According to Ken Jennings, Celebrity Jeopardy! is the real deal — well, mostly.

The host of Jeopardy! made an appearance on Live with Kelly and Mark on Monday. With Anderson Cooper filling in for Mark Consuelos, Kelly Ripa joked about being between two Jeopardy! stars.

“I feel smarter just sitting here,” she quipped. “Why is that buzzer so difficult for people?”

As Jennings and Cooper dished on how tough the buzzer can be, the latter recalled his experiences competing on the trivia game show.

“During commercial breaks, the times I played, all the other contestants were like, ‘There’s something wrong with this buzzer,’” Cooper explained.

Jennings playfully remarked about Ripa’s appearance on Celebrity Jeopardy!, joking about how things may not have gone smoothly for her as a celebrity. He jokingly suggested that technology might have been to blame for any mishaps.

Cooper agreed with Jennings’ humor, and Ripa joined in by asking about the difficulty level of questions on Celebrity Jeopardy! She questioned if the questions were indeed simpler for celebrities, as Cooper had previously mentioned.

Jennings said, “We do not use the phrase ‘dumbed down,’ for some reason.”

Ripa clarified her question by asking if the puzzles are “less smart” than the flagship series, while Cooper suggested that they are “gentler.”

Jennings replied, “That’s well put. It’s more pleasant… I feel like SNL gave everybody the idea that Celebrity Jeopardy! is just, like, remedial.”

Cooper acknowledged that “it’s hard,” as Jennings insisted that “it’s legitimate Jeopardy!“

“That’s stuff that would be on the board on any daily Jeopardy! show,” he continued. “But these are people who have put themselves on the line and they’re playing for charity. And we want them to look like they’re having fun and playing well.”

However, Ripa claimed that sometimes “it doesn’t look like they’re having fun.”

“Sometimes when they’re being portrayed or they’re portraying themselves as maybe not knowledgeable about anything, it doesn’t look like they’re having a good time,” she joked. “No matter what their charity is.”

Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays. Check out their website for your local listings.