On the heels of Steve Harvey being named the replacement for John O'hurley as host of "Family Feud', I ask, who was the best host other than Richard Dawson, who in my opinion was THE best?

Ray Combs wasnt bad. Sorry I know this is not what you asked, but I gotta say Dawson was the best host of that show.

I would say it's a toss up between Ray Combs and John O'Hurley.

Ray Combs easily.

I do like John O'hurley. So another host is coming to the show. How long has John done the show?

I can't see Steve Harvey doing the show. I saw him this spring filled in for Meredith Veira on Millionaire and I didn't care for him.

Combs wins this one easily.

I say Richard Karn. Never saw enough of the others to form an opinion.

I've watched tons of this show over many years. I thought all of them did a decent enough job. Here is how I would probably rank them:

1. Ray - possibly the best fit post-Dawson
2. John - smooth, also a great fit
3. Richard K. - enthusiastic and likeable
4. Louie - fun and pretty much at ease

Ray Combs, hands down.

Ray Combs wasnt bad. Sorry I know this is not what you asked, but I gotta say Dawson was the best host of that show.
I agree. Richard Dawson WAS/IS Family Feud. :nod:

I liked Ray Combs the most. John O'Hurley would be my second choice.

Ray Combs was the best of the rest. O'Hurley seems like he's overacting all the time. Richard Karn was likeable but did not ad-lib too well. Louie I never much cared for, although it was he who suggested and pushed for the $20,000 prize, so I give him Kudos for that. Ray was terrific, and the way he was pushed aside is very shameful to say the least.

I liked Ray Combs.

RIP.

Ray Combs was the best of the rest. O'Hurley seems like he's overacting all the time. Richard Karn was likeable but did not ad-lib too well. Louie I never much cared for, although it was he who suggested and pushed for the $20,000 prize, so I give him Kudos for that. Ray was terrific, and the way he was pushed aside is very shameful to say the least.
Yea I agree and Richard wasn't as good a host the second time around.

I liked Ray Combs.

RIP.
Was Ray Combs the one who killed himself? At first, I thought it was natural causes, but I may have him confused with Burt Convy.

Was Ray Combs the one who killed himself? At first, I thought it was natural causes, but I may have him confused with Burt Convy.
Yea Ray killed himself. :(

Yea Ray killed himself. :(
Thanks - I seem to remember ET or one of those shows doing a segment about him a few years ago. What a shame. :(

Ray Combs

The late Ray Coombs was great,and is sorely missed.John 0'Hurley was okay starting out,but got better-A LOT BETTER-as time wore on.Richard Karn was okay,but I didn't care for when he said at the beginning of the triiple round"But I'm only going to repeat this once,so listen up!"Anyone remember that he said that?(Coombs,0'Hurley and Anderson never did)Anyway,here are my choices for best host NOT named Richard Dawson.-1.the late Ray Coombs 2-John 0'Hurley (he will be sorely missed when he leaves next season and Steve Harvey takes over)3-Richard Karn and last 4-Louie Anderson

I agree that Dawson was the best FF host. Here's how I rate the others, from best to worst:

John O'Hurley
Ray Combs
Richard Karn
Al Roker (Prime time NBC version, 2008)
Louie Anderson - acted like he didn't want to be there

We'll see how Steve Harvey does in September.

My vote goes to Ray Combs (with Richard Karn coming in a close second).

Was Ray Combs the one who killed himself? At first, I thought it was natural causes, but I may have him confused with Burt Convy.

Yes, Ray was the one that committed suicide. It was actually the first time I learned what the meaning of death was (let alone suicide) because of that. Needless to say, that was not a good way to start the summer of 1996 for me.

other than richard dawson ray combs was the best

Ray Combs

Yes, Ray was the one that committed suicide. It was actually the first time I learned what the meaning of death was (let alone suicide) because of that. Needless to say, that was not a good way to start the summer of 1996 for me.
Awww...:(

Was Ray Combs the one who killed himself? At first, I thought it was natural causes, but I may have him confused with Burt Convy.
Bert Convy didn't die of natural causes either. He died from a brain tumor.

I can't see Steve Harvey doing the show. I saw him this spring filled in for Meredith Veira on Millionaire and I didn't care for him.I can't, either.I also saw the daytime version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"when he filled in for Meredith Viera and wasn't impressed by him,at all.John 0'Hurley ,as I said,will be sorely missed when he leaves the show.

I liked Ray Combs and Richard Karn (so does my grandmother). Couldn't stand Richard Dawson. Louie Anderson and John O'Hurley were okay.

[QUOTE=rrezny@usnetizen]I can't, either.I also saw the daytime version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"when he filled in for Meredith Viera and wasn't impressed by him,at all.John 0'Hurley ,as I said,will be sorely missed when he leaves the show.[/QUOTE they did a sketch on saturday night live where they poked fun at the way steve hosted millonaire

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In honor of the relaunch of our brand new site at www.gameshowgarbage.com, Robert Q. Seidelman and Jim Williams decided to do the unenviable task of ranking and listing all of the US Family Feud (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125219/http://www.jumptheshark.com/f/familyfeud.htm) Hosts. How does our list stack against yours?

Undoubtedly the late, great Ray Combs. 'Nuff said.

Ray Combs was much better than Richard Dawson. Dawson was an old geezer who creepily kissed strange women. I didnt hate him perse, and I watched the original show throughout my childhood and Dawson could be humourous and I think he geniunely liked people.

Combs was younger and more enthusiatic and brought more energy into the production. Combs was a tragic figure, he really was, he was a sitcom actor and comedian first. Dawson was also a sitcom actor but did Match Game after Hogan's Heroes and rightfully thought he would make a good game show host (and mostly he was).

