How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

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Rate LeVar Burton on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is best.

1
4
5%
2
6
7%
3
16
19%
4
14
16%
5
12
14%
6
16
19%
7
10
12%
8
4
5%
9
1
1%
10
3
3%
 
Total votes: 86

ClosingTime
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by ClosingTime »

He made me miss Dr. Oz which is all you really need to know to know how I rated him.
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morbeedo
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by morbeedo »

I think we all have guest host fatigue. I get that they need to plug their charities, but then they go on to talk about how amazing it’s been for them to host, their real or imagined friendship with Alex Trebek, how wonderful the crew has been, but no, it’s all about the contestants! And by the way, Matt’s done pretty well, and here

Are

The

Categories!!!
Johnblue
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by Johnblue »

He was pretty awful. The last 2 hosts can’t be any worse…right?
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squarekara
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by squarekara »

MarkBarrett wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 2:35 pm Something was different with LeVar's week compared to all the other guest hosts and I wonder if it really falls only on Mr Burton.
Linear Gnome wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 2:42 pm Maybe it honestly didn't occur to LeVar that he could try to prepare (the way Aaron did), but it probably should have.
In one of the interviews posted on the "J! in the Media" thread, LeVar is quoted as saying "there's no preparing." He also mentioned that he got only a couple weeks lead time before taping. If that's the case, it really does fall to the producers to communicate explicitly what a host will need to bring, especially if it might not have been possible for him to attend a taping or receive coaching beforehand. (Curse you, COVID!) They probably didn't have to fuss too much over Cooper, Guthrie, Roberts, Stephanopoulos, etc. who came from current, daily, live broadcasting gigs, but they should have invested more time in LeVar. In the article, he says he felt he had blown the rehearsal. They never should have allowed him to walk away feeling that way, only to have to show up and tape the very next morning. Lock the studio down, order pizza, and give him the extra rehearsal necessary for him to feel comfortable.
jpr281
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by jpr281 »

So far for me...

Cohen, Couric, Rodgers, Bialik, Guthrie, Cooper, Roberts, Stephanopoulos, Gupta, Richards, Jennings, Oz, Whitaker, Burton

EDIT: I had Savannah Guthrie listed twice.
Last edited by jpr281 on Sun Aug 01, 2021 4:04 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Leander
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by Leander »

MarkBarrett wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 2:35 pm 6 from me as LeVar had the most mistakes air of any of the guest hosts. By Friday I thought a little progress had been demonstrated, but not enough for me to think LeVar could be the ultimate choice.

No other host came off so poorly for simply executing the job. The why is what interests me. Did LeVar think his previous experience in the entertainment field was enough to carry the day? Or did he feel that being a faithful watcher of J! would be enough to perform duties?

It could be other hosts had a lot more trouble while by air time the show staff could have it all cleaned up better. Was LeVar set up to fail in some way? What we need is some insider to spill the beans on this season as there had to be a lot going on behind the scenes. Whether someone quits and writes a about it, or someone goes rogue as anonymous, I imagine there are a lot of juicy details that could make a book.

Even if names cannot be named, give each host a letter and let us speculate about identities. Various contestants across the season have shared opinions and experiences even if those are of course only limited to a taping day or two in most cases.

Something was different with LeVar's week compared to all the other guest hosts and I wonder if it really falls only on Mr Burton?

What viewers ended up hearing was a guest host fumbling to fit the role. There were various mistakes through all aspects of the game and in the daily threads I noted some things I noticed each day.

LeVar seemed to drive up interest in this week of J! more than other weeks and the most avid of his supporters saw only positives and top notch skill. That's fine and it reminds me of the movie The Dark Knight Rises when comments were allowed on IMDb. The fans of that movie had it marked for at least 12 Oscar nominations and a huge pile of wins.

The reality turned out to be a shutout.

LeVar Burton won't be hosting J! again. That's the truth. The petition worked and he got a chance. Take the small win and move on.
If I were a “grassy knoll” type of person, I might speculate that the staff allowed more of Levar’s errors to reach the air in order to defuse the social media pressure to name him host. The only other possibility would be that there were too many errors and glitches to fix them all in one day of shooting.
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by cthulhu »

Leander wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 4:33 pm If I were a “grassy knoll” type of person, I might speculate that the staff allowed more of Levar’s errors to reach the air in order to defuse the social media pressure to name him host. The only other possibility would be that there were too many errors and glitches to fix them all in one day of shooting.
YES!!!

:lol:
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by mahatma »

cthulhu wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 6:08 pm
Leander wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 4:33 pm If I were a “grassy knoll” type of person, I might speculate that the staff allowed more of Levar’s errors to reach the air in order to defuse the social media pressure to name him host. The only other possibility would be that there were too many errors and glitches to fix them all in one day of shooting.
YES!!!
I said the exact same thing.
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MarkBarrett
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by MarkBarrett »

Is LeVar the first host to have votes on every number in the poll?
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alietr
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by alietr »

Leander wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 4:33 pmIf I were a “grassy knoll” type of person, I might speculate that the staff allowed more of Levar’s errors to reach the air in order to defuse the social media pressure to name him host. The only other possibility would be that there were too many errors and glitches to fix them all in one day of shooting.
One of the contestants posted elsewhere (alas) that what you call "the only other possibility" was exactly what happened.
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econgator
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by econgator »

