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LeVar Burton may not have been able to leverage his gig as a guest host on Jeopardy! into a full-time job on the show, but it would appear he’s landed a similar position a few years after that one failed to come to fruition.
In 2021, Jeopardy! welcomed a number of guest hosts into its studio in the wake of the death of Alex Trebek. The initial group of substitutes included legendary champion Ken Jennings (who’d eventually become the permanent replacement), broadcasting veterans like Katie Couric and Anderson Cooper, and wild cards in the form of Aaron Rodgers and Dr. Oz.
While he wasn’t originally a member of that crew, plenty of people thought LeVar Burton would be an ideal fit for the program to the point where close to 300,000 supporters signed an online petition asserting the beloved host of Reading Rainbow had what it took to do the job.
Burton did a perfectly serviceable job but had a bit of trouble getting into a groove, and by the time the Jeopardy! guest host experiment came to an end, he ended up dead last on the list of the ratings each personality was able to generate during their time behind the podium.
However, the actor who initially made a name for himself with Roots and Star Trek: The Next Generation said he eventually realized Jeopardy! wasn’t for him while saying the experience opened up the door for new opportunities in a similar realm.
It took a few years for the pieces to fall into place, but according to TMZ, Burton is gearing up for a new chapter as the host and executive producer of a game show inspired by Trivial Pursuit that’s slated to make its grand debut on The CW in the near future.
The outlet reports the network plans to officially announce the new show on Thursday, and it’s believed Burton has already filmed 12 episodes that will presumably air at some point this year.