The waning Family Feud...

[aaron sica]

Boy, posting the old TV Guide game show listings has got me thinking now of a bunch of questions...This being one of them.

I think the daytime Feud's popularity began to wane in June, 1980, when "$20,000 Pyramid" was cancelled and Feud got that "noon" slot. When did your ABC station stop airing Feud, or did they carry it to the very end? Here's some things I've found about it..

16-WNEP in Scranton stopped airing Feud once it moved to noon - it *did*, however, air the "Celebrity Family Feud" that aired at 11am in the summer of '84. Interestingly enough, when Feud moved back to 11:30am in the fall of '84, 16 chose to carry "Ryan's Hope" at 11:30 instead.

6-WPVI in Philadelphia continued to air Feud at 11:30am from June 1980-June 1983. Once "Loving" premiered, Family Feud actually moved to WTAF-29 and aired at noon (whether it was the live feed, I do not know). 6 also aired Ryan's Hope at 11:30 instead of Feud.

13-WJZ in Baltimore also continued to air Feud at 11:30am for the summer of '80; once the "Love Boat" daytime reruns moved from 10am to 11am, Feud was gone from there forever.

[DjohnsonCB]

With 5-WOI in Ames, Iowa, it was just the opposite.  They didn't carry it at first, but once they did, they stayed with it to the end of the ABC run, IIRC.  Back in that 1975-76 season, when the station was still primarily in Ames and owned by Iowa State University (and one would suspect that the way they ended up being a primary ABC station in 1955 when Omaha had to wait two years after that to get their own, led to a general sour grapes attitude about WOI having to be stuck with the last-place network), they continued their then-common practice of wiping out ABC series that weren't generally as beloved as their hits...although they never did show the daytime LMAD or American Bandstand.  

But then a funny thing happened:  ABC soared to #1 in 1976 and poor old stodgy WOI was caught with their pants down.  "Welcome Back, Kotter" didn't debut on WOI till early December with the Debralee Scott "Hotsie Totsie" ep (and that was via a Sunday afternoon tape-delay that stayed with it till midseason), "Laverne & Shirley" didn't get on till a month after ABC began it (whereupon the local half-hour WOI used to bump it and "Kotter" got placed where it ALWAYS should have been: in the 6:30 access slot the FCC DESIGNED for stuff like that), and it took a very strong and strident letter to those dumbass Program Managers at WOI--sent by me--to cajole them into running the "Feud", which they did maybe a month or two after the ABC debut.  They were airing at 12:30 weekdays a local discussion show, and they revamped and moved it to 11:30 AM to make room for the "Feud".
Fortunately, FF caught on in Central Iowa the way it did everywhere else.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'DjohnsonCB\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 04:28 PM\']
and it took a very strong and strident letter to those dumbass Program Managers at WOI--sent by me--to cajole them into running the "Feud", which they did maybe a month or two after the ABC debut.  They were airing at 12:30 weekdays a local discussion show, and they revamped and moved it to 11:30 AM to make room for the "Feud".
Fortunately, FF caught on in Central Iowa the way it did everywhere else.

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I wished that the internet would have been more accessible in 1990; I would have beat down the door at WNEP and WPVI for at least *one* of them to air MG90. They both had noon news at the time; WNEP carried the entire "Home" show from 11am-noon; WPVI carried Sally Jessy Raphael from 10:30-11:30, and the last half hour of "home" from 11:30-noon. They should have just aired MG90 at 11:30 instead. I always found it baffling that a large market station such as WPVI didn't air it.

[BrandonFG]

I'd have to check out some old microfilm, but I'm pretty sure that WVEC had Feud all the way until June 85.

If I'm not mistaken, Feud was the next-to-last ABC daytime show WVEC aired. Don't think they had All-Star Blitz or Bargain Hunters, and they only aired the first few months on MG90.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 05:28 PM\']If I'm not mistaken, Feud was the next-to-last ABC daytime show WVEC aired. Don't think they had All-Star Blitz or Bargain Hunters, and they only aired the first few months on MG90.

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They most certainly did air the first few months of MG90, at 10:30am, correct? I vacationed that summer in Norfolk for a few days, and once I found the 10am show to be a half-hour program, I tuned in at 10:30, wondering and hoping........and indeed, it was MG90. I even had the episode on tape for a long time.....The panel had Bob Sarlotte and Mary Wickes, and the contestant's name was Ingrid....

Yet another tape I'd wish I'd saved...

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 04:31 PM\'][quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 05:28 PM\']If I'm not mistaken, Feud was the next-to-last ABC daytime show WVEC aired. Don't think they had All-Star Blitz or Bargain Hunters, and they only aired the first few months on MG90.

