‘Jeopardy!’ Announces Final Round of Guest Hosts, Including One Person Fans Have Been Lobbying For

LeVar Burton is finally getting the chance to show Jeopardy! fans that he’s the right person to be the show’s permanent host. On Wednesday, the long-running game show announced the next and final roster of guest hosts that will finish out the currently-airing Season 37, with the Reading Rainbow host and Star Trek: The Next Generation actor’s name on the list alongside Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, David Faber, and Joe Buck. Each guest host will have a several-episode-long stint.

The final round of interim hosts will kick off on Monday, July 12, when Stephanopoulos, ABC News’ chief anchor and co-anchor of Good Morning America, takes over for CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who will report for his hosting duties on June 28 and will remain guest host until July 9. Stephanopoulos’ turn as host will conclude on Friday, July 16, with his GMA co-anchor Roberts taking over on July 19 until July 23. Burton, meanwhile, will begin his two-week-long hosting on Monday, July 26, with his turn ending following the July 30th airing. Faber, is an award-winning journalist and former Celebrity Jeopardy! champion, will then host from Aug. 2 until Aug. 6, with Sports Emmy-winning sportscaster Buck rounding out the list of guest hosts with a stint from Aug. 9 until Aug. 13.

In a statement obtained by TVLine, Jeopardy! executive producer said the show’s “goal has been to present a wide variety of guest hosts with different skill sets and backgrounds on our path to finding a permanent host.” Richards added, “Our passionate fans are telling us what they like, and we are listening. All of the guest hosts have brought individualism, energy and an authentic love of our show to each of their episodes. We look forward to sharing the rest of the season with our viewers.”

While it remains unclear as of now who will permanently fill the spot left vacant by Alex Trebek, who died in November following a battle with pancreatic cancer and had hosted the game show for nearly 40 years, news of Burton stepping in as interim host will come as welcome news to fans. Shortly after Trebek’s passing, Jeopardy! viewers began lobbying for Burton to be the one to take on the role as host, with a Change.org petition currently sitting at nearly 250,000 signatures. Burton himself has indicated a desire to host, having previously shared the petition. Reacting to the Wednesday news that he will get the chance to show his chops, Burton in a tweet thanked fans for their “passionate support” and said he is “overjoyed, excited, and eager to be guest-hosting Jeopardy!, and will do my utmost best to live up to your faith you in me.”