It was, as Chris Lambert called, “one of the most tear-filled goodbyes in TV history.”
Family Feud, the Mark Goodson game show wherein 2 families matched wits against a public opinion poll refereed by Richard Dawson, and an ABC Daytime staple for 9 years, aired for the 2,311th and last time.
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 Tricky Dick 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.
Continued...
