Summer Has Just Gotten Sweeter

I love "Family Feud". I've loved it since I was a child, and part of me was always upset as a youngster because my own family (at least my parents and their limited English) could never be contestants. I still get choked up thinking about it. I could have done so well in the "Fast Money" round.

It's a brilliant concept and was formulated for people who think like me, people who often wonder what 100 random Americans would most likely bring to a barbecue or where 100 random Americans might hide their cash. Why do I know so much about the proclivities of random Americans? Because they're like a different species that I like to tirelessly study. Despite my U.S. citizenship and the fact that I've never lived outside of the U.S., I have the feeling I'm not exactly in the "Family Feud" survey demographic. As a kid if you had asked me what I bring to a barbecue, I'd say a giant tub of rice and chopsticks for roasting marshmallows because eating of off sticks from the ground is dirty. It doesn't exactly ring "Americana." We still had hot dogs, though. 'Cause Koreans really like hot dogs.

So I've learned in my youth, and to some extent in my post-youth if you will, to learn how "the other half" lives. That "other half" being white folks. Because if I ever wanted a chance at being on the show, I knew I had to learn how they think and move. Plus, I always noticed that Black and Latino families never fared as well on the show as compared to their white counterparts, which lead me to conclude that the 100 random people surveyed were always White people from the Indiana suburbs. It's always good to know how the majority operates, even if you never plan on joining them or assimilating. It's just good strategy. Because one day you'll find yourself meeting the parents of a white friend or significant other or have a company gathering to attend, and it would behoove you to know what they eat, drink, what games they play, and what conversation topics are usually popular. For instance, if you're at a work function socializing with older white folks, and you can't think of anything to say, it always works to talk about traffic. Everyone hates traffic, but white people love talking about how much they hate traffic. They start name-dropping troublesome freeway junctions. That'll kill at least twenty minutes. And that is why I think 2nd generation Americans (ahem, like myself) would truly excel at this game.

I've always been a loyal "Family Feud" watcher. Not so much these days because I have a job and some semblance of a social life, but if they moved "Family Feud" to "Jeopardy"'s time slot, best believe that I'd be eating my dinner to the sounds of the cheesy Vegas lounge theme music and of hopeful teammates clapping and saying, "Good answer!" even if it's most definitely not a good answer. That's family love right there.

In college, during one of the most ridiculous and amazing summer jobs ever, my co-workers and I would play against each other on a live, online version of "Family Feud." As we walked down dorm hallways, inspecting rooms, and entering data into laptops, you could hear the "dings" of good answers and the buzzes of bad answers and our respective cheers and boos as we competed for the coveted number one family ranking. Then on lunch breaks, we'd walk over to our co-worker's apartment and sit in her living room to watch two back to back episodes of "Family Feud" as we shoved burritos into our mouths. Now that was a good summer.

And now, NBC is bringing the show back, but in an infinitely superior form: "Celebrity Family Feud".

It starts July 1 and features four celebrity families duking it out per episode.

Episode 1 features Margaret Cho and family v. Corbin Bernsen and family. A Korean American and her family versus this guy:

Survey says: I feel redeemed.