Anderson Cooper is the latest personality to take turns hosting a much-loved game show Danger!, with the first of its 10 episodes scheduled to air Monday.
“I’m a dork, and I just have to own that,” he joked hours before the quiz’s theme song was played in much of the country. He came to that conclusion as he watched a video The show produced for him, among which he talked about his love for the show and clips from his previous performances.
CNN’s anchor also explained that while he rarely gets nervous, standing where former host Alex Trebek once stood was an exception.
“It was a great honor and moving for me,” said Cooper.
He remembered Trebek, who hosted the quiz show from 1984 until his death in November, as “the perfect host,” who behaved with “so much intelligence, wit and grace.”
The journalist has participated in special editions of Danger! four times – and he won twice! – so he knows what it is like for participants. It earned some positive early reviews on Twitter.
Cooper took over from Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who won himself Celebrity danger! twice. In his signature message, Rodgers quoted part of Trebek’s memoir for 2020, The answer is …: Reflections of My Life, about the importance of putting the players first. Rodgers added, “I hope my two weeks will be remembered like this.”
Next on the schedule to host is 60 minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker, who is followed by Danger! champion Buzzy Cohen, Call me Kat actress Mayim Bialik, Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, and Cooper’s colleague, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. On Saturdays, the New York Post reported that Joe Buck, the voice of MLB and the NFL on Fox, is also getting a chance.
Meanwhile, many fans of the show are still waiting to see Star Trek alum and Reading Rainbow alum LeVar Burton at the helm. By Monday afternoon, more than 244,000 people had signed a petition calling for him to be the next host.
Reps for Danger! did not respond to Yahoo Entertainment’s request for comment.
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