As we enter season two of “Orange Is the New Black,” Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) has a potentially serious problem. At the end of season one, she abandoned all the conflict resolution skills she learned at Smith College and beat up Pennsatucky, aka Tiffany (Taryn Manning).
Like, maybe beat her to death.
This would spell a somber opening for most shows, which “OITNB” is not.
Oh, there’s a serious storyline, but it mostly involves Piper’s old lover Alex (Laura Prepon), who’s the reason Piper is wearing orange in the first place.
And yes, the Pennsatucky mater does come up.
JoJo Whilden for NetflixTaylor Schilling in season two of ‘Orange Is the New Black’
In between, “Orange” weaves the kind of free-range humor, some dark and some delightfully eccentric, that defines the show.
If they give an Emmy for best supporting performance by an insect, we have a front-runner here.
The producers also find a way to bring in a new crop of fresh characters without losing the old zany favorites.
“Orange” started a little slow its first season, then found its prison legs and shone.
Jessica Miglio for NetflixCrazy Eyes and the rest of the inmates are back in season two of ‘Orange Is the New Black.’
This season also takes a few scenes to get into gear. But it’s faster, and Schilling in particular slides right into her new rhythm as the seasoned prison veteran.
When she’s not still the kid who really wants to get out.
“Orange” drops in standard Netflix style, of course, with all 13 episodes at once.
So go get ’em, kids. You can watch all 13 and then, unlike Piper Chapman, go out for dinner.
Courtesy of Reading RainbowThe PBS series ‘Reading Rainbow’ was hosted by LeVar Burton, and ran from 1983 to 2006.
LeVar Burton has found a pot of gold at the end of “Reading Rainbow.”
The “Star Trek” actor launched a Kickstarter fund-raiser Wednesday to bring his PBS children’s series online, stating he needed to raise $1 million to reach his goal. The show, which aired from 1983 to 2006, and was launched as an app in 2012. Burton’s new project was to bring “Reading Rainbow’s” extensive digital library of books and videos to classrooms across the country for free.
“We can genuinely change the world, one children’s book at a time,” Burton said in a video announcing the project. “’Reading Rainbow’ is back for every child, everywhere.”
Burton allotted 35 days to raise the funds, but he couldn’t have anticipated that “Rainbow” was so beloved by fans that the project achieved $1 million in donations in less than one day. In fact, the Kickstarter page has surpassed the goal, with backers pledging more than $1.6 million to date.
Burton followed with a more personal response Thursday, posting a YouTube video that showed him and his colleagues cheering and hugging each other after their goal was met.
“Kickstarters, I don’t know what to say,” the teary eyed Burton said to the camera. “We just crossed the million-dollar threshold, it is our first day. I am overwhelmed. Thank you so much. This is going to enable us to really, really, really do a lot of good.
Courtesy of Reading Rainbow‘We can genuinely change the world, one children’s book at a time,’ LeVar Burton said about his goal to raise money to bring ‘Reading Rainbow’ online.
“I am so proud that this community has come together to support this effort, and it’s a people’s thing. It’s the five (dollars), it’s the 10, it’s the 25. It’s the $1 pledges. It’s unbelievable. Or, actually, it’s very believable. Thank you so much. We are literally changing the world, one children’s book at a time. God bless.”
JoJo Whilden for Netflix Taylor Schilling in season two of ‘Orange Is the New Black’ 
Jessica Miglio for Netflix Crazy Eyes and the rest of the inmates are back in season two of ‘Orange Is the New Black.’ 
