History Trivia / ReadingRainbow

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: Every episode before 2000 had Tina Fabrique's original 1983 intro sequence and closing theme replaced with the new intro and theme song by Chaka Khan for subsequent reruns and both digital and physical releases. As of now, the only episode to feature Tina Fabrique's theme is during a scene in "Ty's One Band".

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: Every episode before 2000 had Tina Fabrique's original 1983 intro sequence and closing theme replaced with the new intro and theme song by Chaka Khan.

* MissingEpisode: Two of the shows' 155 episodes were pulled from rotation. They were "WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'s Eyes" from season 1 in 1983 (because the PBS kids show had adapted the book as one of its episodes), and "Literature/TheMagicSchoolBus Inside the Earth" from season 8 in 1990 (for the same reason as the ''Arthur'' example, though that show eventually moved off PBS and onto several different commercial networks). Amazon eventually posted the latter online, from a print utilizing the second version of the theme song.

* DevelopmentHell: After the lawsuit with [=LeVar=] was settled in 2017, WQED claimed that they’re working on a retool of the show. Two years have since passed and no retool has ever surfaced. Some fans see this as LaserGuidedKarma for daring to unjustly take the brand back from [=LeVar=] (who honestly thought he had bought up the copyrights and trademarks lock, stock and barrel several years prior).

** Unfortunately, things have not ended there. Burton was thrown into an [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/reading-rainbow-owner-accuses-levar-burton-theft-extortion-lawsuit-1027372 ongoing legal dispute]] with PBS station / show producer [=WNED=], which claims that Burton is using the name and concept of the show illegally, having been only the host of the show and not who actually owns the rights to it. In October 2017, [=WNED=] announced the dispute had been resolved, and later announced a retool of the show. The retool has been stuck in DevelopmentHell since.

** Unfortunately, things have not ended there. Burton is now locked in an [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/reading-rainbow-owner-accuses-levar-burton-theft-extortion-lawsuit-1027372 ongoing legal dispute]] with PBS station / show producer [=WNED=], which claims that Burton is using the name and concept of the show illegally, having been only the host of the show and not who actually owns the rights to it. In October 2017, [=WNED=] announced the dispute had been resolved, and later announced a retool of the show. The retool has been stuck in DevelopmentHell since.

** Unfortunately, things have not ended there. Burton is now locked in an [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/reading-rainbow-owner-accuses-levar-burton-theft-extortion-lawsuit-1027372 ongoing legal dispute]] with PBS station / show producer [=WNED=], which claims that Burton is using the name and concept of the show illegally, having been only the host of the show and not who actually owns the rights to it. In October 2017, [=WNED=] announced the dispute had been resolved, though the exact details are unclear at this time.

* DevelopmentHell: After the lawsuit with [=LeVar=] was settled, WQED claimed that they’re working on a reboot of the show. Several years have since passed and no reboot has ever surfaced. Some fans see this as LaserGuidedKarma for daring to unjustly take the brand back from [=LeVar=] (who honestly thought he had bought up the copyrights and trademarks lock, stock and barrel several years prior).

* ActorAllusion: In the episode "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters," [=LeVar=] remarks that "all black Americans have [[Series/Roots1977 roots]] in Africa."
* ExecutiveMeddling / ScrewedByTheNetwork: An inevitability for any PBS show, considering the lack of funding and constant disagreement about how to secure appropriate revenue streams.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The [[https://lostmediawiki.com/Reading_Rainbow_-_Johnny_Kemp_theme_(found_opening_sequence_for_PBS_children%27s_TV_series;_1999) second opening sequence]] never appeared on any physical home video releases, and it took years for a recording of it to appear online. Amazon Video somehow included it in their print of "Bugs".
* MissingEpisode: Two of the shows' 155 episodes were pulled from rotation. They were "WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'s Eyes" from season 1 in 1983 (because the PBS kids show had adapted the book as one of its episodes), and "TheMagicSchoolBus Inside the Earth" from season 8 in 1990 (for the same reason as the ''Arthur'' example, though that show eventually moved off PBS and onto several different commercial networks).