Celebrity Family Feud

Hosts

Al Roker 2008 (NBC version) Steve Harvey 2015-present (ABC version)

Announcer

Burton Richardson

Broadcast

NBC: 6/24/2008-7/29/2008 ABC: 6/21/2015-present

Packager

Fremantlemedia North America

This is chronicling the Celebrity Family Feud specials. 

Game format

Four celebrity contestants and their families compete for $50,000 (later $25,000) for their favorite charities.

In the Al Roker version, there were three games per show. In the first two games, two different celebrity teams played with the winners of each game facing off in the third & final game for the right to play Fast Money for $50,000.

In the current Steve Harvey version, there were two games per show. The winners of each game went on to play Fast Money for $25,000. In addition, the losing celebrity team received $5,000 for their charity regardless of the outcome.

Main Game

Face-Off

At the beginning of each round, two members of each family come up to the main podium and play a mini-round for control of the question called "Face-Off". The host announced how many answers are on the board (which are always in order based on popularity), and then read a survey question and the first player to buzz-in gets to answer. The player to give the number one answer or have his/her answer be higher than the other player's answer won control. In case of a tie (both answers with the same number of people who gave it) the player who answered first won control. If neither player gave an answer on the board, the players at the main podiums get a chance to answer for control. The player that won the Face-Off has a decision to either let his/her family play the question or pass the question to their opponents.

Main Question

The family that won the face-off earns control of the question. The controlling family's job is to reveal the remaining answers hidden on the board with each correct answer adding points to the bank above the board. The answer's value is determined by how many people who gave it. Each player on the controlling team in turn gave an answer and if the answer he/she gave is correct, it is flipped over and revealed. Revealing all the answers on the board won the round (this is classified as a "Clean Sweep"). Giving a wrong answer at any time earned a strike; getting three strikes caused the team to lose control of the question, giving the opposing family a chance to steal by giving one correct answer. A successful steal won the round, but an unsuccessful steal gave the round to the first family. The winners of the round took all the points in the bank.

Question Values

The first two questions had its values be worth the number showing. The third question in Steve Harvey's era doubles the point values. At the end of the game all the point values would be tripled.

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The first team to reach 300 points won the game. If neither team reached 300 after the third/fourth question, the next question will be played as Sudden Death.

Fast Money

The winning team went on to play Fast Money for big money for their charity. The winning family chose which two players will play the game. The first team member stood at center stage while the second team member went off stage to a soundproof area. The first player has 20 seconds to answer five Family Feud questions. He/she has to give the most popular answer to each question. When he/she was done, the answers were reveled on a different board followed by the number of people who gave them. After all the answers were revealed and scored, the second player came out and took his/her turn. The second player had 25 seconds to answer the same five questions but with one exception: he/she cannot repeat any of the answers previously given by the first player or a double buzzer will sound, at which point the host says, "Try again." The contestant must give a different answer (the second player will also be charged for similar answers or an answer which fits into the same category as the first player's answer). When the second player was done, his/her answers were revealed and scored. If the two playing players reached 200 points or more, the team's charity wins the big money. If they can't do that, the winning team's charity still gets a consolation cash prize (as opposed to earning $5/point in the regular version).

Grand Cash Prizes

• 2008 - $50,000 for a win, $25,000 for a loss (both for charity)
• 2015 - $25,000 for a win, $10,000 for a loss (both for charity)

Personnel

• Hosts: Al Roker, Steve Harvey
• Announcer: Burton Richardson
• Music: Score Productions

Trivia

2008 Version

This is Al Roker's second game show. His first game show was MSNBC's Remember This? airing from 1996 until 1997.

This version was part of its "All-American Summer" block on NBC.

The show was once parodied on Mad tv featuring the Kardashians (who also appeared on the actual show itself) playing against the stars of the Disney Channel inclduing Keegan-Michael Key as Al Roker.

John O'Hurley was not available to host this version at the time, as he was committed to do Secret Talents of the Stars on CBS (for which it aired for one episode only). Prior to this, the set and some of the graphics from this version (minus the logo and the gold border graphics from the Fast Money round) was carried over to the daily syndicated version of Feud from 2008 until 2010.

2015 Version

This version alone would be the first time since 1985 that the series has return on ABC when the original Dawson version in daytime ended its nine-year run on the same network 30 years ago (31 for the "All-Stars" edition respectively).

Contestant and New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski has also appeared and competed in the one-hour reality competition special on FOX called Beat the Champions based on a Japanese format from TV Asaha Japan, hosted by comedian/former SNL Alumni Finesse Mitchell. this special originally aired on June 30, 2015.

Before hosting the ABC revival, Harvey's first (and last) show he stared on the same network was the short-lived sitcom called Me and the Boys which ran from September 20, 1994 until February 28, 1995.

Additional Page

Celebrity Family Feud/Episode Guide

Links

Official Site (Celebrity Version/Roker 08'|via Internet Archive)
Official Site (Celebrity Version/Harvey 15')