Jeopardy! announces more guest hosts — but no LeVar Burton?
To be specific, we have questions about both their selection of guest host and the omission of LeVar Burton, who is indisputably an internet favorite as a possible replacement for Alex Trebek. Before today, we knew that Bill Whitaker, Mayim Bialik, Katie Couric, Aaron Rodgers, and show executive producer Mike Richards (who was the host of Beauty and the Geek — a show we appeared on) are going to be taking on the gig. Now, you can add Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Savannah Guthrie, and Dr. Mehmet Oz to the list.
In a statement, here is what Richards had to say about this latest lineup of guests:
“We look forward to each guest host bringing their unique abilities to the show and to our contestants winning a lot of money that we can match for charity.”
Save for Dr. Oz (who has been the subject of plenty of controversies over the past couple of years), we don’t have an issue with too many of the guest hosts on the list. They come from a wide range of backgrounds and, as far as we know, are all tremendous trivia buffs. We’re not sure if all of them are permanent candidates to replace Alex — it was noted in the past that not all of these gigs are auditions. Some are just there to celebrate his legacy.
The mystery to us is why the former Star Trek star and Reading Rainbow host isn’t on the list. He has long been interested in the role, has the love of learning you would want, and also just has a calming nature about it. He would bring such an essence to Jeopardy! that it would need, week in and week out. Also, there are so many modern-day contestants who probably grew up watching him on TV.
Hopefully, Jeopardy! will find a way before too long to correct this — maybe the schedules haven’t line up, but if that is the case, we haven’t heard about it.
Do you still want LeVar Burton to host Jeopardy! in the future?
Who do you think should be the permanent host? Let us know in the comments. (Photo: Jeopardy.)