Jeopardy: LeVar Burton Guest Host Week Supports Charity

Jeopardy! is giving the fans what they want with LeVar Burton presenting clues and categories for the upcoming week. The Star Trek: The Next Generation star is hosting and the Internet is more than at attention for the occasion. He’s been a fan-favorite to host the game show since Alex Trebek’s unfortunate passing. On the show’s Twitter account, they laid out how the show would be helping his chosen charity: Reading Is Fundamental. That organization is committed to helping get books in the hands of kids who might not have them. Children’s literacy is a cause near and dear to Burton’s heart as he hosted Reading Rainbow. That experience with an entire generation largely helped power the social media campaign to get him the guest spot in the first place. He’s eternally grateful for the opportunity and would love to see more good come from it.

In a recent sit-down with The Seattle Times, the actor and his wife, Stephanie Cozart Burton, talked about the upcoming string of episodes. She’s also his makeup artist for the taping. A performance assessmentduring the first episode helped him get back to what he felt like was his natural vocal delivery.

“I came backstage after taping the first episode and I said to Stephanie, ‘Well, how did I do?’ She said, ‘ehhh’ Now, this is a woman who loves me enough to tell me the truth. She said it wasn’t me,” Burton remebered. “I made it my business for the next four chances at bat to just be myself, to forget about the procedure, to forget about the process, stop trying, stop focusing on the wrong thing. You’re not going to be smooth as Alex, let go of that. But what you can bring to the table is you. So that became my point of focus. And when it did, I started having fun.”

In previous comments to Entertainment Weekly, he left no doubt that he wants this gig for a number of reasons.

“I’ve thought and thought and thought — I’ve asked friends and family to help me identify someone out there who’s more qualified for the job than I am,” Burton explained. “I don’t believe there is anyone out there who is better suited for this job than me. And I will go to my grave believing that… I think my whole career is an advertisement for being the host of Jeopardy.”

Are you excited to see Burton on Jeopardy!? Let us know down in the comments below!