Local woman’s family shines in ‘Feud’ debut
Published 11:00 pm Monday, February 11, 2013
Sheri LaBrant is not exactly sure what to expect when she debuts on national television Wednesday night.
The taping of “Family Feud” took a long time, so what she remembers might be “splicingly” different from the reality of the popular television game show.
LaBrant of Troy and her parents and two brothers competed as the Lewis family from Atlanta, Ga., against the Williams family from Tacoma, Wash., on “Family Feud” for a chance to win $100,000 and a new car.
Of course, LaBrant is mum on the outcome of the show but it won’t be long until her fortune or misfortune is known
The Lewis/Williams feud will be aired at 3 p.m. Wednesday on ABC Channel 32.
LaBrant said that she had not ever given any thought to being on a television game show but when her brother, Jim, called her in June with the idea, she was “game.”
“A lot of movies and television shows are filmed in Atlanta and my brother is sometimes cast as an extra,” LaBrant said. “He was in the audience of a taping of ‘Family Feud’ and was asked if he and his family wanted to audition. He called me and I thought it sounded like fun.”
LaBrant “dropped everything” and drove to Atlanta for the audition. She was surprised to find the audition room “crowded like crazy.”
“There were tons of families there for the audition,” she said. “We had a lot of fun so it was worth the effort whether we got chosen or not.”
The Lewis family was invited back along with eight other families.
“We went through three or four ‘feud’ rounds and it was fun but nerve wracking,” LaBrant said, laughing. “I wasn’t fast enough hitting the buzzer and you had to hit it hard. We made it through the rounds be we still didn’t know if we would be ‘on’ the show or not.
Later in July, the Lewis family was notified that they would indeed be “on Family Feud.”
“We were surprised because we were the only ‘local’ family for the taping,” she said. “The other families had all been flown in.”
LaBrant guessed that her family was selected for the show because they were genuine.
“If you try too hard, you can seem fake,” she said. “We were just being ourselves. We love each other and get along so well. We’re a bunch of nice, silly people who have a good time together. And that must have shined through.”
LaBrant is not at liberty to talk about the actual show but she did say that she got to hit the buzzer and that was scary.
“You can’t go up to the buzzer with just one answer because the other person might have the same answer,” she said. “You have to have multiple answers ready. And, you have to be fast and hit the buzzer hard.”
The Lewis family is an interesting bunch. LaBrant is a Zumba instructor at Anytime Fitness in Troy. Her brother, Jim, is a university student and also works for Anytime Fitness in Atlanta. Her brother, David, is a teacher for Georgia’s on-line public schools. Her dad, Gordon, owns an ink refilling station and her mom, Margaret, rescues dogs from euthanization and finds them foster or forever homes.
The Lewis family will be glued to the television Wednesday, not to see if they won or lost the feud, but how they played the game.