History Series / ReadingRainbow

Reading Rainbow has a Youtube Page. You can get your Reading Rainbow fix [[https://www.youtube.com/user/readingrainbow/featured here.]] A selection of episodes from the original series is now available on {{Netflix}}.

* BirthdayEpisode: "Miss Nelson Is Back", in which [=LeVar=] celebrates his birthday by being made up to look like a movie monster and being the star of famed magician Harry Blackstone's trademark bow sawing illusion.

* NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals: Some outtakes shown at the beginning of "Ludlow Laughs" show that [=LeVar=] had some very painful / embarrassing episodes involving animals in making the show. But, at least, looking back, he can laugh about them.
* OutOfOrder: Two season 4 episodes that aired in 1986, "Animal Cafe" and "Watch the Stars Come Out", were actually shot during season 3 in 1985. The tell-tale signs are the style of end credits, and [=LeVar=] sporting a mustache and afro (he was clean-shaved and sporting a flat-top in all the episodes that ''were'' shot in 1986).

* {{Uncancelled}}: For a certain value of uncancelled. The brand was relaunched as an Internet outreach project in 2012 with an iPad app, but thanks to the success of the Kickstarter campaign in 2014, the app was ported to other platforms (including web-browser-based), underfunded classrooms were given free access to all the content in the app, and [=LeVar=] even have the budget to film new segments for the project.

[[quoteright:329:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Readingrainbow_logo.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:329:"Take a look, it's in a book..."]]

* {{Portal Book}}s: Obviously.
* ReadingIsCoolAesop

* GreenAesop: The episode "Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message" has one about appreciating nature and taking care of the Earth.

This show was part of PBS' "triple crown" of children's programming in TheEighties and TheNineties, along with ''Series/SesameStreet'' and ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood''. It would be difficult indeed to find an American of a certain age who didn't watch this program at least occasionally, if not regularly. It's in the same DudeNotFunny category as Rogers — rarely parodied (but if it is, it's always [[AffectionateParody the positive kind]]), and insulting it will cause [[FlameWar swift and nasty responses]].

Reading Rainbow has a Youtube Page. You can get your Reading Rainbow fix [[https://www.youtube.com/user/readingrainbow/featured here.]] A selection of episodes from the original series is now available on {{Netflix}}, unfortunately with the inferior 2nd title sequence.

* {{Uncancelled}}: For a certain value of uncancelled. The brand was relaunched as an Internet outreach project in 2012 with an iPad app, but thanks to the success of the Kickstarter campaign in 2014, the app was ported to other platforms (including web-browser-based), underfunded classrooms were given free access to all the content in the app, and LeVar even have the budget to film new segments for the project.

* LongRunners: Spent 26 years on the air before budget cuts killed it in 2009. Funnily enough, ''Reading Rainbow'' outlived ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' by a few years (when you factor in the movies). In 2014, the show came back as an Internet project.

* EdutainmentShow: One of the all-time greats; a TV show encGouraging kids to read is not as hypocritical as it may sound.

* EdutainmentShow: One of the all-time greats; a TV show encouraging kids to read is not as hypocritical as it may sound.

* GoodAngelBadAngel: In the show's take on ''The Tortoise and the Hare'', this happens to Levar as he struggles to pedal a bike up a hill in a race. The angel on the left wearing all white waves pom-poms and encourages him not give up and keep trying. The devil on the right, dressed in black and floating on a cloud of red, tells him to stop and smell the flowers and relax. When Levar rejects this idea, the angel gives a cheer of "L-E-V-A-R, pedal that bike and we'll go far!" The devil doesn't give up, though, telling him that by the time he gets up the hill, everyone else will have crossed the finish line. Levar rejects that too, saying that even if he loses, he'll feel like a winner for trying. The two later make a brief reappearance as Levar trains on an obstacle course. Once again, Levar listens to the angel. At the end, when Levar finishes the race, the angel tells him that he knew he could do it.

* GoodAngelBadAngel: In the show's take on ''The Tortoise and the Hare'', this happens to Levar as he struggles to pedal a bike up a hill in a race. The angel on the left wearing all white waves pom-poms and encourages him not give up and keep trying. The devil on the right, dressed in black and floating on a cloud of red, tells him to stop and smell the flowers and relax. When Levar rejects this idea, the angel gives a cheer of "L-E-V-A-R, pedal that bike and we'll go far!" The devil doesn't give up, though, telling him that by the time he gets up the hill, everyone else will have crossed the finish line. Levar rejects that too, saying that even if he loses, he'll feel like a winner for trying. The two later make a brief reappearance as Levar trains on an obstacle course. Once again, Levar listens to the angel.

