Otis Singleton
The Electric Company is an educational children's TV series that first aired in 1971. The show, which was produced by the Children's Television Workshop, featured comedy sketches and animated shorts to teach kids reading and other language skills. The original series ended in 1977, but reruns continued until 1985. A reboot of the show aired from 2009 to 2011, with a similar format but a new storyline and characters. So, what came after the original Electric Company? Well, aside from reruns, a second boxed set DVD was released in 2006, and a revival of the show, called The New Electric Company, premiered in 2009.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year | 2009 |
| Format | Reboot of the 1971 series of the same name |
| Number of seasons | 3 |
| Number of episodes | 28 (season 1), 12 (season 2), unknown (season 3) |
| Air date | 19 January 2009 – 4 April 2011 |
| Air time | Weekly |
| Channel | PBS Kids Go! |
| Production company | Sesame Workshop |
| Developer | Karen Fowler |
| Episode length | 28 minutes |
| Target audience | Children |
| Genre | Educational |
| Theme | A group of friends who protect their neighbourhood from the Pranksters |
| Special features | Interactive web elements |
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What You'll Learn
The Electric Company's 2009 reboot
The Electric Company, an educational American children's TV series, was rebooted in 2009. The reboot, produced by Sesame Workshop and developed by Karen Fowler, aired from 19 January 2009 to 4 April 2011. The show ran for three seasons, with reruns continuing on PBS until 31 August 2014.
The reboot was designed to appeal to a new generation of children and included interactive web elements. Each episode featured a storyline designed to teach four to five vocabulary words with a mix of hip-hop or contemporary R&B-style music. The show revolved around the Electric Company, a group of tween and teen literacy heroes with superpowers who protected their neighbourhood from a group of vandals called the Pranksters. The Electric Company members included Hector Ruiz, Jessica Ruiz, Keith Watson, Lisa Heffenbacher, and Marcus Barnes, each with their own unique powers and skills.
The reboot included nods to the original series, such as appearances by Paul the Gorilla and updated versions of the soft-shoe silhouette segments. The first season consisted of 28 weekly episodes, with the second and third seasons having 12 and 13 episodes, respectively.
The show received positive reviews from critics, who praised its educational value and appeal to modern audiences. The Electric Company reboot aimed to address the literacy crisis in the United States and make learning fun for a new generation of children.
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![Best of the Electric Company [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51nUxR+ZoML._AC_UY218_.jpg)
The show's educational value
The Electric Company was an American educational children's television series that first aired in 1971. The show was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), the same producers behind Sesame Street. It used sketch comedy and animated shorts to teach children reading, pronunciation, spelling, and other grammar skills.
The show featured a number of well-known actors, including Academy Award winner Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, and a then-unknown Morgan Freeman. Guest stars included Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, and Joan Rivers. The comedy writers were among the best in the business and later went on to work on hit TV shows such as M*A*S*H and Everybody Loves Raymond.
The Electric Company also featured music by renowned composers such as Joe Raposo and Tom Lehrer. Raposo, who was also famous for his work on Sesame Street, was the music director for the first three seasons and wrote songs for the show throughout its entire run. Lehrer, a talented satirist and mathematician, composed songs that taught children about grammar and language in a fun and engaging way.
A reboot of The Electric Company aired from 2009 to 2011, with reruns continuing until 2014. The new version featured similar short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos, but each episode also taught four to five vocabulary words with a mix of hip-hop or contemporary R&B-style music. The reboot also taught children lessons about friendship, kindness, doing the right thing, and teamwork.
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The Electric Company's cast
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW). The show aired on PBS from 1971 to 1977, with reruns continuing until 1985. The Electric Company used sketch comedy and animated shorts to teach elementary school children reading, phonetics, and grammar. The show's cast included Academy Award winner Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, and a then-unknown Morgan Freeman. Other cast members included Judy Graubart, Lee Chamberlin, Skip Hinnant, Luis Ávalos, Jim Boyd, Hattie Winston, and more. The show also featured guest stars such as Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, and Joan Rivers.
