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LeVar Burton
LEVAR BURTON
Portrayed by: LEVAR BURTON
First appearance: "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking"
Last appearance: "Geothermal Escapism"
Occupation: ACTOR
Reason for visit: TROY BARNES
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Bio[]

“
Butterfly in the sky. I can go twice as high. Take a look. It's in a book. A Reading Rainbow...
”
— LeVar Burton, "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking".

Autographed photo of LeVar Burton
Signed photo of LeVar Burton.
LeVar Burton is an American televison and film actor best known for his roles in "Roots" as the slave "Kunta Kinte" and "Star Trek the Next Generation" as the Starship Enterprise's Chief engineer "Geordi LaForge". He is also known for his time as host of the PBS children's program "Reading Rainbow". He is an idol to Troy whom Hawthorne hires in order to mess with the younger study group members mind. His first appearance was in the Season Two episode "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking". He is portrayed by himself.

Character history[]

Season One[]

Levar Burton is first mentioned by Abed when he is entertaining the study group doing impressions with a banana. He holds the banana over his eyes and says "Banana Levar Burton" mimicking Burton's character "Geordi LaForge's" visor from "Star Trek the Next Generation".



S01E25-Abed-Banana Levar Burton
Abed mimicking Georgi LaForge.

Season Two[]

In the study group's second year together at Greendale, Pierce suffers from an overdose of prescription painkillers he was using to overcome a recent injury. He recovers but decides to use his stay at the hospital as an opportunity to get revenge on the study group for disrespecting him and excluding him from group activities all year. Pretending he is on his death bed, he starts bequeathing parting gifts, each one specifically designed to mess with them. Aware that Troy is a huge fan of LeVar Burton, he hires the actor to meet with him knowing how he would react. LeVar arrives at the hospital where he meets Jeff who directs him to Troy in the waiting room. Star struck, Troy immediately freezes and can do nothing but stare at the actor unable to say or do anything in the presence of his idol.



LeVar and Troy
Troy goes catatonic after meeting LeVar.
In candid footage from a documentary Abed was shooting to chronicle Pierce's elaborate prank, Troy proclaims loudly that he never wanted to meet the actor in person. He just wanted a photograph exclaiming that "You can't disappoint a picture!". The star tries his best to talk to Troy but is unable to break through the catatonic state he is trapped in. He considers leaving as Britta tries to convince him otherwise going so far as to offer him all the money in her bank account. Burton politely declines the gesture and decides to stay impressed with her show of friendship but criticizes Britta for being stupid with her money.



2X16-LeVar and Britta
"I was a huge fan of Rebop".


LeVar later has a private dinner with Troy in Group Study Room F shown in the episode's end tag.Burton again tries his best to connect with his biggest fan but Troy remains unresponsive simply staring at him. He asks Troy to pass the salt but gets another non-response and grabs it himself. LeVar then starts to sing the "Reading Rainbow" theme song which causes Troy to break down and start crying. He flees from the study room screaming causing a nonplussed Burton to continue eating dinner even grabbing a few more portions of food off of Troy's now abandoned plate ("Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking").



2X16-Troy and LeVar eating dinner
"Pass the salt?"


Season Three[]

In the study group's third year at Greendale, Pierce is summoned to a reading of his recently departed father's will. He is told by the executor of the estate to bring seven of his closest friends with him but comes up short by one when he brings the six other members of the study group. When this is pointed out to him by Abed, Pierce claims that he could have brought seventh person because "LeVar Burton was a maybe" ("Digital Estate Planning").



LeVar Burton was a maybe
"LeVar Burton was a maybe".

Season Four[]

In the study group's fourth year at Greendale, Pierce locks himself in his mansion's panic room and creates a haunted house to teach the Study Group a lesson for planning to go to Vicki's Halloween party. When Abed points out a shadowy figure has been roaming the mansion and Annie says that Pierce probably hired an accomplice and forgot, he denies it and says that "LeVar Burton was a hard no" ("Paranormal Parentage").



S04E02-Pierce Levar Burton hard no
"LeVar Burton was a hard no".

Season Five[]

In the study group's fifth year at Greendale, Pierce passed away and bequeathed to Troy his shares of Hawthorne Wipes on the condition that he undertake a trip to sail around the world. Troy accepts the challenge and is told that someone will be sent along with him to ensure he doesn't cheat. The day his voyage is to start that person is revealed to be LeVar Burton. He arrived on the flatbed of a truck pulling the sailing vessel they would be using called the "Childish Tycoon". When Troy climbed on board, LeVar placed a captain's hat on his head and saluted him. They waved goodbye to the study group and left the campus to begin their trip. However, being that Colorado was a landlocked state, it would be awhile before the journey actually began. To kill some time, Troy asked LeVar a few questions about Star Trek which he had trouble answering ("Geothermal Escapism"). Not long after their journey began, news channels reported that LeVar and Troy had been captured by pirates in the Gulf of Mexico ("Analysis of Cork-based Networking").



LeVar salute
LeVar salutes.

Quotes[]

More fish for Kunta!LeVar Burton
You know, you're a very generous friend but you're really stupid with your money.LeVar Burton

Gallery[]

Characters
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