A trip to Toronto to compete in a television game show has special meaning for Atish Ram.
The Surrey man and his family won an audition to appear on the new Family Feud Canada.
The Ram team includes Atish, his wife Mandy, teen daughter Jasmine and adult sons Tyler and Ryan.
The Newton-area family is among up to 72 Canadian clans chosen to compete on the TV game show hosted by Gerry Dee, former star of the Mr. D sitcom.
For Atish, the whole experience reminds him of his departed father.
91ƵHe loved game shows, and that was his thing 91Ƶ he91Ƶd watch Jeopardy, Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune, anything 91Ƶ all of them,91Ƶ Atish explained. 91ƵHe would have been very proud about this.
91ƵWe lost him two years ago, and that makes this sentimental for me. In my eulogy for him, I said I would promise to put the Ram name up in lights one day, and then this happens. It91Ƶs kind of weird, and we91Ƶll be on the show exactly two years to the day since we laid him to rest.91Ƶ
In another twist of fate, Atish said he opened a fortune cookie on Aug. 27 91Ƶ the day of his family91Ƶs audition for the game show 91Ƶ and the message said, 91ƵA television program will give you great impetus.91Ƶ A second fortune cookie promised, 91ƵA refreshing change is in your future.91Ƶ
The family91Ƶs trip to Toronto will be a special one, Atish said.
91ƵSomehow it was all meant to happen,91Ƶ he said. 91ƵIt91Ƶs been a tough two years. I91Ƶve battled health issues 91Ƶ I91Ƶve been in and out of hospital with heart problems 91Ƶ and we haven91Ƶt gone on vacation together or anything for a long time, so it91Ƶll be nice to get to go and have a little vacation all paid for. Win or lose, we91Ƶve already won.91Ƶ
91Ƶ RELATED STORY, from August: .
On the show, families compete head-to-head by guessing the most popular answers to survey questions based on responses from a sample of Canadians.
91ƵYou can come back on the show up to three times, depending on the outcome, so we91Ƶll see how we do,91Ƶ Atish said. 91ƵYou can win up to $10,000 per show.91Ƶ
Atish expects his family91Ƶs show air date will be at the end of January.
91ƵThat91Ƶs my guess, and they91Ƶll let us know,91Ƶ he said.
91ƵWe want to have fun, but we also want to win,91Ƶ Atish added. 91ƵI91Ƶve been watching a lot of the shows and so have my kids, practicing, but there91Ƶs no right answers in a survey of 100 people 91Ƶ some of the answers are so bizarre, and sometimes it91Ƶs about how quickly you can answer.91Ƶ
Family Feud Canada, to debut at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16 on CBC, will air four nights a week, from Monday to Thursday.
First introduced in the U.S. in 1976, Family Feud is one of television91Ƶs longest-running and top-rated game shows. The title has been picked up in 71 international markets to date, including the U.K., Australia, France, India and Indonesia.
For the new Canadian edition, last summer close 2,000 families applied to appear on the show. From those applicants, 575 families were invited to audition in person at 15 sites across the country, including the Vancouver site for the Rams.
In November, Atish was named Volunteer of the Year during the Now-Leader91Ƶs 17th annual Community Leader Awards. He received top honour in the category for his work with Shaw TV to create, produce and host the 91ƵA Night of Miracles91Ƶ telethon that would later be called 91ƵWorld of Smiles Telethon91Ƶ and run for 15 years, raising more than $2.5 million.
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tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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