# Richard Dawson - sexual harrasment? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313 "2005-04-14T17:16:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/1 "2005-04-14T17:16:52Z")
I’ve been watching alot of Family Feud on GSN lately, and couldn’t help but notice the affection Richard Dawson gives to almost every female contestant. One episode I watched, he was almost trying to makeout with one of the women. It’s my opinion that if he tried this today, after one or two episodes he’d be fired, or have a lawsuit on his hands. I’m just curious, though. Were there ever any complaints about him? Was he ever taken to court over sexual harrasment? Or did everyone just view it as good clean fun with a famous game show host? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/2 "2005-04-14T17:19:31Z")
Dude, women are DRAWN to The Dawson!!! He’s not harassing anyone, he’s blessing them. Haven’t you ever seen the Match Game? rawr 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/3 "2005-04-14T17:42:02Z")
Dawson returned to the show (much older and much fatter) for a year from 1994-95, 9 years after his first tenure ended. He was no longer able to kiss the ladies due strictly to the sexual harassment standards incorporated in the Ray Combs interrim. He wasn’t happy with it and the network wasn’t happy with him (he had promised to lose 40 pounds before he resumed his tenure and in fact gained a few pounds) and the show ended (later brought back under Louie Anderson). (Combs didn’t kiss women but he did like to try on their shoes- he was fired because he was becoming increasingly paranoid and high-maintenance [later going off the deep end altogether and hanging himself in a mental institution]). ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/4 "2005-04-14T17:49:18Z")
I never thought of it as “sexual harrassment.” I thought of it as “drunken game-show host lurves the ladies.” I probably would have popped him one if he’d tried to slobber all over me, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/5 "2005-04-14T19:13:10Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > He wasn’t happy with it and the network wasn’t happy with him (he had promised to lose 40 pounds before he resumed his tenure and in fact gained a few pounds) and the show ended (later brought back under Louie Anderson). Which says to me that it wasn’t Dawson’s weight that the network had an issue with… ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/6 "2005-04-14T19:18:42Z")
Family Feud has a long history of sexually unappealing hosts. I never understood the appeal of Richard Dawson. Not on FF, not on Match Game, not on Hogan’s Heroes. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/7 "2005-04-14T19:32:57Z")
Yet supposedly he was one of Hollywood’s biggest horndogs in his day. He was a swinging bachelor for many years after his divorce (he actually introduced Bob Crane to John Carpenter, the guy who set him up with the kinky video equipment) and was always squiring one or more beautiful much younger starlets on his arm. He settled down in his early fifties with a 19 year old he met when she was a contestant on the show; they’ve since married and they live on an upscale houseboat with their kids. (Dawson’s son and daughter-in-law were executive producers of _Feud_ toward the end, incidentally.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/8 "2005-04-14T19:37:23Z")
My aunt recalls hiring him to sing on the U.S.A.F. base officer’s club her husband managed in the 50s, incidentally. At that time he was ‘Dickie Dawson’ and a Sinatra wannabe. His greatest fame in England was for becoming Mr. [Diana Dors](http://www.hollywoodpinup.com/actress_scenes/diana_dors/image/ddsc5.jpg) in 1959. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/9 "2005-04-14T19:41:35Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Family Feud has a long history of sexually unappealing hosts. You mean you didn’t find Richard “Al” Karn the least bit huggly-snuggly during his plaid-wearing sensitive caring handyman _Home Improvement_ days? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/10 "2005-04-14T19:55:06Z")
We watched the show growing up as a family, but my Mom vetoed any hope of us ever auditioning to appear because of the prospect of her having to kiss R.D. (though, curiously, my sister never vocalized any objection). ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/11 "2005-04-14T20:39:02Z")
