Feud closing in on WOF and J! in the ratings...

[narzo]

I'm actually a bit surprised by all the bemoaning of how the FF questions have changed.  If you've been watching closely since this incarnation began in 1999, it's slowly been coming on, just far more so in the past few years.  To be fair to FF, they're hardly an anomaly.

The original "Wheel" puzzles were amazingly simple by comparison, the "Jeopardy" clues of the 1970's were bare boned and simple, so for "Feud" a question of "Name a famous George" just wouldn't cut it in 2015.   Now for "Wheel" and "Jeopardy", it's obvious how you keep up with the times, the puzzles are a long way removed from "Judy Garland" for a Person and "I Shall Return" for a phrase.  "Jeopardy" has clues which are far longer then they were, and they can keep up with history and new events.  A game that relies on the less defined "correct answer" will inevitably wind up going down this road.  Look at the precedent, it's called "Match Game", questions like "name a type of muffin" didn't bring in the ratings.

The viewers have spoken, and this is your FF for 2015.  My last thought, shows like this that come on so strong, and get such heavy (over) exposure so fast, burn out very quickly.  "Family Feud" is today what Howard Stern was in 1997, a hot commodity that you saw absolutely everywhere.  But, once you can't push the limit any further, the audience slowly gets tired of it. 

[PYLdude]

Isn't Jerry Springer a better example to use in the above analogy? I don't really think that Howard Stern went as far as Springer did in regards to envelope pushing during that particular period.

[BrandonFG]

I watched before, now I don't. Call it alleged, theorize all you want; it happened and though some new people are watching and the ratings are higher because of multiple airings, it is turning some people off. I'm not the only one.

You're not.  I could tolerate the constant mugging, but the middle school euphemisms are downright annoying.  And I'm a guy who likes his immature euphemisms.

Exactly, I love a good dirty joke as much as the next guy, but don't force the humor. That just reeks of desperation.

A few months ago, I linked to I think a Reddit thread, where the posters also had their gripes about how it was getting stale. I think the difference between Feud 2015 and Match Game 74 is that, back then, there was still an envelope to push. Now with shows like South Park, Family Guy and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, something like "meat missile" just doesn't have any shock value.

[Thunder]

Again, this whole "phallic Feud" thing is incredibly overblown. Those who are complaining now, I theorize, largely weren't watching before this alleged shift toward wiener jokes either.

Your theory is wrong in my household, too.

"Family Feud" is today what Howard Stern was in 1997, a hot commodity that you saw absolutely everywhere.  But, once you can't push the limit any further, the audience slowly gets tired of it.

Bingo. Andrew "Dice" Who?

[PYLdude]

People still use the term "meat missile"?

[BrandonFG]

I haven't heard it in years, that was just the first thing I could think of.

[Thunder]

I've got a -1500 money line on "meat missile" having been used at least once on that show.

[narzo]

Isn't Jerry Springer a better example to use in the above analogy? I don't really think that Howard Stern went as far as Springer did in regards to envelope pushing during that particular period.

the reason I use Howard, is around 1997 he had a cable AND CBS TV show, a movie, he was getting "60 minutes" and "Dateline" exposure, and he peaked with the number of radio stations he had.  Shortly after that, he lost the CBS show, and slowly started losing radio stations.  He had been around since the 80's but peaked strongly, and vanished from that "top of mind" status which he had. 

[Dbacksfan12]

My wife was flipping thru the channels the other day and she stopped at one of what now seems to be 8 airings of Harvey Feud a day.  I told her I don't watch it anymore due to all the penis answers. 

Again, this whole "phallic Feud" thing is incredibly overblown. Those who are complaining now, I theorize, largely weren't watching before this alleged shift toward wiener jokes either.

I would strongly argue that it doesn't help gain an audience of relatively intelligent people which seems to be a desirable demographic due to having more disposable income etc.  Of course I could be entirely wrong too.  Either way I would be very interested in seeing the demographics for the show, specifically income and education level.

[PYLdude]

Isn't Jerry Springer a better example to use in the above analogy? I don't really think that Howard Stern went as far as Springer did in regards to envelope pushing during that particular period.

the reason I use Howard, is around 1997 he had a cable AND CBS TV show, a movie, he was getting "60 minutes" and "Dateline" exposure, and he peaked with the number of radio stations he had.  Shortly after that, he lost the CBS show, and slowly started losing radio stations.  He had been around since the 80's but peaked strongly, and vanished from that "top of mind" status which he had. 

