September 28th, 2009 / 12:23 pm
Technology

‘May that godforsaken show burn in hell.’

One of my favorite things about The Onion is how often its content cleverly deals with books, reading, literature, authors, whatever. I think we’ve linked to a bunch of those stories/articles before, so I won’t do that now, but I did want to send you to this recent opinion bit by ‘LeVar Burton’ about his time hosting Reading Rainbow.

Look, Reading Rainbow was a television program. That should tell you something right there. What I should have done is hosted a show that taught children how to watch more television. I bet they would have come up with the funding to renew that show.

Takes you back, doesn’t it?

What I hadn’t realized is how long Reading Rainbow lasted. According to Wikipedia, “the show ceased airing reruns on PBS on Friday, August 28, 2009.” Damn.

RIP, Reading Rainbow. I have fond memories of tuning in to watch you as I sat on the floor in front of our television and sipped Kool-Aid from my sippy cup.

Tags: ,

23 Comments

  1. Drew Toal

      Now it only exists on the holodeck yo.

  2. john sakkis

      that article was a joke. wasn’t written by levar burton.

      written by the onion writers. or am i missing that you already knew that?

  3. john sakkis

      that article was a joke. wasn’t written by levar burton.

      written by the onion writers. or am i missing that you already knew that?

  4. Ryan Call

      wait, it was a joke? a joke article at the onion? :)

  5. Ryan Call

      wait, it was a joke? a joke article at the onion? :)

  6. john sakkis

      okay okay…egg on my face. sorry.

  7. john sakkis

      okay okay…egg on my face. sorry.

  8. john sakkis

      ‘LeVar Burton’

      missed the quotes…i’m an idiot. called in sick today. should have stayed in bed. ack.

  9. john sakkis

      ‘LeVar Burton’

      missed the quotes…i’m an idiot. called in sick today. should have stayed in bed. ack.

  10. Ryan Call

      haha, no it was funny. dont feel stupid. feel better.

  11. Ryan Call

      haha, no it was funny. dont feel stupid. feel better.

  12. Lincoln
  13. Lincoln
  14. Jimmy Chen

      dang, i read “god foreskin” in the title of this post. my dyslexia is getting exciting.

  15. Jimmy Chen

      dang, i read “god foreskin” in the title of this post. my dyslexia is getting exciting.

  16. Nathan Tyree

      “god foreskin” is a great construction. I love it. I want to use it in a poem

  17. Nathan Tyree

      “god foreskin” is a great construction. I love it. I want to use it in a poem

  18. Matthew Simmons

      I actually think it sucks that Reading Rainbow was canceled because it focused on making kids excited about books instead of reading skills.

      Funny piece, though.

  19. Matthew Simmons

      I actually think it sucks that Reading Rainbow was canceled because it focused on making kids excited about books instead of reading skills.

      Funny piece, though.

  20. Edward Champion

      A very sad decision, but it was inevitable. American culture is moving to a point in which our relationship for books — at least as presented through the mainstream media — is either prescriptive (a blowhard writing a soporific essay in the New York Times Book Review), or dryly educational. We learned nothing from SESAME STREET’s early innovations, which merged the most cutting-edge and vibrant filmmaking techniques of the time with getting young kids fired up about what they were learning. You can’t have a smart and passionate place for books anywhere on the mainstream media. Guys like Michael Silverblatt barely get by and have to spend considerable time persuading NPR program directors to distribute his books program for free. Mellow and accessible interviewers like Jesse Thorn are told that they are too “crazy.” Oprah’s just about the last place left. But it’s designed to sell books instead of discuss books.

      Reading Rainbow was one of the old school holdouts. It was a good thing because it told kids that reading was a place for discovery with numerous options. It simply wanted to celebrate the joys of reading (much as “Wishbone” did). But you can’t do this anymore because the “results” don’t translate into statistical test results or corporate profit. The whole dilemma upsets me so much that it makes me have savage fantasies of picking off some of these avaricious Wall Street baboons with a sniper rifle.

  21. Edward Champion

      A very sad decision, but it was inevitable. American culture is moving to a point in which our relationship for books — at least as presented through the mainstream media — is either prescriptive (a blowhard writing a soporific essay in the New York Times Book Review), or dryly educational. We learned nothing from SESAME STREET’s early innovations, which merged the most cutting-edge and vibrant filmmaking techniques of the time with getting young kids fired up about what they were learning. You can’t have a smart and passionate place for books anywhere on the mainstream media. Guys like Michael Silverblatt barely get by and have to spend considerable time persuading NPR program directors to distribute his books program for free. Mellow and accessible interviewers like Jesse Thorn are told that they are too “crazy.” Oprah’s just about the last place left. But it’s designed to sell books instead of discuss books.

      Reading Rainbow was one of the old school holdouts. It was a good thing because it told kids that reading was a place for discovery with numerous options. It simply wanted to celebrate the joys of reading (much as “Wishbone” did). But you can’t do this anymore because the “results” don’t translate into statistical test results or corporate profit. The whole dilemma upsets me so much that it makes me have savage fantasies of picking off some of these avaricious Wall Street baboons with a sniper rifle.

  22. Jonny Ross

      the kafka airport piece they did was funny funny funny.

  23. Jonny Ross

      the kafka airport piece they did was funny funny funny.