LeVar Burton is finally getting his shot at hosting Jeopardy!
Following the death of longtime host Alex Trebek last November, showrunners have eased into a new era with a series of guest hosts rather than flat-out replacing Trebek. Hosts have included former champ Ken Jennings and even Aaron Rodgers.
Fans would soon take it upon themselves to express interest in seeing LeVar Burton as a host on the show as well, even starting a petition for the Reading Rainbow host, bringing us to this point.
“Our goal has been to present a wide variety of guest hosts with different skill sets and backgrounds on our path to finding a permanent host,” said Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards in a statement announcing Burton’s upcoming appearance. “Our passionate fans are telling us what they like, and we are listening.”
Burton is among five total guest hosts who will close out the show’s 37th season. Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos are also scheduled to appear.
Naturally, fans applauded the announcement via social media with many pushing each other to support the move even harder in hopes that it can turn into a permanent position for Burton.
“THANK YOU… to all y’all for your passionate support! I am overjoyed, excited, and eager to be guest-hosting Jeopardy!, and will do my utmost best to live up to your faith you in me,” the Starpenned in response. “YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE! Go ahead and take my word for it, this time.”
Just last week, Burton was certainly vocal about his desire to fulfill the role.
“I feel as strongly about my rightness for this as I did about Kunta [Kinte] and Geordi [La Forge],” he said on USA TODAY’s The Mothership podcast. “And I’m that invested in getting the job.”
He went on to add that he wanted to do “justice to the legacy of Alex.”
