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‘The Mole’: Classic 2000s ABC Game Show May Be Getting Rebooted

The Mole may be making a return to primetime. There are currently rumors going around that ABC’s reality show may actually be getting a reboot. 

According to its synopsis on IMDb, ABC’s The Mole is described as a game show that’s contestants solve puzzles and completes tasks in order to win a cash prize while also trying to figure out who among them is aiming to sabotage the game. 

ABC’s The Mole premiered in January 2001, with Anderson Cooper hosting the first two seasons. In the third season, Ahmad Rashad became the new host and was replaced by Jon Kelley for the fifth season. The contestants were average folks in the early seasons of the show. However, the fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured celebrities. The show eventually ended in 2008 and has 49 episodes.

In a May 2021 report by Buzzer Blog, the game show The Insider notably resembles The Mole and may actually be a revival of the 2000’s series. The media outlet also reveals The Insider is filming in Australia between June and July of 2021.

It was then noted that the latest version is being produced by Eureka Productions, who is known for various shows including Holey Moley, the upcoming series Frogger, and The Amazing Race Australia version. 

‘The Mole’s’ Original Host Anderson Cooper Talks ABC Series  

During an interview with Reality Blurred in 2015, Anderson Cooper shares more details about The Mole and how he thinks the show is actually confusing.

“I think people were confused by it,” Cooper explains, describing it as a relatively complex idea. “I enjoyed it; I’m glad I did it. It’s not something I would do again.” 

Anderson also calls the ABC series intense as well.

“When you’re with people that are laying a game for 30 days,” Cooper said. “After a while, you want to have one meal when they’re not scheming against each other and trying to figure out if I know who The Mole is.” 

Anderson did call The Mole fun though and at the time he states he was really interested in seeing how reality TV was produced and edited. He describes the experience as “eye-opening.” 

In regards to his current interest in reality TV, Anderson says he actually stopped watching most reality.

“I used to be a big reality TV person, but I’ve now switched to hour dramas,” He then adds. “I love documentary stuff and I work at 60 Minutes also, so I do longer-form stuff there. But yeah, I would love to, down the road, if the scheduling can work out. Figure out a way to do that.”

Along with The Mole, Anderson Cooper has hosted other game shows. Most recently, he was the guest host for the CBS game show Jeopardy! During his time as guest host, Anderson raised $138,197 for Justice Defenders. Justice Defenders is an organization that seeks to defend justice with defenseless communities in Africa through legal education, training, and practice.