Steve Harvey Shares the Secret to a Viral Family Feud Moment: ‘Pure, Unintentional Ignorance’
PEOPLE has an exclusive sneak peek at the season premiere of Celebrity Family Feud featuring the cast of ABC’s Abbott Elementary
Steve Harvey on Friendship with Bob Saget, Becoming a TV Judge & Turning 65
Credit: Jimmy Kimmel Live
Family Feud host Steve Harvey has seen plenty of slip-ups (often Freudian) capture the attention of fans over the years — but fortunately for the cast of Abbott Elementary, it doesn’t look like they’ll go down in game show infamy when they compete on Celebrity Family Feud.
In an exclusive sneak peek at Sunday’s premiere, stars Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter are joined by real-life teacher Joyce Abbott to face off against the cast of HBO’s Hacks.
When Harvey, 65, prompts Team Abbott to “Name one superhero costume your man would look like a super zero wearing,” comedy ensues — watch above!
Of course, Harvey has unique insight on the kind of answers that do go viral, and he shared it exclusively with PEOPLE.
“Pure, high-level, unintentional ignorance,” he says. “That’s what it is.”
He continues, “You’re going to go viral if you give me that high-level unintentional shot of ignorance. But every viral moment that’s ever happened on the show — I knew it, I recognized it. I tell people all the time: ‘You’re going to be on YouTube.’ I know the moments.”
Harvey tells PEOPLE he is intentional in making sure the moments that really hit for the show (even if they don’t help contestants’ scores) are fresh for him, too.
“I don’t know the questions until I get out there,” he shares. “I have no way of knowing what you’re going to say, so it’s very much ‘I’m playing the game along with you’ — except I’m keenly aware of what I don’t think is on that board.”
He adds, “You can give me an answer and I’ll say, ‘Well, let’s see if it’s up there,’ and then you can give me an answer, and I don’t even have to turn. I know it’s an ‘X.'”
Harvey says “the moments I wait for” are the ones that capture a hilarious mix of harmless failure and misplaced confidence.
“The answer that’s up there is not going to go viral,” he says. “It’s the one that is not up there that’s going to go viral.”
ABC announced in March that Abbott Elementary will return for season 2. Naturally, the news came in the form of a self-congratulatory letter from Principal Ava Coleman (James), whose unflappable self-esteem would make her a great fit to go on Family Feud.
“Faculty and Students (aka My Fans),” the note began. “The camera crew I hired to showcase all that I’ve made happen at our beautiful school thinks I’m a star. I mean are we surprised? No, we’re not :)”
View this post on Instagram
