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Last week we lost Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, the host of the show since 1984. Fans are still mourning Alex’s death. Before he passed, Alex filmed new Jeopardy! episodes which will air through to Christmas.
Jeopardy! will need to find a new host for the show. In Jeopardy’s! statement confirming Alex’s death, the show’s executives stated that they will not be announcing Alex’s replacement anytime soon. Alex has jokingly suggested Betty White be his replacement. In 2018, Alex seriously suggested announcer Alex Faust or CNN legal correspondent Laura Coates as his replacement. However, fans of Reading Rainbow’s LeVar Burton created a Change.org petition calling for Jeopardy! to consider him as Alex’s Replacement. The petition has gotten over 90k signatures so far. LeVar stated in a post that even if nothing comes of the campaign that he was flattered. Below is more on the story from Entertainment Tonight:
“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 Change.org petition reads. “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!”
Burton reacted to the petition on Thursday, writing on Twitter, “Even if nothing comes from it, I can’t tell how much how I appreciate all y’alls love and support! ??♥️.”
Trebek joked about his successor in an interview with Good Morning America in July.
“I joke with the audience all the time and I say, ‘Betty White,’ because they want somebody younger, somebody funnier,” he said of the 98-year-old actress. “Betty and I have been friends for a long, long time.”
[From Entertainment Tonight]
I just feel like it is seriously tacky to be calling for Alex’s replacement already. Alex has only been dead a week and people need time to mourn his loss. For those who grew up watching Jeopardy! Alex is a TV personality who almost feels like family. So it’s gonna take some time for us to accept that he is gone.
When the show does begin to look for Alex’s replacement, hopefully they will consider Alex’s suggestions. Although I don’t mind the idea of LeVar Burton succeeding Alex Trebek, I think it would be cool if a Black women took over the spot. Laura Coates has a very unique background and would be a cool choice as there are hardly any women, especially Black women, hosting game shows. (Leslie Jones hosts the new Supermarket Sweep. I can’t think of any other Black women currently hosting game shows.) I will say that the idea of Betty White stepping in, even for just a season, would warm my cold dark heart as well.
It is premature to start calling for a new host of the show. I personally am still mourning Alex. He was definitely a staple on my TV growing up. I will miss his dry humor and kindness. He will forever be the host of Jeopardy! in my mind.
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