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What’s the Dumbest TV You Watch? I’ll Tell You Mine
Do you watch any television shows that you’d be embarrassed to let people know you watch? Since I use an alias here at Ricochet, I’ll boldly come out and tell you one of mine, Family Feud. Yes, the insipid game show which began on the networks and moved to syndication and has been around since the invention of the cathode tube (or more precisely 1976).
I know what you’re thinking, Family Feud makes even The Voice look like a part of the Golden Age of Television. But I have my reasons. They may not be good reasons, but what excuse did you have for watching Downton Abbey after the death of Matthew? (Sorry, spoilers.)
But let me explain myself and perhaps you’ll feel a little better about your mindless viewing. Anyway, here is what I find interesting about this particular piece of real estate in the vast wasteland.
- It’s a game show where it might hurt your chances as a contestant if you’re smart. I find this fascinating. Since the answers on the show are culled from a survey of random Americans, it’s best to be of average intelligence. Any brilliant single is tossed, but the stupidest answer agreed upon by two people will be on the board. In the initial showdowns between families, you need to think of the most popular answer. Which means if you have the puzzle Homer ________ , “Homer Simpson” will beat “Homer’s Iliad” every time, just as “Marion Anderson” doesn’t a chance against “Pamela Anderson” for a guess on female entertainers. Even more amazing, you might need to come up with a factually incorrect answer, such as “Whale” in answer to “Name a big fish.”
The changing hosts say something about our time. I’m not really sure what it says about our changing times, but it’s something. Can you imagine Richard Dawson trying to kiss every female contestant on the lips these days? (He must have spent too much time with Bob Crane.) Ray Combs sadly took his own life after his 1988 to 1994 run, so that might not speak well of those years. Louie Anderson was hired during the whole Clinton/Lewinsky thing, which somehow seems about right. Next came Richard Karn (Al Borland from Home Improvement) and then John O’Hurley (Seinfeld’s Mr. Peterman). Now the show finally has its first non-white guy, Steve Harvey. Again, I’m not sure what these changes mean, but surely a thesis paper or two could be written about them.
- The really dumb rituals. The audience reads aloud the answers when they are revealed. The audience also shouts in unison the largest prize winnings, “twenty thousand dollars!” Best of all is the handshakes between family members before each round. There is something reassuring about feuds that start with handshakes.
- You can watch the show in Spanish. If you are willing to travel, you can watch the show in many other languages as countries throughout the world have adapted the show for their cultures. This can be very helpful for your language studies. But here in the U.S. of A., you can watch on Español channels. (Sadly, the prize winnings are less on the Spanish language networks.)
- Family Feud has provided good fodder for other TV shows. In the early days of Saturday Night Live, there was a great skit with John Belushi was a Family Feud contestant whose only answer to every question was “Chicken Necks.” I believe Steve Martin played his farmer father who could think of nothing but romaine lettuce. On SNL, they continue to do skits about the show with Kenan Thompson playing Steve Harvey. There is also a great episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia where the gang plays on the game show “Family Fight.”
- It had (and has) a home version of the game. Sure they have computer and DVD versions. But the one you want is the classic old edition with the plastic sliders with the cards with red ink that was hidden by red plastic. If you find a game in good condition, I’m sure it could make you good money on Antiques Roadshow.
- More interesting polling questions. Wouldn’t you rather have a pollster ask you about your favorite red food or annoying things husbands do than who you’d vote for Lieutenant Governor?
- Really dumb answers. For instance, when someone was asked to name something in an operating room, a contestant answered, “An operator.” This in itself makes viewing worthwhile. Or when a person answers “Nixon” or “Adolf” when the question is to name one of Santa’s reindeer. Or when the question is to name a three-letter animal and they answer “frog” or “alligator.” (Though I guess it is true both of those words have three letters, and then some.) Not surprisingly, there is a constant stream of internet posts about dumb answers on the show.
- You can do most any chore while the show is playing. You can fold laundry and not worry about having any trouble following the plot. It seems the show is always one of the choices at the gym in front of the exercise bikes and I’d certainly choose it over CNN every time.
