George W. Bush got Reading Rainbow canceled.
Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about how, no, seriously, George W. Bush got Reading Rainbow canceled. First, though, a little disclaimer. There are two things you need to know about me: I’m not from the U.S., I was an awkward kid, and I’ve always loved reading. I realize that’s technically three things, but I reckon that the last two mean pretty much the same thing, so … in any case, I didn’t grow up with Reading Rainbow, but I instantly respect and admire anything that encourages kids to pick up a goddamn book every once in a while.
Reading Rainbow started all the way back in 1983 and (counting reruns) continued until 2009, when it was finally pulled from the air because it just wasn’t resonating with modern kids who don’t even know how “turn on” a print book, right? Not exactly. It was actually because of something even stupider than that tired old joke.
PBS canceled Reading Rainbow because they didn’t think it was educational enough.
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