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They most certainly did air the first few months of MG90, at 10:30am, correct? I vacationed that summer in Norfolk for a few days, and once I found the 10am show to be a half-hour program, I tuned in at 10:30, wondering and hoping........and indeed, it was MG90. I even had the episode on tape for a long time.....The panel had Bob Sarlotte and Mary Wickes, and the contestant's name was Ingrid....

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(thinks for a minute)

That sounds about right...and in fall 1990, it must've moved to 10 am, because I remember Trump Card taking the 10:30 slot, against TTTT on NBC.

(I know TTTT was 11 am in most markets, but here it was 10:30.)

How I miss those days. :-)

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 05:37 PM\']
(I know TTTT was 11 am in most markets, but here it was 10:30.)

How I miss those days. :-)

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TTTT I think I got to see once or twice. If I'm not mistaken, once the fall rolled around, WBRE-28 from Scranton chose not to air TTTT, but (gasp!) TJW90 instead.

[Johnissoevil]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 01:13 PM\']
6-WPVI in Philadelphia continued to air Feud at 11:30am from June 1980-June 1983. Once "Loving" premiered, Family Feud actually moved to WTAF-29 and aired at noon (whether it was the live feed, I do not know). 6 also aired Ryan's Hope at 11:30 instead of Feud.

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I remember being surprised at this for two reasons.  It always surprised me when the Philly indies would pick up the network game shows.  Of course, now that I know of the way the owners of stations in that city (coughWestinghousecough) preempted network shows, and not just game shows, and sent them over to the indies, I'm not as surprised as I was back then.  Another was that WKBS 48 was usually the alternate ABC affiliate.  Of course, nobody my age at the time understood that Field was having trouble selling 48, and that the station's impending demise was not far away.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'Johnissoevil\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 07:39 PM\']I remember being surprised at this for two reasons.  It always surprised me when the Philly indies would pick up the network game shows.  Of course, now that I know of the way the owners of stations in that city (coughWestinghousecough) preempted network shows, and not just game shows, and sent them over to the indies, I'm not as surprised as I was back then.  Another was that WKBS 48 was usually the alternate ABC affiliate.  Of course, nobody my age at the time understood that Field was having trouble selling 48, and that the station's impending demise was not far away.

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Yes, otherwise, Feud may have aired on 48 for a good while instead of 29. Once fall '83 hit, daytime Feud was gone from Philly TV sets forever.

From my old TV Guides and my own memories, 48 did an admirable job with picking up ABC stuff that 6 wouldn't air - they aired "Second Chance", "$20,000 Pyramid", and the daytime reruns of "Love Boat", "Three's Company", and "Too Close For Comfort" until they went dark in late August, '83. I think they may have also aired "Edge of Night".

And as stated previously, 17 also eventually picked up "Chain Reaction", and they previously aired "America Alive". 29 I've also seen as airing Blockbusters and Las Vegas Gambit, and Fantasy as well.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Apr 9 2005, 06:44 PM\']

Yes, otherwise, Feud may have aired on 48 for a good while instead of 29. Once fall '83 hit, daytime Feud was gone from Philly TV sets forever.

From my old TV Guides and my own memories, 48 did an admirable job with picking up ABC stuff that 6 wouldn't air - they aired "Second Chance", "$20,000 Pyramid", and the daytime reruns of "Love Boat", "Three's Company", and "Too Close For Comfort" until they went dark in late August, '83. I think they may have also aired "Edge of Night".

And as stated previously, 17 also eventually picked up "Chain Reaction", and they previously aired "America Alive". 29 I've also seen as airing Blockbusters and Las Vegas Gambit, and Fantasy as well.

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CHannel 17 aired some of the run of the orginal Fleming J!. Channel 29 also aired Time Machine, Your Number's Up, Facts of Life and other NBC 10AM sitcom reruns in the 80s, and part of Caesar's Challenge's run.

Those closer to Atlantic City like Xanfan will recall WMGM NBC 40 in Wildwood/Atlantic City airing an hour of ABC daytime programming from 1984-88 or so, including all ABC daytime game shows aired during that period. Not to mention that they aired all NBC daytime game shows KYW channel 3 did not air from the early 80s(when they started picking up a signal prior to 12 Noon) through 1993, save for most of Caesar's Challenge's run and the final months of Concentration repeats.

[GSWitch]

KTRK (Houston) had the Feud @ 11:00 from 1980-84.  KTRK dropped it in the fall of 1984 to carry Loving for the first time.  

KSAT (San Antonio) never carried the ABC 11:00 slot.  Instead they had...

