Gerry Dee says he is thrilled to be back in front of a studio audience again as Family Feud Canada returns for a third season.

The game show, shot at CBC’s Toronto broadcast centre, had to turn studio audiences away last season as COVID safety protocols limited capacity to participants and crew. Dee, a seasoned stand-up comedy performer, suddenly had to aim his ad libs at camera and crew members only and, as he points out, “they’re trained not to laugh.”

This season a limited number of on-lookers are allowed back in for each of the 102 new episodes airing Monday to Thursdays on CBC.

Dee also talks about a series he did work on in Montreal during COVID times: The Moodys. The Fox sitcom starred Denis Leary and Jay Baruchel. Dee, a loyal defender of his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, says he talked hockey all day long between Leary, a big Bruins supporter, and Baruchel, who bleeds the Blue, Blanc Rouge of les Canadiens.

On the podcast, Dee also talks about his hopes for the Leafs this season, efforts to get back on the road with a series of comedy concerts and why he feels his teacher sitcom Mr.d, which ran for eight seasons on CBC, had too short a title.