Like almost any other long-running Game Show, Family Feud and its foreign counterparts have had their share of highly amusing moments.
See also Funny.Family Fortunes for funny moments from the British equivalent.
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American versions
- Richard Dawson and Ray Combs (Dawson: 1976–1985, 1994–1995; Combs: 1988–1994)
- Steve Harvey (2010–present)
Louie Anderson (1999–2002)
- "Name a part of the body that gets bigger as you get older.
" Not only was the answer "Penis" given (itself bordering on Never Heard That One Before), but the contestant was a little too eager to fire that answer off. - "Name something that you catch." The second contestant kept saying words that have "ball" in it and the first contestant already said "Ball." Louie, on the third try said, "No balls." The audience cracked.
- On the LA Lakers vs LA Lakers Girls special, Name something a teenage boy can do for hours at a time? Masturbate. (Scored 2 points!)
- "Name something you put in your trunk that you have trouble putting in your glove compartment." "Uh... a body? I don't know."
- "Name something specific a person might do that would make him say, 'Oops!'" "Wet his pants."
- November 7, 2001: From a Muppets vs Dixie Chicks special. "Name something you'd hate to have gum stuck on." "My butt."
- Any answer worthy of the Dumb Answer of the Day trophy.
- On at least one occasion, a trophy had to be taken back because an answer was actually on the board.
Richard Karn (2002–2006)
- Fall 2002: After Karn asked one question, the contestants tried to buzz-in... only to find that the podium didn't work (no sounds). Karn proceeded to alternate smacking the buzzers, to no avail.
- Fall 2002: "Name an animal whose legs are on a restaurant menu." No buzz-in response. Karn tried (and failed) to hold in his laughter as he slowly HeadDesked the podium to which the Strike sound played, meaning the question was skipped. Karn got back up, added "I don't even wanna know!" and tossed the index card with the question written on it away.
- Fall 2002: "Name something you feel before you buy it." A few seconds pass, and just as Karn is ready to give up on the question, one contestant hits the buzzer.Contestant: Excited.
- Fall 2002: "Name an animal whose eggs you'd probably never eat for breakfast." "Hamster."Karn: I... I hate to tell you but, you know, those little pellets aren't eggs.
- November 18, 2002: During a Soap Opera special, Karn asks for something a man might give a nickname to. Alicia Leigh Willis of General Hospital rings in and says, "His thingie." Karn quips, "Because we never know its real name, right?" It's the #4 answer, as "'His manhood'".
- February 18, 2003: On a Disco Fever episode, Karn asks Janice Marie Johnson to "Name a word that rhymes with cookie." She answers "Nookie" and gets 23 points.
- 2000s: "Name something dogs can do better than humans." "Pee."
- 2000s: "Name an animal with spots". The #2 answer was Tigers, which was not given by any of the contestants. While returning from the next commercial break, Richard says "We're still looking for that spotted tiger."
- 2000s (possibly unaired): One contestant instinctively rang in before Richard even asked the question, prompting him to snark "Ooh, ooh, call on me, call on me!"
- 2000s: During the final round: "Name an animal with a long tail." "Giraffe!" It got two points. And then when the second person came up, she said "giraffe" too.
- "Name something you wouldn't want the police to find in the trunk of your car." "Pickles."
- "Name a word you use instead of a curse word." Two answers had to be censored.Karn: Again, I'd like to point out it's instead of using the curse word.
- "Name something that London is famous for." "I'm thinkin' pasta."
- From this fast money bit:Karn: Name a sport that wives and husbands can play together. You said... kickball! You know, you're not usually married in third grade.
- "Name something people squeeze to get more out of." "Rear ends." (Scored 8 points!)
- This answer and Karn's reaction:Karn: Name something a man has that he'd be upset if someone else used it.
Georgia: How about his jock strap?
(audience laughs, Karn gives an Aside Glance)
Karn: "Someone else used my jock strap!" - "Tell me a man's name that begins with the letter K." "Kentucky Fried Chicken".
- "Name an occupation that begins with the letter 'J'." "A jackhammerer."
- Season 7: "Something you see along the side of the street." "Carnage." After the answer is buzzed by the survey, Karn says the #1 was trash, "which hides the carnage."
