‘Reading Rainbow’ Returning to TV After Nearly 20 Years

Reading Rainbow is making a comeback. After 19 years off the air, the beloved kids program is returning with a new host.

“After nearly 20 years… Reading Rainbow is returning to motivate, help, and encourage kids to become avid readers with new episodes, new friends, new projects, and of course… new books!” the show’s official Instagram page posted. 

Mychal Threets, also known as Mychal the Librarian, is the show’s new host. LeVar Burton previously hosted the program. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the show is set to debut on Saturday October 4, and will air digitally on KidZuko, the kids-focused YouTube channel run by Sony Pictures Television. Several celebrity guests will appear. Dancing With the Stars‘ Rylee Arnold and Ezra Sosa, The Bear actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Jamie Chung, Gabrielle Union, Adam DeVine, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, and more will join.

Reading Rainbow premiered in 1983 and aired on PBS until 2006, encouraging children to develop a love of books. Burton hosted the show throughout its entire run and has been open about the show’s impact.

On his Finding Your Roots episode, Burton said hosting Reading Rainbow is his most proud career achievement. “That’s the first line in my obituary, I think, ‘host and producer of Reading Rainbow,’” The Roots actor said. “Having an impact on the reading habits of a couple of generations of human beings… it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Burton’s young son was his inspiration for hosting Reading Rainbow. “He was in pre-school when the show premiered,” Burton told Yahoo Entertainment. “It was awesome to be able to speak directly to him when I was addressing the camera. That helped a lot, because it brought a lot of focus for me to the work and to the effort.”

A documentary, Butterfly in the Sky, chronicles behind the scenes of the show’s humble beginnings and its challenges it faced due to budget woes and threats of government interference of public television.