MarkBarrett wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 6:19 pm Is LeVar the first host to have votes on every number in the poll?
Mayim, Bill, and Oz also did.
Savannah had all but a 2.
Everyone else had at least two unused numbers.
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by tddeveryday »

MarkBarrett wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 2:35 pm Something was different with LeVar's week compared to all the other guest hosts and I wonder if it really falls only on Mr Burton?
I was thinking the same thing. The Katie Couric games felt heavily chopped up and dubbed, indicating to me that her games might have been a trainwreck too. What we saw on TV was probably a lot smoother than what was happening on set. It felt like they weren't going the extra mile to protect LeVar the way they had with Katie, unless it's true that Katie's mistakes were low enough to be fixable, while LeVar's mistakes were...

Image

My rankings:
Ken Jennings: 10
Anderson Cooper: 9
Dr. Oz: 9
Buzzy Cohen: 8
Savannah Guthrie: 8
Aaron Rodgers: 7
Robin Roberts: 7
Mike Richards: 6
George Stephanopoulos: 5
Sanjay Gupta: 4
Katie Couric: 2
Bill Whitaker: 1
Mayim Bialik: 1
LeVar Burton: 0
My lucky numbers are 6, 66, and 666.
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MarkBarrett
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by MarkBarrett »

econgator wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:32 pm
MarkBarrett wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 6:19 pm Is LeVar the first host to have votes on every number in the poll?
Mayim, Bill, and Oz also did.
Savannah had all but a 2.
Everyone else had at least two unused numbers.
Thanks. After Buck that would be a good time for someone with the right image skills to put all of the polls into one larger image grid for easy comparison.
TenPoundHammer

Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by TenPoundHammer »

He started extremely rough but got better throughout the week, so I'll average it out to a 7.
eureka
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by eureka »

He’s been the worst so far. Anyone who has been saying he’s done a great job aren’t being honest.

Someone I follow on Twitter thinks they sabotaged his chances by putting him up against the Olympics. Yes, the pandemic happened just to delay the Olympics a year. Giving time for the unfortunate passing of Alex. All just to screw up his chances at the job. TPTB may to blame for him not being on the original list, but anything else just happened.


Realistically, it’s probably down to Buzzy, Ken and LeVar. I was actually surprised that I liked Buzzy. Someone I know says “ He has a Where’s Waldo look to him, that’s too distracting.” Ken is the only one who I would seriously consider not watching Jeopardy anymore.

I know I’m in the minority, but I liked the executive producer the best. I had no issues with Dr. Gupta. The women were good. Mayim was giddy over every clue and every answer. Of all the celebrities, I liked Aaron Rodgers the best.
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by davey »

I'll say I'm sorry he had a bad day and leave it at that...
TenPoundHammer

Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by TenPoundHammer »

eureka wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 9:16 pm Realistically, it’s probably down to Buzzy, Ken and LeVar. I was actually surprised that I liked Buzzy. Someone I know says “ He has a Where’s Waldo look to him, that’s too distracting.” Ken is the only one who I would seriously consider not watching Jeopardy anymore.
Am I the only one who doesn't get the love for Buzzy at all? I absolutely hated him as a host.
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by econgator »

TenPoundHammer wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 11:43 pm
eureka wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 9:16 pm Realistically, it’s probably down to Buzzy, Ken and LeVar. I was actually surprised that I liked Buzzy. Someone I know says “ He has a Where’s Waldo look to him, that’s too distracting.” Ken is the only one who I would seriously consider not watching Jeopardy anymore.
Am I the only one who doesn't get the love for Buzzy at all? I absolutely hated him as a host.
Seeing as to how Buzzy has the highest average score by far (89% of respondents rated him 8, 9, or 10), you aren't the only one, but pretty damn close to it.
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Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by goongas »

Robert K S wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:03 pm In terms of presence, voice, and personability, I would rate him a 9 or 10. But preparation and comfortability on set, he was a 1. An inexcusable let-down. Anyone close to him who wanted to help him get this job should have been helping him prep. I will still be happy if he gets the job, because I think the things he was bad at are all things that will improve with time, but I will certainly understand if he does not get the job. If you're an actor who is given sides before the audition, you don't show up to the audition having failed to learn your lines.
I have never seen an episode of Star Trek or Reading Rainbow or Roots, and I don't consider myself a fanboy of his, but I thought he did a great job. I guess I am ignoring his comfortability on the set. I enjoyed his enthusiasm and voice. I do acknowledge his missteps, but they can be corrected, and he would improve.

I honestly don't think many of the guest hosts would take the job except Ken and Buzzy, if offered, and forced to quit their other job, as they have better day jobs...

LeVar and Michael sounded like game show hosts (which I what I am used to), that is why I enjoyed them.
Last edited by goongas on Sun Aug 01, 2021 12:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
TenPoundHammer

Re: How Did LeVar Burton Do as Host?

Post by TenPoundHammer »

econgator wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 11:50 pm
Seeing as to how Buzzy has the highest average score by far (89% of respondents rated him 8, 9, or 10), you aren't the only one, but pretty damn close to it.
Okay, what did everyone else see in him? I found him extremely shrill and robotic.
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