Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Rodgers loosens up on fifth ‘Jeopardy!’
With five episodes behind the “Jeopardy!” podium down and five to go, Aaron Rodgers is starting to loosen up as guest host.
A jovial “Yes, that’s the book” for a correct response on “A River Runs Through It.”
“Well, I’m glad you got out of there alive, buddy” to the contestant who shared a strange story about throwing divots back and forth with a gorilla at the Bronx Zoo as a kid.
Doing a pretty good bedtime story voice when reading a passage from “The Call of the Wild.”
As he approached the halfway mark of his two-week gig, the Green Bay Packers quarterback seemed more animated and comfortable tossing in ad libs on Friday’s episode. His delivery of “corrrr-ect,” the raised eyebrow when asking contestants about their stories and an irrepressible smile are all starting to become his calling cards.
In a tweet on Friday night, Rodgers wrote that “it’s been surreal hosting my favorite show” and thanked fans for “all the beautiful words of encouragement.”
While you fully expect Packers fans to be in his corner, even some fans of division rivals are jumping on board. “As a lifelong (Detroit) Lions fan I’m very conflicted about saying what a great job you’re doing. But there it is,” one person responded to his tweet.
There wasn’t a big pop culture moment on Friday’s, April 9, episode, but “The Office,” one of Rodgers’ favorite TV shows, turned up on the board under Action Figures.
“Fact: This ‘Office’ star sees plenty of action as the title character on Amazon’s ‘Jack Ryan.’”
Contestant Dennis Chase responded with “Who is Kasinski?”
“You were close there, Dennis. It’s John Krasinski, who played Jim on ‘The Office,’” said Rodgers, who played himself in a 2013 episode of the comedy.
For viewers in Wisconsin, where sturgeon spearing season is a unique part of life, sturgeon surfaced in the We “Urge” Your Response category. The clue: “The Baltic is a species of this fish.”
Pasquale Palumbo, the returning champ from Hawthorne, New York, who declared himself and Rodgers “football cousins” by way of a Vince Lombardi connection on Thursday’s show, told The Examiner he didn’t find out who the host would be for his episodes until filming in February.
“Once they told us it would be Aaron Rodgers, I was thrilled,” he said. “I both played and coached football and I’m a big fan of the NFL. So if I can’t have Alex (Trebek) and if I can’t have Ken Jennings, because I wasn’t there when he was there, l get to meet Aaron Rodgers, which is pretty awesome.”
Based on the winnings of Friday’s contestants, “Jeopardy!” is donating another $28,900 to Rodgers’ designated charity, North Valley Community Foundation, to help businesses in his hometown of Chico, California, and the surrounding area impacted by the pandemic. Rodgers has earned $117,725 for the nonprofit in his first week.