Steve Harvey has been putting in some serious hours on set to film “Family Feud.” So much so that the longtime host has made a few amendments to the filming schedule to keep up his endurance. The comedian has helmed the game show since making his debut in September 2010.
With his 15th hosting anniversary quickly approaching, he spoke with “Today” about leaving his mark on the daytime show. Reflecting on having spent more than a decade at the iconic podium, he said, “They allowed me to put my own little stamp on this show. … I’m pretty fortunate, man, in that this format is kind of like tailor made for my gift.” Furthermore, Harvey noted that “at first they (the years) were kind of blowing by, but now I kind of feel ’em all.”
When he took over hosting duties, he had already been on the radio airwaves for ten years with “The Steve Harvey Morning Show,” which is broadcast live weekdays for four-hour-long shows. Yet, the comic managed to film for eight hours in front of a studio audience for “Family Feud.” The grueling schedule, however, took a toll on the now-67-year-old.
“When I first got this show, we did eight shows a day, three days a week; we did Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I did eight shows a day; I did 24 in a week, and I almost killed myself,” he said. “And then we got it down to six shows a day, and then that was, that was murders row for me after a while because of the way I work, you know. I’m not just reading the questions, you know, it’s actually a show for me.”
The four-time author, who has penned books like 2009’s “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man” admitted that “Family Feud” executive producers have been trying to get him to come into the schedule early before tapings, but the notion of rehearsing is something he has consistently avoided. Instead, he chooses to experience the questions and answers from the two opposing teams in real time with the studio audience.
“Every time I come around the corner, it’s a show for me, and I don’t know if the audience realizes…the real energy it takes to make this feel like a new day,” continued “The Original Kings of Comedy” act. He explained that each show tapes for a little over an hour, and he then has roughly 20 minutes for a wardrobe and a moment to breathe between shows before coming back on stage as if it were a new day.
“I gotta come around here like I’ve never seen these people, like I haven’t been out here today, and to produce that energy over and over is taxing. It’s a little taxing,” said Harvey. He now films four shows a day, four days a week, between the original game show and its celebrity edition.
In 2022, while on the ABC Television Critics Association press tour, Harvey said he would be willing to get back on stage to tell jokes as his final bow to a decades-long career in entertainment. “The only way I can do one more special is that it would have to be at the end of my television career because it will end my television career. I want to do one more. I’d have to call it something like, ‘Well, This Is It’ or something like that,” he explained.
Only time will tell when the entertainer will signal his victory lap. Until then, fans know they can catch him on daytime television hosting “Family Feud” or on his court show, “Judge Steve Harvey.”
