LeVar Burton Shares Petition to Become the Next Jeopardy! Host

Fans on social media now want LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow fame to host Jeopardy! after he petitioned for the job on Twitter.

By Kaitlin Reilly Apr 07, 2021 6:22 PMTags
Watch: Who Will Replace Alex Trebek on "Jeopardy!"?

The internet has found who they want to replace the late Alex Trebek as the host of Jeopardy!

On April 6, LeVar Burton, the Star Trek: The Next Generation actor who famously hosted the PBS series Reading Rainbow for 23 years, threw his hat in the ring by sharing a Change.org petition calling for him to host the game show. 

"Leaving this here in the event the powers that be are listening," LeVar wrote of the petition. 

The petition, which was started by a person named Joshua Sanders, reads, "Between hosting 21 seasons of the educational Reading Rainbow, playing the brainiac engineer Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: the Next Generation, and filling the roll of Kunta Kinte in the ever important mini-series Roots, LeVar Burton has inspired and shaped the minds of several generations of trivia-loving nerds. This petition is to show Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and producers Mike Richards and Harry Friedman just how much love the public has for Burton, and how much we'd all love to see him as the next host of Jeopardy!

Thus far, the petition has over 173,000 signatures of its 200,000 goal.

Fans on Twitter loved the idea. One wrote, "If being well-read, personable, and well known are qualifications for hosting Jeopardy, you definitely should have that job!" Another added, "There isn't a more likable guy in the business." 

A third shared, "Good luck LaVar!! You would make a wonderful host of jeopardy. Rooting for you!!"
 

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Every Potential Jeopardy! Host

LeVar also retweeted a message from Stephen Colbert, who supported the actor taking on this new role. 

Rich Fury/Getty Images

"I think LeVar Burton should host Jeopardy! As Geordi La Forge," The Late Show host tweeted. "And the buzzers should be phasers. And Data should be the judge. And it should be in space. And just be Star Trek."

Alex, the longtime host of Jeopardy!, died last year at 80 after a battle with cancer. Since then, guest hosts have included NFL star Aaron RodgersJeopardy! champion Ken Jennings and Katie Couric