"Family Feud" on the move

Family Feud, the venerable game show whose been through more syndicators (and hosts) than Terrell Owens been through football teams, is getting a new locale.

Beginning July 10, the Debmar-Mercury-syndicated show is trading in Los Angeles for Universal Studios in Orlando, bringing back game show production back to the facility on a regular basis for the first time since the 1990's.

The move coincides with the shift of hosting duties to Steve Harvey, whose successful syndicated radio show (which airs locally on WVAZ-FM, V103) is produced in Atlanta.

The last time a game show was produced at Universal Studios on a regular basis was in the 1990's, when Nickelodeon produced several game shows at the facility, including Double Dare, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Get the Picture, and GUTS (the latter two were hosted by a pre-Yes Dear and Glee Mike O'Malley.)

Feud has taped in Los Angeles since 1976, and this marks the first time the game show has taped outside of California, with the exception of fifteen episodes taped on location in Nashville at OprylandUSA in 1993. Studios Feud has taped in its various incarnations include ABC Television Center, CBS Television City, NBC Studios, and Tribune Studios (now Sunset Bronson Studios.)

This marks the second major game show to exit Hollywood in the last year in order to save on costs. In 2009, NBC Universal moved production of Deal or No Deal from Culver City, Calif. to Waterford, Connecticut.

While Feud gets to cut costs in its move to Florida, it also gets to promote the show inside the theme park. Producers plan to hand out brochures and other goodies to vacationers at Universal Studios Florida to get fannies in the seats for the tapings in those air-conditioned studios (and if you've visited Orlando in the summertime, you know how hot and humid it gets.)

In its current incarnation, Family Feud's 12th season  begins on September 13. Locally, the program airs on WPWR-TV.