With demand for nostalgic programming, there has come a wave of Nickelodeon reruns of shows spanning from animated fodder like Rugrats to live action TV shows that just might scare the bejezus out of you, like Are You Afraid of the Dark. The format may work for Nickelodeon, but for one nineties program creator, reruns aren’t enough. LeVar Burton, executive producer and host of the beloved PBS program, Reading Rainbow, wants to bring the show to a whole new platform.
It's probably helping Burton that Reading Rainbow has not been off the air for very long. The show managed to eek it out until 2009, but Burton says a shift in education philosophy during the Bush administration is to blame for the show’s ultimate demise. Whatever the full story is, Burton is still fighting for Reading Rainbow. According to Mashable, in September the man got the site RRkidz off the ground. Which means Reading Rainbow is now in a completely new format, online.
The site is currently focusing on digital books that deliver a “Reading Rainbow-like” familiarity. However, Burton eventually wants to make classic episodes of Reading Rainbow available, online. Who knows, if the project garners enough interest, maybe we’ll be catching new episodes of Reading Rainbow with our own kids. For the third longest kids program to ever run on PBS - after Sesame Street and Mister Rogers - getting a second spark at life is definitely deserved.
Would you like to see Reading Rainbow make a big comeback? Sound of in the comments, below...
