HeadScratcher No. 43: You're the next contestant!

So what do Julie Chen (pictured), Anderson Cooper, Hugh Downs, Joe Garagiola, Meredith Vieira, and Mike Wallace have in common?

"No whammies!  The answer tothis one, I believe, is that they have all hosted game shows," replied eager PopWatcher Brian Brookey. "So do Iget a lifetime supply of Turtle Wax now, or what?" Heh.

No Turtle Wax, Brian, but rest assured that you are now a member of the PopWatch Brain Trust, an elite group that includes almost everyone that reads this blog and has an operable email account. Exclusive!

(See the complete answer and meet your fellow Brain Trustees after the jump…)

In this week’s Summer TV issue of Entertainment Weekly, senior writer Lynette Rice chatted with Early Show (and Big Brother) host Julie Chen. The candid conversation included Chen’s not-so-flattering nickname ("The ChenBot"), her signature line ("…but first…"), and her hesitation about moving from CBS’ news division to a reality show: "After I started getting criticism for doing Big Brother, someone told me that Hugh Downs used to host Concentration and Mike Wallace used to do The Big Surprise. I thought, Huh, maybe that door isn’t sealed shut if I want to do 60 Minutes one day."

Not necessarily, no. Just ask Anderson Cooper, who overcame hosting The Mole to get a 60 Minutes gig. Similarly, Meredith Vieira will move on from hosting the syndication version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (and The View) to take over for Katie Couric on the Today show in the fall. Joe Garigiola, formerly of Today, also once hosted Sale of the Century, Match Game PM, and Strike It Rich. Eagle-eyed mag readers Matthew Hoffman, Bryant Kohut, Mary Beth Revesz, and DonnaThorne made the connection to the Chen piece, so congrats!

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