Learn to Read

Last updated
Learn to Read
GenreEducational
Starring Wally Amos
Doris Biscoe
Charlotte Scot
Les Raebel
Sylvia Glover
Jim Johnson
Theme music composer Dennis Carnevale
Composer Dennis Carnevale
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes30
Production
Production locations Detroit, Michigan;
Kentucky
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time30 minutes
Production company KET / WXYZ-TV
Original release
Network PBS / syndicated
ReleaseAugust 31, 1987 (1987-08-31)

Learn To Read is an adult educational TV series that consists of 30 programs, hosted by entrepreneur and literacy advocate Wally Amos. Co-instructors include Doris Biscoe (who was an anchorwoman for WXYZ-TV in Detroit, Michigan) and Charlotte Scot. Caitlyn Jenner (then Bruce) [lower-alpha 1] guest-starred on the first episode. This was based on 27 million Americans having almost no reading skills. On Friday, there is a review of the week. The final program reviews the entire series.

Contents

In every episode (excluding programs 1, 5, 10, 15 and 30) a "Getting Along" segment is used, with either Sylvia Glover or Jim Johnson (both formerly of WXYZ's Good Afternoon Detroit) as instructors.

Aside, there's Les the Letter Man and Nancy the Word Woman. Finally, there is Billy Green, referred to as the "Book Guy", telling viewers to get their workbook.

Learn to Read was produced by Kentucky Educational Television in association with WXYZ-TV (the copyright is owned by both KET and E.W. Scripps, then Scripps Howard Broadcasting), funded by the Kmart Corporation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and donors to PBS. The program was produced at WXYZ's studios in Southfield, Michigan, with additional production done by KET in Kentucky.

The program was televised on many PBS member stations, as well as syndicated to commercial stations. [2] The program was also seen locally on WXYZ-TV, generally weekday mornings at 5AM. [3]

Episodes are available online through YouTube. [4]

Episode status

While episodes originally consist of a 6-week daily course, some stations air episodes on a less-frequent basis, as little as once a week. New York City PBS station WNET was the last PBS affiliate to air the show and aired it daily (sometimes twice daily) before pulling it from its lineup in 2009.

Initially, Learn To Read was produced solely by WXYZ-TV in Detroit. It was originally offered free to every ABC affiliated television station in the United States by VP/General Manager Jeanne Findlater, who created the idea and wrote the format. She sold the entire underwriting costs to Chrysler, K-Mart, Kroger, and McDonald's after convincing them that they had to use their commercial time to promote literacy, not their products. On behalf of the station, she received the national Charles W. Scripps Literacy Award presented by Barbara Bush.

Learn To Read was later syndicated to PBS state network Kentucky Educational Television, who marketed it throughout the United States. In the first broadcast, Findlater scheduled the program at 5:30 am and at 10:00 am. The idea for the early morning time slot came from Doug Frazier years before. Frazier, then president of the UAW-CIO, urged Findlater to create a literacy series and run it at the end or start of a work-shift. Findlater said ratings for the early morning slot weren't available but many letters sent to her indicated that those viewers did not want their kids to know they couldn't read. The series has been widely used in prisons. Estimates of total viewership (from 2002) were over 18 million people.

Cast

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Jenner changed her name due to gender transition in 2015. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wally Amos</span> American television personality, entrepreneur, and author

Wallace "Wally" Amos, Jr. is an American television personality, entrepreneur, and author from Tallahassee, Florida. He is the founder of the Famous Amos chocolate-chip cookie, the Cookie Kahuna, and Aunt Della's Cookies gourmet cookie brands, and he was the host of the adult reading program, Learn to Read.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJBK</span> Fox TV station in Detroit

WJBK is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, serving as the market's Fox network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on West 9 Mile Road in the Detroit suburb of Southfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXYZ-TV</span> ABC affiliate in Detroit

WXYZ-TV is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside CW affiliate WMYD. The two stations share studios at Broadcast House on 10 Mile Road in Southfield, where WXYZ-TV's transmitter is also located.

