Comments on: An Interview with “Family Feud” Host John O’Hurley

By: Chase

Chase — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:54:28 +0000

A couple of comments to other posts:

I think Ray Combs was okay, but that high-pitched voice is hard to listen to. He's squeaky; too great a change from Dawson's deeper tones.

It would have been interesting seeing Bill Rafferty host the Feud. Rafferty is a bit of an amusing smart-a** himself (being from Queens, NY) and had hosting experience in the later version of NBC's "Blockbusters", CBS's "Card Sharks" (arguably his best gig) and Group W's syndicated "Every Second Counts" (the earliest hosting job I can recall he had). Like Dawson, though, his sort of blunt delivery and more northeastern sensibilities might have turned off some viewers.

By: Chas

Chas — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:45:34 +0000

I still think that Richard Dawson was the best host of "Feud". No one embodied charm, wit, and a bit of snarkiness like Dickie Dawson. O'Hurley is charming but I don't find him very witty. I won't even mention Louie Anderson or Ray Combs.

I think O'Hurley's best work is still the 2000 revival of "To Tell The Truth". He was absolutely the perfect moderator for a panel that was very often unhinged and madcap. I wish that series was still in production but I have recorded episodes.

By: James

James — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:56:33 +0000

And at least Dawson mellowed out by the time Feud '94 arrived and in retirement, having a family of his own. Aside from the "transgressions" you named, remember that Barker had an adverse effect on the TPIR DVD set…as he disallowed pretty much anything from the late-70s, '80s, and '90s in order to, as most accounts go, bury the former models he fell out with. Plus he wouldn't allow any Tom Kennedy or Dennis James episodes at all (granted, we all want to see classic Barker first and foremost, and Bill Cullen showed us where it all began, but you get the feeling that he doesn't want to imply anyone else hosted "his" TPIR before his retirement). And it was supposedly him who stopped the announcers from appearing on camera, no?

All that said, I like him and Dawson as a performer.

Yep, it's the good old "performer vs. person" debate. Which I admit I fall victim to (can't listen to a Phil Spector song the same way, same with the Supremes given the Diana horror stories, and don't get the Chris Benoit debate in wrestling started again!!!)

By: James

James — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:50:01 +0000

…show they ARE open. Sorry!

By: James

James — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:46:56 +0000

And thanks for reaching out and asking fans for input. This is a minor nitpick, but tell me they bring back the name backdrops during this coming season (early videos show they "open")

I also think the 1994 remix of the classic Feud theme is a good idea, it's a good compromise between old and new. Though I appreciate the nod(s) to the past you've given us since John joined the show.

By: Family Feud

Family Feud — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:18:51 +0000

Thanks for your interest in the Feud, Doug. We appreciate all the input!

By: BillCullen1

BillCullen1 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:22:32 +0000

Pretty much Dawson had worn out his welcome with Goodson when FF left the air in '85 due to off-camera incidents. Combs did a good job considering he managed to make the FF his own without imitating Dawson. I always thought Bill Rafferty would've been a good host for FF, since he hosted Blockbusters and Card Sharks for Goodson. What could have been . . .

I have to give the nod to O'Hurley for being the second best host of Feud. He's not jumping at the buzzer anymore. I still think Dawson was the best host.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:56:51 +0000

I never really liked Ray Combs as host of the Feud. He was too cutesy, and every time he said something he deemed to be funny, he preened and said it in that "Hey look at me, get ready to laugh at THIS!" tone. To me, Combs is the Jay Leno of Family Feud/game show hosts: a nice guy, a hard-worker, but a man who's comedy is a tad too contrived and whose demeanor is too phony (though I'll give you that Combs was way more genuine than Leno)

My list:
Richard Dawson
John O'Hurley
Ray Combs
Richard Karn
Louie Anderson

By: Emanuel

Emanuel — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:32:33 +0000

I heard Howard Felsher say Goodson wouldn't even think of trying Dawson for the CBS version and he(Felsher) wanted Joe Namath to host more than anyone else and they signed him after several runthroughs. Goodson wasn't exactly comfortable with Namath and was set to begin a new search until he heard about a 31 year old comedian warming up studio audiences named Ray Combs.

By: Emanuel

Emanuel — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:32:31 +0000

By: Emanuel

Emanuel — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:52:25 +0000

I never heard or read anything but speculation about Jack Narz or Geoff Edwards given an opportunity to host Family Feud. I heard Howard Felsher say Richard Dawson was given the first shot to host because, Dawson wanted to be more than just a player on Match Game, he wanted to host a game show.

By: Myke25

Myke25 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:36:44 +0000

Well, we know Broadway Joe would have carried on the tradition of kissing the ladies!

I knew about Dolly. She likely would have done a great job as host…and could have taken the show to Dollywood once or twice a year!

By: DeVares

DeVares — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:42:30 +0000

To Myke25: You think that’s interesting, Joe Namath was considered for the CBS version but turned it down because of conflict of interest (he was doing NFL sideline reporting for NBC at the time). Would I think he would’ve done a good job hosting? Not for me to say, but probably not. Dolly Parton was considered as the first host of the current version but was passed over,

By: DeVares

DeVares — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:42:27 +0000

By: Myke25

Myke25 — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:36:12 +0000

I never heard that about Geoff Edwards and Feud. Interesting. He would have done a good job with it, I think.