Bye Bye Reading Rainbow

For 26 years, Reading Rainbow, the PBS show hosted by LeVar Burton, who was the executive producer, was a way for American children, as well as children from other parts of the world, to tune in and learn. As reported in Entertainment Weekly, Reading Rainbow is ending due to a contract expiration.

The show was a positive contribution to society not only because it encouraged reading, but because of its use of children of various nationalities and for having a black man, LeVar Burton, as the host. LeVar Burton is most famously known for his role as Kunta Kinte in the 1977 television miniseries Roots, and also for his role as Geordi La Forge on the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

In a world that is full of sex and violence, Reading Rainbow was one of the shows that parents could rely on for good, clean entertainment. It was one of the shows where parents did not have to worry about what their kids would see. It was the type of show where a time crunched parent could go and throw in a load of laundry, or clean the house without feeling like they had to sit down and watch Reading Rainbow with their child. A child could watch the show alone, if necessary, and be fine.

As the show progressed through the years, updates were made, such as the voice that sings the opening song. However, LeVar Burton remained at the helm, cheerfully teaching kids about books and encouraging them to develop a love of reading, with featured children books and then book reviews by kids. Reading Rainbow had one of those opening songs that children sang even when they weren't watching the show and that parents found themselves humming, even without realizing it.

On Friday, August 28, 2009, the last episode of Reading Rainbow will air. Reading Rainbow not only ran for 26 years, but won at least 26 Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. According to John Grant, responsible for content at WNED Buffalo, home to Reading Rainbow, to NPR, "The show's run is ending because no one - not the station, not PBS, not the Corporation for Public Broadcasting - will put up the several hundred thousand dollars needed to renew the show's broadcast rights."

Clearly, in American society, some programming receives more funding and more attention than others. It is not unusual to find some educational programming on the bottom of the list when it comes to funding.

Sources:

EW.com

NPR