BURTON LANDS A JEOPARDY! SPOT

Jeopardy! producers are giving the people what they want. Levar Burton will host the quiz show as part of a continuing lineup of guest emcees after Alex Trebek's death. Burton, shown, has long voiced his desire to host, and nearly 250,000 fans have signed an online petition asking for him to be the permanent face of the show.

“I think my whole career is an advertisement for being the host of Jeopardy!,” he previously told EW. In addition to playing whipsmart engineer Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation and hosting 21 seasons of the educational kids show Reading Rainbow, Burton also starred as Kunta Kinte in the historical miniseries Roots.

Other guest hosts for the remainder of the 37th season are Good Morning America co-anchors George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts.