The Family Game

Hosts
Bob Barker (1967) Jeff MacGregor (1986)
Announcers
Scott Beach Johnny Jacobs (sub) Roy Rowan Bob Hilton (1986 Pilot)
Broadcast
ABC Daytime: 6/19/1967 – 12/15/1967 Unsold Pilot for ABC and CBS: 6/14/1986
Packager
Chuck Barris Productions

1967 SERIES OPENING SPIEL:

"From Hollywood, it's The Family Game! Now, let's meet our families for today: (Family #1/#2/#3 are the) (insert name of the family and funny fact). Those are our families for today. And now, here's our host, the star of The Family Game, Bob Barker!"

1986 PILOT OPENING SPIEL:

"SINGERS: Its a father, and a mother, and a sister and a brother. It's a family, It's a game! It's a Family Game!
BOB HILTON: And, here's the host of The Family Game, Jeff MacGregor!"

The Family Game was a short-lived family game show similar to The Newlywed Game also produced by Chuck Barris.

Gameplay[]

1967 Version[]

Three family teams of four, consisting of the parents (Mom & Dad) and their two children (ages 6-11), competed in this short-lived game show. Just like in The Newlywed Game, their objective was to match their answers and score points.

Round 1[]

In Round 1, the younger kids were asked three questions while their parents were off stage. The parents returned and the mothers responded to the same questions. Each match was worth 10 points.

Round 2[]

In Round 2, the parents left the stage again; only this time older kids were asked four questions. When the parents came back, the fathers tried to match their kids answers on the first three questions, then later both parents tried to match on the final question which was a bonus question. The first three questions were worth 15 points, and the bonus question was worth 25 points.

The family with the most points at the end of the game (out of a possible 100) were the winners and won a grand prize.

1986 Pilot[]

A pilot for a revival was taped in 1986 for ABC and CBS with Jeff MacGregor (future host of The Dating Game, more specifically, The All-New Dating Game [1987-88] who replaced Elaine Joyce at the time) as host, but both networks turned it down as CBS was about to give back the 4pm time slot to its affiliates and was working on a new soap opera project from William Bell producer/creator of The Young and the Restless and ABC chose to go with the Bob Stewart game show Double Talk.

While the basic elements were still there (including the point values being unchanged from the original), the overall gameplay was tweaked for this version:

Round 1 had two questions: the first had the older kids predicting what the fathers would say, and the second had the younger kids predicting what the mothers would say.
Round 2 had three questions, with the younger kids predicting how their mothers would answer the first question, the older kids predicting how their fathers would answer the second, and both kids predicting how both parents would answer the third (partitions were placed between both generations for this final segment).

With these changes, the maximum possible score for one family was only 75 points, but still, the day's top-scoring family won the grand prize.

Merchandise[]

A board game was released by Hasbro in 1967.

Tickets[]

Production Slate for 1986 Pilot[]

Trivia[]

Geoff Edwards was originally hired to host The Family Game but was replaced by producer/creator Chuck Barris before the pilot was shot; however, when ABC picked up the show as a series, Bob Barker was hired to host.

The show (1967 version), and a recreation of its set, makes a brief appearance in the 2002 film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, based on Chuck Barris' book of the same name.

International Version[]

Although the MacGregor version didn't sell in America, two years later, it eventually aired in Italy as Cari Genitori (Dear Parents) from 1988 to 1992. It originally aired on Canale 5 (Channel 5) from September 12, 1988 until January 4, 1991, before moving to Rete 4 (Retequattro/Network 4) on January 7, 1991 until its end on June 27, 1992. This version had the distinction of having a female emcee instead of a male one: The first three seasons were hosted by Enrica Bonaccorti from 1988 until 1991, who was replaced by the late Sandra Milo from 1991 until 1992 for the final season.

Unlike in America, all three families stayed for a whole week Monday through Saturday. Also, each day alternated with the kids predicting the parents' answers on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with the roles reversed on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Each matched answer was worth 500,000 lira (€258.23), and the family with the most money at the end of the week was the winner and kept their earnings.

Studio[]

ABC Television Center, Los Angeles, CA

Links[]

The Family Game at Board Game Geek

YouTube Videos[]

A full episode from 1967 (end-of-game prize reveal and closing credits missing):
Part 1
Part 2

1986 Pilot
Full Pilot