First-term State Sen. Shay Shelnutt faced some tough decisions that required quick thinking in the recent special sessions of the Alabama Legislature.

But that’s nothing compared to what he faced when he stood alongside four of his relatives to play one of American’s longest-running and most popular television game shows.

Shelnutt, his wife and three other family members were contestants on episodes of “Family Feud” that are scheduled to be broadcast next Monday.

The Shelnutts tried out for the show on April 18, after Shay’s sister Shannon organized a team. But the tryout date at Birmingham’s Doubletree Hotel was on April 18 — the same time as the Alabama Crimson Tide’s annual A-Day spring football scrimmage game.

“All her side of the family decided they didn’t want to do it, so she had us as a backup,” Shelnutt said.

Three weeks later, the producers from Fremantle Media called to tell the family they were chosen to come to a taping in May, though because of overbooking they weren’t guaranteed to become contestants. There was more trying-out to do on stage.

After sitting through six episodes, though, the Shelnutts — Shay and his wife Paige (a teacher at Pinson Elementary), Shannon, Shay’s brother Shane and sister-in-law Christy — found out they would be on the show.

The senator can’t officially say how his family did yet, except that “the women did much better than Shane and I.”

Shay Shelnutt was picked by the producers to be the team captain. His first face-off question was, “Name an animal you wouldn’t want your nose to look like.”

“I said parakeet, but I was thinking of a parrot like the one on the box of Fruit Loops,” he responded.

“Feud” is one of very few game shows that is taped outside of Hollywood. It’s currently produced in studios in Atlanta, in part to work around the busy schedule of host Steve Harvey, who’s credited from taking the show out of declining ratings to become the most-watched syndicated show in the nation. Harvey also broadcasts a nationally-syndicated morning radio show from Atlanta.

“During breaks, he’s just like you see on the show, except he uses a few four-letter words that he really doesn’t have to because he’s so funny,” Shelnutt said.

The Shelnutts’ episode is scheduled to air on My68 television Monday at either 6 or 6:30 p.m.