After Anderson Cooper’s third night of guest hosting on “Jeopardy!,” Cooper made sure to shout out the winning contestant. On Wednesday evening, the CNN anchor retweeted an official “Jeopardy!” tweet that mentioned a contestant’s winning 3-day winning streak. Mike, the contestant set to play tonight, has racked up a total of $55,000. “Well done,” Cooper wrote in his tweet.
For Cooper, filling the shoes of the late Alex Trebek is no easy task. However, the rotating celebrity guest hosts have done their best to carry on his legacy and keep the show sacred.
“Jeopardy!” alum and champion Ken Jennings was the first to take over in January, followed by “Jeopardy!” executive producer Mike Richards. Later, Katie Couric, Dr. Oz, Aaron Rodgers, and now Anderson Cooper took their place behind the podium. After Cooper’s run, Savannah Guthrie and Mayim Bialik will have two-week stints as host.
During Cooper’s tenure, he’s raising money for his charity of choice: Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti, a nonprofit organization that helps Haitians get medical attention.
Fans on Anderson Cooper’s ‘Jeopardy!’ Performance
Since making his “Jeopardy!” debut on April 19, the fan reactions have been mixed. So far, fans of the classic quiz show are torn down the middle regarding their opinion on Copper. On social media, one person wrote, “Anderson Cooper is already the best Jeopardy host, he was so much fun!” Another person thought he was a perfect fit, tweeting, “Anderson Cooper’s voice fits #jeopardy vibes.” Someone else agreed: “Wow Anderson Cooper is almost TOO good! Didn’t seem like he was a guest host at all.”
Yet, others couldn’t say the same. One person wrote, “Anderson Cooper was good but he was no Aaron Rodgers.” Some also felt like Cooper, who hosts his own show and is a correspondent for “60 Minutes,” felt like he might be overexerting himself on the show. “Anderson Cooper is doing a nice job on jeopardy. But how many jobs does this guy need?!,” someone wrote.
While it’s hard to tell if he’s in the running to be the show’s permanent host, one thing is for sure: Copper will always be lifelong “Jeopardy!” fan. Cooper noted that he had been a fan of the show since he was a teenager, Cooper said before starting his stint.
Although he’s been on the “Jeopardy!” stage before as a celebrity contestant, he admitted that he “was nervous” about honoring Trebek’s legacy. “I’m just hoping not to mess it up,” he said while adding that he hopes he can make it “good” for the contestants who are playing for the first time.