When Mychal Threets received an email last year offering him — a professional librarian — the opportunity to host a revived version of the children’s show “Reading Rainbow,” he thought it was a hoax.
“I honestly thought they were lying when they first reached out to me, that it was all a trick,” Mr. Threets, who is known on social media as Mychal the Librarian, said in an interview. “I was like, ‘OK, I’ll play along.’”
It was not a trick.
The critically acclaimed show returns today after an almost two-decade hiatus, with Mr. Threets as its host. It is produced by Embassy Row in partnership with Buffalo Toronto Public Media, the creator of the show, and it will appear on KidZuko, a children’s YouTube channel run by Sony Pictures, rather than its more familiar home of PBS and PBS Kids.
In addition to Mr. Threets, the show will feature celebrity guests, including John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Gabrielle Union.
“I’m the biggest fan of LeVar Burton, of Mr. Rogers, of Steve Irwin, of Bob Ross — all the wholesome people in the world,” Mr. Threets said of some of the most popular PBS stars, including Mr. Burton, the former host of “Reading Rainbow.” “I think for me, just to have been considered blew my mind.”
Michael Davies, an executive producer for “Jeopardy!” who also brought “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” to the United States, began developing the “Reading Rainbow” reboot in 2020. At first, he pitched the show to all the usual suspects — the streaming platforms and the broadcast channels — and “there wasn’t really anybody out there who showed a lot of interest,” he said.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post ‘Reading Rainbow’ Comes Back With a New Host, but the Same Mission appeared first on New York Times.
