It’s official: LeVar Burton is one of the guest hosts set to close out Season 37 of Jeopardy!
Burton, known for his role as Enterprise Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation and his over-20-year tenure as the host of Reading Rainbow, had previously expressed interest in hosting Jeopardy! He even tweeted out a Change.org petition calling for him to succeed the late Alex Trebek as the quiz show’s next host. At the time of the April 21 announcement that Burton would be among the show’s next guest hosts, the petition has over 245,000 signatures.
Jeopardy! has been cycling through guest hosts since the airing of Trebek’s final episodes. These hosts have included former Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings, journalist Katie Couric, and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. However, no guest host has managed to capture Trebek’s excitement and hosting capabilities so far. Burton, who has devoted himself to educating children and encouraging them to find the joy in reading even after his time on Reading Rainbow, would be the perfect person to step into the big pair of shoes Trebek left behind.
Jeopardy! also announced a number of other new guest hosts, including Good Morning America co-anchors Robin Roberts and George Stephanopolous, journalist David Faber, and sportscaster Joe Buck. They will succeed the already-announced guest hosts Anderon Cooper, Bill Whitaker, Mayim Bialik, Savannah Guthrie, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Burton’s run as host will last from July 26 to July 30. He is clearly ready for the opportunity and qualified for the position thanks to his love of learning. Plus, he even won Celebrity Jeopardy! in a 1995 appearance. Here’s hoping that the next time people wonder who the host of Jeopardy! is, the answer (or rather, question) will be, “Who is LeVar Burton?”