Read the Summer 2025 Hotchkiss Magazine

Larry Rulison ’90, a business writer at the Times Union, appeared with his brothers and sister-in-law on the popular game show Family Feud in May. They emerged victorious, and Rulison and his brother, Ted, won their family $20,000 in the Fast Money round.

“Name an animal print that looks good on the animal but not on grandma,” host Steve Harvey asked Rulison for the final question. “Zebra,” Rulison responded, winning to enthusiastic applause.

The Rulisons lost on their second episode, but that didn’t dampen the thrill of appearing on their favorite game show. “It was amazing,” Rulison said. “I loved the experience.”

Rulison was unable to attend his 35th Hotchkiss reunion in June, but his friend Steve Chinatti ’90 made sure he was there in spirit. “Steve played my Family Feud episodes at the reunion. That was really cool since I couldn’t make it. I really enjoyed that,” Rulison said, reminiscing about his friendship with Chinatti and Ben Strong ’90. “The three of us were best friends at Hotchkiss. We used to be roommates in Boston after college!”

Rulison reflected on his love of Family Feud in the Times Union. Enjoy his article below.

— Darryl Gangloff

By Larry Rulison ’90
Originally published in the Times Union

I grew up in Syracuse, a child of the 1980s.

On some dreary winter days—and there were plenty of those—when I had a sore throat or maybe a fever, my mom would hold me out of Salem Hyde Elementary for a sick day. The best part of my sick day was that I was able to park myself in front of the small television set we had in the sunroom of our Colonial-style home and watch daytime TV.

Among the lineup of game shows on weekday mornings in Syracuse was Family Feud, with host Richard Dawson. That wildly popular show first aired in 1976, and the British-born Dawson would have playful fun with the wide variety of families who would appear on the show to face off against each other. The basic premise involved the families trying to guess the answers of themed surveys.

Oh, how I wished I could appear on Family Feud even back then. The show was funny and unpredictable—and exciting. And you got to play the game with your actual family.

Last year, my childhood dream to appear on Family Feud came true. 

I am the oldest of four brothers: Rob, Parker, and Ted. Rob lives in Grosse Pointe Park outside of Detroit, and Parker and Ted live in Syracuse still. So we competed on the show as the Rulisons from Syracuse. Since you need five contestants on Family Feud, either related by blood or by marriage, Rob’s wife, Tanya, rounded out our team.

My brother Ted, who at 45 is the youngest of the Rulison brothers, is also a big Family Feud fan. He watches almost every night. At the end of one of the episodes, he saw a promo telling fans how to apply to appear on the show. Anyone can apply on the Family Feud website.

Ted was the one who signed us up to audition. Yes, you audition. Our process started in November 2023 with a virtual online audition, which was a lot of fun, basically playing a round of the Family Feud game so the producers could get a feel of our chemistry and personality as a family. 

I thought we had a good initial tryout, but I honestly never thought we would actually make it onto the show!

“I thought to myself, what a great thing this would be for our family members to come together, unite us, and see how we can do as a family,” Ted said during a recent video interview I did with my brothers and Tanya. 

Like me, Ted wasn’t sure we would even be invited down to Atlanta, where they tape the show at Tyler Perry Studios, a sprawling, 330-acre complex of studios and movie sets.

“Once I became aware that Family Feud has 8 million viewers an evening, I thought it was a long shot, and we would just put in the application and see where it goes,” Ted said.

Family Feud is now hosted by comedian, author, and radio host Steve Harvey, who has held the job now even longer than Dawson. In person, Harvey was very funny, and it was an amazing experience getting to meet him.

“(The experience) was a wide range of emotions,” Ted said. “I was pretty excited. I was pumped. And at the same time, I was extremely nervous. I think I got a little more nervous each day, even though I was practicing at home, watching each episode. At first, it was more of an excitement and a confidence, kind of like an ego boost. But then, as we got closer and closer, it was a little bit more nerve-wracking.”

Just like everyone else, I watched the episode for the first time on May 6, except I was at a viewing party Ted organized in Syracuse, where I saw two of my childhood best friends.

Family Feud asked us not to reveal too much of the behind-the-scenes “magic” that makes the show so special. 

What I can say is that making TV is hard work, but it was a lot of fun, and getting to appear on Family Feud and meet Steve Harvey was awesome. I had a blast.