Last week, Jeopardy aired its Power Players episodes, which were taped last month in D.C. Yeas & Nays was on site the day of the taping and saw firsthand how the contestants performed. Now that the episodes are out, we can reveal our superlatives: Most Improved: Anderson Cooper
Cooper was a little nervous about being on Jeopardy again because the last time he was on the show he got destroyed by Cheech Marin. When paired with New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman and also NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell, Cooper admitted that, “going up against a Pulitzer Prize winner kind of sucks.” But having experience helped and Cooper pulled off a win.
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Most Likely to Succeed: Thomas L. Friedman
He’s won three Pulitzers! But that base of knowledge didn’t help Friedman who got tripped up by the buzzer and by having to answer the clue in the form of a question.
Most Dramatic: Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews snorted and scowled as he struggled with the buzzer. He answered out of turn and said “what is” when requesting a category. He was defeated by former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
Most Popular: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Needs no explanation. He was nice and humble and cool.
