In a media landscape dominated by reboots, remakes, and intellectual property strip-mining, here's a reboot that actually matters: Reading Rainbow is coming back.
Sony Pictures Television has ordered 24 episodes of a revived Reading Rainbow, with Mychal Threets—a librarian and literacy advocate who became a TikTok phenomenon during the pandemic—taking over hosting duties from LeVar Burton. Kristen McGregor, a veteran of Sesame Street and the wildly successful Ms. Rachel phenomenon, will serve as showrunner.
Let's be clear: This isn't just nostalgia. Reading Rainbow ran from 1983 to 2006, introducing millions of kids to the joy of reading through Burton's warm, curious presence and thoughtful book selections. It won 26 Emmy Awards. It mattered.
And it's needed now more than ever. Childhood literacy rates have plummeted post-pandemic, with reading proficiency dropping to levels not seen in decades. Kids aren't reading books—they're watching eight-second TikToks and YouTube shorts engineered to hijack their attention spans.
Threets, ironically, found fame on TikTok by doing the opposite: He made reading cool. His videos about library culture, book recommendations, and the importance of literacy went viral because they were joyful and unpretentious. He's not LeVar Burton—no one is—but he's the right choice for this moment.
McGregor's involvement is equally crucial. Ms. Rachel became a juggernaut by understanding what works for modern kids and exhausted parents. If anyone knows how to make educational content that doesn't feel like medicine, it's her.
The show will air on PBS and stream on a yet-to-be-announced platform (probably Paramount+, given Sony's distribution deals). Twenty-four episodes is a real commitment—not a limited series cash-grab, but a genuine attempt to rebuild appointment viewing for kids.
Will it work? is littered with failed reboots of beloved children's programming. But has something most reboots lack: A mission beyond profit. If it gets even a fraction of kids to put down their phones and pick up a book, it's done its job.
