LeVar Burton's Reading Rainbow Kickstarter

[Hotfoot]

Direct Link

This could have gone other places, but this is a project about bringing reading to kids, and while that might technically be about education, at the core of it, it's about art, so here it goes.

I have no doubt in my mind that despite this having a one million dollar goal it will reach it. The kickstarter just started and already has over $200,000 and 35 days left to the operation. The goal for that one million dollars is making the program available to 1,500 schools at no cost to the schools.

Stretch goals? More schools. Done.

My only question is which reward tier to go for.

[rhoenix]

Though a part of me wants to make a crack about performing societal funding through kickstarter, Reading Rainbow, in my mind, is fully worth this effort. I'm definitely donating.

EDIT: It's at $692k funding as of this post. Damn, that was fast.

EDIT 2: Why do I get the feeling Hotfoot here is strongly considering the reward tier where LeVar Burton records his outgoing Voicemail greeting?

[Hotfoot]

Because LeVar Burton is concentrated win.

[Hotfoot]

This will be funded by the time I get to larp, from the looks of it.

[Cynical Cat]

This will be funded by the time I get to larp, from the looks of it.

This will be funded by the end of the day. It's at 777k as of writing this post and it'll be higher by the time I hit submit.

P.S. It went to 782k by the time I hit submit.

[Hotfoot]

That's when I'm getting to LARP. Starts today, I'm packing now.

P.S. 843k

[Hotfoot]

Funding hit BEFORE I EVEN LEFT!

Boo. Fucking. Yah.

[frigidmagi]

More then 1,244,000 dollars from 28,000 backers as of this post. I tried to give an excalt number but it's climbing to damn fast for that. Hell right now it's likely hit 1,245,000. This is awesome.

Edit: I was wrong, when I posted it had already hit 1,246,000.

[rhoenix]

When I first checked this Kickstarter yesterday, it was about $250,000.

Now, it's over 2.1 million. This is beautiful to see.

[Academia Nut]

LeVar Burton reacts

[frigidmagi]

LeVar goes on Reddit for an Ask Me Anything

[Lys]

I'm getting the impression Reading Rainbow is one of those shared childhood things for large sections of the US population under 30 that I missed out on. At least I had live oral storytelling outside the main Caracas theatre, that was fun. Plus actual theatre inside of it, of course.

[frigidmagi]

In the 80s reading rainbow was huge. It was among the first educational TV shows, where LaVar Burton basically ran a nationwide book club for kids ages 4 to 13. A good chunk of the reason it worked so well was Burton himself, the man is amazing.

[rhoenix]

LeVar goes on Reddit for an Ask Me Anything

I have to admit, this is heartwarming to read. In the small, august group of modern inspirational figures, which includes Mr. Rogers, I'm thinking LeVar Burton deserves to be in that group as well.

[Hotfoot]

80's PBS Kids programming was a staple for a lot of us. It wasn't cable, so virtually everyone had access to it, rich or poor, and it contained Sesame Street, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow, and other excellent educational shows. Shows that were fun, interesting, and didn't talk down to kids.

Reading Rainbow had a trippy and excellent theme song that's an earworm if you've ever listened to it, and had the benefit of being hosted by LeVar Burton, whose other claims to fame were the seminal mini-series Roots, and of course, Star Trek: The Next Generation. His goal was not just to teach children to read, but to LOVE reading. I never needed much of a push there, but I remember this show being one I watched often when I was young.

It helps that LeVar Burton is one of the most honestly, genuinely lovable human beings on the planet. He didn't have the quiet calm of sainthood that Mr. Rogers had, but he has a wonderful energy that is frankly infectious, and when you're trying to inspire others with a passion for something, that's tremendous.

If you can, Lys, there's certainly some episodes of the original show on youtube somewhere. Here's an example from back in the day....

[youtube][/youtube]

[Lys]

I didn't start watching TV until I was about 7 years old, by which point I was quite literate and used to using to reading encyclopaedias. This might be why I always found Seasame Street rather boring, while stuff like Barney the Dinosaur was downright annoying. My edutainment staples growing up were Discovery Channel and Discovery Kids. This was complemented by a smattering of Latin American comedy shows, shitty superhero cartoons on Fox Kids, various things on Cartoon Network, and the pit of utter surreality that was Nickelodeon. Also when I was at my grandmother's place I'd watch anime on a channel at the time called Locomotion (she had DirectTV, mum didn't). I'm pretty sure Those Who Hunt Elves wasn't appropriate programming for a young girl... or appropriate programming in any sense really, but that's the joy of lacking supervision.

