LeVar Burton’s Quest to Succeed Alex Trebek
If the right person catches the right project at the right time, the culture will always hold that person close. Do it three times, as LeVar Burton has done, and our relationship becomes something even deeper. Through his performances as Kunta Kinte in the landmark 1977 television mini-series “Roots,” as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” which aired in syndication from 1987 to 1994 and is the greatest of all “Star Trek” iterations (I’ll brook no arguments to the contrary) and as host of the beautifully ambling PBS children’s educational series “Reading Rainbow” during its run from 1983 to 2006, Burton established himself as an icon of grace and humanism, an enduring part of the fabric of American culture. Which might explain why, this past spring, there was an organic social media groundswell to get Burton, who is 64, the shot he wanted at replacing another beloved figure, the late Alex Trebek, as host of “Jeopardy!” “I feel like in some respects that I helped raise these younger generations that grew up watching ‘Reading Rainbow,’” says Burton, who will guest-host “Jeopardy!” in late July. “That means something to them, and it means something to me. We’re invested in each other’s success.”
Last fall, you tweeted that you feel as if you’ve been preparing your whole life for the “Jeopardy!” job. In what way? And also, why do you want the gig so badly? It’s difficult to explain, but there’s something inside me that says this makes sense. I feel like this is what I’m supposed to do. I have been watching “Jeopardy!” more or less every night of my life since Art Fleming was host. “Jeopardy!” is a cultural touchstone, and for a Black man to occupy that podium is significant. Look, I have had a career for the [expletive] ages. “Roots,” “Star Trek,” “Reading Rainbow.” Won a Grammy. Got a shelf full of Emmys. I’m a storyteller, and game shows are tremendous stories. There’s a contest, there’s comedy, there’s drama. If you don’t know your [expletive] on “Jeopardy!” you’re sunk in full view of the entire nation. The stakes are high. I love that.
