LeVar Burton, star of Reading Rainbow.

The Strollerderby team received an email labeled BREAKING NEWS this morning about how the Twitter handle @readingrainbow had been “taken and held by someone not using it and not connected with the show.” The horror! This takes me back to my childhood, not just because I have fond memories of watching Reading Rainbow on PBS, but because this rivals the terror of the Iran Hostage Crisis! What’s a guy to do in an insane situation like this?!

Turns out, if you’re LeVar Burton, you just tweet the account and ask if you can have it. And two hours later, it’s yours. (Duh. No one messes with La Forge.) Continue reading »

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Levar Burton is gearing up for some kind of Reading Rainbow comeback. But first, an RR flash mob!

The acclaimed children’s television show “Reading Rainbow” was canceled nearly two years ago, but for those who loved it’s book-loving ways, the show was never actually forgotten.

Its fantastic and crush-worthy host, Levar Burton, recently revealed that new “Reading Rainbow” projects are in the works. To drum up interest and exposure, he’s kicking things off with a Reading Rainbow flash mob. In addition to celebrity support, he needs you to volunteer. Continue reading »

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Levar Burton, host of the now canceled PBS children’s series “Reading Rainbow,” is glad to have closed that chapter of his life. What started as a steady paycheck following his acclaimed performance as Kunte Kinte in the TV series “Roots” turned into 26 years of lost opportunities and even greater acclaim.

And for what? The children? Not really. In “My Living Nightmare of Encouraging Kids to Read is Over,” Burton writes:

Fact is, I couldn’t care less whether kids learn to read. There, I said it.

And he says even more. Continue reading »

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This week the TV incarnation of the long running PBS show Reading Rainbow came to a close. The on- air ode to books was slammed shut. A Buzzfeed member complied a great list of the 11 Best Reading Rainbow tribute covers. It’s a song that despite how much it annoys me will get stuck in my head for hours…so this is like my worst nightmare. But it’s pretty cool that so many people possess such a great love for the show and it’s ultra catchy theme song. The collection includes – along with the original – a emo, punk and even host LeVar Burton doing a rendition. Check out some of the stellar versions here:

Continue reading »

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There will be no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. After 26 years, a Peabody Award and 26 Emmys, the pages of the hit PBS show Reading Rainbow will slammed shut.  This Friday the contract for the show will expire on the weekly airing of the show will be no more. Hosted and produced by Le Var Burton, the show aimed at kids age 4 to 8 will be longer be available on PBS since they opted not to renew the contract.

The show had actually ceased production in 2006, when the funding had run out, but it continued to air on local PBS stations across the land until now. The show itself, with it’s honoring of children’s literature,  will be missed but one thing that won’t be? That theme song which after I’d hear it once, would be stuck in my mind for the remainder of the day.

Wanna get it stuck in your head too? Check out this ode to the theme song from Rhett and Link here: Continue reading »

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