UPDATE:

I posted this story at 2:00 Central time and they were just under $400,000 raised. As of 8PM central, they are over $1.1 million raised. I think you can pretty much count on a TV deal happening for Reading Rainbow. This will not just be a web show.

One of the most popular children’s shows of all time might be making a come back and you can help. LaVar Burton is using Kickstarter to raise funds to do a web version of Reading Rainbow.

Reading Rainbow has been on TV in one form or another since 1983. New episodes stopped being made in 2006. Burton is hoping to raise $1,000,000 by July 2 to be able to start production on a new web series.

This show was on a bit after my time as a kid but my kids did watch this show. There have been few examples of really well done educational TV that parents can also enjoy with their kids, but this show is one of them. There is a never-ending amount of programming for children but most of that stuff makes adults want to gouge their eyes out with anything sharp they can find.

Reading Rainbow was a rare show that was both educational and entertaining. It would be great if this show can make a come back. I’m not sold on web shows though and I don’t really think that is their ultimate goal. I’m sure if they can get the money raised, they are thinking that a distributor will see the interest in Reading Rainbow and they will step in and bring it back to TV. Here is the video on their Kickstarter page discussing this project.

Reading Rainbow coming back project video

If you are interested in helping, you can visit their Kickstarter page here and make a donation and track their progress. As of this writing, they are already closing in on nearly $400,000 raised. I am pretty sure they are going to very easily reach their goal and they will no doubt get a distribution deal.