Ringing in Summer with Celebrity Family Feud! #CelebrityFamilyFeud

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Erin

Ringing in Summer with Celebrity Family Feud

By Erin

*As a guest of Disney and ABC I attended a taping of Celebrity Family Feud on June 7th. All thoughts and opinions remain my own.*

Today marks the first day of summer and what better way to celebrate than by watching two families spar off against each other in the classic game show “Family Feud,” which has become one of television’s most popular and enduring game show formats. I’ve been watching since I was a little girl, so when I found out we were going to get to see a taping of the show, I was beyond excited. What makes this extra special is that this is a new primetime celebrity version called “Celebrity Family Feud“ that will take the fun to a whole new level with the six-episode special series. Steve Harvey, the highly popular actor, author, deejay and Emmy Award-winning game show host, will pit celebrities against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey-type question posed to 100 people. It is set to air tonight (Sunday, June 21st) at 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT on the ABC Television Network.

What I love most about this new version is that Celebrities and their families will be coming together play to win some cash for their favorite charity. A total of twelve families will be squaring off to take home the prize for the charity of their choice. The schedule is full of fan favorites, so be prepared for a fun-filled, hilarious, six weeks of entertainment. Families include, Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell), Vicky Lawrence (Mama’s Family), Dr. Phil, The Robertson Family (Duck Dynasty) and many more you are sure to love.

Steve Harvey Photo Credit: ABC/Adam Taylor

“Anthony Anderson vs Toni Braxton and Monica Potter vs Curtis Stone” –will kick off the series premiere of “Celebrity Family Feud.” First off we will see Actor Anthony Anderson’s (“black-ish”) family vs. 7-time Grammy Award-winning artist Toni Braxton and her sisters; and then in a separate game we will see family members from Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone and actress Monica Potter. Contestants will go up against each other for victory.

Steve Harvey, Curtis Stone, Lindsay Price Stone, Bill Price, Diane Price, Bryan Price Photo Credit: ABC/Adam Taylor

My Live Taping Experience:

Photo Credit: ABC/Adam Taylor

The episode that I had the pleasure to watch being filmed was Vicki Lawrence vs. Ed Asner. Once we arrived at the studio, they had us walk around to the back side of the building where we went through security and were then ushered to our seats. As we entered the building to take our seats in the audience, you could feel the energy in the room, with the upbeat, energetic music to get everyone going and ready for all the fun the show was to bring. A host was leading the audience and getting everyone up and out of their seats dancing and clapping along to the music. After all the dancing, moving and grooving to the music, it was time for the show to start. Steve Harvey made his appearance and we all clapped and cheered. Each celebrity family was introduced and told us the charity they were playing for. The contestants were awesome, the categories and the answers were hilarious. A good time was had by all. A week or so before we came to the taping, we were asked if we had any questions for Steve. During the breaks Steve Harvey talked with the audience and he answered many of the questions that us 25 bloggers had come up with! How awesome is that? He also told us stories about his childhood and his experiences growing up. He preached a very inspirational message to us all about hope, dreams, and to never give up. To follow those previews in our head, and to make them a feature film. I might not be able to tell you who won the show that I saw, but I can tell you this. Tune in. WATCH IT! 😛 I do not yet know the exact airdate of the the episode I was present for, but I’ll be sure to update everyone when there is a confirmed date. After the taping, we were in for a special treat! We were told that we could go up on stage and take photos!

On the stage there was so much to take in, and only a few minutes to try to capture it all and enjoy it. Luckily we were able to get a few quick shots at the buzzer and where the contestants get to play the game. I’m on team Kathy, Gayle, Erin and Stefani! What an incredible experience! Now, I want to go play for real! Maybe they can have a blogger version of the show? 😉

An Insiders Look Into Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out! #InsideOutEvent

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Erin

An Insiders Look Into Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out!

By Erin

The big day has finally arrived! Inside Out is here to enter the minds and hearts of all who see it. I just cannot say enough good things about this film; it’s the feel good movie of the summer, and it’s still technically a couple of days until summer is officially here. But it’s just that good, so I’m going to pretend it’s summertime already. Adorably inventive, gorgeously animated, and powerfully moving, Inside Out is another jewel to add to the Pixar library.

Centered around 11-year-old Riley, the movie follows this spirited and goofy young girl, as her dad’s new job in San Francisco uproots the family from the Midwest (Minnesota). To help her navigate through this change are her emotions: Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith).

The control center inside 11-year-old Riley’s mind, is called Headquarters and it is where five Emotions are hard at work, led by lighthearted optimist Joy, whose mission is to make sure Riley stays happy. Fear heads up safety, Anger ensures all is fair and Disgust prevents Riley from getting poisoned, both physically and socially. Sadness isn’t sure really what her role is, and frankly, neither is anyone else. “The Emotions are kind of like the voices in our heads,” says director Pete Docter. “Everybody has a default temperament. We all go through periods of being happy or sad, but certain people are just happy or angry or what have you. Riley is one of those happy kids. So Joy had to be the first Emotion to show up, and she has a very special bond with Riley.” But when Joy and Sadness are accidentally swept into the far reaches of Riley’s mind, taking some of her core memories with them; Fear, Anger and Disgust are left in charge, and all sorts of crazy things start happening.

