Today there is an update on the previously reported Reading Rainbow Kickstarter campaign from Star Trek TNG star LeVar Burton. The campaign has now broken a Kickstarter record. There are only 2 days left so you still have a chance to help (and they have lowered pricing on some get some Star Trek event rewards too). Plus is Burton hinting he wants to return for the just announced Community Season 6?
Burton Breaks Kickstarter Record – Price Drop on Trek Rewards
Burton’s Reading Rainbow campaign has announced it has broken Kickstarter‘s record for the most backers ever. It now has around 94,000 backers with over $4.6M pledged to help bring the Raiding Rainbow app to thousands of schools and expands its capabilities. The campaign ends on Wednesday July 2nd and for these last days Family Guy creator (and huge Trek fan) Seth MacFarlane has pledged $1M in matching funds.
Today’s video update from LeVar
Reading Rainbow have lowered the price on many of the rewards related to Star Trek. Below are the rewards and the latest prices. You can make your pledge to the campaign at Kickstarter.
$350 – Hang with LeVar at a Con ($750 for Vegas)
Rewards to HANG WITH LEVAR AT A FAN CONVENTION are now just $350, and include 2 full event passes, 2 invitations to a private Meet & Greet with LeVar, 2 signed headshots, as well as an exclusive collectible and a copy of The Bionic Bunny Show, the classic Reading Rainbow episode where LeVar took viewers on a field trip behind-the-scenes of Star Trek: TNG! You can choose from the following events:
LOUISVILLE, KY – Fandom Fest (Aug 1-3)
PITTSBURGH, PA – Steel City Con (Aug 8-10)
CHICAGO, IL – WizardWorld (Aug 21-24)
MONTREAL, CANADA – Comic Con (Sept 12-14)
LONDON, UK – Destination: Star Trek (Oct 3-5)
[EDIT: The Las Vegas Star Trek Convention is not included as an option in this reward level, and is still available as part of the original $750 reward level. We apologize for the mixup!]
$500- $900 – Reading Rainbow Live Tickets + Q&A w/ Trek celebs
Rewards for the RRL STAR TREK EVENTS in LOS ANGELES — The Men of Star Trek, The Women of Star Trek and William Shatner — are now just $500 for 3 tickets to any event, or $800 with invitations to a private Meet & Greet!
Rewards for the RRL STAR TREK EVENT IN NEW YORK with PATRICK STEWART are now just $900 for three tickets to a reading and Q&A! (Due to extreme demand, we have not lowered the price on the private Meet & Greet with LeVar and Patrick.)
And remember: all RRL EVENTS include everything in the $200 reward package, as well as an exclusive, autographed poster that will be designed specifically for each event. We hope you’ll be able to join us!
Note the $10,000 "VISOR Package" including dinner with LeVar and Brent Spiner has already been snapped up.
Speaking of Spiner, can you spot him in this Reading Rainbow Kickstarter Campaign promo?
LeVar returning for Community Season 6?
Today it was announced that Yahoo TV have brought the NBC sitcom Community back from cancellation and they will stream a new sixth season. This means that we may see the return of LeVar Burton who has done a couple of guest spots on the show including one in the last season when Donald Glover left the show with his character embarking on a round the world sailboat trip with LeVar Burton (played himself).
In that episode ("Geothermal Escapism"), Glover’s Troy Barnes was last seen asking Burton some Star Trek questions. Watch the clip below.
TrekMovie pondered the question on Twitter earlier today and Lever Burton retweeted it to his 1.8M followers, so maybe…
.@YahooTV is bringing back Community. http://t.co/Vs7WthQVh3 maybe we find out what happened to Troy & @levarburton pic.twitter.com/4BZbHzSIXZ
— TrekMovie.com (@TrekMovie) June 30, 2014
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Best of fortune in getting RR back.
As for Community, I didn’t know it was canceled. Ugh. The old networks STILL don’t know what’s killing them. Them.
Six Seasons and a Movie!
Oh, and well done, LeVar on the Reading Rainbow project. Quality FTW!
@CmdrR:
Them, and showing the same crime garbage/so-called ‘reality’ garbage to the same people in flyover country and elsewhere that should be watching quality shows like <i.Communityinstead of the same old, same old that they usually watch.
And when, oh when, are we going to see some sci-fi like Farscape, Star Trek, and Babylon 5 back on network TV?
And when, oh when, are we going to see some sci-fi like Farscape, Star Trek, and Babylon 5 back on network TV?
The internal culture of television executives may have changed. In the past, many of them rose to a position of power after having had direct experience with the fundamentals that helped them build entertainment empires. William S. Paley of CBS would be example. Now, however, executives who control relatively small parts of such large empires depend on focus groups and consultants who mediate the results on which purchase decisions depend. Because of this, they need not have the gut instinct for quality, and, equally, they have no similar stake in nurturing truly promising potential.
What works now is what worked before, and what will work tomorrow is what works now. It’s all very banal. The sense of vision is gone and replacing it is corporatethink at the highest level.
Will Levar return for a new TNG movie
I doubt that her will even be a TNG film, at least with the original cast, Cameos in a reboot are remotely possible as is the reboot itself .