The Gonzalez family of Santa Paula didn’t win the big prize, but they had a million dollars worth of fun when they appeared on the season premier of “Family Feud” broadcast Thursday, January 7.
The Gonzalez family was pitted against the Evans family of Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the show, where the top prize is $150,000 and the chance to win a new car. The new season of the classic game airs Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on KCAL (Channel 9) and is hosted by singer/actor/character John O’Hurley.
As described by the show’s press release: “The Gonzalez family - which includes Erica, who likes making funny faces for her daughter; brother Chris, who only speaks truth; sister Lisa, a shopaholic sports fanatic; dad Jorge, who has a green thumb; and mom Sarah, who always has a good joke - will be aiming for top prize money of $150,000, plus a brand new car, when they appear in America’s favorite family game show, taped before a live studio audience in Hollywood.”
“We’ve always been fans of the show” that Sarah Gonzalez said she has watched since “I was a little girl.... I watched it for years and years,” although it was daughter Erica who urged the family to try out.
Although this was the family’s first game show appearance, “We were confident we would win something,” based on the family’s close working relationship at the family’s two Santa Paula-based business enterprises.
“On our breaks we like watching the game, and the family said ‘We’ll do good.’ That’s what made us try out. We’re good workers together and we felt something like this we would do well with... we’re a good team,” noted Sarah, that proved it by winning the rounds of “Family Feud” multiple times.
“It was really, really fun,” and meeting O’Hurley was a highlight: “He’s a wonderful person, so funny and just good with our family. The show is family orientated,” with a caring attitude. Sarah said show staff even stayed in touch after the show and thanked them for their appearance.
The family owns Rapid Prototypes, a circuit board assembly company where, Sarah said, “one daughter is a buyer, another daughter runs the business and a son is the computer programmer” for the company’s wide array of machinery.
The second business is Brownie’s Basement on East Main Street, an enterprise Sarah said her husband “wanted me to do.... He thought Mama would be better off on her own, said ‘Let’s get you Brownie’s Basement and have fun with it,’ and we have a ball.”
With two boys, three girls, and three grandchildren (another on the way very soon), Sarah said “It’s a big family and we’re all just together. A lot of what we do is family stuff... that’s why is was so much fun to do the game show together.”
Overall, “The experience was really great as a family. The main thing for us is we always work together and we have a lot of fun at work,” although, Sarah noted, “at the same time it’s a business. Being able to appear on ‘Family Feud’ was a big experience for us as a family to bond, and we really had a ball!” As did those who live out of state and saw the show before it aired in Southern California who got in touch with the family.
Sarah regrets the couple’s son Nick was unable to appear due to his young age at the time of the audition, but “We just really had a really good time... when we play at home we know all the answers, but when get up there it’s completely different, the adrenalin shooting up and the other family competing with you. It gets hard totally different, but it was just a neat experience.
“And,” added Sarah, “we were pretty smart, we surprised ourselves” and ultimately took home about $10,000 in winnings.
