The march of guest hosts continues across the Jeopardy! stage, months after the death of longtime leader Alex Trebek. And so far they've mostly been excellent, as seen in our absolutely-not-scientific rankings of the best Jeopardy! guest hosts.
But — and with all due respect to everyone who's come before and after — one upcoming guest host will hit the game with more excitement and anticipation than any of the others. (Yes, even Aaron Rodgers.)
So when will LeVar Burton be on Jeopardy!? The time has arrived!
LeVar Burton is scheduled to make his guest host appearance on Jeopardy! from July 26 to July 30. Yes, that's a mere five days. He's not the only guest host with such a short run (which almost certainly has to do with his schedule), but it's still a shame to know that we'll only get Burton for one week's worth of shows, whereas other guest hosts have had more.
Ken Jennings, for instance, had a whopping seven weeks, from Jan. 4 to Feb. 19. Of course, he's got the longest winning streak in show history and also is a consulting producer. Most other guest hosts got a full two weeks — that's 10 shows — under their belts, too. But starting in July, the remaining hosts will only have a week of shows. Along with Burton, that includes George Stephanopoulos (July 12-16), Robin Roberts (July 19-23), David Faber (Aug. 2-6), and finally with Joe Buck (Aug. 9-13).
Either way, we'll be be blessed to have him. And he's probably the only person more excited than we are. He's made no secret that he'd love to be the permanent host — the guest hosts have been a bridge to finding a full-timer. Maybe it'll be one of the celebs, and maybe it won't.
Burton is fine with things whether it happens or not, telling Esquire magazine:
"If I don't get it, I'll be fine. My life will go on. I am enormously happy and content with who I am and what I do and how I do it. I don't expect that to change whether I get the Jeopardy! job or not. For now, I'm excited to see the episodes. I'm really eager to see how I did."
Jeopardy! has been matching the contestants' cumulative winnings of all the contestants during the guest-host run and donating that haul to the guest hosts' charity of choice. Through July 23, that's totaled some $2.45 million. Burton's chosen charity is Reading is Fundamental. (Naturally!)