Seeing that example clip of Reading Rainbow, I'm rather impressed by the fact that it really doesn't talk down to the audience. It's assumed they're smart enough to realize right away that Kermit is reading up on pigs due to his crush on Miss Piggy, and the humour plays off on that and pig-based puns. Not something I'd go out of my way to watch, but enjoyable. Plus, while Levar Burton might not have the quiet sainthood of Mr. Rogers, at least I can actually enjoy listening to him. I cannot adequately explain why, but something about the way Mr. Rogers speaks rubs me the wrong way and I can't stand it.

Anyway, it's good that this kickstarters has been kicked into the stratosphere by enthusiastic support. Bringing literacy and culture to children, especially underprivileged children, is very much a worthy endeavour. I'd probably support it myself if I had any disposable income, because while I lack any nostalgia or interest in the product, its mission is still something I can stand behind.

[LadyTevar]

Yes, the theme song was an Earworm, and thousands can still sing it today.

~Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high
Take a look, it's in a book
A Reading Rainbow....

I can go anywhere!
Friends to know, and ways to grow
A Reading Rainbow ....

I can be anything!
Take a Look, it's in a Book
A Reading Rainbow!

[rhoenix]

Minor update for this, since I got the email about it.

The project now sits at $3.62m, which is really not bad. However, the good LeVar certainly hasn't been sitting on his laurels. Apparently he managed to get ahold of some old collegues, because starting today at 2pm, Reading Rainbow Live will include some people you know from various Trek shows.

Episode 1 will include Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, and Robert Picardo (with a kind of Men of Star Trek theme).

Episode 2 will include Kate Mulgrew, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, and Jeri Ryan (by the same token, with a kind of Women of Star Trek theme).

Episode 3 is all William Shatner, with Episode 4 belonging to Patrick Stewart.


I don't know how he did it, and I don't care. This is awesome for him to do, and I hope it inspires the next few generations of children to love reading.

[frigidmagi]

That is awesome.

[LadyTevar]

3.62 million, and it's still not over yet, is it. This is awesome what we can do :)

[rhoenix]

So, it's at 3.77 million now. Not too bad, but LeVar's been getting ambitious, since he wants this to push into the 5 million mark - not that I can blame him.

So, he's been doing the "tell three friends on social media" thing, saying that if each new person just donates $1, they'll double their current standing.

The hell with it - kids in future need to have inspiration such as this. I've upgraded my donation accordingly. So - spread the word on Facebook and such if you can, it's for a good cause.

[rhoenix]

Ok, 48 hours to go. We are now in the final stretch.

From the update email I just got:

We’ll have more news later today. This morning, just a few quick updates:

1. We now have the Most Backers for a Kickstarter Project EVER!

This morning, at about 8 AM PDT, we reached the STRETCH CHALLENGE from our previous update, and set a new Kickstarter Record for Most Backers, with over 91,600 backers!

To celebrate that milestone, all backers who have pledged $5 or more will now receive exclusive Reading Rainbow bookmarks, designed just for this Kickstarter, for FREE!

And since we’ve still got 48 hours left to go even higher, we’ve decided to add another incentive:

If we reach 100,000 BACKERS, all backers at $10 and up will receive ANOTHER FREE ADD-ON REWARD: a limited edition set of Reading Rainbow stickers, designed just for this campaign!

Together, we still have time to send an even clearer message about the number of people who believe in this cause, so please: keep spreading the word, and let your friends know that for even $1, they can be part of the biggest crowdfunding project of all time!

91,600 backers so far - a new Kickstarter record. NICE.

It's also sitting at $4.6 million right now - very, very close to hitting 5 million for such a project. This is great news.

[Hotfoot]

IT'S OVER FIVE MILLION!!!!!!!

And over 100,000 backers, too! 15 hours left and every extra $100,000 is another 500 schools.

Throw in the extra million Seth McFarlane is throwing in, and it's on the way to being the single most supported Kickstarter ever.

But more importantly, if the number of schools hits above a certain number, I'll have a special clip for everyone.

[General Havoc]

Is... is it this?

[Hotfoot]

Yes, but I was going to be inlining it like so:

What are the number of schools that now have free access to Reading Rainbow?

[youtube][/youtube]

Well, not as high as I thought it might get, but at 5.4 million with over one hundred thousand backers, with an extra million on top from Seth McFarlane, that puts it at somewhere around 6.4 million, plus or minus various other incidentals.

All in all, that's pretty fucking fantastic. Now we just hope that the final product takes off like they plan.