WTVS is a PBS member television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned by the Detroit Educational Television Foundation. Its main studios are located at the Riley Broadcast Center and HD Studios on Clover Court in Wixom, with an additional studio at the Maccabees Building in Midtown Detroit. The station's transmitter is located at 8 Mile and Meyers Road in Oak Park. WTVS partners with the Stanley and Judith Frankel Family Foundation in the management of classical and jazz music station WRCJ-FM (90.9).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Educational Television</span> PBS member network serving Kentucky

Kentucky Educational Television (KET) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is operated by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, an agency of the Kentucky state government, which provides more than half of its annual funding. KET is the dominant public broadcaster in the commonwealth, with transmitters covering the vast majority of the state as well as parts of adjacent states; the only other PBS member in Kentucky is WKYU-TV in Bowling Green. KET is the largest PBS state network in the United States; the broadcast signals of its sixteen stations cover almost all of the state, as well as parts of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The network's offices, network center and primary studio facilities are located at the O. Leonard Press Telecommunications Center on Cooper Drive in Lexington; KET also has production centers in Louisville and at the Kentucky State Capitol Annex in Frankfort.

Arkansas PBS is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is operated by the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, a statutory non-cabinet agency of the Arkansas government operated through the Arkansas Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which holds the licenses for all of the public television stations based in the state. The commission is managed by an independent board of university and education officials, and gubernatorial appointees representing each of Arkansas's four congressional districts. Along with offering television programs supplied by PBS and various independent distributors, the network produces public affairs, cultural and documentary programming as well as sports events sanctioned by the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSYM-TV</span> Fox affiliate in Lansing, Michigan

WSYM-TV is a television station in Lansing, Michigan, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station has studios on West Saint Joseph Street in downtown Lansing, and its transmitter is located in Hamlin Township along M-50/M-99/South Clinton Trail.

The WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour is a radio program created, produced, and hosted by folk singer Michael Johnathon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WKPC-TV</span> PBS member station in Louisville, Kentucky

WKPC-TV is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Owned by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, the station is operated as part of the statewide Kentucky Educational Television (KET) network. WKPC-TV's transmitter is located at the Kentuckiana Tower Farm at Floyds Knobs, in Floyd County, Indiana. WKPC and WKMJ are the only KET-owned stations whose transmitters are outside Kentucky's borders.

WKMJ-TV is a PBS member television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is the flagship station for KET2, the second television service of Kentucky Educational Television (KET), which is owned by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WKPD</span> PBS member station in Paducah, Kentucky

WKPD is a PBS member television station licensed to Paducah, Kentucky, United States. Owned by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, the station is operated as part of the statewide Kentucky Educational Television (KET) network. WKPD's transmitter is located on Coleman Road off of KY 305 on the west side of Paducah, near the McCracken County Soccer Complex.

SkyWeek was a weekly astronomy television program created by Sky & Telescope magazine. The show was hosted by Tony Flanders, associate editor of Sky & Telescope magazine. Each episode of the program was released in one, three, and five-minute formats; and, the show's content and format were similar to that of another weekly astronomy program called Star Gazers. SkyWeek was carried by many PBS affiliates.

The 18th season of the television series Arthur aired from September 29, 2014 to September 10, 2015 on PBS Kids and comprised 10 episodes. William Healy replaces Drew Adkins as Arthur, Andrew Dayton replaces Jake Beale as D.W., and Max Friedman Cole replaces Siam Yu as Brain for part of the season continuing permanently for the next season.

KET ED, known as the Education Channel, was a digital television programming service operated by PBS member network Kentucky Educational Television. The service provided programming from the Annenberg/CPB project, along with encore presentations of some PBS programming, and much of KET's locally produced in-house instructional television (ITV) productions.

The Kentucky Channel, also known by its Program and System Information Protocol short name and on-screen logo bug as KET KY, is a full-time 24/7 statewide digital television programming service originating from PBS member state-network Kentucky Educational Television. The channel features programming related to the U.S. state of Kentucky, as well as coverage of Kentucky General Assembly when it is in session.

The Ready-To-Learn (RTL) Act is a project funded by PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to supply educational programming and materials for preschool and elementary school children. Created in 1992, the Ready-To-Learn Act furthered the creation of the Ready-To-Learn programming block which provided eleven hours of educational programming throughout the day on the PBS channel. The initiative aimed to support low-income communities by providing educational content addressing social and emotional development as well as emphasizing language and cognitive skills for children ages 2-8 years old.

References

  1. ↑ Buzz Bissinger (June 1, 2015). "Introducing Caitlyn Jenner". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ Radio-Info: "Retro: Montréal/Southern Québec Tues., July 4, 1989", 7/2/2009. (includes listings for WMTW, which carried the program)
  3. ↑ TV Guide , Flint-Lansing Edition, July 28-August 3, 1990.
  4. ↑ "Learn to Read (YouTube Playlist)". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.