Jeopardy! finally books LeVar Burton as guest host; see air dates

While there have been some great guests hosts for Jeopardy! so far (we’re rather fond of Anderson Cooper), LeVar Burton has long been at the top of our list. Heck, he’s been the man who many viewers want to see! The Reading Rainbow host is one of the few people who truly embodies the spirit of the late Alex Trebek — it’s about having the right mixture of skill, empathy, and a thirst for knowledge to make the job work. There is an enormous petition out there to get LeVar the gig and finally, the folks at the game show have listened.

Today, it was announced that Burton will be guest-hosting the syndicated game show from July 26 to July 30. This gives him a chance to show across five days what he can bring to the table! We know that some guest hosts are likely not going to take on the gig full-time, and some may not even be able to. This is an exception — LeVar has openly stated his desire to eventually replace Trebek as the full-time host, and we hope this opportunity is one that the producers closely examine when he hits the stage this summer.

In a post on Twitter reacting to this news, here is some of what Burton had to say:

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 in me. YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE! Go ahead and take my word for it, this time.

Some of the other newly-announced guest hosts for Jeopardy! include the likes of Robin Roberts of Good Morning America (July 19 – July 23), CNBC host David Faber (August 2 – August 6), and then finally sportscaster Joe Buck (August 9 – August 13). Out of the hosts we’ve seen so far, we do still think that Ken Jennings and Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards are the favorites … but we’ll wait to see what producers eventually decide.

What do you think about LeVar Burton getting a chance to guest-host Jeopardy! in the future?

Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! Once you do that, stick around to get some other news on the show. (Photo: Jeopardy.)