“Reading Rainbow” host LeVar Burton just really wants to host “Jeopardy!” and an overwhelming amount of people on the internet are in support.
Throughout this week, an online petition has been circulating demanding that Burton be made a guest host on the iconic game show.
“Between hosting 21 seasons of the educational Reading Rainbow, playing the brainiac engineer Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: the Next Generation, and filling the roll of Kunta Kinte in the ever important mini-series Roots, LeVar Burton has inspired and shaped the minds of several generations of trivia-loving nerds,” reads the petition, which now has more than 160,000 digital signatures.
Burton himself shared the petition in an attempt to manifest himself as host, tweeting late on Monday: “Leaving this here in the event that the powers that be are listening.”
The petition specifically calls out Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and producers Mike Richards and Harry Friedman to show them “just how much love the public has for Burton, and how much we’d all love to see him as the next host of ‘Jeopardy!’”
The show has not publicly commented on the petition and did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on the matter.
In the wake of former “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek’s death last year, the show has had a number of guest hosts at the helm, including former contestant Ken Jennings, Katie Couric, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and others.
Burton’s tweet has since racked up more than 40,000 likes, and hundreds of fans have tweeted both the petition and calls for him to take on hosting duties. Among those fans are big stars like iconic actor and comedian Dick Van Dyke and late night TV host Stephen Colbert.
Burton did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for further comment.
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