LeVar Burton Finally Gets Turn As ‘Jeopardy’ Guest Host But Ratings Disappoint

LeVar Burton served as a guest host for the first time on the iconic television game show Jeopardy on Monday. Along with many celebrities, Burton has been guest hosting Jeopardy following the death of its longtime host Alex Trebek. Burton will serve until July 30 when David Faber will take his place as host on August 2.

Burton is best known for appearing in several iconic television shows such as the massively popular science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation as the blind Lieutenant Commander Geordie La Forge, the miniseries Roots as Kunte Kinte and as the host of the long-running educational children’s television series Reading Rainbow from 1983 to 2006.

Burton has been very vocal about his desire to become the next host of the long-running game show. His wish to be the new host of Jeopardy has been active for almost a decade after the actor revealed on Twitter in 2013 that his dream job was to be the host of Jeopardy. Burton had originally appeared on an episode of Jeopardy! and even won as a contestant.

The actor declared that he is the best possible person for the job. “I don’t believe there is anyone out there who is better suited for this job than me,” he said. Despite Burton’s excitement at finally getting to host the famous series, the ratings for his episode were extremely low. Many of Burton’s fans are attempting to boost the ratings in order for there to be a possibility of Burton coming back to host.

Now, at least, Burton can cross hosting Jeopardy off of his bucket list.