- But I have a much more personal reason to think fondly of the show. About 35 years ago, my father had a stroke. He was in the hospital and most of the time he wasn’t very responsive. But for some reason, when Family Feud came on (still the Dawson years), he perked up. I hadn’t remembered the show being a particular favorite of his before the stroke (he tended to turn the channel to any sport available, up to and including bowling). But during those long days and nights in the hospital, it was a joy to see him liven up and try to answer a question about favorite dog breeds according to 100 people surveyed. My dad recovered and enjoyed many active years before passing away in 2003. Maybe this is the only real reason I stop at Family Feud when I’m flipping channels and have difficulty shutting it off until after the fast money round.
Richard Dawson met his wife on the show. She was a college girl there with her family at the time.
I liked Match Game for similar reasons. The job wasn’t to come up with the best answer, but to match those six stars on the panel.
Of course, the best part of Match Game was counting the number of “stars” who were most famous for being on Match Game.
I’m not embarrassed:
For a while, I watched Full Throttle Saloon, a reality (i.e. scripted) show about the world’s largest biker bar.
I also watched The Smoking Gun, which featured “World’s Dumbest” videos of stupid people doing stupid things (made me feel smart).
I like the show, too, and it runs almost 24/7 on GSN. We rarely watch it intentionally, but it is a fun show to have on when the family is milling about doing their own things. Like you say, it is not too distracting, but we all compete to guess the remaining answers.
I don’t watch much TV, (though I must acknowledge that some would cite WWE, which I do watch, as pretty dumb) but I determined a while back that Expendables 2 was pretty much right at my limit for movies.
Good Answer! Good answer!! [loud, continuous clapping …]
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
I actually enjoy the last three minutes of a Family Feud episode, where they do the lighting round or bonus round or whatever they call it. You can play along, and you don’t have to listen to Steve Harvey babbling as much. The rest of the show is bleh.
This really is embarrassing and I wouldn’t tell if I used my real name. I watch Million Dollar Listing. Maybe because it’s the only way I’ll ever see the inside of very expensive homes. And I wouldn’t even want to live in 99.9% of them. The featured real estate guys are not even people I like or want to know. Maybe it’s like gawking at an accident on the roadside – thank goodness it’s not me.
My absolute favorite Family Feud had Cats in a list of herbivores. My husband was shocked. I pointed out that dried catfood kinds masks the carnivorous appetite of a cat.
I think an intelligent person can do it, but they have to be a social type, too. One that enjoys being around middling intellects enough to get a feel for what other people think.
Probably a challenge for the more intelligent.
I’m embarrassed to admit to liking just about anything in entertainment. All the people here are very Boomerish in their tastes of what is excellent and great that if I say I really enjoy the entertainment offerings since my college days to now, I’d be know to have horrifying taste. Kelly Clarkson won American Idol my Freshman year.
I like Christian music and stupid TV (by everyone’s standards but mine). I enjoy cake cooking shows, but my favorite show for a long time was Design on a Dime. So much I wanted to do until I figured out I really need thousands of $$ in woodworking tools and decent mastery to design on a “dime”.
My current guilty TV pleasure is the Fox sitcom LA to Vegas. It has no redeeming social content, but it’s very funny. One of those shows that from the pilot [no pun intended] I figured would be a one-joke show that would last four or five episodes. But that’s what I thought about Herman’s Head too, and that went three seasons.
LA to Vegas is a great show. It reminds me of the comedy of the Zucker brothers (e.g., Airplane). And it strikes another chord with me because when California forced my wife and I to flee the socialist dystopia, we moved from LA to Vegas.
I like watching basketball and yet I watch the NY Knicks.
Worse … I subject Mrs E to the Knicks too. I’m a bad man.
Z Nation, it’s schlocky as can be but it’s hilarious and I enjoy the 1 liners.
My family and I like Family Feud sometimes. My kids like Steve Harvey because he hosts that show Little Big Shots, which is a cute show. I guess my dumb show is I really love Storage Wars.
I really like Ultimate Beastmaster, on Netflix. I like watching people do feats of extraordinary athleticism. And, unlike American Ninja Warrior, somebody actually wins. Every time, not just once every 4 or 5 years.
