The people could be getting what they want very soon.
via: New York Post
The longtime game show announced its final guest hosts to finish out the latest season on Wednesday. LeVar Burton, Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, David Faber (who is a former “Celebrity Jeopardy!” champ) and Joe Buck are among the stars tapped to host the wildly popular trivia game.
Burton has previously expressed his profound enthusiasm to host the show and take over the reins from the late great Alex Trebek.
The 64-year-old “Reading Rainbow” host gushed over his new gig on Twitter, writing, “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.”
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
Earlier this month, Burton tweeted a fan-started campaign to make him a permanent “Jeopardy!” host.
“Leaving this here in the event that the powers that be are listening,” the “Roots” actor tweeted alongside a petition. The document has since gained over 250,000 signatures as of today.
Burton recently appeared on USA TODAY’s “The Mothership” podcast and further spoke about his desire to host the quiz show. “This is something that I really think is a good idea,” he said. “I think it’s a good fit of what the show is, what the show requires and what I feel like I bring to the table. I feel as strongly about my rightness for this as I did about Kunta and Geordi. And I’m that invested in getting the job.”
Burton added that he feels he wants to do “justice to the legacy of Alex.” Trebek passed away in November 2019 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 80. The show paid tribute to the iconic host’s legendary career in January.
Following Trebek’s death, ABC News journalist George Stephanopoulos was reportedly lobbying for the gig, amongst several other candidates, and “actively” putting his name in the ring.
“Jeopardy!” executive producer Mike Richards released a statement Wednesday about the slew of new celeb hosts. “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,” Richards said. “Our passionate fans are telling us what they like, and we are listening. All of the guest hosts have brought individualism, energy and an authentic love of our show to each of their episodes. We look forward to sharing the rest of the season with our viewers.”
In addition to each guest host’s appearance, a donation will be made to a charity of their choice. The amount that is donated will be matched with the cumulative winnings of the contestants that compete during the week.
Previous Season 37 guest hosts include Anderson Cooper, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Savannah Guthrie, Katie Couric and Aaron Rodgers.
There are few host options that have done more for laying educational foundations than Burton. As the executive producer and star of PBS’ Reading Rainbow, the actor promoted literacy for a whole generation. This in addition to his popular acting roles makes him a frontrunner to land the gig.
