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Wednesday, Jun 29, 2011 12:30 PM UTC

Coming soon: The “Reading Rainbow” flash mob

LeVar Burton, former host of the now-defunct PBS show, wants fans to join a public performance of its theme song

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Topics: PBS,

Coming soon: The Former host of "Reading Rainbow" LeVar Burton, with the program's old logo.

Remember PBS’s “Reading Rainbow”? Chances are that you — or your children — watched it at some point during its more than 25 years on public broadcasting (it aired from 1983 to 2009, making it, according to NPR, the network’s “third longest-running children’s show” ever).

The show’s tenure as a children’s-television fixture (and Emmy Award magnet) has, of course, ended, but last year, former host LeVar Burton revealed on Twitter that a new iteration (“Reading Rainbow 2.0″) was in the works. Now, he says he’s “actively plotting” a “Reading Rainbow flash mob” — an event calculated to raise “literary awareness” (and also, no doubt, stir up the show’s old fan base). He’s seeking celebrity help, not to mention more modest volunteers.

Burton wants participants to join him in performing the show’s opening song, which, if you don’t recall, goes like this:

While this might not be a “flash mob” in the traditional sense — if it stays as well-publicized among Burton’s 1,662,476 Twitter followers as it has been to this point, it could lack a certain element of surprise — there’s no doubt it will succeed in redirecting attention to the now-defunct show, and whatever new projects are up Burton’s sleeve.

[Hat tip: GalleyCat]

Emma Mustich is a Salon contributor. Follow her on Twitter: @emustich. More Emma Mustich.

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