The Recovering Legalist

Are you a fan of the gameshow Family Feud? Sure, there may be some haters out there, but most people enjoy watching it. And since YouTube has been around, what’s more fun that watching funny clips from the show?

Well, recently my wife and I had the opportunity to attend the taping of two shows in Tyler Perry’s studios in Atlanta, GA. It was fun, I must admit – lots of fun. I’d even encourage you to attend a taping just once for no other reason than the experience.

But once the recording of the shows began, it became very clear how much editing must take place before an episode can be aired on syndicated television. Without a bunch of editing, the “family” version of Family Feud would have to receive an adult/parental-guidance-suggested rating.

Now, most people would not be shocked to hear that Steve Harvey, the host of the show, has the tendency to use adult language. However, even though blooper reels have hinted at language used off camera, the reality is that Mr. Harvey is a potty mouth.

For instance, you may have seen how that everyone always says, “Good answer!” whenever a family member gives any kind of answer to a question. They do this because they are supposed to. They do this even when they know the answer was not a good one. But in one case the answer was so bad, even Steve Harvey had to comment to the audience.

Mr. Harvey walked away from the family and toward the edge of the stage, faced the audience, then said, “I wish you could have seen the looks on your faces…it was like, ‘What the h***?'” He then agreed with the audience that the answer was a horrible one, but then stated that “there is no f****** way that sh** will be on the board!”

That was pretty much the pattern. Whenever things got slow, or whenever something crazy was said, Harvey would walk past a line on the stage and engage the audience, often with vulgar language. It started to feel uncomfortable.

Of course, it wasn’t only Steve Harvey; the family members on stage had their moments, too. Some answers and some things talked about will NEVER be put on family television.

However, it was not just the language and the inuendo so prevalent that evening that caused me the greatest concern. To be honest, I kinda expected it. No, what was most disturbing was the final few moments of the evening when Steve Harvey spoke to the audience.

Harvey has a huge, huge following. Many people watch and listen to him and are influenced by his advice (which isn’t all bad). And if there is one thing about him that I admire, it’s his boldness to talk about his faith in God. I mean, that night was not the time to be an atheist, not unless you wanted to be called out as an idiot by the TV host.

However, even though Mr. Harvey was quick to point out things like he was nothing without God; his efforts at evangelism missed a huge mark: that Jesus is the ONLY way to God. As a matter of fact, at one point, even though Harvey was adamant one needs to believe in God, he stated it really didn’t matter who your god was, as long as you believed…. because FAITH is what’s important.

So, then, what you have is a foul-mouthed false teacher, really. Sad, especially considering the influence Steve Harvey has.