I am not sure Richard Dawson's quirky creepiness would have permitted him to be employed in any other capacity, but he owned Family Feud. I will say (probably not controversial) that Ray Combs was very good at the helm as well. I have never seen it hosted by anyone else.
In the pitch room, I have no idea how the creators of Friends sold it to NBC. "So it's about 6 New Yorkers living totally unrealistic lives and they are friends, and there are wacky things that happen, and some of them hook up." But somehow it worked. I'll give most of the credit to the writing*, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, the two most interesting and funny characters on the show. With an assist to the friendliest time slot of the week.
*You must have a good story otherwise it's just masturbation