In a recent interview on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, LeVar Burton announced he’s no longer interested in taking over as host of Jeopardy!
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The Emmy-nominated actor and beloved television host wasn’t shy about his desire to succeed the equally-beloved Alex Trebek as host of the fast-paced quiz show, and his public campaign for the gig quickly garnered fan support. This led to him being added to the show’s rotating list of guest hosts back in July.
But as we know, the job ultimately went to Jeopardy!’s former executive producer, alleged bad boss and wildly unfunny hack Mike Richards–who held the job for, like, ten seconds before getting bounced all the way out of the paint. The show will now be hosted by Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings until the season’s end, two people who have also said ... very problematic things on wax.
But whatever, man. It is what it is.
Despite his initial interest in taking over as tJeopardy!’s public face, Burton told Noah on Thursday that he realized he no longer wanted the job after he was passed over for Richards, which makes all the sense in the world.
“The crazy thing is that when you set your sights on something, they say ‘Be careful of what you wish for,’” Burton said. “Because what I found out is that it wasn’t the thing that I wanted after all. What I wanted was to compete. I mean, I wanted the job ... but then when I didn’t get it, it was like ‘Well, OK, what’s next?’ And so the opportunities that have come my way as a result of not getting that gig, I couldn’t have dreamt it up.”
As someone who enjoys both Jeopardy! and Burton, all of this nonsense on behalf of Richards–a man who is about as nondescript as a naked Old Navy mannequin–and whoever else is responsible for bungling this transition was wildly disappointing to watch unfold.
However, Burton’s gonna be just fine. He told Noah that his production company is working on figuring out “what the right game show for LeVar Burton would be,” and when that’s figured out, there’s a lot of folks that’ll be watching, myself included.
Until then, let’s just enjoy his occasional Twitter shade and clapbacks, which are very fun to read in his very soothing, smooth-ass voice.
Like the following exchange with some wingding that tried to play him. The only thing that would have made it better was if it ended with that little jingle that played at the end of the book recommendation segments on Reading Rainbow:
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