LeVar Burton’s “Dream Job” of Guest Hosting ‘Jeopardy!’ Finally Begins Tonight

Jeopardy! fans, give a warm welcome to your highly-anticipated guest host of the week: LeVar Burton. The Reading Rainbow star finally takes the podium tonight, helming the ABC game show for a week after nearly a decade’s worth of campaigning for the hosting position. In honor of this week’s esteemed guest, Jeopardy! fans are revving up for tonight’s episode with Burton — and some, like Burton himself, have even been preparing for this moment for nearly a decade.

Burton’s Jeopardy! connection hails all the way back to 2013 when the actor first tweeted, “My dream job…? The new Host of #Jeapordy” And the bit didn’t end there: the next day, he tweeted a link to a petition nominating him to be the next host. He bounced back again in 2018 and in 2020, hurling himself into the ring as a potential permanent host once Trebek retired.

The guest host visited Good Morning America today to share what his experience hosting was like. After applauding former guest hosts and GMA anchors Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, Burton paid tribute to late host Alex Trebek.

“For me, my standard is excellence is so intense. My initial approach was to try and be as good as Alex was. Of course, I realized right away that that was an impossibility — the man had 37 years to perfect his mastery,” Burton said. “I just went out there and tried to bring as much LeVar to the moment as I could.”

Right in line with his Reading Rainbow legacy, all funds won during Burton’s Jeopardy! appearance will be donated to his chosen charity, Reading is Fundamental. He’ll have his first appearance tonight, running the show until this Friday, July 30.

Burton opened up about the gig to The New York Times last month, delving into both why he wants the permanent position and why he’d be perfectly suited as the host.

“It’s difficult to explain, but there’s something inside me that says this makes sense. I feel like this is what I’m supposed to do,” Burton said. “I have been watching Jeopardy! more or less every night of my life since Art Fleming was host. Jeopardy! is a cultural touchstone, and for a Black man to occupy that podium is significant.”

All this campaigning, of course, has not gone without solid backing from both fans of Burton and Jeopardy! alike. Burton is well-beloved by audiences of Jeopardy!, who have started hyping up for tonight’s show, flooding Burton’s Twitter mentions with support and celebration.

“Can’t wait to see my friend, the wonderful @levarburton take the Jeopardy spotlight,” Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander wrote. “What a great combo of host and show. Make it permanent please. Good luck pal.”

Jeopardy! airs weeknights at 7/6c on ABC.

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