When Reading Rainbow Went Where No One Has Gone Before

I was a faithful viewer of both Reading Rainbow and Star Trek: The Next Generation as a kid, and it thrilled me to no end that LeVar Burton starred in both shows. Needless to say, the first episode of Reading Rainbow’s sixth season — which featured Burton going behind the scenes at Star Trek: The Next Generation to explore how a TV show is made — was a real treat, and still ranks as one of the greatest crossovers of all time.

As seen in this collection of clips from that episode, Burton covered a lot: getting ready in the makeup trailer; rehearsing a scene; the process of getting all of the scene’s shots; editing the scene; and even how the show’s visual effects (like the transporter) were created. (Given how much I loved Star Trek’s futuristic spaceships and technology, that last part was my favorite.) Even now, I get a definite rush of nostalgia watching it all.

And here’s a fun bit of trivia: the director of this particular Reading Rainbow episode was Dean Parisot, who would later go on to direct Galaxy Quest, a wonderful Star Trek parody/homage.