Forty-two years after its premiere, “Reading Rainbow” is formally returning.
Viewers obtained their first take a look at a revived iteration of the basic PBS sequence by means of a brand new trailer, unveiled on Monday. The present will likely be hosted by Mychal Threets, recognized to his legions of followers as Mychal the Librarian, and have a roster of starry narrators together with Adam DeVine, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen and Gabrielle Union.
Visitor stars will embody Rylee Arnold and Ezra Sosa of “Dancing With the Stars” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” and “The Bear” star Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
Watch the trailer for the “Reading Rainbow” revival beneath.
The brand new “Reading Rainbow” is ready to premiere Saturday, Oct. 4. and be introduced as a digital sequence each on its official web site and KidZuko, a kids’s YouTube channel. New episodes will premiere Saturdays at 10 a.m. ET.
In an announcement shared to Instagram on Tuesday, Threets mentioned he was “raised” on the unique “Reading Rainbow,” which aired from 1983 to 2006 and received quite a few Emmy Awards. He additionally described that present’s beloved host, LeVar Burton, as his “hero.”
“I am a reader, I am a librarian because LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow so powerfully made us believe we belong in books, we belong everywhere,” he wrote. “I am so happy for all of us that Reading Rainbow is returning! YOU all did this!”
Alluding to the sequence’ basic theme music ― which is curiously absent from the brand new present’s trailer ― he added, “We’re flying twice as high, butterflies in the sky! Stay tuned….”
Provided that the unique “Reading Rainbow” aired on PBS for 23 years, the brand new sequence is already being hailed as a uncommon spot of excellent information for public media, whose funding has lately been slashed by the Trump administration.
John Nacion through Getty Photographs
“I don’t think I’ve been this excited for anything since the birth of my child,” one individual wrote on Instagram.
Added one other, “This is the best thing to happen to us as a country in at least a year.”
Threets beforehand labored as a supervising librarian on the Solano County Library in California. The 35-year-old rose to nationwide prominence in 2020 when he proposed a Scholastic Ebook Truthful for adults, to be hosted in breweries and wineries.
Although Threets’ concept by no means got here to fruition, it helped set up him as a TikTok character. Today, he boasts greater than 817,000 followers and makes use of his platform to advertise positivity, belonging and “library joy.”
“I keep on saying that the library is for everybody: library kids, library grown-ups, mentally ill, unhoused,” he instructed HuffPost final 12 months. “I love telling people that they don’t have to leave their anxiety, depression or PTSD outside the library. There’s no sign that says you can’t bring your anxiety in.”
