“FAMILY FEUD” — KUTV, May 3 and 4, 3 p.m. MT; TV-PG
SALT LAKE CITY — ”Name a state with two words.”
That is one of the questions the Hammond family received while auditioning for “Family Feud” last year in Salt Lake City. The question landed on Terri Howell’s daughter-in-law, who was jumping up and down with a high level of excitement only a “Family Feud” producer could love, chanting, “I’ve got this! I’ve got this!”
And then came her answer: Las Vegas.
“My daughter-in-law, bless her heart, … she really was not kidding, and she said, ‘Las Vegas.’ And we were all looking at her like, ‘Good answer!’ — (more) like, ‘Are you kidding me?’
It’s the combination of nerves and excitement surrounding live TV that creates such moments, but it was a moment Howell also believes earned her family a shot to fly out to Atlanta and be on the actual show.
Another shining moment came when the family was asked, “What is a big event in your life you would save up for?”
Glossing over the obvious answers — such as a wedding— the family opted to go with a more surprising response: a funeral.
“I think that helped us,” she said. “Just being funny and real helped us move on.”
Howell competed on “Family Feud” with her daughter-in-law, two sisters and a brother-in-law. The Salt Lake family’s episodes air later this week, on Thursday and Friday. And if you were thinking you’ve already seen a Hammond family from Salt Lake City on the show recently, you’re not wrong. Last September, another Hammond family from Salt Lake City competed on “Family Feud,” winning one game and walking away with $20,000.
Different family, same high level of enthusiasm.
And while this Hammond family isn’t allowed to discuss their outcome on the show just yet, Howell assures viewers that her family makes for great TV — something they made clear during their first few minutes on the show.
“When my brother-in-law introduced all of us, he said, ‘Hi, we are the Hammond family from Salt Lake City and these are my wives,’” Howell said. “The audience thought that was quite funny, but Steve Harvey thought he was serious, saying, ‘You never know! I don’t question anybody anymore.’”
Meeting Harvey was one of the highlights for Howell, an assistant principal at Desert Hills High School in St. George, and made the snowy drive up to the Salt Lake auditions last winter all the more worthwhile. She was surprised to discover that in between “Family Feud” filming sessions, Harvey engages with his audience and does stand-up comedy.
“It was like a bonus to us,” she said. “He talked a lot about his life and about how he was told … in school that he would never amount to anything. He basically encouraged (the audience), saying, ’If I can make it anyone can make it, and you just have to work hard and believe in yourself and don’t listen to the negativity out there.’ So I thought that was really cool, how he always tried to leave the show with a positive message.”
One of the more challenging parts of participating on the show was having to be constantly energetic — the Hammonds arrived at the studio around 8 a.m. and didn’t film their first episode until later in the evening, wrapping up around 9 p.m. But that exhaustion didn’t matter once their time to shine arrived.
“Once you’re on the stage, the adrenaline hits — at least for us — and we were in game zone,” Howell said.
But for the Hammonds, the quality of their answers and their ultimate outcome on the show wasn’t of utmost concern — although they did spend the night before their first episode holding mock “Family Feud” games in their hotel room.
“ … It’s not about the money, it’s not about if you win or lose,” Howell said. “ It’s about being together and enjoying those moments. And for us, honestly, that’s what it’s all about. We could only invite five (family members), but if we could’ve invited all of them we would have. That would’ve been like a family reunion — watch out, we would’ve had our own reality show!”
Correction: An earlier version stated that the Hammond family's episode on Friday, May 4, airs at 3:30 p.m. The episode will air at 3 p.m.