11:00-All My Children (tape delay)
NOON-KSAT News @ Noon
12:30-Ryan's Hope

So they missed out on both $20,000 Pyramid & Family Feud.

[Ian Wallis]

I wished that the internet would have been more accessible in 1990; I would have beat down the door at WNEP and WPVI for at least *one* of them to air MG90.

Same in my area.  Niether WKBW nor WOKR aired "Match Game '90" - it wasn't until I got some out of town TV Guides after it's debut that I saw it in the listings.  At first I was surprised, but with the celebrities they listed I figured it was a new version.  

WKBW dropped "Feud" a couple of years before its conclusion, and WOKR tape-delayed it one day by that time.  Because of college, I never did see the finale until I traded for it in the late '90s!

Maybe that's another reason why "Feud's" ratings were on the downswing by the early '80s - because many stations aired News in the noon slot.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Apr 10 2005, 03:51 PM\']
Same in my area.  Niether WKBW nor WOKR aired "Match Game '90" - it wasn't until I got some out of town TV Guides after it's debut that I saw it in the listings.  At first I was surprised, but with the celebrities they listed I figured it was a new version. 

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I didn't know about it until February 1990, when reading the TV/Radio page of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and at the time, of course, they reported Bert Convy as being the host. And it also said "Channel 6 won't carry it." I honestly thought that 29 would have picked it up (they aired Perfect Strangers reruns on a one-day delay at 10am..I thought they would have done the same for MG90).

My local TV Guide also didn't have an ad for it, considering it was only airing on WABC-7 and WHTM-27 in the Central PA edition. And, come fall, WHTM-27 shelved it in favor of "Trump Card", and when "Trump Card" tanked at midseason, they put on "People's Court" instead. 27 did put it back on for the last month or so of the run.

[Ian Wallis]

I didn't know about it until February 1990, when reading the TV/Radio page of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and at the time, of course, they reported Bert Convy as being the host. And it also said "Channel 6 won't carry it."

I must admit I'm surprised it wasn't carried by the Philadelphia ABC affiliate.  Didn't someone post once that usually stations in the largest and smallest cities woud air virtually all of the network's shows - and stations in the "medium" cities would be most likely to pre-empt?  I think there was a thread about that in the early days of this forum.  You'd think a big market like Philly would have aired it.

Or maybe it was just the industry's general disdain for game shows that caused some of these decisions(?)

[highwayman128]

This is how the ABC version of Family Feud was carried in Boston

July 12, 1976- September 1977- WCVB 5- (1:30pm)
September 1977-September 1978- WCVB 5- (5pm)- (ABC TAPE DELAY)
September 1978-September 1980  WCVB 5- (4:30pm) (ABC TAPE DELAY)
September 1980- September 1981- WCVB 5- (10am)-
What Boston station showed the Family Feud ABC version for the 1981-82 season
September 1982- September 1983- WQTV 68 (10:30am)
September 1983- September 1984- WLVI 56- (11:30am)
September 1984- June 14, 1985- WQTV 68- (9:30am)

This is how the CBS version of Family Feud was carried in Boston
July 1988- May 1989- WNEV 7- (10:30am)
June 1989- September 1989- WNEV 7- (5:30pm)
September 1989-January 1991 WNEV/WHDH 7- (10:00am)
February 1991- September 1991- WHDH 7 (10:30am)
September 1991- March 1992- WHLL 27 (10:30am)
April 1992- June 1992- WHDH 7- (10:30am)
June 1992- September 1993- WHDH 7 (10:00am) (FAMILY FEUD CHALLENGE)

This is how the Dawson syndicated version was carried in Boston
May 1979-September 1981 WNAC 7 (7:30pm)
September 1981- September 1982- WNAC/WNEV 7- (5:30pm)
September 1982- September 1983- WBZ 4 (5:00pm)
September 1983- September 1984- WCVB 5 (5:00pm)
What Boston station showed the syndicated version in the 1984-85 season

During the 1985-86, reruns of the Dawson syndicated version was on at 4:30pm from September 1985 to January 1986 and 9am from January 1986 to June 1986

This is how the Combs syndicated version was carried in Boston
September 1988-September 1990 WBZ 4 (4:30pm)
September 1990- January 1991  WBZ 4 (2:00am) (WHY WBZ showed the Feud at 2 in the morning?!)
February 1991- September 1991- WBZ 4 (4:30pm)
September 1991- December 1991 WBZ 4- (2:00am)
What station showed the syndicated verison from January 1992 to September 1994, BTW

The Dawson version of 1994-95 was on WSBK Channel 38 at 1pm.