Reading Rainbow
Ox-Cart Man
TV Flash files “Ox-Cart Man” as hour 18 of 155 in the TV Flash guide — Reading Rainbow (1983–2006) on PBS, season 2, episode 3, aired 1984-09-05, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E03: listed hour 18 of 155 in the Reading Rainbow guide, hour 3 of 5 in season 2. It aired 1984-09-05 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Simon's Book” (S02E02). Next is “Mystery on the Docks” (S02E04).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
LeVar is inspired by the story to visit Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts, a hands-on living museum where he discovers what life was like in the early 1800's. He learns about training oxen, blacksmithing, bartering, and early printing methods.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Ox-Cart Man sit in the Reading Rainbow guide?
S02E03 is listed hour 18 of 155 — hour 3 of 5 in season 2, season 2 episode 3.
When did Reading Rainbow S02E03 air?
Ox-Cart Man aired 1984-09-05 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Is it only for kids?
PBS literacy as after-school adventure. Adults return for Burton and the catchphrase. The Kickstarter revival proved nobody actually outgrew the librarian on camera.
In the series
Why this series still plays
LeVar Burton takes you into a book, then kids review it, then the catchphrase: you don't have to take his word for it. PBS literacy as after-school adventure, with field-trip segments that treated reading as a passport. A generation's librarian on camera — the Kickstarter revival proved nobody actually outgrew him.
The catchphrase is the contract. PBS, premiere 1983 through 2006: LeVar Burton introduces books, field trips, and kid reviews that sell the joy of reading — you don't have to take his word for it. Reading Rainbow, from Twila Liggett, Cecily Truett Lancit, and Larry Lancit, made literacy appointment television. After-school adventure treated reading as a passport: theme song as permanent childhood earworm, multiple Daytime Emmys, Burton as a generation's librarian on camera. If you came for a blotter item about a…
Filed against
- LeVar Burton as Host
LeVar Burton’s breakthrough as young Kunta Kinte on Roots made miniseries history — eight ABC nights, event television that forced a nation to watch and talk together. Later Star Trek: TNG and Reading Rainbow sealed educator-icon status.…