After being snubbed out of hosting the game show Jeopardy! LeVar Burton has turned his failure into success and is now hosting Trivial Pursuit.
According to Variety, Burton has teamed up with Hasbro and eOne to host the family favorite trivia game Trivial Pursuit on television.
Burton is set to host and executive produce the new show under his production company along with Geno McDermott from eOne and Tara Long. She is president of unscripted global television for eOne.
“Trivial Pursuit is one of the best-known brands in the gaming universe,” Burton told the outlet in an interview about the show. “I am thrilled to have partnered with Hasbro and eOne to bring this beloved game to market as a premium show for television.”
Long said, “LeVar Burton has been an iconic member of American pop culture for decades from Roots to Reading Rainbow to Star Trek and beyond.”
“His love for intellectual curiosity paired with his ability to connect with audiences worldwide make him the perfect partner to bring Hasbro’s beloved trivia game to households in a new and exciting way,” Long added.
Burton was amongst the top-ranked choices as a possible replacement for Alex Trebek on Jeopardy!
As previously reported, at the time, social media and his fans were devastated that he didn’t get the esteemed position.
In an interview on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Burton said that after his experience mock-hosting the show, he no longer felt interested in hosting Jeopardy!
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“The crazy thing is that when you set your sights on something…they say be careful of what you wish for because what I found out is that it wasn’t the thing that I wanted after all,” Burton told Noah. “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?’”
Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings now have taken over as full-time hosts for the show.
Trivial Pursuit is a highly viewed game show available in more than 26 countries and 17 languages.