Game$how Marathon (Summer 2006)
- The Ricki Lake-hosted Game$how Marathon wasn't all that great or memorable in general, but a somewhat funny moment occurred during the Family Feud finale. For a bit of background, at the time the miniseries aired, the show itself was in the midst of a host changeover — John O'Hurley for Richard Karn — meaning Karn's running gag of "I'M DOUBLING THE POINTS!" followed by applause from the audience was still fresh on the radar. When Ricki Lake mentioned before the beginning of one face-off that the point values were doubled — in her usual calm non-Karn delivery — the audience still applauded, taking Ricki by surprise for a few seconds. (To clarify: the version of Feud this episode was patterned after was the 1976-85 Richard Dawson version.)
John O'Hurley (2006–2010)
- 2006: "Name a network with the worst TV programs." "UPN."note O'Hurley: And you politely killed our possibility of ever syndicating the Family Feud on this network!
- 2007-08: One answer remained unrevealed for "Name a reason why a man would want to marry Martha Stewart." — "He's gay."
- Fall 2009: "Of all the US Presidents, which would look best in a Speedo?" No, seriously.
- "Name something that goes up" Number 6 answer was Mr. Happy.
- "Name something that shrinks." One person answered "The Incredible Shrinking Man", which was accepted as "People." Later...Contestant: I don't know if this is appropriate, but I'm gonna say your wee-wee...?
(audience laughs)
O'Hurley: In Seinfeldian terms, show me..."shrinkage"! (Beat) That's the same as "people"? Like hell it is! - 2006: One of the very first videos uploaded to the show's YouTube account, before the season had even premiered, was a clip featuring the question "Name a way to make bathing a sexy experience." This one got met with two funny answers, "In the nude", and "401(k) jelly" (presumably, he was wanting to say "KY Jelly", a brand of lubricant.)O'Hurley: I remember 401(k) being a retirement plan, not a jelly! But in a troubled economy, you go anywhere you can.
- Another infamous answer:O'Hurley: Name something a man might do to look good that he doesn't want people to know about.
Sonia: Stuff his pants.
O'Hurley: Nothing makes a man look better than to have the entire produce section. All right! From Sonia's lips to the board, show me, "Stuff his pants!". (buzzer) I want you to look right in the camera and say "Hello, YouTube!". - 2008: "Name a famous pig." A contestant guesses "my mother-in-law".O'Hurley: I think the holidays are going to be a very different experience for you this year.
- "Name something you do to a fish." "Flush it down the toilet."
- On the same episode: "Name a kind of dancer." "Strip dancer." (Scored 11 points!)
- This Fast Money question...O'Hurley: Name the age when you start worrying about your weight.
Contestant 1: 20. (scored two points)
Contestant 2: 15. (scored four points) - "Name the fastest-selling drug." A contestant said "Marijuana" and got nine points.
- O'Hurley deals with a strange answer:O'Hurley: Name something that a fed-up wife might finally tell her husband to do for himself.
Contestant: Um... satisfy himself? That's what we're going with.
(audience cheers and applauds)
O'Hurley: You started off... with romantic encounters in the elevator...
Contestant: You have no idea that this is—
O'Hurley: Penicillin... from Mexico, and now your advice to the fed-up husband from his wife is "go satisfy yourself"? It's a complete cycle, my friend. - "Name something that lives in a cage." "A man." (Scored 6 points!)
- "Name something a woman has that her friends might be jealous of." "Big boobs." (Scored 14 points!)
- In response to "Something of Tarzan's that Jane should get when they're divorced", a contestant answered with Tarzan's yell which she imitated.
- And this one:O'Hurley: Name something women squeeze.
Contestant: Boobs.
O'Hurley: We are having a Johnny Depp moment here! - At one point, O'Hurley starts a round of Fast Money and gets tongue-twisted to say “and time will FART - start… time will not fart.”
- Name something that’s better than being rich. “Poor”.
- A country that starts with the letter A. “Amsterdam”.
- This Fast Money round was, as O'Hurley put it, a rough one:
- "Name the age that you can say you've lived a full life." "Forty" (scored 4 points) and "forty-five".
- "Name something that's sometimes made to be collapsible." "A building" (scored 8 points). The second contestant also guessed "building" before changing his answer to "Jenga".O'Hurley: What the heck is Jenga?!
- Name something that has flippers. A contestant named Marie suggests “Sung Lee” and later admits that she doesn’t know any extra examples.
- O'Hurley's personal favorite: "Give me the title of a classic movie that starts with the letter C." "Seabiscuit."
Al Roker (NBC, 2008)
- Summer 2008: A compilation of funny moments, posted on the show's YouTube page.
Other versions
Australian versions
- 1980s: Once, host Tony Barber accidentally asked a male contestant if he had a boyfriend, then realized his slip and corrected it to "girlfriend". The contestant's response? "No, I'm gay."Tony: (trying hard not to laugh) I'm a happy little fellow myself, actually!
