It has been a LONG time coming! LeVar Burton finally made his debut as the host of Jeopardy! on Monday (Jul. 26, 2021).
Burton will be hosting Jeopardy! the rest of this week. His hosting stint is set to wrap up on July 30.
Burton said during the show that he was “thrilled to have the opportunity,” calling himself a “longtime viewer” who is “proud” to help honor the legacy of late host Alex Trebek.
Trebek, who hosted the game show for nearly four decades, died at the age of 80 in November, more than a year after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Before the episodes aired, Jeopardy! posted a video on its YouTube channel in which they shared what Burton had to say about his time on the show. The actor, who has been a fan-favorite to take over for the late Alex Trebek, admitted that he was “nervous” about the filming process.
Still, he noted that he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to be a guest host, as he said, “I’ve been a fan of Jeopardy! for all my life and when this opportunity came by I could not pass it up.”
Burton’s debut episode will be remembered for more than just that. Contestant Patrick Pearce set a record during the episode, but probably not the one he was hoping to set.
Pearce, a product specialist from Fountain Valley, California, set a new record for the lowest Jeopardy! score.
With his amount of wrong answers dipping into double digits, he was climbing out of the hole most of the night before taking a major blow during a Daily Double toward the end.
And then it was a question about US government buildings overseas that finally put him into record-breaking territory.
Pearce’s $-7,400 breaks a record previously held by Stephanie Hull since March 12th, 2015, when she posted $-6,800. Pearce was competing against Kathleen McHugh and three-day (now four-day) champion Matt Amodio.
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