The international hosts are pretty funny too. Each of the 6 nations represented has 2 announcers doing color commentary in their own language, and interacting occasionally with the other hosts. The Italian and French hosts were particularly entertaining in their national rivalry.
I don’t believe this would qualify as dumb TV, but I will be watching a sporting event (Blackhawks, White Sox, any Badger game, or any golf) and start channel surfing between commercials, then find myself checking in on the PBS Antiques Roadshow and never leave.
Is it time to hand in my man card?
No, not really. Just one correction – golf is not a sporting event.
We don’t watch hardly any TV these days, but when we first got cable (back when it fulfilled the promise of ‘something for everyone’). there was a channel devoted to horse training. One quote I remember was “any day you aren’t teaching your horse, he is going backwards”. I remember one episode that had to do with conditioning horses pulling carriages – think Amish- along roads with lots of traffic. Another was basically getting a horse into the van and then getting him off, then on, then off and so on. I watched that for hours.
These days, I guess the dumbest TV show we ‘watch’ we actually listen to via the CSPAN replay and that’s CNN’s Sunday talk show with Jake Tapper.
I watch Lifetime movies, about 50% of which involve either crazed nannies or crazed executive assistants. Many involve family feuds as well.
We love the Family Fued too. I think Harvey is the best host it has had.
Most of tv is kind of dumb, but I think we need that sometimes.
You didn’t even mention the best thing about Family Feud: the theme song!
Like the show it represents, while it’s not exactly good, it’s catchy, memorable, and strangely addictive…
Deja vu all over again …..
To consistently execute the fundamental golf swing requires athleticism. You can in fact be out of shape and still be a low handicapper. However, if you are going to compete at the higher levels of golf you put yourself at a distinct disadvantage if you are overweight and/or not in decent physical condition. Most of the professional golfers today employ a trainer and work out consistently.
At the recreational level carrying your bag for 18 is a pretty good calorie burn, and you will feel as if you walked a few miles depending on the course layout and how straight you hit it.
Judge Judy. For the smiting. COPS, for the hapless dissembling.
I thought that’s what golf carts were for. Driving those little carts is the only part that looks like fun to me…
The walking 18 was only a healthy alternative suggestion, I am actually a little cart guy.
Back in the day, I would occasionally watch the trashy day time talk shows. You know, Sally, Jerry, Maury etc. (not Oprah, as she tended to bore me) the shows had basically 2 themes “The Lady is a dude!” or “Whois Yer Daddy?” In retrospect I dont know if this helped my depression or caused it… Maybe once a month, I would find an afternoon to veg out with this stuff. (I didnt own a VCR back in those days)
I have never been a sitcom person (with the exception of “Big Bang Theory”) – which is where stupidity tends to metastasize on TV.
These days, the dumbest thing I watch now is Lucifer. Its now near the end of its 3rd season. The story line of the series, is that the Devil is tired of hell, and retires to Los Angeles, with his right-hand demon for support. The series begins with Lucifer getting caught up in a drive by shooting of a pop-diva, that Lucifer helped launch. It kinda falls into the Castle dynamic of an attractive lady detective, teaming up with a non-cop detective to solve crimes.
Most of the crimes they investigate are formulated paint-by numbers trash that have been seen on a dozen other detective shows already – they only serve as a back drop to divine combat between God and his angels (also Lucifer’s siblings) as they attempt to force the Devil back to hell.
meh. To someone who knows the bible well enough – the series probably is inaccurate enough to drive such a person nuts.
I forgot about Criminal Minds. In addition to focusing on some truly sick and violent (fictional) characters, it’s dumb. I am doing penance by admitting that I watched it a fair amount. It’s also a hit of many years running.
Yea, its amazing. So many interesting concepts fail, but this cheese keeps going.
I watched it for a few seasons, but then slowly gave up on it.
I guess there is no telling the tastes of the general public.
On a related issue, does the smashing success of Rosanne, make the executives jealous? They all assumed that audience fragmentation made these kind of ratings impossible.
Are they scrambling to try to create programing for fly over country?
Axe Cop. It’s literally written by a 5-year-old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oojl_D3qEw