"We're going to rock the competition and roll in the dough!"
With that battle cry, Red Deer's rocker gear-clad and devil horn-flashing Waschuk family took to the Family Feud Canada stage last October to go head-to-head with Ontario's Farberman clan.
Alas, the Waschuk's fell just short of the $10,000 prize, losing in sudden death to their opponents from Vaughan in an episode that aired on CBC Tuesday night.
The whole experience was a blast, said Zakk Waschuk and wife Kortney, who were joined on stage by Zakk's father and mother Kevin and Ann, and his sister Starlise.
The family's road to Family Feud fame was a spur-of-the-moment decision, prompted by a commercial for the game show calling for contestants that popped up as the five watched an Oilers playoff hockey game last spring.
After putting their names in, they were vetted through a multi-step process that included a couple of video interviews before getting word that the Waschuks had the requisite game show energy and engaging personalities to make the Family Feud final cut.
"Of course it's TV so they wanted us to be 'out there.' They wanted some kind of theme with us and because dad loves his rock 'n roll we just kind of ran with that."
To say dad Kevin likes his rock is a bit of an understatement. A lifetime fan of the rock group Kiss, Kevin has built a memorabilia collection that has to be seen to be believed and he has met his platform-booted, costume- and makeup-sporting heroes numerous times and seen them in concert about 100 times.
Zakk, who owns Red Deer's Booyah Bagles with Kortney, carries on the family's musical pedigree with his own band Face the Earth.
Six or seven Feud episodes were filmed back to back on a Toronto sound stage. The family was there between 5 and 6 a.m. and didn't get on stage until 4 p.m.
When the cameras were on, the family's fun-loving vibe made for plenty of laughs helped along by host Canadian actor and comedian Gerry Dee.
"It was quite an experience," said Zakk. "It's quite funny because, being on the other side watching TV, you don't realize how they do it.
"There are producers on the side telling us 'high energy' and do the 'X,' a reference to the crossed arms opposing teams do to throw a hex on the other team as they give their answers.
"It's very staged, but it doesn't feel that way when you're watching it on TV. It was fun. It was a cool experience."
The Waschuks brought their A-game. Among the highlights was Ann providing her tips on 'having that talk' with her kids as they began dating.
"Honestly, there's a lot of things you could have talked about in front of your kids," Dee dead-panned to the audience.
When Ann asked if he had that talk with his kids, Dee replied, "No. Just change the subject," drawing big laughs.
Zakk got an opportunity to mention his bagel business and was thrilled that during a commercial break, one of his band's songs was played for the studio audience.
Kortney agreed it was a great time. She admits she was nervous as to how it would turn out because game participants must sign a contract that gives the show free rein to edit and air what they see fit.
"They can do anything they want in the editing room, so basically they can make you look like a fool if they want to. They didn't do us a dirty, which was good. They made us look good," she said with a laugh.
Kevin, who is now retired from the family pipeline and construction business, also had a great experience. "I think the highlight was just kind of being there with my family and being with the CBC staff and how wonderful they were."
The family was flown out at CBC expense and put up in a hotel two blocks from the CBC studio. After getting there early, they had rehearsals at 10 a.m. and provided some background information for Dee to ask them about and then waited hours for their moment in the limelight.
Both the Waschuk and Faberman families hit it off. One of the Farbermans is a professional clown and he will be performing at Westerner Days this summer. The two families are going to meet up and grab a bagel at Booyah.
"It was kind of cool. Even though they beat us, it's nice to stay in touch," said Kevin.