- During Bert Newton's stint, there was a special with two teams of past TV Week Logie winners playing against each other. The women's team included Denise Drysdale, Jane Allsop, Jeanne Little, and Patricia "Little Pattie" Thompson. At one point, Bert very casually slips in that he's slept with two of them.
- Another one from Bert's run - "Name a gift that's hard to return". When the Massa family is given a chance to steal, the lady at the end says "a vibrator". Cue dramatic music, Bert claiming that he doesn't know what it is, followed by him saying "uh..." like said device.Bert: You know, sometimes I do miss morning television.
- In yet another one from Bert's run - "Name something that cheers up a dull party". The Dean family is trying to steal the points, and contestant Caroline suggests an answer of "stripper". Bert then asks if Caroline has been to a party with a stripper, or if she has ever been a stripper herself, and Caroline says no.
- After the round ends, Bert tells Caroline to "come out and strip for us" while they go to a commercial break. While Bert is looking at the audience, they laugh as Caroline undoes her belt off camera. This catches Bert's interest as he thinks Caroline was lying about not being a stripper. He then wonders what Caroline will start with, and she warns that her Nana is in the audience... after which Bert asks Caroline's Nana to come up and strip for the audience!
- From Grant Denyer's run in 2014: In an otherwise successful Fast Money round, the first contestant, asked "Name a type of badge," answers, "Chicken." He then refuses to say what if anything his thinking was, and Grant proceeds to mock him mercilessly while revealing the scores, during his teammate's turn, and even the following night, even while acknowledging that he got two top answers.
- A Fast Money question: "Name something you eat for breakfast that you might also eat for dinner." Both contestants initially answer "Weet-Bix", the latter changing to "Toast." When asked, she mentions that their son is known for it.
- Name a high school subject students actually enjoy. Sex Ed. Icing on the cake, Grant points out that their score up to that point was 69. The answer itself only got them four more points, though.
- From Fast Money:Grant: Name a celebrity who's famous for being famous.
Contestant: You?- It got zero points, not that it mattered after the 182 points the first contestant had accumulated. And for the record, the top answer with 51 points? Kim Kardashian.
- "Name something that happens after you turn 65." The first contestant buzzes in and answers "You start losing your hearing." Grant leans in and says, "Pardon?" The contestant starts repeating herself, only to catch on after a moment.
- "Name something you might see in a spotlight." One contestant decides to think outside the box - something that Grant notes he has been doing a lot since he's been on the show - and answers, "Fabric". It gets a strike. What really makes it funny is Grant being Late to the Punchline to realise he had Spotlight stores in mind.
- One episode has Grant talking to a contestant mid-round about a past experience (which apparently ended up on YouTube) when he attempted to start a Mexican Wave at a basketball game, which petered out after the first lap of the stadium. Later in the round, Grant does a hilarious imitation of Derek trying to start the wave. To this, Derek retorts, "Very close to that, but just a bit more height," (in reference to Grant being frequently towered over by contestants, which himself has joked about). It gets a noticeably shocked reaction from the studio audience and his family, and a feigned Death Glare from Grant, who then proceeds to start a more successful wave in said studio audience.
- "Name something that uses wire." The first contestant, Helen, buzzes in and answers "A stage," rather awkwardly trying to explain that you need wire to connect microphones to the stage. It gets a strike, the opposing player get it right, then passer it over to the first one. Helen gets a turn and again answers, "A microphone", slightly more confidently. It gets laughter from the audience, and a strike. And then, in a later round, the question is "Name something you plug in," and then Helen again answers "A microphone". She immediately winces at it, Grant facepalms, and then her teammate starts clapping and saying "Good answer!" At this point Grant grabs said teammate's hands and forces them down on the desk, before shouting, both at the team and the studio audience, "Stop clapping! Stop clapping, it was not a good answer! Helen, you cannot say 'microphone' for every question!"
- "Name a type of frame." Somehow the answers that came out were "story", "car" and the best one "chicken."
- "Name something you do to get your partner's attention." "Take your clothes off." Grant's reaction is hilarious, as is the fact that the answer got eight points, while the first contestant's answer, "Say their name", got seven.
- "What's another word for 'throw'?" "Pass." Grant starts asking the question again before the contestant tells him that it was the answer.
