Family FeudhostSteve Harveyhas seen plenty of slip-ups (often Freudian) capture the attention of fans over the years — but fortunately for the cast ofAbbott Elementary, it doesn’t look like they’ll go down in game show infamy when they compete onCelebrity Family Feud.
Of course, Harvey has unique insight on the kind of answers thatdogo viral, and he shared it exclusively with PEOPLE.
“Pure, high-level, unintentional ignorance,” he says. “That’s what it is.”
He continues, “You’re going to go viral if you give me that high-level unintentional shot of ignorance. But every viral moment that’s ever happened on the show — I knew it, I recognized it. I tell people all the time: ‘You’re going to be on YouTube.’ I know the moments.”
Mitch Haddad/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.
Harvey tells PEOPLE he is intentional in making sure the moments that really hit for the show (even if they don’t help contestants' scores) are fresh for him, too.
“I don’t know the questions until I get out there,” he shares. “I have no way of knowing what you’re going to say, so it’s very much ‘I’m playing the game along with you’ — except I’m keenly aware of what I don’t think is on that board.”
He adds, “You can give me an answer and I’ll say, ‘Well, let’s see if it’s up there,’ and then you can give me an answer, and I don’t even have to turn. I know it’s an ‘X.'”
Harvey says “the moments I wait for” are the ones that capture a hilarious mix of harmless failure and misplaced confidence.
“The answer that’s up there is not going to go viral,” he says. “It’s the one that isnotup there that’s going to go viral.”
The cast of Abbott Elementary.Pamela Littky/ABC via Getty
ABC announced in March thatAbbott Elementarywill return for season 2. Naturally, the news came in the form of a self-congratulatory letter from Principal Ava Coleman (Janelle James), whose unflappable self-esteem would make her a great fit to go onFamily Feud.
“Faculty and Students (aka My Fans),” the note began. “The camera crew I hired to showcase all that I’ve made happen at our beautiful school thinks I’m a star. I mean are we surprised? No, we’re not :)”
source: people.com
