LeVar Burton made his debut as a new “Jeopardy!” guest host this week, and his time on the show has already seen a massive record-breaking performance.
Is LeVar Burton hosting ‘Jeopardy!’ now?
Yes. The “Reading Rainbow” and “Star Trek” actor is the latest person to take over the “Jeopardy!” hosting duties following Alex Trebek’s death in November 2020.
- An online petition with more than 250,000 signatures called for Burton to be the host, the Deseret News reported.
Burton joins a slew of guest hosts who have been leading the show since March 8. Each week, the host chooses a charity the show will donate to at the conclusion of their hosting duties.
- Burton has chosen the nonprofit literary organization Reading is Fundamental as his charity.
What happened with LeVar Burton’s first show?
Per Boston.com, Burton’s first episode featured the record for the lowest “Jeopardy!” score in the show’s history. Patrick Pearce set the record, earning negative $7,400 — a new low compared to the old record of $6,800 set in January 2020, according to Boston.com.
One Reddit user empathized with Pearce for what happened, saying it was the result of his own worst nightmare:
- “Patrick just manifested my worst nightmare,” the Reddit user wrote. “Finally get on the show, board isn’t to your strengths, get behind early, panic buzz, snowball, big RED. I feel for him.”