Philly Native Competing On 'Jeopardy!' Thursday

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia native will be on TV screens across the nation Thursday evening as he competes in one of the most cherished and prestigious game shows of all time.

Cory Anotado on Thursday will appear on "Jeopardy!"

Anotado, who graduated from La Salle in 2010, is set to take the stage with "Jeopardy!" legend Ken Jennings as host and will try to earn the title of champion from ground-breaking champion Amy Schneider, who is now the more successful woman in "Jeopardy!" history.

"When you walk on the Jeopardy! set, your breath gets taken away by the beauty and just how grandiose it all is,” said Anotado. "On the stage, you’re a bit awestruck because it’s the place you see on TV. It’s where champions are born. It’s like walking on the grass at Lincoln Financial Field where the Eagles play, or Citizens Bank Park for the Phillies."

Anotado is a creative director for a marketing agency based in the Baltimore area.

For the Philly native, appearing on "Jeopardy!" is a dream come true.

As a child, he consumed hours of game show broadcasts with his grandmother, Lilia.

He founded game show news blog BuzzerBlog in April 2005, which Anotado said “straddles the line between superfans of shows to understanding how the industry works.”

BuzzerBlog put Anotado on the radar of Jennings, who won more than $4.5 million by winning 74 consecutive episodes on "Jeopardy!" in 2004.

According to La Salle, Jennings called up Anotado and interviewed him for his book, "Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs," which published in 2006.

In the book, Jennings called Anotado "just a kid, a freshman at Philadelphia’s La Salle University. He runs Buzzer, one of the larger game show blogs on the web." Anotado took Jennings’ call in the quietest room on campus he could find—the WEXP studio in the Student Union.

All these years later, Jennings—now the host of Jeopardy!—and Anotado finally crossed paths again.

"You know how the contestants talk to the host as the credits are rolling? Ken brought up our call to me right then," said Anotado. "He remembered our call."

This won't be his first appearance on a game show either.

Anotado competed on "Wheel of Fortune," the short-lived "Jep!", and the U.S. version of British gameshow "The Chase."