JUNE 14, 1985
It was, as Chris Lambert called, “one of the most tear-filled goodbyes in TV history.”
The original run of Family Feud reached the finish line on ABC Daytime, after 9 years and 2,311 shows.
The End began with host Richard Dawson entering to a standing ovation which got him emotional. The Murphy Family (the champs) took on The Mackin Family. (Both got black-stemmed lollipops, each earning themselves an extra $100!) The first question asked was “Name something mothers make children wear for protection,” for which the most popular answer was “Coat“. The Mackins defeated The Murphys with $504 and copped an extra $5000 in the final Fast Money Round. During this round, Dawson, rarely joking anymore due to his moroseness, managed to crack one when he asked, “How old you think Ronald Reagan looks?”; when the contestant replied “80” (which 5 people said), Dawson quipped: “I hope a crisis comes up internationally so that The President doesn’t see our last show, ‘cause both you and I will be sent to Grenada!” The #1 answer, incidentally, was “60.” He added, “I’d say he looks about 65; I think his neck looks about 90!”
The final moments saw Dawson alone on the empty, barren Feud set, making a long, tearful farewell speech:
“I've had the most incredible luck in my career. I've done lots and lots of jobs, and I've never, ever had a job like Family Feud. I've never dreamed I would ever have a job where so many people could touch me and I could touch them. And it was a great magic about this show that I've never seen on any other show. I want to publicly acknowledge Howard Felsher, who is our Executive Producer. He was a producer in the beginning of this show, and he helped steer and guide the way that we went. And he and I fall a lot of times, but I tell you that he's important and I should acknowledge him, because he's the one, with me, that, we said, ‘Let anybody come on this show, anyone that can play this game, no matter what color or creed, no matter if they're in a wheelchair or they have no sight.’ And we've had everybody on this show, and he was very, very important in that and I acknowledge and thank him for it.
“I thanked my crew, and I thanked my director already. I had the best staff you've ever dreamed of. You can't...but you don't have to dream of them, ‘cause I'm gonna take them with me. Even if I never work again, they'll just be near me. They are so special and wonderful. ABC, Jackie Smith, Wally Weltman, Joe C. Albeth; they kept us on the air probably a year more than they should have, ‘cause we weren't really helping them. You know, our ratings weren't that good, and they were so great. They buried themselves carrying us, and I love them for that, not that I wanted to hurt 'em, 'cause I love 'em. They were good people. There were people I know that got upset that I kiss people; I kiss them for luck and love, that's all. That's what my mother did to me. There were people upset that I would embrace or hug someone of a different color. The first time I ever saw people of any color was when D-Day left from my hometown in England, to go and free Europe in the war. And there was every color you could imagine, and I'd not seen that in England! And I'd asked my mother about it; I said, ‘Is there something wrong?’ She said, ‘God...God makes people. You understand that, don't you?’ And I said, ‘Yeah!’ She said, ‘Who makes a rainbow?’ I said, ‘God.’ She said, ‘I never presumed to tell anyone who could make a rainbow what color to make children.’ And she changed my whole life with that statement.
“All I can tell you is, this has been a very special 9 years of my life! If I never do another thing, I've met the good, sweet people of the world. So I leave you, with love, and for the little girl that, 9 years ago, I first signed to--I guess she's 13, now--I'll think of you every day. God bless all the little children in the world. Thank you.”
Family Feud at its finest. As Gene Wood wrapped up the fee plugs, he intoned, “Thank you, Richard, thank you, America.” The short credits crawl superimposed over the audience giving yet another standing ovation as a wet-cheeked, grief-beset Richard Dawson stood pulling tissues from a Kleenex box (provided by a stage hand), comforted by his daughter-in-law, Cathy Hughart Dawson, the show's producer, as The Feud breathed its last gasp. Interestingly, the credits rolled without music--though there was a slight hint of melancholy piano music heard before the final fadeout...
The syndicated nighttime edition of The Feud continued for 3 months after, before wrapping up in September after 8 years (1977-85), thus bringing down the curtain on the first chapter of Family Feud. In its 9 year existence, 2,311 network daytime shows (1976-1985), 976 syndicated evening ˝ -hour shows (1977-1985), and 17 ABC primetime 1-hour specials (1978-1984) had been produced, with $1,557,150 given away to charity on 170 celebrity specials on the daytime and nighttime shows, and $14,833,000 won by contestants.
But within 3 years, a new chapter of The Feud would open, on a new network…and with a new host!
