FINALLY

LeVar Burton Scores Guest Host Slot on ‘Jeopardy!’ After 250,000 Fans Begged for It

After a fervent fan campaign, Burton thanked his supporters and said he “will do my utmost best to live up to your faith in me.”

LeVar Burton will guest host Jeopardy! after nearly 250,000 fans signed a petition begging Sony Pictures Entertainment to bring on the Star Trek: The Next Generation actor as a potential replacement for the late Alex Trebek, who died in November at age 80. The appeals seem to have succeeded: Burton thanked fans in tweets Wednesday, writing, “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!” The Reading Rainbow host told The Daily Beast in an interview last week he had wanted to host the show very badly for a very long time: “If they were to hire somebody and I did not feel like I gave it my absolute best shot to get in there, I would never forgive myself. I am willing to put my skills up against those of anybody else who they are considering because I just believe so fervently that I’m right.” Burton won a 1995 celebrity Jeopardy! tournament after pestering Trebek with requests to come on the show for years.