Actually, Howard only had the E! show. The show you're thinking of, which was actually syndicated, came a year later and stuck around for a couple of years. I would target the end of that show, in 2001, as when everything stopped coming up roses for him.

Springer had the meteoric rise to the top of the talk show heap in 1997, and it all went away just as quick. Hence why I say it's a better example to cite.

[WarioBarker]

Count me in on the group that stopped watching Feud when it started veering toward the phallic stuff. I was pretty interested when the YouTube channel made it clear "Yes, we've finally gotten a host who will rip apart the dumb answers!", but then they started slanting the questions toward getting "YouTube Moments" and I stopped caring.

I'm with Dale on this one -- I'll laugh at immature euphemisms, sure, but keep shoving it down my throat and I won't be laughing at all. Even Steve's ragging on dumb answers has gotten stale for me.

the "Jeopardy" clues of the 1970's were bare boned and simple,

To be fair, the Jeopardy! clues were (relatively) simple because of the amount of space they had on each of those pull-cards, and even then the clues during the 1960s were sometimes only a few words if not just one. (Well, that and they weren't exactly playing for high stakes on the original NBC series unless it was a TOC.)

Now for "Wheel" and "Jeopardy", it's obvious how you keep up with the times, the puzzles are a long way removed from "Judy Garland" for a Person and "I Shall Return" for a phrase.

Well, these days it'd be AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS JUDY GARLAND as a Proper Name and I SHALL RETURN WITH THE NACHO DIP as a Prize Puzzle Phrase.

The issue with Wheel is that they don't really keep up with current films, books, TV shows, songs, etc. as much as they used to (hell, on one of the clip shows Vanna boasted that the puzzles always keep up with the times) -- Song Lyrics and Song Title are particularly bad at using stuff after about the 1970s.

[BrandonFG]

The issue with Wheel is that they don't really keep up with current films, books, TV shows, songs, etc. as much as they used to (hell, on one of the clip shows Vanna boasted that the puzzles always keep up with the times) -- Song Lyrics and Song Title are particularly bad at using stuff after about the 1970s.

I'd pay good money to see a contestant say BECAUSE I'M ALL ABOUT THAT BASS, BOUT THAT BASS, NO TREBLE*. :-P

I've mentioned this before, but it seems like they'd get more puzzles in by keeping them short, like your JUDY GARLAND example. Of course, contestants can't build up as much money on an 11-letter puzzle.

*/Yes, I know it probably doesn't even fit on the board

[TLEberle]

The original "Wheel" puzzles were amazingly simple by comparison,

If the show wanted to have shorter puzzles in the main game as well as the bonus round they could do so.

the "Jeopardy" clues of the 1970's were bare boned and simple,

And sometimes they are today as well. So what?

so for "Feud" a question of "Name a famous George" just wouldn't cut it in 2015.   

Why not? They do Super Match-style "Fill in the blank questions" today. Are you asserting that the fact that they don't do the short and brief questions explains or is part of the uptick?

The viewers have spoken, and this is your FF for 2015.

Mazel tov. Wake me when it's over. I'm not even going to go deeper into the "damned lies and statistics" angle where I believe that the show's ratings are inflated because of multiple airings, because you're entrenched in your position.

[Thunder]

I'd pay good money to see a contestant say BECAUSE I'M ALL ABOUT THAT BASS, BOUT THAT BASS, NO TREBLE*. :-P

I've mentioned this before, but it seems like they'd get more puzzles in by keeping them short, like your JUDY GARLAND example. Of course, contestants can't build up as much money on an 11-letter puzzle.

*/Yes, I know it probably doesn't even fit on the board

[jjman920]

Honestly, I think the penis jokes criticism was overblown last season. Last season, there actually seemed to be a down tick in the number of answers and jokes. Unfortunately, this season, there is now the rise of the ridiculous euphemism, which has extended into the other body parts besides the "vertical helicopter".

I find Steve Harvey funny and I still enjoy the actual game of Family Feud that gets played, so I still watch the show. Granted, I don't watch the show's bazillion reruns across the cablesphere. I only watch the first and second-run. It's actually been pretty interesting this season. There seems to be a concerted effort to get a solo 200 in Fast Money. There have been a lot more questions with #1 answers in the fifties than I seem to remember in previous seasons. The highest I saw this season was a 58. This playing from last week saw the first player amass 191 points (which Steve claimed was the best he ever saw). They got 4/5 number ones with only "School" being the hold-out for "Name a place where you might get in trouble for falling asleep." It's not a lock, but I wouldn't be surprised if the #1 answer for that question (which was "Work") was worth 39+ points.