‘Family Feud’: Some Fans Think the Questions Have Gotten Dirtier Over the Years
With a name like Family Feud, most people assume the popular game show will be family-friendly. But over the years, some have become concerned that the game is including too many sexually suggestive questions.
Should the show be concerned about its younger viewers, or is it all in good fun?
What is ‘Family Feud’?
The classic television game show, Family Feud has been on air for almost half a decade. Beginning in 1976, the show has been through a number of hosts, including Richard Dawson, who hosted from 1976 to 1985, and again from 1994 to 1995.
The current version of Family Feud is hosted by comedian, Steve Harvey who started with the show in 2010.
Family Feud is played by pitting two families against one another to guess the answers to survey questions. Contestants are split into two teams, each consisting of five members from each family, which sometimes includes children. The host asks a survey question, which was previously posed to 100 people, and the contestants must guess the most popular responses. Points are given for guessing the top answers.
Is ‘Family Feud’ too sexually suggestive?
Throughout its run, Family Feud has included some questions which could be considered sexually suggestive. For example, Harvey once asked for a response to “the last thing you stuck your finger in.”
Obviously, answers to this could range from completely benign to overtly sexual. But because people are sexual creatures, sometimes our minds will automatically lean sexual, which is exactly how one contestant responded.
“My wife,” the contestant said, which caused the audience to erupt into laughter.
This question was posed during a 2015 episode, but some say Family Feud has always included sexually suggestive questions on the show, even in its first decade, and during its previous game version, Match Game.
“Even the 1970s/early 80s Match Game (where Family Feud had its genesis) had a couple of occasions where they had to super-impose “OOPS!” and replace the audio with a slide whistle,” said one person, who called themselves a game show fan since kindergarten, commented during a Quora discussion on the topic.
But some think the show has become worse with time. In 2018, NCIS star, Pauley Perrette voiced her concern on Twitter.
“Dear @FamilyFeudABC I love @SteveHarveyFM and I love game shows. WHY DO YOU MAKE YOU PROGRAM SO FILTHY? Even with child players? No reason,” Perrette wrote.
Dan Gainor, vice president of business and culture of the Media Research Center, thinks the recent sexually suggestive questions are only an extension of our culture becoming more sexually open in general.
“I think what has changed is that Hollywood has so undermined and coarsened our culture, that these answers have become the norm,” Gainor told FOX11, as reported by Daily News.
Fans are tired of the dirty questions on ‘Family Feud’
Even if the recent sexually charged questions on Family Feud are a result of a more open culture, some fans are still upset. When Perrette brought up the topic on Twitter, she had plenty of people agree with her.
“My mom (88) won’t watch family feud anymore because it’s too dirty. Everything doesn’t have to have a sexual twist to it,” wrote one person.
“AGREE AGREE AGREE Used to watch it every time it was on. All the answers are filth and @SteveHarveyFM has begun to add “motions” to it. It’s really sad. I miss it,” another person wrote on Twitter.
Perez Hilton posted a survey on their website asking for readers opinion on the matter. At the time of this writing, 55 percent responded that Family Feud had become too dirty, while 30 percent said it’s harmless innuendo, and 15 percent said there’s no such thing as too sexual.
Obviously, opinions on this topic will vary a lot. But according to Fox News, since Harvey became host of Family Feud, their ratings have definitely increased. This may be a sign that there’s plenty who aren’t bothered by the sexually suggestive questions. Either way, the popular game show has been on the air for a long time, and it’s not likely to end anytime soon.