Combs was such a tragic figure and I honestly believe Family Fued sort of ruined his career in many ways. He turned into a "game show host", was fired from Family Fued for low ratings and it was hard for him to get new jobs, since by then as well as now, there is really only Family Fued, Wheel of (Mis)Fortune and Jeoprady and the latter two jobs were locked up. Did some supermarket game show on a low rated channel and then his life turned horribly.

Then there were three other dudes who came and went who werent "game show host" material, and apparently Steve Harvey fit the right formula because he has been there for twenty years.

Ray Combs was much better than Richard Dawson. Dawson was an old geezer who creepily kissed strange women. I didn't hate him per se, and I watched the original show throughout my childhood and Dawson could be humorous and I think he genuinely liked people.

Combs was younger and more enthusiastic and brought more energy into the production. Combs was a tragic figure, he really was, he was a sitcom actor and comedian first. Dawson was also a sitcom actor but did Match Game after Hogan's Heroes and rightfully thought he would make a good game show host (and mostly he was).

Combs was such a tragic figure and I honestly believe Family Feud sort of ruined his career in many ways. He turned into a "game show host", was fired from Family Feud for low ratings and it was hard for him to get new jobs, since by then as well as now, there is really only Family Feud, Wheel of (Mis)Fortune and Jeopardy! and the latter two jobs were locked up. Did some supermarket game show on a low rated channel and then his life turned horribly.

Then there were three other dudes who came and went who weren't "game show host" material, and apparently Steve Harvey fit the right formula because he has been there for twenty years.



Interesting point, Yong Fang. It seems like the odds were already stacked against Ray Combs before he even videotaped his debut episode, let alone a test pilot, of Family Feud. Upon his hiring, critics and viewers alike had already started comparing Combs to his predecessor, a factor that stuck to Combs throughout his six-year tenure. Despite all the criticism and scrutiny, Combs managed to make Feud his own.

I believe the turning (and breaking) point arrived in the summer of '92 when CBS expanded the daytime incarnation of Feud from thirty minutes to a full hour by not only introducing the infamous Bullseye Round at the beginning of each episode but also by changing the title altogether (The Family Feud Challenge) in an ultimately futile attempt to improve its sagging daytime and nighttime ratings; Mark Goodson Productions also incorporated the Bullseye Round into the first-run syndicated nighttime episode as well (the first-run syndicated nighttime incarnation was simply retitled The New Family Feud) to avoid confusion with the daily CBS daytime edition).

Less than six months later, in December of '92, Mark Goodson succumbed to pancreatic cancer, a loss that destroyed Combs on both a professional and personal level...Goodson was one of the few people that had believed in and saw potential in Combs. Almost immediately after Goodson's death, his son Jonathan became the CEO of his father's company, and Jonathan Goodson was now saddled with improving Feud's rapidly dwindling ratings, which had slumped to an all-time low.

CBS yanked The Family Feud Challenge from its daytime schedule in the autumn of '93 due to declining viewership; CBS had actually been airing repeat episodes for several months prior to its eventual cancellation (some of CBS' affiliates had already removed it from their schedules altogether and began airing either syndicated or local programming in its timeslot). As a result, CBS subsequently returned the timeslot previously occupied by The Family Feud Challenge to its affiliates. By the time CBS had pulled The Family Feud Challenge from its daytime lineup, the daytime television landscape had become oversaturated with first-run syndicated talk shows, court shows, and tabloid newsmagazines.

The bad news continued for Combs when the first-run syndicated nighttime incarnation of Feud was cancelled in the late spring of '94. Upon examining Feud's lackluster ratings, Jonathan Goodson had made the difficult decision to relive Combs of his emceeing duties and replace him with the very emcee Combs had succeeded in the first place, the one and only Richard Dawson. Dawson reluctantly agreed to return to host the first-run syndicated incarnation of Feud that autumn with a revamped and slightly updated look, though the Bullseye Round was retitled the "Bankroll Round."

Despite Dawson's efforts (as well as a brief ratings spike that had occurred upon his return), the revamped Feud was unable to compete with not only daytime talk show titans such as Oprah, Geraldo, Sally Jessy Raphael, Ricki Lake, and Montel Williams, but also because of the O.J. Simpson trial (which had begun in January of '95). The O.J. Simpson trial had preempted Feud--as well as many other daytime programs (talk shows and soap operas in particular)--in many major markets nationwide, and Dawson's second Feud tenure was completely swallowed up by the O.J. Simpson trial. Due to mediocre ratings and low clearances in several major markets, the first-run syndicated edition of Feud was canceled in September of '95.

Meanwhile, Combs' life was in a complete shambles, both on a professional and personal level. Combs' wife (and mother of his six children), Debbie, had filed for divorce in 1995, and a year prior to that, Combs had suffered a near-fatal automobile accident shortly after Jonathan Goodson had terminated him and replaced him with Dawson; due to his auto accident, Combs was placed on prescribed painkillers, which quickly altered his daily life. Combs had also filed for bankruptcy and was also severely typecast in the entertainment industry mainly because of his six-year stint as Feud host. Though Combs appeared in interstitials for the newly-formed Game Show Network throughout 1995 and even returned to his emceeing roots by hosting the Feud-inspired The Family Challenge on The Family Channel (now known as Freeform) in early 1996, those endeavors did very little to improve his personal life or his dire financial situation.

In June of 1996, Combs contacted his estranged wife Debbie and revealed to her that he was suicidal. Debbie quickly dialed 911 and Combs was placed in the psychiatric ward at the local hospital. That night, Combs hung himself in the closet of his hospital room. He was forty years old.

Actually, it was Ray Combs (1988 to 1994)