also featured returning champions, who could appear for a maximum of five days. For a brief period in the 1994–95 season which aired in syndication, there were no returning champions. For these episodes, two new families competed in this first half of each episode. The second half featured former champion families who appeared on Family Feud between 1976 and 1985, with the winner of the first half of the show playing one of these families in the second half. When the champion rule was reinstated, the winner of the first half faced the champion family in the second. Occasionally two families from the 1976-1985 version would play the first half and celebrities would play for charity in the second half.
In some cases from 1992 to 1995, the returning champions continued until they were defeated. From 1999 to 2002, two new families appeared on each episode. In 2002, returning champions again appeared with the same five-day limit. In 2009, a new car was announced for a family who wins five games in a row. This was first changed to a $30,000 cash bonus in May 2024, and then changed again in September 2024 to a vacation and $10,000 cash bonus.
For the 2026–27 season, the show introduces "legacy families" which features fan-favorite families from past seasons returning to compete on the show, as part of Family Feud's 50th anniversary season.
Bullseye/Bankroll game