LeVar Burton to join "Jeopardy!" as a guest host after successful fan petition
Fans of Levar Burton can rejoice: the "Roots" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" star is joining the roster of interim hosts for "Jeopardy!". The show made the announcement Wednesday, after a long campaign to have the former "Reading Rainbow" host step into the shoes of Alex Trebek, who died last year and whose iconic hosting role has since been filled by a rotating group of celebrities and TV personalities.
Burton, a lifelong children's literacy advocate who hosted the PBS show "Reading Rainbow," expressed his delight over the news on Twitter. Joining him on the list of temporary hosts are "Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts, "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" anchor George Stephanopoulos, author and former "Jeopardy! Celebrity" champion David Faber and award-winning sportscaster Joe Buck.
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. YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE! Go ahead and take my word for it, this time. https://t.co/C7mZWMok2X
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) April 21, 2021
"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. Our passionate fans are telling us what they like, and we are listening," executive producer Mike Richards — who also served as a guest host — said in a press release shared by the game show.
In November 2020, a petition was started on Change.org to get Burton hired as Trebek's replacement. It was endorsed by Burton himself at the beginning of April, and now has nearly 250,000 signatures. Burton thanked the person who started the petition on Twitter following the game show's announcement.
WATCH: Fans want @LeVarBurton to be @Jeopardy's next host — and he's ready for it.
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) April 9, 2021
A petition has collected more than 200,000 signatures calling on the show's producers to hire him.@vladduthiersCBS spoke with Burton, who says he's more than ready to take on the gig. pic.twitter.com/0YfmZ4HVWn
According to the release, Burton and this new crop of hosts will take the lectern for one-week stints starting some time in June. Burton will host from July 26 to July 30.
So far this season the show has been hosted by Ken Jennings — who was the first guest host of the new season — Richards, Katie Couric, Dr. Oz and Aaron Rodgers. Anderson Cooper is currently hosting, and will be followed by Bill Whitaker, "Jeopardy!" All-Star Buzzy Cohen, actress Mayim Bialik, Savannah Guthrie and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.