Last month, LeVar Burton launched a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of reviving his beloved childrens TV seriesReading Rainbow in a free online format. The iconically nerdy host has already roped in $4 million, but hes hoping the projects funding can go even higher. Comedy mainstaySeth MacFarlane told Burton that he wouldmatch the next $1 million raised for the project.
Lavar Burton Plays Evil Overlord of Reading Rainbow on Funny or Die
Burton announced the news in a video, confirming that MacFarlane (Family Guy, A Million Ways to Die in the West) will match the next $1 million dollar-for-dollar in the campaigns five remaining days. The project took only 11 hours to reach its initial goal of $1 million, which ensured that the free web version ofReading Rainbowwill reach 1,500 classrooms in disadvantaged areas. Should the project reach its $5 million goal, the number of classrooms impacted would rise to 7,500, but with MacFarlanes potential million-dollar contribution, the funding would allow Burton to spread the reading series even further than originally envisioned.
If we can raise the remaining million, we wont just get 7,500 classrooms, Burton says. Well get more than 12,500 classrooms! That funding level would also help bring the series to mobile phones, game consoles like X-Box and PlayStation and set-top boxes like AppleTV and Roku, while also helping teachers acquire guides, leveling and dashboards.
Burton recentlyspoke toRolling Stoneabout his admirable revival,saying he was inspired to use Kickstarter after seeing the success of Zach Braffs movie [Wish I Was Here]and theVeronica Marsproject. He also spoke about the cancellation of the originalReading Rainbow, which aired on PBS from 1983 to 2006 and continued in rerun format until 2009.
We were a victim of No Child Left Behind, in that the shift in the governmental policy made a choice between teaching kids how to read and fostering a love of reading, he said. And teaching kids how to read was the direction that No Child Left Behind mandated. We have never been about the rudiments of reading, so we were left on the minus side of that equation.
The goal of the newReading Rainbow, Burton says, is universal access.
We believe that in order to reach kids, you need to be where they are, he noted. And whether thats on a handheld or a tablet or a game console, the point is to be in front of them on the devices that they choose to be on. So its not a different audience, its just the audience. The audience that cant afford an iPad may be on the Web or if you dont have an Android, you probably have access to the technology in school.