Reading Rainbow is coming back. The question is: should it?

Sony Pictures Television has ordered 24 episodes of a Reading Rainbow reboot, The Hollywood Reporter reports, bringing back the beloved PBS series that taught a generation of kids that books were, in fact, cool.

The original ran from 1983 to 2006, with LeVar Burton guiding children through literature with genuine warmth and none of the condescension that plagues kids' programming. It won 26 Emmy Awards. It made reading aspirational. Burton became a cultural icon for multiple reasons - Star Trek, yes, but also for being the gentle, encouraging presence who made you want to pick up a book.

So what's the modern version? Kids in 2026 have iPad screens and TikTok attention spans. They're not gathering around the TV for appointment viewing of educational programming. They're watching YouTube personalities unbox toys and play video games. Convincing them that books matter is a harder sell than it was in 1983.

That said, maybe that's exactly why we need this. The original Reading Rainbow worked because it respected children's intelligence. It didn't pander. It showed kids that stories were gateways to understanding the world, themselves, other people. If the reboot maintains that ethos - if it's sincere rather than cynical nostalgia exploitation - it could matter.

But 24 episodes is a real commitment. That's not a limited series test run, that's a full season with expectations. Sony presumably isn't doing this purely from altruism - they see a business model, whether that's streaming subscriber bait or merchandising opportunities.

Here's the test: does the reboot feel like it needs to exist, or does it feel like IP mining? The original Reading Rainbow existed because public television believed in educational programming as a public good. Will the new version maintain that mission, or will it be another content product optimized for engagement metrics?