In the game show familien duell with Werner Schulze-Erdel, which was produced from 1992 to 2003, two families played against each other. Mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, children, aunts or cousins – all pairings were possible as long as they were related by blood or marriage. Each team consisted of five candidates, and the team members chose a family spokesperson before the game began.

Task: The most frequently mentioned answers from a survey of 100 people on everyday topics had to be guessed. Example: “We asked 100 people, name something that is depicted on a coin!” The team that hit the answer with the highest number of points, in this case “head” with 42 points, had the opportunity to find out the other most frequently mentioned answers.

The questions were displayed on a computer wall. Points were awarded for each answer. The number of points scored depended on how often the answer was given in the survey. The points scored were credited to the family teams. A total of four rounds were played. In the first and second rounds, the points scored were scored once, in the third round twice and in the fourth round even three times. The family team that had collected the most points after the four rounds reached the final. The losing team was eliminated and received the “Golden Werner” as a consolation prize.

The final of the family duel was contested by two family members, who both had to answer five identical questions independently of each other. Both had to name what they thought was the most common answer. The second finalist was not allowed to give the same answers as the first finalist. The points scored were again added up in the final. If 200 points were scored, the family won 5,000 euros.

Each family could defend their title four times, i.e. reach the final five times. If they reached the fifth final, the team even played for
50,000 euros.