Show Discussion: Family Fortunes

By | September 20, 2020

Sundays, 8pm,
ITV

It’s back, and this time it has normal, natural un-media trained everyday families competing for big cash prizes by guessing how 100 people responded to survey questions and trying to avoid the dreaded er-errrs.

The big twist this time round is that it’s being hosted by popular Italian chef Gino d’Acampo so we’re bound to get hysterical misunderstandings peppered throughout. Doubtless this will be a more overtly comic take on the show, similar to how Steve Harvey took the show from zero to hero during his run. Will we be seeing lots of penis related answers?

Also it’s been filmed under COVID, as you can see the buzzers are quite far away from each other, and the families will have been in their own bubbles anyway.

Also GREAT news for FF fans, Single Money returns!!!!!!

Are you especially bothered about Family Fortunes coming back, and is it any good? Let us know in the comments.

20 thoughts on “Show Discussion: Family Fortunes

  1. Danny Kerner

    I believe a couple of celebrity editions were filmed also. Can’t confirm this however I believe itv planned this prior to recording

    Reply
  2. John R

    It is literally guaranteed one of the surveys will be ‘we asked 100 people to name a famous chef’

    Reply
    1. David

      The promo features someone saying “Gordon Ramsey” and Gino D’Acampo doing a face, so I expect you are correct.

      Reply
  3. Cliff

    It’s quite nice to have it back, but the questions aren’t very interesting so far.

    Reply
  4. Christopher McBride

    I really enjoyed this. I had doubts about Gino as host, but he fit in well. I notice that in the Big Money round the contestants get an extra 5 seconds compared to the original, presumably because Gino reads the answers slower than Dennis/Kay would have done. One thing I would change/revert is that the questions during the Big Money round no longer appear on screen whilst they’re being asked, which makes it hard for those with hearing issues to play along (although they do appear on screen during the other rounds, which makes its absence even more strange).

    Reply
    1. Mark A

      Actually, the Big Money time limits have been 20/25 seconds in America for a while now.

      Reply
  5. Brig Bother Post author

    I was pretty dismissive about this as an idea before it happened, but they pretty much avoided all the traps that could have made it unbearable – Gino’s good, playing it relatively straight but bringing the Italian where applicable, the questions aren’t just excuses for dick jokes and crucially, the families feel basically normal, not wacky. For better or worse, and I think better, it’s a show straight from the 90s done in 2020. It’s light entertainment in the most literal sense.

    Regrets? I basically hate how the redone theme tune sounds, like someone’s just hit a number at random on their keyboard when deciding what instrument to use. I wish Big Money, something they did in a few minutes in the original, didn’t take fifteen minutes now.

    And not a criticism but a comment – it’s a bit weird having SINGLE MONEY! and Double Money when you double the points when converting into pounds anyway (which seems fair enough in 2020). You’ve made Double Money and Quadruple Money.

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      Also I thought in the main they dealt with the COVID restrictions well and quite subtley – Gino standing on the steps to ask the buzz in question, for example (although standing at the buzz in desk during Big Money does I think make the framing of the answer reveals a bit awkward. Maybe have him standing at the top end of the losing team’s desk?). Clearly there’s a bit of audience sweetening going on (they did have a small audience for it, ApplauseStore were doing it) but I liked showing all the crew in the initial wide shot to at least provide some substance.

      Reply
    2. Brekkie

      Thought they were a bit tight actually on the consolation prize considering in the Vernon version it was 10 times the amount IIRC. Easiest way to do it would be to give the points value to each member of the family, so collectively they take home 5 times the amount.

      Reply
    3. Steve Williams

      As I said on Twitter, Single Money is the worst name for any round on any show ever, it makes no sense at all. It’s not even a thing.

      Reply
  6. Brekkie

    COVID restrictions were dealt with fairly well but Gino was awful and actually think the show suffered more than others from not having a full studio audience. Gino just couldn’t build up a rapport with the contestants – hopefully he’ll improve but considering from interviews even he thought producers had made a mistake when he was asked to host I’m not hopeful.

    At least though unlike some of the Vernon series all contestants got to play but it is still painfully slow stretched to an hour, even with 6 rounds and the final. Felt Double Money should have come a round earlier too and then have Triple Money as the final round. And just cycle back to the first player – picking a player for the 6th round was unnecessary TV.

    The biggest flaw though is that they have too many top answers to get, making it virtually impossible for the team that plays to win. In the classic era you’d rarely have more than 6, which would then reduce throughout the show, so the boards were winnable.

    Reply
  7. Brig Bother Post author

    I’m struggling to get my head around the idea that this was ‘slow’ (except in Big Money where it was obviously) – it was pretty much bang bang bang answer reveal unless someone said something that attracted comment.

    Sort it out, People On The Internet.

    Reply
    1. John R

      I am one of the controversial ones that thought it was ‘slow’ but upon reflecting it doesn’t seem as bad, I would like to see Gino settle in slightly more (maybe down to the fact he can’t get close and/or the lack of 200 audience members)

      Les Dennis would get the energy going right from the off by sprinting on to the set and explaining the entire show in about 15 seconds then showing off the FANCY CAR or DREAM HOLIDAY – £30,000 can buy you either of those things of course but feels a little boring as a prize

      On another note the voiceover was terrible, poor Steve will be spinning in his grave!

      Also I hate the 15 minute BIG MONEY round and hated it during Vernon Kay too, IS…SOFA…THE…TOP…ANSWER?! – much preferred it when they just flashed up the top answers with a suitable siren noise and arrow animation as they went along!

      Reply
  8. Brekkie

    I guess on this it is technically possibly to get 5 top answers but not the 200 points. Is that a win or not? I guess the 200 points is more of a consolation prize now.

    Reply

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