The story I’m surprised **Sampiro** didn’t post… Near the end of his tenure on _Match Game_, Dawson ended up becoming a major-league a@@#($\* (the reasons I’ve seen for this are highly contradictory, but they tend to include a beef he had with the show’s producers). Anyway, as a result of his off-screen (and, if you pay close attention, on-screen) behavior, Mark Goodson vowed that, as long as he was alive, he would never hire Dawson again. As a result, while Dawson was able to complete his run on _Family Feud_, he was, for all practical purposes, blackballed by the entire industry, and didn’t return to hosting until 1994- two years after Goodson’s death. (On-topic, I agree with **Otto** in failing to understand Dawson’s appeal, sexually or otherwise.) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/12 "2005-04-14T21:51:08Z")
He was the host of the First World Trivia Championship held on the University of Colorado campus back in the early '70s. His humor was scatological, sexist, mean spirited and his approaches to the co-eds were none-too-subtle. Before the event, those of us involved thought we had really landed something by getting him as the MC. At the end, we couldn’t get him out of there quick enough. That being said, I want you to notice he was an equal opportunity kisser. He was kissing black, Hispanic and Asian women (and girls) on air when no other show would even think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/13 "2005-04-14T22:02:37Z")
He also kissed Vicky Lawrence on an episode of _Mama’s Family_ (though no tongue). I seem to remember Fannie Flagg saying that he hit on some of the _Match Game_ panelists. I don’t know if she was included (or if it was known to the others that she was gay) but if so he had good taste (I’ve always thought she was sexy). ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/14 "2005-04-14T23:25:28Z")
Eh. If he were doing it to the interns and the camera women, it would have been one thing. But the guy gave a kiss to the female contestants. Big deal! They could be uggos, fatties, hairlipped, in their 90’s. Dawson didn’t care. He’d pucker up. That’s class. The world is probably better because executives aren’t slapping their secretaries asses, but I wish we could still live in a world where this wouldn’t be an issue. (No slam on the OP. I think he is quite correct that this would be a no no by modern culture). But, when you watch the old FF reruns, it is fun to see if the contestant is into the kiss. Almost ALWAYS, the female contestant is grabbing over the table before Dawson moves down to greet them. Dawson. Whatta man! ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/15 "2005-04-14T23:37:35Z")
Slight hijack here, but the man had charisma. And perhaps more importantly I’d say he was the best damn Match Game player ever. My old roommate and I used to flip on GSN to watch match game after work every day and our rule was it didn’t matter who got more matches, you just had to match Dickie D. Best thing ever was in the SuperMatch when he’d show the contestant crossed fingers and say “I’m rootin’ for you darlin’”. Coolest. Guy. Ever. sorry for the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![AveDementia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/16 "2005-04-14T23:43:08Z")
Actually, thats not true. I know of at least one incident where he refused to kiss a fat woman who puckered up for him. He made a scene of shaking her hand instead, and of course the audience howled with laughter. I’d give a sympathetic “how humiliating” but its seriously hard to be sympathetic to anyone who would pucker up for him. Ick. I remember my Grandma and her friends thought he was the coolest, but just yuck, it didn’t even seem to me (even in my total lack of experience at kissing) that he would be a good kisser. It was all so juicy, lip-smacky, and wet sounding. **revulsion** Plus he looked like he smelled bad. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/17 "2005-04-15T00:08:52Z")
> [@AveDementia](#): > > Plus he looked like he smelled bad. I’m sure the alcohol fumes masked any unpleasant body smells (if there were any). ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/18 "2005-04-15T00:48:13Z")
Wasn’t there a celebrity episode where Dawson kissed all the men instead? ---
**Author:** ![AveDementia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/19 "2005-04-15T04:12:34Z")
> [@Mauvaise](#): > > I’m sure the alcohol fumes masked any unpleasant body smells (if there were any). I think the alcohol fumes would _be_ the unpleasant body smells. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313/20 "2005-04-15T04:28:22Z")
> [@AveDementia](#): > > I think the alcohol fumes would _be_ the unpleasant body smells. I don’t know … I’ve smelled some pretty unpleasant bodies. I can only think that a generous splash or 249 of booze would have helped. 😉 and :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-dawson-sexual-harrasment/299313.md?page=2)