The Douglass family has won a spot on Family Feud Canada.
Two generations of Douglass women – sisters Donna (Zachariah), Debbie, and Dorinda (Kora), and Danielle (Kora), Jamie (Kora) and Dani (Douglass) – will head to Toronto in late summer or early fall to tape a show. (And if they are as lucky as they are skillful, up to two more shows.)
“We’ve been a games family all of our lives,” said Donna. “At any family gathering or party, there were always games.”
She is a big fan of Family Feud and got the idea of trying out for the show last spring.
“Why not? When I asked the rest of the family, they all said yes.”
It wasn’t until September when Danielle (who lives now in B.C.) was in town that they got everyone together to tape their audition. Donna, with a little help from Dorinda and Debbie, developed a Douglass version of The Ballad of Jed Clampett, the theme song of the old Beverley Hillbillies TV show.
Come listen to a story about the Douglass family
From the town of Atikokan in the place you should see
Then one day we were in the playing mood
So decided to apply to Canada’s Family Feud
Game, that is
Lots of laughs
Fun times, WooHoo
That became the centrepiece of their audition tape. (It is available for viewing at Dee Zachariah’s FaceBook page.) It did the trick – it got the attention of the show staff. They called to set up an online audition for Team Douglass.
“We spent at least an hour with one of the crew,” said Donna. “About forty-five minutes of it was answering questions like: Which one of you gives the best answers? What was your most embarrassing moment? What was the craziest thing you ever did for a job? And more like that. Then it was fifteen minutes actually playing the game.”
The producers took a look at the tape of that video call and the Douglass family advanced to a final round of auditions. That involved individual questionnaires for each of the team.
Then last week, the word came: Team Douglass would be on the show. They have to go to Toronto in late September or early fall to tape. Their travel and accommodation is covered by the show.
“It’s so exciting… we wanted to put it out there so the whole town would know,” she said. “We don’t know yet when our show will air; we will let everyone know when we know.”
“They asked us to sign non-disclosure agreements, so we won’t be able to say how we did until the show has run on television.”
Teams get five dollars for every point they score, and the winning team on each show has a shot at $10,000 in fast money. Teams that win get to come back for a second show, and if they win again, a third.
CBC has been running Canada’s Family Feud since 2019, showing it now Monday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Actor and comedian Garry Dee is host. The game has the same format, rules, and music as the original American version, and is played on a very similar set.
Family Feud first aired in the United States in 1976 with Richard Dawson as host and has since become one of the most popular game shows ever. It has had three separate runs, for a total of twenty-six seasons on ABC, CBS, and in syndication.
Well first thing you know we’re all millionaires
Maybe it’s only thousands, but we don’t really care
You’re all invited to have some fun when we’re on TV
Come watch our family playing the game and
keep us company
