Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/09/13/steve-harvey-doesnt-want-to.html
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I’m curious what Steve Harvey’s actual thoughts are on hosting the show, he’s a pretty funny guy and brings a lot to Family Feud. Though seems like Family Feud has a history of crushing the souls of hosts, just look at poor Louie Anderson.
“Crushing Louie Anderson’s soul? That’s cute.” Ray Combs
I did say Hosts. Mentioned Louise because that’s who most people are aware of.
Maybe, but not the direction I expected you to go. When he started Family Feud, he was a squeaky-clean family-friendly Mormon guy with a wife and six kids. He had also been the first person to get a standing ovation on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson… no mean feat for a clean comic. Six years later, when Family Feud chewed him up and spit him out, his comedy career was destroyed, his marriage was over, and he was unable to find work. He committed suicide two years later.
“You know, I’ve done this show for six years and this [is] the first time I had a person that actually got no points and I think it’s a damn fine way to go out. Thought I was a loser until you walked up here, you made me feel like a man!” - the last words he said on Family Feud.
Pretty horrifying.
I wonder if someone with the show pissed off an old gypsy.
At least Richard Karn made it out okay, or so it seems.
This started circulating a while ago:
“Summary of every episode of Steve Harvey Family Feud ever”
Family Fued has spiraled into a raunch-fest. Endless hillbillies blurting out “fart”, “coochie” and “wiener”. It’s one step away from that scene in “Idiocracy” where the guy is watching a show called “Ow, My Balls!”
That’s why I can’t watch Family Feud anymore. The innuendo are far from subtle and are set up way too easy. If I can see it coming from space, it’s not funny, period.
He put up with 8 years of Tim “the Tool Man” Taylor. I think a few years on a game show would be small potatoes at that point.
He ended up doing dinner theatre in Calgary, Alberta. So it depends on your definition of “okay”.
I imagine this looks like the future days of border agents dealing with British travelers who voted for Brexit, except with English accents.
Where Jeopardy would, I believe, try to obtain well-educated contestants, Family Feud has always seemed to want to go in the opposite direction.
He’s getting rave reviews for his role in Baskets, and based on his recent interview with Marc Maron on WTF, is doing well and is quite happy.
The bit Harvey did on Kimmel about dealing with the cast of Honey Boo Boo has become widely circulated.
That would be Richard Dawson, who the show was created for, and the only person who seemed to really be happy to be hosting the show.
And just an interesting tidbit - the show is actually a spin-off of Match Game. Dawson was getting tired of being a panelist on Match Game, and went to its legendary producer Mark Goodson, and said he was leaving Match Game, but would be interesting in hosting a show. Goodson had the idea of taking the “audience match” portion of Match Game, and expanding it into its own show, and Family Feud was born.
NEKKID GRAMMAW!
Seriously though, two totally different skill sets. Jeopardy is more about retrieving long-archived and mostly useless facts, and Family Feud is about thinking like the average person… and the average person can be appallingly dumb at times.
Feud currently tapes at a studio that’s about a 10 minute bike ride from my house, so we went once. During the time allotted for commercials, they don’t skip it and keep going (nor do they “stop the clock” and go longer,) Harvey addresses the audience, cracks jokes and takes questions. He seems genuinely happy and quick to laugh with an audience member. He averred that he made it out of Cabrini Green and that he is very much a Jesus person. His people skills are off the chart. Coming from Chicago’s South Side, I think being able to compartmentalize ignorant folks has been something he long ago mastered.
This is good to know. He’s a wickedly funny dude and always seems very likeable. I don’t listen to the radio anymore but my older brother does, and whenever we’re riding somewhere in Houston we’ll randomly catch Steve Harvey’s radio show and it’s always entertaining.