Anderson Cooper Movies
Television news mainstay Anderson Cooper graduated from Yale with a degree in political science, then studied briefly at the University of Hanoi. He inaugurated his career in broadcast journalism as the chief international correspondent of Channel One before leaving his post at that network to join ABC News as a regular correspondent on such series as World News Tonight, 20/20, and 20/20 Downtown. In time, Cooper accepted a position as anchor on his own eponymous CNN talk program, Anderson Cooper 360°. Cooper joined the cast of 60 Minutes as an infrequent correspondent in December 2001, and also made occasional contributions to its sister program, 60 Minutes II. In addition to his news-reporting work, Anderson hosted the competitive reality show The Mole for its first two seasons (2001-2002). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
A program that deliberately and aggressively slices through widespread conservative attempts to dismiss global warming, ozone depletion and other environmental hazards, the three-hour documentary Planet in Peril finds a trio of broadcast journalists - Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Anderson Cooper of CNN, and wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin of Animal Planet - trekking around the world to thirteen different countries. In each locale, the men witness the firsthand impacts of environmental deterioration on plant, animal and human life, and speculate on the dire future of the Earth if such catastrophes continue to grow. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anderson Cooper, Jeff Corwin, (more)
- 2001
The Mole II: The Next Betrayal is the title bestowed upon the second season of the ABC reality game show The Mole. As in season one, ten contestants are whisked all over the world to compete in a variety of physical and mental challenges, with one player eliminated -- or "executed" -- at the end of each episode. And as before, one of the players is a "mole," planted by the producers to sabotage and undermine the efforts of the other contestants. The only major change from the series' first season is that the 20-question elimination rounds have been cut to ten questions. Highlights in The Next Betrayal include the now-famous sequence in which one of the contestants is challenged to go to sleep in a tiny room while Don Ho's recording of "Tiny Bubbles" is played incessantly! Only three episodes of The Mole II: The Next Betrayal had been telecast when, in October of 2001, the series suddenly went on hiatus. The official explanation was poor ratings, though it has been speculated that ABC didn't consider a series devoted to betrayal and duplicity to be appropriate in the immediate post-9/11 era. At any rate, season two resumed in May of 2002 -- and, ultimately, the winner walked away with a huge cash prize (no, we aren't going to reveal the winner here, nor the identity of the ubiquitous "mole"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anderson Cooper, Bill McDaniel, (more)
The American version of an Australian reality series, The Mole is off and running for its first season, originally telecast in the spring of 2001. The competition, which takes place all over the U.S. and Europe, involves ten contestants, ages 23 to 63: Jim Morrison, a copter pilot; Afi Ekulona, a medical student; Steven Cowles, an undercover police officer; Charlie McGowan, a retired detective; Wendi Wendt, an art dealer; Manuel Herrera, a professional event planner; Kate Pahls, a grandmother; Kathryn Price, a law professor; Jennifer Biondi, a sports nut; and Henry Wentz, a bartender. As the players compete in a variety of grueling, exciting, and sometimes embarrassing physical and mental challenges, one nagging question hovers over the proceedings: which of the ten contestants is the "mole," planted by the producers to deliberately -- and diabolically -- sabotage and undermine the other contestants? Only by the process of elimination (one player per episode is "executed" off the show) will the three finalists be able to figure out the identity of the mole...and the winner of the grand prize. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anderson Cooper, Steven Cowles, (more)
- 2001
At first glance, ABC's weekly, hour-long The Mole wasn't all that different from the many other reality shows of the era (the series debuted January 9, 2001). A group of ten diverse individuals were whisked off to various exotic locales in the U.S. and Europe, where they competed in physical and mental challenges, ranging from bungee jumping to trivia quizzes. On each episode, one of the contestants was eliminated (or, as it was defined on this series, "executed") until only one was left to collect a grand prize of up to one million dollars. The main difference here was that one of the contestants was a "mole," planted by the producers to undermine and sabotage the other players, escaping detection and exposure all the while. At the end of each episode, the remaining players took a quiz on what they thought were the "facts" about the mole, whose identity remained unknown throughout the competition; those who scored lowest were removed from the show. Three players remained on the last episode of each season, and by the rules of logic one of these had to be the mole. The "legitimate" player who correctly guessed the mole's identity won the grand prize -- which, if the mole had done his or her job well in the past episodes, had been considerably reduced from the original one million dollars via bribes and other financial giveaways.
Hosted during its first two seasons by future CNN news commentator Anderson Cooper, The Mole began its run with a contest involving ten players. Once this was over with and the winner collected 510,000 dollars, the series returned in the fall of 2001 for The Mole II: The Next Betrayal -- which went on hiatus after three episodes, due to a combination of bad ratings and the viewers' collective grief in the wake of 9/11. The Next Betrayal returned in May of 2002 to complete the game, with the winner earning 636,000 dollars. Season three was launched in January of 2003 as Celebrity Mole: Hawaii. Per its title, the contestants -- whittled down from ten to seven -- were all prominent media personalities, including actors Stephen Baldwin, Corbin Bernsen, Erik von Detten, Michael Boatman, and Kim Coles, comedienne Kathy Griffin, and supermodel Frederique. Ahmad Rashad took over as host for this and the series' subsequent season, titled Celebrity Mole: Yucatan, which was launched in January of 2004. Stephen Baldwin and Corbin Bernsen returned to the game, competing against the likes of Dennis Rodman, Angie Everhart, Mark Curry, Tracey Gold, Keshia Knight-Pulliam, and Ananda Lewis. The Mole was based on an Australian series of the same name, which debuted February 21, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Hosted during its first two seasons by future CNN news commentator Anderson Cooper, The Mole began its run with a contest involving ten players. Once this was over with and the winner collected 510,000 dollars, the series returned in the fall of 2001 for The Mole II: The Next Betrayal -- which went on hiatus after three episodes, due to a combination of bad ratings and the viewers' collective grief in the wake of 9/11. The Next Betrayal returned in May of 2002 to complete the game, with the winner earning 636,000 dollars. Season three was launched in January of 2003 as Celebrity Mole: Hawaii. Per its title, the contestants -- whittled down from ten to seven -- were all prominent media personalities, including actors Stephen Baldwin, Corbin Bernsen, Erik von Detten, Michael Boatman, and Kim Coles, comedienne Kathy Griffin, and supermodel Frederique. Ahmad Rashad took over as host for this and the series' subsequent season, titled Celebrity Mole: Yucatan, which was launched in January of 2004. Stephen Baldwin and Corbin Bernsen returned to the game, competing against the likes of Dennis Rodman, Angie Everhart, Mark Curry, Tracey Gold, Keshia Knight-Pulliam, and Ananda Lewis. The Mole was based on an Australian series of the same name, which debuted February 21, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anderson Cooper, Ahmad Rashad, (more)
