Family Fortunes

Family Fortunes was first hosted by comedian Bob Monkhouse (1980–1983), then by singer and entertainer Max Bygraves (1983–1984). The show returned on 27 June 1987 with Les Dennis as presenter, and remained on air for the next 15 years. It was then moved to a daily daytime slot, hosted by Andy Collins. It no longer had a studio audience, instead using canned applause.

The most well-known aspects of the show are the large computer screen (named "Mr Babbage" by original host Bob Monkhouse) and the famous computerised sound used when wrong answers are given. The computer screen name, "Mr Babbage", was in recognition of the English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer Charles Babbage, who originated the concept of a programmable computer. During the Monkhouse and Bygraves era, the board was also used to show the closing credits at the end of the episode. In 1987, a completely different board was used for the first Dennis series, but a board similar to the original Mr Babbage one (using flip discs instead) was used from the following year.

Two family teams, each consisting offive members, are asked to guess the results of surveys in which 100 people would be asked open-ended questions (e.g. "we asked 100 people to name something associated with the country Wales" or "we asked 100 people to name a breed of dog"). Although rarely acknowledged in the programme, the 100 people surveyed are invariably audience members who have volunteered before the show or the families themselves who would be asked questions for the next series.[4]

Each round begins with a member of each family (in rotation, meaning all players do this at least once) approaching the podium. As the question is read, the first of the two nominees to hit a buzzer gives an answer. If this is not the most popular answer, the other nominee is asked. The family with the more popular answer then chooses whether to "play" the question, or "pass" control to the other family.

The host then passes down the line of the controlling team, asking for an answer from each member. After each answer, the board reveals whether it features. If not, or if they can not come up with an answer in time, the family loses a life; the family loses control of the board if they lose three lives in the round. If a family manages to come up with all the survey answers before losing three lives, they win the amount in pounds of the total number of people who had given the answers. Losing a life is marked with an X on the board accompanied by a buzzer.

If a family strikes out, the opponent is given the chance to "steal" by coming up with an answer that may be among those missing. Only the head family member (the first family member, the designated captain) may give the answer after consultation. If the answer is present, this family wins the round and is said to have "stolen" the money; otherwise, the family that played the board keeps the money.

On celebrity specials, each top answer added a bonus of £200 (later £250) to that family's charity.

The top cash prize in "Big Money" during the first series (1980) was £1,000. From the second series (1981), the prize started at £1,000, then rose by £500 weekly if no one won, to a limit of £3,000 (£2,500 from 1981 to 1982) which it could stay at for more than one week if it still was not won. Once won, it reverted to £1,000 for the next edition. In the 1987 series, it started at £1,000, and if not won, rose by £1,000 per week to a maximum of £3,000. From the 1988 series, the prize was fixed at £3,000. After the abolition of the IBA's prize limits, the top prize rose to £5,000 from 1996. The money had to be shared out between contestants.

The bonus star prize was always a family car between 1994 and 1998. From 1998 to 2002, contestants had the choice of either the car or a holiday for up to twelve people. The car suppliers were Honda in 1994, SEAT in 1995 and Daewoo between 1996 and 2002. On the all-star specials, scoring 200 points along with all five top responses donated £5,000 to both teams.

During the programme's brief daytime run in 2002, the prize values were reduced significantly. If the contestants scored over 200 points, they won £1,000 and if they found 5 top answers, it was increased to £3,000. (As with the previous prizes, the £3,000 could only be won 'if the family scored 200+ points.)

On the 2020 revival, 200 points wins £10,000 which would be tripled to £30,000 if both contestants named all of the top answers.

From the second series in 1981 onwards, spot prizes were available in the main game, turning up seemingly at random when certain answers were found.

All Star Family Fortunes
Genre	Game show
Presented by	Vernon Kay
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	11
No. of episodes	126 (inc. 1 special)
Production
Production location	The London Studios
Running time	45 minutes (2006–2010, 2013–2014) 60 minutes (2011–2012, 2015)
Production companies	Talkback Thames (2006–2011) Thames (2012–2015)
Distributor	Fremantle
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	16:9: SDTV (2006–2010) 16:9: HDTV (2010–2015)
Original release	28 October 2006 (2006-10-28) – 14 June 2015 (2015-06-14)

A celebrity revival of the show presented by Vernon Kay began airing on 28 October 2006 and ended on 14 June 2015 after its eleventh series.

International versions

Country	Local name	Host	Network	Air date
Australia	All Star Family Feud	Grant Denyer	Network Ten	2016–2018
Belgium	Familieraad (2014)	Chris Van den Durpel	vtm	2014
Germany	Familien-Duell - Prominenten-Special	Daniel Hartwich	RTL	2013
Ghana	Family Feud Ghana	Steve Harvey	TV3 Ghana	2020–present
Indonesia	New Famili 100	Tukul Arwana	Indosiar	2013
South Africa	Family Feud South Africa	Steve Harvey		2020–present
United States	Celebrity Family Feud	Al Roker	NBC	2008
		Steve Harvey	ABC	2015–present

• Family Fortunes at IMDb
• Family Misfortunes at IMDb
• Family Fortunes at BFI
• Family Fortunes at UKGameshows.com