[quote name=\'Dan88\' post=\'243497\' date=\'Jul 2 2010, 10:44 AM\'](and, some would say, much more "sterile").[/quote] Who is this "some"?
I'm not going to rag on you because you haven't ever budgeted, or produced a game show. I haven't either.
But seriously, the most important thing is the rules. The only things I suggest changing are...
* Return the Lollipop Trees, with a black stem awarding a $250 bonus. I know it's silly, but you guys have been returning a classic element each season. Not only do they add a bit more color to the set, and may award a family some extra cash, but any lollipops drawn would not be replaced until a black-stemmed one is found (even if a new family comes in), increasing the odds of awarding the bonus.
Why does the dollar amount matter? Why can't it be $50, or $500, or have the person pull a ball from a huge drum with numbers from 1 to 118? Why should the odds get better the longer it has been since the Family on Stage Right pulled a lucky lolly?
* Increase the goal to $400. Yes, dollars. Time to make the main-game a little more relevant!
Relevant to what, exactly? You have to win to play for the big money. That's pretty flipping relevant.
* Increase the number of rounds per game. Three is nowhere near enough, and no Sudden Death crap either. Back in the day, those families had to earn their $200/$300/$400 -- even if it took seven rounds!
Here's the thing: since Family Feud is played to a point goal and not to time or a particular number of rounds, Family Feud is essentially a one-round game. If you win the last round of the show, you win the game. Everything else is a practice.
and as to your comment about earning $200/$300/$400, it was frequent that a game would be won in three rounds when the goal was $200. So they cut back Richard's monologue time and lengthened the game play.
Having hosted Family Feud at game nights, and at Christmas parties, I can tell you that even when you remove the opportunity of winning thousands of dollars, the game is still fun. People want to hear the CLANG! of the board (even metaphorically) and to laugh or shake their head at the questions and answers.
Seven rounds makes six of the rounds completely worthless, and it means you have to barnstorm through the tensest portion of the game. This would actually be an easy fix, because on the last month of shows I saw, there were always six, seven or eight answers on the board. I long for the days when you'd see top three answers on the board, and the split was 78/15/6, so that there'd be a winner after that.
* No returning-championship limit. Having a limit makes you look behind the times,
Shenanigans. SheNANigans, Officer Barbrady. On Jeopardy or Joker's Wild, you get to know a single contestant over the course of however long their championship tenure is. On Family Feud, if you aren't the captain, your time on the show is either at the buzzer or saying "Good answer!" Players on Family Feud are interchangeable cogs.
* Related to the above, award a car after every fifth game a family wins. It's just common sense.
You, sir, are not in a position to chastise others about common sense. Jeopardy has no limit, but hasn't given away cars for years.
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I'd like more content, too, but there's not really a great way to do tihat without hacking the show even more. For that matter, if the days of "HER BEWBS- 92" being on the board are gone, I could put up with a lot of crappe.
