Jeopardy!: LeVar Burton Addresses Petition to Take Over as Host Following Alex Trebek's Passing

We lost a Canadian icon this week when it was announced that legendary host of Jeopardy!, Alex [...]

By Jamie Jirak

We lost a Canadian icon this week when it was announced that legendary host of Jeopardy!, Alex Trebek, passed away at age 80 after battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer since in March of 2019. Many people have taken to social media this week to pay tribute to Trebek, including a handful of celebrities. One person to garner a lot of attention for their post is Ken Jennings, the most famous and highest-earning Jeopardy! contestant in the show's history. Many people are advocating for Jennings to take over the show's hosting duties, a role Trebek first began in 1984. However, Jennings is not the only person in the running. There's a petition for Star Trek: The Next Generation and Reading Rainbow's LeVar Burton to take over for Trebek. Burton actually took to social media today to thank fans for their support.

"Even if nothing comes from it, I can't tell how much how I appreciate all y'alls love and support! 🙏🏾♥️," Burton wrote on Twitter. You can check out his post, which includes a link to the petition, below:

You can read the petition's description here: "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 role 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 producer 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!"

Currently, it's unclear when Jeopardy! plans to announce a new host or resume production. The official account for Jeopardy! shared a touching tribute to Trebek from executive producer Mike Richards, and he expained that there are still 35 unaired episodes featuring Trebek. You can read his statement below:

"I'm Mike Richards, the executive producer of Jeopardy. Over the weekend we lost our beloved host, Alex Trebek. This is an enormous loss for our staff and crew, for his family, and for his millions of fans. He loved this show, and everything it stood for. In fact, he taped his final episodes less than two weeks ago. He will forever be an inspiration for his constant desire to learn, his kindness, and for his love of his family. We will air his final 35 episodes as they were shot, that's what he wanted. On behalf of everyone here at Jeopardy, thank you for everything Alex, This is Jeopardy."

Who would you like to see host Jeopardy! next? Tell us in the comments.

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