Beloved television star LeVar Burton will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement award, courtesy of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Per Deadline, he will be honored at the first annual Children's & Family Emmy Awards on Dec. 11, 2022, at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles. This year marks the return of in-person events for NATAS, with the past two years held virtually because of the pandemic.
“We look forward to honoring this year’s unparalleled class of Lifetime Achievement honorees, each an icon in their craft, and couldn’t be more excited to award the first-ever Children’s & Family Emmys. After two years of virtual ceremonies, we’re overjoyed to once again be together, in-person, to celebrate the best of television," NATAS President & CEO Adam Sharp said.
Also set to be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday, June 24, is Days of Our Lives vet John Aniston. Other announced honorees include documentarian Sir David Attenborough and journalist Judy Woodruff at the 43rd Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards on Sept. 28-29; sports journalist Lesley Visser at the 43rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards on May 24; technology entrepreneur Yvette Kanouff at the 73rd Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards on April 25, and the program This Old House at the 49th Annual Daytime Creative Arts & Lifestyle Emmy Awards on June 18.
LeVar Burton Will Be Hosting His Own Game Show
LeVar Burton, who's known for hosting Reading Rainbow in addition to his acclaimed acting work on Roots and Star Trek: The Next Generation, had briefly served as a guest host for Jeopardy! after Alex Trebek's passing. This followed a popular petition with fans calling for Burton to get the job, based on his TV hosting experience and universal likability. Unfortunately, Jeopardy! was not what Burton was hoping it would be, but it did lead to him pursuing another job hosting a game show. It has since been announced he will host a TV game show version of the classic board game Trivial Pursuit.
“Trivial Pursuit is one of the best-known brands in the gaming universe. I am thrilled to have partnered with Hasbro and eOne to bring this beloved game to market as a premium show for television,” Burton said in a statement at the time the series was announced.
President of Global Unscripted Television at eOne Tara Long added, "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.”
There's plenty more of Burton to come on the small screen as well. It was just recently announced that he had joined the cast of Blindspotting for its upcoming second season on Starz. He will also reprise the role of Geordi LaForge in the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard.