Who Needs 'Jeopardy' Anyway? LeVar Burton Finally Gets His Game Show
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The CW is reportedly finalizing a deal to bring a LeVar Burton-hosted Trivial Pursuit game show to TV, following Burton’s brief gig hosting “Jeopardy!” in 2021.
The network is “closing on a deal” to bring the popular trivia game to a game show format, roughly two years after news of the show’s development first emerged, Deadline reported on Thursday.
The “Reading Rainbow” host is set to be an executive producer of the game show, while eOne, through the Levar Burton Entertainment banner, also looks to produce the game’s TV adaptation. Sources noted that the deal hasn’t been finalized, per Deadline.
“Trivial Pursuit is one of the best-known brands in the gaming universe. I am thrilled to have partnered with Hasbro and eOne to bring this beloved game to market as a premium show for television,” Burton said in a 2021 press release on the show’s development.
Burton was one of a number of “Jeopardy!” guest hosts following the death of Alex Trebek in 2020. His stint on the show was backed by a petition with nearly 300,000 signatures. The show’s then-executive producer Mike Richards would briefly take the helm as permanent host months later, before eventually leaving in the wake of several controversies.
Burton told “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah in 2021 that he later found out the “Jeopardy!” role “wasn’t the thing that [he] wanted after all.”
“I mean, I wanted the job, right? But then when I didn’t get it, it was like, ‘Well, OK, well what’s next?’” Burton said. “And so the opportunities that have come my way as a result of not getting that gig ― I couldn’t have dreamt it up.”
The Trivial Pursuit game show will be just the latest TV adaptation of the Hasbro game. Other TV versions over the years have included “Trivial Pursuit” hosted by Wink Martindale, “Trivial Pursuit: America Plays” hosted by “The Brady Bunch” actor Christopher Knight, and the Roger Lodge-hosted “ESPN Trivial Pursuit” in 2004.
There is already a 12-episode order for the Burton-hosted game show, according to TMZ.
