LeVar Burton to host a Trivial Pursuit game show
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LeVar Burton will be hosting a knowledge-based game show after all — just not the one you might have expected.
The erstwhile aspiring Jeopardy emcee will host a game show based on the classic board game Trivial Pursuit, EW has confirmed. The project is in development at Entertainment One (a.k.a. eOne), the media company recently acquired by Trivial Pursuit owner Hasbro. No network is currently attached to the show.
"Trivial Pursuit is one of the best-known brands in the gaming universe," Burton said in a statement. "I am thrilled to have partnered with Hasbro and eOne to bring this beloved game to market as a premium show for television."
Taylor Hill/Getty Images LeVar Burton is set to host a 'Trivial Pursuit' game show.
A typical game of Trivial Pursuit sees players answering trivia questions in a variety of categories, including Geography, Entertainment, and Science & Nature, attempting to obtain a colored wedge corresponding to each category. First released in 1981, the game has sold more than 100 million copies and spawned countless arguments worldwide.
This will not be the first time Trivial Pursuit has been adapted for TV. Previous versions aired on The Family Channel (now Freeform) from 1993 to 1994, with veteran game show emcee Wink Martindale hosting, and in syndication as Trivial Pursuit: America Plays, hosted by The Brady Bunch star Christopher Knight, from 2008 to 2009.
News of Burton's version comes in the wake of the Reading Rainbow presenter's guest-hosting stint on Jeopardy earlier this year. Despite widespread fan support, Burton was ultimately passed over in the hot mess that was the process of choosing a successor for beloved host Alex Trebek, who died last November.
In an interview on The Daily Show in September, Burton told Trevor Noah that he was no longer interested in hosting Jeopardy full time.
"What I found out is that it wasn't the thing that I wanted after all," he said. "What I wanted was to compete. I mean, I wanted the job, right, but then, when I didn't get it, it was like, well, okay, what's next? And, so, the opportunities that have come my way as a result of not getting that gig, I couldn't have dreamt it up."
He also teased that one of those opportunities would be hosting a game show: "Now I'm thinking, well, it does kind of make sense, let me see what I can do," Burton told Noah. "So we're trying to figure out what the right game show for LeVar Burton would be."
To put it in Jeopardy terms, it seems the question is: What is Trivial Pursuit?
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