* LongRunners: Spent 26 years on the air before budget cuts killed it in 2009. Funnily enough, ''Reading Rainbow'' outlived ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' by a few years (when you factor in the movies).

Reading Rainbow has a Youtube Page. You can get your Reading Rainbow fix [[https://www.youtube.com/user/readingrainbow/featured here.]] The original series is now available on {{Netflix}}, unfortunately with the inferior 2nd title sequence.

Reading Rainbow has a Youtube Page. You can get your Reading Rainbow fix [[https://www.youtube.com/user/readingrainbow/featured here.]]

Five years after the show ended, Reading Rainbow has since been making a comeback as an internet-based outreach project. The project was started in 2012 with the goal of making Reading Rainbow content available on the iPad to everyone in the world. But as it progressed, feedback came in asking for the app to be available to more than just the iPad, and their ambitions grew, and the existing funding method of an optional low monthly fee for premium content proved to be insufficient (since said fee was already being used for funding the server space and content royalty). A Website/{{Kickstarter}} [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/readingrainbow/bring-reading-rainbow-back-for-every-child-everywh campaign]] for the project reached its $1,000,000 goal ''[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments before the first day was finished]]''. As you can imagine, [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/readingrainbow/bring-reading-rainbow-back-for-every-child-everywh/posts/858121 Burton is overwhelmed by this support]]. In all, the project received over $5.4 million in donations and set a record for [[http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-reading-rainbow-the-most-popular-kickstarter-ever-20140702-story.html most individual backers]] for a Kickstarter campaign.

Five years after the show ended, Reading Rainbow has since been making a comeback as an internet-based outreach project. The project was started in 2012 with the goal of making Reading Rainbow content available on the iPad to everyone in the world and with funding out of LeVar and the crew's own pocket. But as it progressed, feedback came in asking for the app to be available to more than just the iPad, and their ambitions grew, and the existing funding method of an optional low monthly fee for premium content proved to be insufficient (since said fee was already being used for funding the server space and content royalty). A Website/{{Kickstarter}} [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/readingrainbow/bring-reading-rainbow-back-for-every-child-everywh campaign]] for the project reached its $1,000,000 goal ''[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments before the first day was finished]]''. As you can imagine, [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/readingrainbow/bring-reading-rainbow-back-for-every-child-everywh/posts/858121 Burton is overwhelmed by this support]]. In all, the project received over $5.4 million in donations and set a record for [[http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-reading-rainbow-the-most-popular-kickstarter-ever-20140702-story.html most individual backers]] for a Kickstarter campaign.

Five years after the show ended, Reading Rainbow has since been making a comeback as an internet-based outreach project. A Website/{{Kickstarter}} [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/readingrainbow/bring-reading-rainbow-back-for-every-child-everywh project]] for the campaign reached its $1,000,000 goal ''[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments before the first day was finished]]''. As you can imagine, [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/readingrainbow/bring-reading-rainbow-back-for-every-child-everywh/posts/858121 Burton is overwhelmed by this support]]. In all, the project received over $5.4 million in donations and set a record for [[http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-reading-rainbow-the-most-popular-kickstarter-ever-20140702-story.html most individual backers]] for a Kickstarter campaign.

-->--'''[=LeVar Burton=]''', actor and children's literacy advocate.

American children's EdutainmentShow that aired on Creator/{{PBS}} from 1983-2009, and whose goal was simple — encourage children to read. It was hosted by co-creator Creator/LeVarBurton (yes, ''that'' [[Series/{{Roots}} Le]][[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Var]] [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Burton]]).

As of 2013, Reading Rainbow is making a comeback as an internet-based outreach project. A Website/{{Kickstarter}} [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/readingrainbow/bring-reading-rainbow-back-for-every-child-everywh project]] for the campaign reached its $1,000,000 goal ''[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments before the first day was finished]]''. As you can imagine, [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/readingrainbow/bring-reading-rainbow-back-for-every-child-everywh/posts/858121 Burton is overwhelmed by this support]]. In all, the project received over $5.4 million in donations and set a record for [[http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-reading-rainbow-the-most-popular-kickstarter-ever-20140702-story.html most individual backers]] for a Kickstarter campaign.