LeVar Burton's Reading Rainbow is getting the documentary treatment

The Hollywood Reporter

A new documentary called Butterfly in the Sky from studio XTR will delve into the legacy of Burton's PBS program, which celebrated kids reading during its 23-year run from 1983 to 2006. XTR says the film will “honor the show’s legacy and teach younger generations about this milestone in television history in our current era of distance learning.” Reading Rainbow earned 250 awards, including the Peabody and 26 Emmys. Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb will direct. “Reading Rainbow was my window into the big city and into diverse cultures,” said Whitcomb. “With segments like those in ‘Hill of Fire,’ ‘Liang and the Magic Paintbrush,’ and countless other episodes, Reading Rainbow was arguably the first time I encountered ‘documentary-style’ television as a young person, planting a seed that would inspire me for the rest of my life and lead me to where I am in my career to this day.”