LeVar Burton’s next project, a gameshow, is almost ready for fans
By Chad Porto
Star Trek’s LeVar Burton is finally getting a chance to bring his TV show to air.
Nearly two years ago, it was reported that LeVar Burton was in talks to land the hosting gig on Jeopardy! He lost out on the role, but news soon broke that he’d be hosting a new television show for the Canadian network, eONE. That show would be a televised version of Trivial Pursuit, a board game that was already once made into a TV series in the mid-90s.
Now, after nearly two years of inactivity on the project, we now know that the series is in fact heading to production, eventually, and where it’ll air.
According to Deadline, the CW is in talks to acquire the American broadcasting rights to the series, though the deal is not done yet. Burton, who will serve as an executive producer for the series, will likely see the show air on both the CW and eOne. This is part of the CW’s overhaul of content.
CW’s unscripted content chief, Heather Olander, told Deadline previously that they wanted a gameshow IP, with some sort of name. That name ended up being Trivial Pursuit.
Star Trek fans should be wary of the show’s future
When we talk about gameshows, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are staples of the genre. With a lesser but still special shoutout to The Price is Right. Launching anything new is always risky and doesn’t have a long shelf life. Think about “Who’s Smarter than a 6th Grader” or “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”
Those shows were huge, for a time. But after a few years, they fell off and were eventually canceled. It’s unlikely that Trivial Pursuit becomes anything close to those staples. So fans should go into this knowing that it likely won’t become a huge hit like the aforementioned shows.