*Fans of LeVar Burton are outraged that he wasn’t selected to fill Alex Trebek’s shoes on “Jeopardy!” — as the hosting gig has reportedly gone to American sportscaster Joe Buck.
Per TMZ, Buck will serve as a guest host on the game show … with his episodes apparently slated to air later this summer. According to reports, Buck is being considered as a permanent host of the series. Burton fans are gutted by the news. The longtime host of “Reading Rainbow” has been vocal recently about wanting to take over where Trebek left off.
Back in November, Burton fans created a Change.org petition calling for ABC to hire him as the new host of the network’s long-running game show.
“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 roll 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,” the petition states.
READ MORE: LeVar Burton Supports Petition Calling on ABC to Hire Him as New Host of ‘Jeopardy!’
Leaving this here in the event the powers that be are listening… https://t.co/xB3x8atDCv
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) April 6, 2021
The petition continues, “This petition is to show Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and producers Mike Richards and 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!”
Earlier this month, Burton reacted to the online love and support in a series of tweets, writing, “Even if nothing comes from it, I can’t tell how much how I appreciate all y’alls love and support!”
“Of course while I’m very flattered by the petition, my thoughts are definitely with Alex Trebeck’s [sic] family and his millions of fans and the devastating loss of this irreplaceable legend. #LongLiveAlex,” he added in a follow-up tweet.
Internet: LeVar Burton should guest-host Jeopardy!
Jeopardy! producers: We got Dr. Oz!
LeVar Burton: I would love to host Jeopardy!, folks.
Jeopardy! producers: How about Joe Buck?
Internet: No, seriously, how about LeVar Burton?
Jeopardy! producers: What about Mario Lopez?
— Josh Spiegel (@mousterpiece) April 17, 2021
When Burton shared the petition on Twitter, he added the caption “Leaving this here in the event that the powers that be are listening,” he tweeted.
Trebek died in November at the age of 80, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Since then, “Jeopardy” guest hosts have included Greenbay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Katie Couric and “Jeopardy” champion Ken Jennings.
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