Joy and Sadness venture along through Long Term Memory, Imagination Land, Abstract Thought and Dream Productions all in a dire effort to get back to Headquarters before it’s too late. On this adventure you will meet many colorful characters, including the Forgetters, who are Mind Workers in charge of sorting Riley’s memories, to Riley’s forgotten imaginary friend named Bing Bong, (whom I just adored, and I am sure you will too! Bing-Bong! Bing-Bong! Bing-Bong!) is part cat, part elephant, but mostly cotton candy. He’s desperately trying to find a way to make Riley remember him. Filled with lovable and memorable characters, making it a fun movie for all.

You will learn a lot about Riley’s Islands of Personality in the film. They are powered by core memories, which are all of the really important and significant times in Riley’s life. Core Memories are those things that you’ll think about or remember until your last days. It’s those big moments that have led us to be who we are. Each Island defines a different aspect of Riley’s personality: Hockey Island, Friendship Island, Family Island, Goofball Island, and Honesty Island.

Of course I don’t want to ruin it for you and give away the ending or all of the little details that make this such a wonderful and enjoyable film, so I will leave you with a few fun facts about Inside Out.

Inside Out: Meet the Little Voices Inside Your Head #InsideOutEvent

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Erin

Inside Out: Meet the Little Voices Inside Your Head

By Erin

*I was invited as a guest of Disney to attend the press junket for purposes of this post*

Have you ever wanted to meet those little voices inside your head? Or do you ever look at someone and wonder what is going on inside their head? Well, in Disney-Pixar’s fifteenth film, “Inside Out” examines this very thought of what goes inside our head as we witness firsthand the turbulent mechanisms and dynamics of the five primary emotions driving an eleven year-old girl’s mind. At a recent press junket in Beverly Hills we were able to do just this as we got to sit down and chat with the creators and cast of Inside Out.

Director Pete Docter, Producer Jonas Rivera, and cast members Amy Poehler (“Joy,”) Bill Hader (“Fear,”) Mindy Kaling (“Disgust,”) Phyllis Smith (“Sadness,”) and Lewis Black (“Anger”) joined us for some very emotional fun, topics ranging from emotions, to Pixar, to Islands of Personality.

First we chatted with Director Pete Docter and Producer Jonas Rivera. Both have been with Pixar for over 20 years, and their love for creating movies shines through in Inside Out.

So how did the idea of “Inside Out” come to be?

Pete Docter noticed that his daughter was going through some very emotional times, like all pre-teens do. She had just turned 11.

“I noticed my daughter growing up, being a little less goofy and wacky and funny and a little more shy and quiet because she had turned 11. And at the same time, I was looking at different ideas for a film and thought about emotions as characters. The basic pitch that I gave to Jonas at first, and then ultimately John, was, “What if we have an 11-year-old girl who’s moved across the country, but she’s actually not the main character; she’s the setting, because inside her head are her emotions that help her deal with everyday life?” It was pretty much just that simple of a concept. I didn’t really have a story yet. That came from working with Josh Cooley and Ronnie del Carmen, all the amazing story talents that we have. It slowly developed over the next four years. But we all kind of know that, that it doesn’t have to be perfect. We’re gonna make a lot of adjustments and refinements as we go.”

How did there come to be five emotions to go inside the head, rather than six or four? Is there a mathematical reason for that?

Pete explained to us: “I pitched optimism, which is, we learned later, not really an emotion, and joy. I had fear and anger and some other ones, and we realized, man, we don’t really know anything about this. So we did a lot of research, and that’s where this came from. There is no consensus amongst scientists about how many emotions there actually are. Some say 3; some say 27; most are somewhere in the middle. We realized, well, we get to kind of make this up. We arrived at five, mainly because it’s a nice odd number. It felt like a good crowd, enough contrast and conflict between them, but not so big that you’re, like, “Wait, who’s that again? Schadenfreude? Okay. Lost track of −” so, if we were to represent all 27, I just − my brain was hurting, thinking of writing for all these characters. We ended up at these five, largely because of the work of Dr. Paul Ekman, who was one of the consultants on the show. And he had originally, back in the ’70s, posited six. It was our five, plus surprise. And we felt surprise, as a cartoon, is probably fairly similar to fear. So we jettisoned that one, and that’s how we ended up with the five.”

Do Pete and Jonas deliberately start out to make movies as a team or purposely like to make people cry?

Jonas had this to say: “We don’t sit around consciously going, “All right. Let’s make a great movie.” I mean, we hope that happens, obviously, but I think it’s just like, “What do we wanna see? What did we love seeing when we were kids? What do we wanna take our families to? What are we gonna be proud of? Let’s aim for that.”

Next, we had a hilarious chat with the voices inside the head of Inside Out.

Horsing Around In LA

Category Archives: Entertainment

Ringing in Summer with Celebrity Family Feud! #CelebrityFamilyFeud