With Aaron Rodgers about to wrap-up his stint guest hosting Jeopardy! in just a little over a week, the classic quiz show has announced its next batch of temporary hosts along with the dates that fans can expect to see them gracing the podium that was filled by the late Alex Trebek for over 30 years. Unlike the previous group, which rankled fans with the inclusion of the controversial Dr. Oz, it looks like the producers won’t have any fires to put out this time.
According to USA Today, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will be the first up after Rodgers’ stint, followed by 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker. From there, The Big Bang Theory and Blossom star Mayim Bialik will take over. Their hosting dates are:
Anderson Cooper: April 19 – 30
Bill Whitaker: May 3 – 14
Mayim Bialik: May 31 – June 11
TODAY anchor Savannah Guthrie and Dr. Sanjay Gupta will follow Bialik at dates that have yet to be announced.
Noticeably missing from the group is LeVar Burton, who recently went all-in on efforts to make him the permanent successor to Trebek. On Monday, the Reading Rainbow and Star Trek: The Next Generation star tweeted a fan petition in case “the powers that be are listening,” and it makes a compelling case for Burton to take over as the new Jeopardy! host. Via Change.org:
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. 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!
When Burton tweeted the petition at the beginning of the week, it was at roughly 135,000 signatures. It’s now sitting north of 200,000 and has since received the support of Dick Van Dyke and Stephen Colbert.
(Via USA Today)