Actor Levar Burton has started a Kickstarter to bring back Reading Rainbow as a web series. Within hours of its launch, his campaign has hit its $1 million goal.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that we would reach our goal on the very first day,” Burton told Deadline. “People are getting involved — it’s been pretty overwhelming.”
Burton hosted Reading Rainbow for over two decades on PBS. During that time the popular children’s show won over 200 broadcast awards, including 26 Emmys.
Burton’s goal is to continue to bring books to kids by meeting them where they want to be. In the 80s that was television, but Burton understands that digital is the new frontier for children. “We’re trying to reach a new generation of digital natives…To reach kids everywhere, we need to be everywhere: we need to be on the web,” he said.
If nothing else, Reading Rainbow’s Kickstarter success shows that we all have a sense of nostalgia when it comes to our favorite old television shows. Even the cartoon Jem is getting a Hollywood remake. What was your favorite children’s TV show growing up? Don’t see yours on the list? Tell us in a comment!
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