# Is there any gameshow on TV dumber than "Family Feud"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** reality-or-game-show\ **Created:** [October 25, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133 "2026-10-25T00:21:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/1 "2026-10-25T00:21:25Z")
Unfortunately, a couple of other people in the household love the show. Two simple things to remember that families on the show forget constantly: 1. Steve is not asking what _your_ favorite (fill in the blank) is. He is asking you what you think _audience members_ say _their_ favorite (fill in the blank) is. If you think something would be a stupid answer but you are pretty sure the typical audience member would think it would be a most marvy answer, swallow your damn pride and give the latter answer. 2. If you aren’t the first person in line, then you have had more than enough time to think of a possible answer and you have no reason at all to act like the question caught you completely by surprise…like the idiot woman I just saw. She was third in line to answer the exact same question Steve asked the first two people, “What is something you can buy, but you can also make at home.” When it was her turn she acted like she never heard the question before, was totally and absolutely shocked, _shocked, I tells ya_, and yells out “Uh, uh…STEVE MCQUEEN!”. Yes, I understand that sometimes people get a bit flustered, but this happens far too often for that to be an excuse. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/2 "2026-10-25T00:29:43Z")
I’ve seen Steve gently chide players for not paying attention. They should be focused on the question and which answers were already used. Instead their just standing there in a daze. I’ve noticed the poll answers are getting more unpredictable. Answers that seem obvious aren’t listed. Sometimes even Steve will say wow in disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/3 "2026-10-25T00:34:57Z")
The whole point of the show is to give Steve an excuse to mug and roll his eyes. Extra “funny” if it’s risque. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/4 "2026-10-25T00:39:49Z")
With the exception of a few shows like _Jeopardy!_, most game shows are intended to be easy enough that the home audience can feel smart – probably smarter than the contestants – as they watch. And, yeah, _Family Feud_, like the old 1970s _Match Game_, has always traded on double-entendres and pushing the envelope on flirting and dirty humor. It’s part of why fans like it. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/5 "2026-10-25T00:42:19Z")
_Family Feud_ is a pretty dumb gameshow, but IMO _Wheel of Fortune_ is dumber. It’s basically Hangman. I will say, though, that “NAKED GRANDMA!” ranks up there as one of the best unscripted lines in the history of television. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/6 "2026-10-25T00:58:43Z")
“Let’s Make a Deal” is pretty hard to beat for Dumb. Hey? Did you know that word has a “B” in it? Most people don’t know that… ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/7 "2026-10-25T01:00:40Z")
It’s insanely stupid to the point that they almost must be coached to act like dingbats. The hosts fake apoplexy when an obvious risque answer to a leading question happens makes it completely unwatchable. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/8 "2026-10-25T01:13:05Z")
My immediate thought was **Match Game**. My second thought was **Hollywood Squares**. Even **Jeopardy** is just a bunch of random trivia questions that aren’t as hard as the ones on the old **[College Bowl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Bowl#)**. And Jeopardy has an embarrassing number of games when contestants don’t get to the final round, and when no one gets Final Jeopardy right. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/9 "2026-10-25T01:13:50Z")
Wheel of fortune is interesting. Watching it, it seems like a fast moving interesting (within parameters) game. But I’ve played it on Wii, and I gotta tell ya, if you’re playing it, it’s slow and frustrating. You just sit there, waiting for your turn, and you can’t do a thing! You can’t buzz in, you can’t “score on defense”, you just sit. Triply annoying when you are playing against the machine for both other players! ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/10 "2026-10-25T01:17:51Z")
Family Feud seems to be on all the time, on one channel or another. I refuse to watch it. Ever. But I do watch Wheel and Jeopardy. Religiously. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/11 "2026-10-25T01:22:32Z")
Most modern game shows (especially those on Fox, but they aren’t the lone offender) are stupid, much more so than The Feud, which is at least entertaining. But the worst vintage game probably was You’re In The Picture, which was so bad the next week Jackie Gleason apologized on camera for it. And even for a modern show, 2008s Hurl! tosses it cookies into the ring and wins. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/12 "2026-10-25T02:01:40Z")
Newlywed Game? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/13 "2026-10-25T02:14:02Z")
What’s the one with the 50 briefcases, one of which has a big prize in it? Say what you will for Family Feud, but at least there’s a skill to it. A show that’s pure luck, where they pretend like the luck has some skill to it, is the absolute epitome of stupid. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/14 "2026-10-25T02:16:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What’s the one with the 50 briefcases, one of which has a big prize in it? _Deal or No Deal_. It seems like it’s a higher-stakes version of _Let’s Make a Deal_, only without the high camp. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/15 "2026-10-25T02:18:57Z")
That’s “Deal or No Deal.” Yeah, it’s just luck. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/16 "2026-10-25T02:46:33Z")
I’ve seen a couple of reboots of _ **Split Second** _, but they weren’t nearly as fast-paced as the original with Tom Kennedy back in the early '70s. That iteration always had me on the edge of my seat in suspense. Just once I’d like to see the host of _ **Hollywood Squares** _ ask a contestant “Why?” when they agree or disagree with a celebrity’s answer. The syndicated version of _ **Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?** _ was so dumbed down for the American audience that I finally quit watching it in disgust. I didn’t waste any time on the recent network.reboot either. The British version of _ **The Chase** _ is much better than the American one, largely because its host isn’t a blonde bimbo with cute tits. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/17 "2026-10-25T03:00:34Z")
I get a cable channel that shows old game shows, mostly from the 1970s, but a few from the 1960s and 1980s. Maybe one or two newer than that. Some were good. **Match Game '7X** was pretty much a quip delivery vehicle for celebrities of the day, with the game almost being secondary. Still, it was quite entertaining. Fun Fact: Kirstie Alley was a contestant before she became known as a celebrity; I saw her appearance. She didn’t win. But some! I still don’t know the rules of **Card Sharks** , and I’m unsure if **Sale of the Century** even had any kind of bonus round. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/18 "2026-10-25T03:14:42Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Newlywed Game? Two instances stand out in the rare occasions when I actually watched this idiot-fest: (1) When asked “What’s something you do that really annoys your wife?” a good-ole Southern boy said “Ah like t’sit down in th’ bathtub an’ pick mah toes. Yep, Ah jus’ sit down an’ pick mah toes.” (2) When asked “What is your husband’s favorite thing to imbibe?” the first answer was “Football.” The second answer, from a woman who actually knew what “imbibe” means, was “Scotch.” The third answer, from a woman obviously torn between the two possibilities, was a hesitant “Football?” And the fourth answer, from a woman as dumb as Nos. 1 and 3, was an emphatic “Football.” When No. 1’s husband came on and answered “Oh, scotch, I guess,” his wife hit him over the head with her card and said “You don’t even know what it means!” ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/19 "2026-10-25T03:17:01Z")
The answers are actually collected by an outside polling company and not audience member opinions. I’m amused that many don’t use the “one answer sudden death” strategy of ringing in as fast as you can and then thinking of the answer a half second later. If you wait the extra second for the obvious answer to occur to you before hitting the buzzer you’ve already lost. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133/20 "2026-10-25T03:21:42Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Fun Fact: Kirstie Alley was a contestant before she became known as a celebrity; I saw her appearance. Young and unknown Farrah Fawcett was a bachelorette on _ **The Dating Game** _, long before she had that elaborate hairdo. I think Kirstie may have been on it too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gameshow-on-tv-dumber-than-family-feud/1034133.md?page=2)