I’ll come right out and admit it: Celebrity Family Feud is one of the best game shows, and certainly my favorite, with celebrities playing (or attempting to play). Steve Harvey is always hilarious, and it’s fun watching the competition while also knowing that both sides will have money given to their charity of choice. I’m not often able to watch episodes live in the 2025 TV schedule, but I’ve been missing Matlock enough that I made the effort for the latest installment, with one team led by Jason Ritter. I figured it’d be a good time, but I wasn’t expecting that his stepmom, actress Amy Yasbeck, would totally steal the show.
Team Ritter was represented by Matlock‘s Jason Ritter, Jason’s brothers Tyler and Noah Ritter, family friend Meredith Ford O’Neal, and stepmom Amy Yasbeck. They were playing in support of the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health, in honor of the late 8 Simple Rules icon, father, and husband. They were up against Team Richter, led by longtime late night sidekick (and future Elsbeth guest star) Andy Richter. The competition seemed to be all in good fun… except that Yasbeck seemed to really want to win.
(You can see for yourself with the episode available streaming via a Hulu subscription now.)
That’s not to say that she was out for the blood of Andy Richter or his loved ones, but seeing her spirit of competition in a game where both sides were guaranteed to win money for their charity was just entertaining. Her approach to Family Feud was even funnier opposite Steve Harvey, who I maintain has the best reaction faces on television. He didn’t seem to know what to make of it when Amy Yasbeck fake punched her competition, and the duo got even more laughs out of me when Team Ritter was trying to get the answers to this: “Before you have a baby, you might practice parenting on what?”
Yasbeck proved that she’s an ace at the game by beating her opponent by nailing the #1 answer (which was “a pet”), and then proved that nobody on her own team was above reproach if she didn’t like their answers. Noah, her son, was praised for a “good answer” when he correctly guessed “a neice or nephew,” but she definitely did not approve of stepson Jason guessing “A bag of flour.”
And dang it, it was just funny to see Jason and Tyler sporting big smiles while waiting for Steve Harvey’s response, while Amy Yasbeck looked so much like she wanted to facepalm that Harvey went to chat with her. She reminded everybody that she’s Jason’s “stepmom” rather than biological mom, then shouted “GREAT ANSWER, JASON, YOU’RE THE BEST!” when Harvey reminded her that the families are supposed to support each other. Then the host and the stepmom had this great exchange:
- Amy Yasbeck: “Sorry, it was shocking.”
- Steve Harvey: “I know, I was shocked.”
- Amy Yasbeck:“[Bag of flour] could be up there!
- Steve Harvey: “No, it can’t. No, it can’t.”
In Jason Ritter’s defense, I also thought of a bag of flour after the more obvious choices. I never had to fake parent an inanimate object for school, but I’d definitely heard of the bag of flour method. I can’t say the same for Tyler Ritter’s guess: “a flower or plant.” Yasbeck doubled down on reminding everybody that she’s Tyler and Jason’s stepmom, and both she and Steve Harvey were correct that “flower or plant” was not the key.
I also got a kick out of family friend Meredith Ford O’Neal making arguably the wildest guess of them all with “a Tamagotchi,” and Amy Yasbeck not critiquing her at all. Is there anything more relatable than family taking shots at each other, but being nice to anybody not actually related to them?
I should mention that none of this seemed mean-spirited, and all the Ritter brothers were laughing when Yasbeck reacted strongly to some of their more outlandish guesses. She was just a fun addition, and I highly recommend watching the episode on Hulu just to experience her tone and how Steve Harvey reacted to her.
You can find this episode and every other episode of Celebrity Family Feud Season 11 so far streaming on Hulu now. As for Matlock, a.k.a. the reason why I made the effort to watch this episode live, you can find Jason Ritter’s return opposite Kathy Bates when Season 2 premieres on Sunday, October 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS before returning to its regular Thursday 9 p.m. ET time slot on October 16.