- The TV Hosts vs Newsreaders episode of All Star Family Feud was hilarious from start to finish. Highlights include:
- Grant acting like a massive fanboy over the TV Hosts for the entire hour and utterly squeeing whenever he had to interact with Tony Barber.note
- At one point Grant asks Tony if he can recreate his famous "entry" into the studio a la Tony's entrance on Sale of the Century. Tony not only obliges, but then gets Grant to do the same.
- Repeated jokes around Tony and Grant comparing heights.
- During Fast Money, Grant is about to read the last two answers to Kerri-Anne Kennerley when Tony proceeds to call out Grant for stalling, then cuts in. He starts also stalling, resulting in Glenn Ridgenote taking over, then John Burgessnote cuts in and takes over from Glenn!
- Just the fact that three out of four of the TV Hosts team were former Game Show hosts and had now come full circle being contestants on a game show is hilarious in and of itself.
- "Name something that would help you decide whether to see a movie or not." One answer given is the shooting location. Grant then proceeds to mock the answer:Grant: Aw, this movie was shot in Canada! I'm not gonna watch that!
Contestant: Actually, I'm Canadian. - "Name something you do that might make you famous." Contestant Leigh, with his left hand near the buzzer (and his right hand behind his back), proceeds to hit the buzzer with his right hand and still beats his opponent! Crosses over with Awesome Moments.Grant: He'd used the hand that was furthest away from the buzzer!... Not the hand that was next to the buzzer!... To go "BAM"!!! (to Leigh) I like you.
- Grant's favorite outtake ever: One elderly contestant gives an answer before buzzing in.
- Returning contestant Jake misses the buzzer again.
- One contestant hits the buzzer pretty hard, twice.Grant: (hits the buzzer hard twice as well) DIE, BUTTON! DIE!!!
- This Fast Money attempt.Grant: Name something you associate with a sailor.Tiff: "Ahoy!"Grant: (later) Name something you associate with motorbikes.Tiff: "Brooom!"
Canadian version
- One Fast Money question asks for a planet bigger than Earth. The first contestant says "The Moon" and the second says "The Sun". These answers get four and six points, respectively.
- "Name a song that every little kid knows." "Baby Shark." Gerry Dee doesn't think it's worth anything, only to be proven wrong when it scores 11 points.Gerry: I'll give you that one!
- "Name a decade oldies music comes from." The first contestant answers "The '80s", to which Gerry says, "You just offended everyone in my generation." He scores seven points. The second contestant duplicates this answer, and then says "The '90s" which gets zero points.
- In a sudden death question, two contestants were asked what Popeye’s favorite food is. The first contestant, assuming the Popeyes food chain, says "Chicken!!!", which causes Gerry to facepalm himself, the remaining family members to wince in horror with one Oh, Crap!, and the contestant taking a Delayed Reaction. Even better, the contestant assumed she got it right at first, to the point of doing a victory dance only to realize her mistake.
Home Games
- If a CPU family on the NES version wins the game, Fast Money is not played. The next screen has a message reading "Due to [excuse], the [CPU family]s will not be playing Fast Money today". Excuses include "family obligations", "tax considerations" and "a birth in the family".
- The SNES version had a rather, shall we say, "forgiving" text parser: basically, it only checks to see if your guess has all the letters that one of the board answers has. This allows players to get away with putting in all sorts of crap, from Word-Salad Humor to Refuge in Audacity, into the parser and have it counted right (for example, "I BATHED KEANU REEVES" registers as "_ BA____ KE___ R_____"). Best demonstrated by this tool-assisted speedrun.
- Upon completing the 2000 PlayStation game, the player is treated to an FMV of Louie Anderson dancing.
- One question on the Game Boy Advance version asks "Name something Charlie Brown might do." One of the AI contestants answers with "Snoopy."
- In the 2020 game of Family Feud, it is possible to get a few possible answers to let the host quip a few secretive things, including:
- Name a large breed of dog. Poodle. (“A well-fed poodle perhaps… an obese poodle!”)
- Name something you get every Valentine's Day. Nothing. (The host then quips he invited his wife to a game of 8-ball pool)
- Name something you keep losing more than once. Husband/Wife. (He mentions he stopped losing count after his third divorce)
- Name a type of pain you want relief from. Relationship. (He quips his wife is called Miss Right, but fails to know her first name was always.)
- Name something you’d find out about a date that would make you cancel. Ugly. (He then tells the player that he should be ugly for one day… but he says it sucks.)
- Name something that can cause a lot of damage to a home. Toddler/Child. (He states that he was looking forward to when his children were grown up so he could destroy their stuff as well)
