More like RACIAL Rainbow!
After a run of 26 years on PBS, the final episode of “Reading Rainbow” aired today. The only children’s television shows with longer runs are “Mister Rogers” and “Sesame Street.” **plays “Taps” on the kazoo**
Each episode of Reading Rainbow had the same basic elements: There was a featured children’s book that inspired an adventure with Burton. Then, at the end of every show, kids gave their own book reviews, always prefaced by Burton’s trademark line: “But you don’t have to take my word for it …”
The show’s run is ending… because no one — not the station, not PBS, not the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — will put up the several hundred thousand dollars needed to renew the show’s broadcast rights. [NPR]
I don’t know if “Reading Rainbow” had any lasting effect on people who grew up in the ’90s, but if you were a nerdy little bookworm in the ’80s (guilty), this show OWNED YOUR SH*T. Check out video of the original credits after the jump. The catchy hook and the reverb on the synthesizer makes me want to go read the f*ck outta some Very Hungry Caterpillar.
I need everyone to remain calm. Today I received an email that changed my life when Warming Glow reader Dan wrote:
About a year ago I saw this documentary on PBS “Ferrets: The Pursuit of Excellence”, and to be honest, it was the greatest hour of my life.
And I believe Dan with every fiber of my being, because the YouTube footage from the documentary below shows ferret enthusiasts at their most spectacularly insane. Leprechaun Ferret is just the tip of the iceberg; there’s also Vampire Ferret, Hula Ferret, Fairy Ferret, and more. And Hula Ferret actually has a grass skirt and miniature coconut bras for every set of nipples. There are tears of joy in my eyes when I watch it.
But wait, THERE’S MORE!!! Because on this day of bountiful Internet riches, a video of sad ladies dressing up ferrets is NOT ENOUGH. I also bring you a joyous, magical clip of a woman singing a song about ferrets, and another video in which she talks about how she stores 25 pounds of dead ferrets in her freezer before getting the bargain price for cremating them. WHO WANTS A FERRETSICLE?
Today’s entry in the “Oh my God, I can’t believe there was a time when it was okay to put this on television” file is a clip of scenes from the ’80s PBS show “Many Voices, Many Visions” in which a little white girl with a perm gets teased by her peers for looking like a black boy. Fortunately, she’s got the world’s best mom to comfort her. After Mom tells the little girl, “It’s just a perm, it’ll grow out,” she adds, “It’s not like you’re really black.” Phew! That would be way worse! Thanks, Mom!
[via BuzzFeed, although Mental Floss included it in a feature a while back]
Ambrose T. Feathersworth: abolitionist and trusted aide-de-camp of Lincoln, forgotten by history
Natural History of the Chicken (PBS) — I think that this has actually aired on PBS before, but I just wanted to call your attention to the fact that there’s a PBS special called “Natural History of the Chicken.” I have officially nothing in common with people who watch PBS.
Your Worst Animal Nightmares (Animal Planet) — Is there one about flying sharks? That’s the worst one I’ve had.
World’s Strongest Toddler (TLC) — Okay, I hate TLC, but this is cool: it’s about Liam Hoekstra, a three-year-old who has washboard abs thanks to an AWESOME disease that “promotes above-normal growth of the skeletal muscles; it doesn’t affect the heart and has no known negative side effect.” Lucky bastard. (See photos here)
Dollars and Danger: Africa, The Final Investing Frontier (CNBC) — The theory: with its plentiful natural resources, Africa might actually benefit in a slowed-down global economy. Erin Burnett reports on whether it’s worth risking getting attacked by AIDS lions and warlord prostitutes. Or so I assume.
Wipeout (ABC) — Two hours of people getting falling into mud and getting hit in the face. And yet: still way more intelligent than two hours of “I’m a Celebrity.”
Extreme Animal Encounters (Travel) — I had a three-way with some bottlenose dolphins. Man, dolphins are super-freaky. Jacques Cousteau called them “nature’s frotteurs.”
Ricky Gervais taped an episode of “Sesame Street” that will air in November, and the video of the outtakes with Elmo might be the greatest thing in the history of everything ever. I’ve watched it three times in a row and I have no intention to stop watching this on repeat. Somehow I doubt necrophilia and the Holocaust won’t make the final cut of the episode. Pity. Kids gotta learn about it sometime.
[Videogum's been killin' it]
