Looks like Anderson Cooper won't be the next Oprah after all. The handsome news anchor has announced that his daytime chat show, Anderson Live, will not return for a third season.
"I am very proud of the work that our terrific staff has put into launching and sustaining our show for two seasons," Cooper said in a statement on Monday. "I am grateful to Telepictures for giving me the opportunity, and I am indebted to the audience, who have responded so positively. I look forward to doing more great shows this season, and I'm sorry we won't be continuing, but I have truly enjoyed it."
Cooper's production company also released a statement about the cancellation, suggesting that low ratings had killed the syndicated chat fest. "While we made significant changes to the format, set and produced it live in its second season, the series will not be coming back for a third season in a marketplace that has become increasingly difficult to break through," said a Telepictures rep.
While Anderson Live may not have found a wide enough audience, it certainly had its share of memorable moments since debuting in 2011. Cooper never pandered to his guests; he kicked a particularly dislikable character (a plastic surgery addict who calls herself "the Human Barbie") off the stage, told The Real Housewives of New Jersey's Teresa Giudice that she was "really mean," and made Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson's mom June walk in her daughter's shoes by wearing an identical pageant dress. He also used the show as a platform to discuss his personal life (something he can't do on CNN), opening up about his weird eating habits and his childhood with mother Gloria Vanderbilt.
Fortunately, we'll still be able to get our Silver-Fox fix on Anderson Cooper 360, the long-running CNN show that features some of Cooper's finest work (including the always-amusing "Ridiculist" segment). He'll also continue as a contributor to 60 Minutes, which aired his fabulous Lady Gaga interview last year.
So we probably won't get a chance to miss Anderson too much. Although one question does haunt us: if he'd known that Anderson Live was going to be cancelled, would Anderson be hosting Live with Kelly instead of Michael Strahan?
