Many people have a shared experience of yelling out the answers to a game show comfortably from their couch with the dream of actually competing on the show. For Burke choir teacher David Groth, this dream became a reality when he went on the game show Family Feud with his husband, Adam Groth, his parents, Lisa and Roger Groth, and his sister Sarah Hammers. Family Feud is a game show hosted by Steve Harvey where two families compete against each other by attempting to guess the top results of audience survey questions to win money.
As an episode of season 23 of Family Feud, Groth’s episode aired for the first time ever on Sept. 27 showing the Groth family against the Willis family.
For Groth, his interest in Family Feud began when he was a kid.
“It was always on in my grandparents’ house,” Groth said. “We used to watch it all the time if I was staying over there or if my parents were out of town and I was staying at my grandparents’ house, we would watch Family Feud. That’s when I first got introduced to the show.”
While Groth watched Family Feud for much of his life, he was not the one who applied for the game show which led to an interesting reaction when he finally heard the news.
“We had no idea because my husband decided to put us in for Family Feud before talking to us beforehand, so it was more of a shock than surprise and a little bit of nervousness at the same time,” Groth said.
When applying to be on the show, the family had to apply online and then, they had a Zoom call meeting where they played an online version of the game to ensure their family would be a good fit for the show. After being guaranteed a spot on the show, the family practiced and determined game strategies to best prepare for the show.
“We made a lot of flash cards. Family Feud also posts on their website and on their social media questions that they have asked before in their shows, so we [would] take those and we [would] ask each other those questions,” Groth said. “We also worked on how we could communicate with each other to come up with answers. When it was our time to steal an answer, we’d go into the huddle and basically what we decided to come up with was, we go around the circle and everybody spits out an idea, the first thing that comes to their head, and then we talk about it and come up with which one we think is best.”
Although they prepared the best they could, the real-life experience of being on the show in person was still drastically different than playing from home.
“On the show, it’s way more fast paced,” Groth said. “Even though we tried to do the same amount of time when we practiced, we tried to do the same amount of time for the buzzers and the same amount of time that you had to answer, with the lights and the cameras on and Steve Harvey right in your face trying to get you to answer a question, it is way more fast paced. That was the main difference, and then honestly, when you’re there, you don’t really pay attention to the audience because you’re so focused on having fun with your family and having a conversation with Steve Harvey.”
Similar to how Groth’s family did not pay much attention to the audience, being on TV was also not of major importance to them.
“Honestly, the TV aspect of it was less important to my family and myself than it was meeting all the families and enjoying ourselves while we were there in Atlanta,” Groth said.
During the day Groth spent at Trilith Studios in Atlanta filming, he had plenty of time to converse with other families and get to know them.
“I met some of the best people. The families that are on there are incredible people. The second family that we played against, they’re so active in their community. They’re pastors, they’re running for office, the mom of the family was the head of the Northeastern United States Women’s Division of the NAACP. These people are amazing and just listening to their stories of their lives was the most fun.”
Along with having amazing conversations with the other families, Groth was also able to create incredible memories with them.
“Our favorite moment was not televised because right before the show started, they play music and get us pumped up,” Groth said. “My favorite moment was when our family and the first family that we played against, we all went into the center of the stage and danced. We partnered up with the other family, so I partnered up with one of their family members and my dad partnered up with one of their other family members and we danced. It was really fun and it just goes to show you that the show is really all about the families more than anything else.”
Another way the Groth family bonded with the opposing family was by creating handshakes with them which are showcased on the televised episode.
“We knew that we wanted to do something that shows comradery and shows that this is just a game show, this is supposed to be for fun. Both families are here to enjoy ourselves,” Groth said. “We were encouraged to do something whether it’s a handshake or a high five or something before we go up to the podium. We decided to choreograph ours so I did a hip bump with the other person and a high five. My dad and one of the other contestants did a little dance. It made it more entertaining. We had to entertain ourselves because it was ten hours of sitting in a studio and only about an hour of playing so we had to do something to kind of keep ourselves pumped up.”
Not only did the choreographed handshakes keep the Groth family pumped up, but it also made the show more entertaining for the audience.
“I think the high energy of my family made it fun to watch, and honestly, it wasn’t that difficult to have high energy because Steve Harvey pumps you up and he’s a really kind individual,” Groth said. “He got to know all of us and made it so that we felt comfortable in front of the camera. I think that was the best thing we did was to just have fun and play the game.”
By having fun and playing the game, the Groth family was able to win their first round against the Willis family.
“We were really shocked because we had some very interesting answers to begin with and when we got our third X, we thought that they were going to steal it,” Groth said. “They couldn’t come up with the right answer, and it took us a couple seconds to realize that we had won the game. Then, I’m sure my mom and my husband had that moment of dread realizing that they’re going to have to do fast money.”
The Groth family was unable to win the fast money round as they got 194 points falling six points short of the 200 they needed to win $20,000. However, since they won, they were able to move onto the second round of play where they competed against the Bryant family. Unfortunately, they were unable to pull through with a win which marked the end of their streak.
While they did lose their second round, Groth was able to come out of it with gained knowledge.
“You should never pass, and you should always play and listen to the producers a little bit more because they actually do want you to win,” Groth said. “The main producer sat in the front row while we were taping and in between takes, she would come up to us and give us some tips and some ways to play the game a little bit better.”