The Electric Company had a total of 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons. The show was created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett, and the music was composed by Joe Raposo and Gary William Friedman, among others. The show was known for its innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, particularly the Scanimate system, which was used to present words with particular sounds. The Electric Company was well-loved and received two Emmys during its run.
The original cast of The Electric Company included Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, Judy Graubart, Lee Chamberlin, and Skip Hinnant. Most of the cast had experience in stage, repertory, and improvisational work, and Cosby and Moreno were already established performers in film and television. Ken Roberts, known for his work as a soap opera announcer, was the narrator of some segments during the first season. Jim Boyd, who started as an off-camera voice actor and puppeteer, later appeared on-camera in the second season, playing the role of J. Arthur Crank.
Judy Graubart, who played various characters on the show, including Jennifer of the Jungle, Julia Grown-Up, and The Witch, recalled the challenge of being asked to slow down and "linger on the word on the screen" as a comedian. However, she expressed immense pride in the fact that she and the other actors were "all teachers" who showed that "learning was fun." The cast of The Electric Company played a crucial role in delivering educational content in a fun and entertaining way, contributing to the show's success and lasting impact.
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The show's production
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that first aired in 1971. It was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), the same producers behind Sesame Street, and aimed to teach children reading and grammar skills through sketch comedy and animated shorts. The show's cast included Academy Award winner Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, and a then-unknown Morgan Freeman, with guest stars including Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, and Joan Rivers. The show ran for six seasons until 1977, with reruns continuing until 1985.
Due to the popularity of the show, a second DVD box set was released in 2006, containing 20 episodes from the first five seasons and a documentary about the effects of in-school viewings of the show. In 2009, a reboot of the series was produced, airing for three seasons until 2011, with reruns playing until 2014. The new version featured similar animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos, but each episode also included a storyline designed to teach vocabulary words through hip-hop or contemporary R&B music. The reboot also introduced new characters and storylines, focusing on a group of friends who protect their neighborhood from the Pranksters, a group of vandals.
The Electric Company was known for its unique title sequence in the first season, where a striking match would be heard, revealing a hand holding a lit match and the episode number handwritten on a piece of paper. From the second season onwards, the title sequence was changed to feature the show's logo and an electronic whooshing sound. The show also incorporated music from renowned composers like Joe Raposo and Gary William Friedman, who wrote popular songs for the series.
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The show's legacy
The Electric Company, an American educational children's TV series, premiered in 1971 and continued to air new episodes until 1977, with reruns until 1985. The show was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW)—the same producers as Sesame Street. It aimed to teach children reading, pronunciation, spelling, and other grammar skills through sketch comedy, animated shorts, and songs. The show was a huge success, winning two Emmys and airing on more than 250 public TV stations. It also became a valuable teaching tool in thousands of classrooms across the nation.
The show's cast included Academy Award winner Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, and a then-unknown Morgan Freeman, with guest stars like Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, and Joan Rivers. The comedy writers were among the best in the business and later worked on popular TV shows like M*A*S*H and Everybody Loves Raymond. The music for the show was composed by the talented Joe Raposo, who also composed for Sesame Street, and Gary William Friedman, who wrote the music for the hit Broadway rock opera, The Me Nobody Knows.
The Electric Company's legacy continued long after its original run. Due to its popularity, a second boxed set of DVDs was released in 2006, and a reboot of the show aired from 2009 to 2011, with reruns until 2014. The reboot, called The New Electric Company, featured similar elements to the original, including short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos. However, each episode also included a storyline focused on teaching vocabulary words through hip-hop or contemporary R&B-style music.
The show's impact was recognized and praised by critics. Marc Peyser of Newsweek wrote that the reboot "more than lives up to its legacy," while Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times noted that it would help improve children's language skills. The Electric Company's innovative use of entertainment to educate has left a lasting impression, and it remains one of the most well-known and beloved educational shows in television history.
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