LeVar Burton is one step closer to his dream as this weekâs âJeopardy!â guest host
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Despite decades of experience in the entertainment industry as a beloved TV host and actor, LeVar Burton was more than nervous to begin his long-awaited stint as guest host of âJeopardy!â
âI was absolutely petrified,â Burton said in a promotional video for the hit quiz show, whose first episode hosted by Burton airs Monday at 7 p.m. Pacific on ABC. âAnd I donât know that that feeling ever went away.â
For the record:
8:32 a.m. July 27, 2021A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that âJeopardy!â airs on CBS. The show is broadcast on ABC.
After dropping hints and outright campaigning to succeed the late Alex Trebek as emcee of the prestigious TV institution for years, Burton will finally make his debut behind the famed studio lectern during this weekâs âJeopardy!â programming.
âMy standard of excellence is so intense that my initial approach was to try and be as good as Alex was,â Burton told previous âJeopardy!â guest hosts Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos on Mondayâs installment of âGood Morning America.â
âGood Morning Americaâ co-anchors Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos and Fox sportscaster Joe Buck will also fill in as âJeopardy!â guest hosts.
âOf course, I realized right away that that was an impossibility. The man had 37 years to perfect his mastery.â
From 1983 to 2006, Burton served as host of the popular PBS series âReading Rainbow,â which encouraged children to read through various modes of storytelling. During his âReading Rainbowâ tenure, Burton collected several Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award for his influential work.
As Burtonâs highly anticipated âJeopardy!â moment approaches, more than 257,000 fans â who grew up watching the revered performer on âReading Rainbow,â âRootsâ and other seminal productions â have signed an online petition nominating him as permanent host of the long-running competition program.
In recent years and months, Burton has repeatedly stated his aspirations to take up the coveted mantle on social media, in interviews and in correspondence with the showâs producers. In other words, he and his loyal fandom are not messing around.
With cohost Tony Dokoupil on paternity leave, the CBS News show will bring in names from the ViacomCBS family for its second hour.
âI am the beneficiary of amazing grace,â Burton told âGood Morning America.â âI think [the mounting online support] has something to do with the fact that this generation of adults who grew up on âReading Rainbowâ feel like I have made an investment in them, and they are returning the favor.â
With his upcoming âJeaopardy!â appearance, Burton joins a long line of recent guest hosts, including Roberts, Stephanopoulos, Mehmet Oz, Anderson Cooper, Savannah Guthrie, Sanjay Gupta and Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers â who has also lobbied hard for a full-time gig as emcee of the series.
This week wonât mark the first time Burton has taken the âJeopardy!â stage. In 1995, the Grammy-winning narrator raked in a whopping $14,500 for the Somalia Foundation as the winner of âCelebrity Jeopardy!â
Toward the back of LeVar Burtonâs L.A. office thereâs a room filled with people testing software, including some, in teeny chairs, who are about 6 years old.
This time around, Burton is raising money and awareness for Reading is Fundamental, an organization that delivers thousands of books to children each year.
âThis is what Iâve been doing my entire career,â he said. âFor 45 years, Iâve tried to use the medium of television to do more than simply entertain.
âI know that we have the opportunity â when we do it with consciousness â to inform, to enlighten, to educate, even uplift ourselves with the stories that we tell one another. And I see âJeopardy!â as absolutely in the sweet spot of that Venn diagram.â
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