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The Electric Company was an American educational children's television series that first aired in 1971. The show was created to help older children with reading and grammar skills through the use of sketch comedy and various other devices. The show was cancelled in 1977 at the height of its popularity. A reboot of the series was later released in 2009, running until 2011.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| First aired | 25 October 1971 |
| Last aired | 15 April 1977 |
| Number of seasons | 6 |
| Number of episodes | 780 |
| Creator | Paul Dooley |
| Co-creators | Joan Ganz Cooney, Lloyd Morrisett |
| Cast members | Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, Judy Graubart, Skip Hinnant, Lee Chamberlin, Bill Cosby |
| Reboot | 19 January 2009 |
| Reboot last aired | 4 April 2011 |
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What You'll Learn
The Electric Company was an educational children's TV series
The Electric Company was an American educational children's television series that first aired in 1971. It was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), now known as Sesame Workshop, and co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The show aimed to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills through sketch comedy and various other devices. It featured a mix of live-action and animation, with psychedelic graphics, wild animations, mod outfits, and over-the-top characters. The show was intended for children who had outgrown CTW's flagship program, Sesame Street, and thus had more mature humor.
The original series ran for six seasons, with 780 episodes airing from October 25, 1971, to April 15, 1977. It starred Morgan Freeman, who played various roles, including Easy Reader, DJ Mel Mounds, Vincent the Vegetable Vampire, and Count Dracula. The show also featured Rita Moreno, who played a variety of roles and screamed the iconic line "Heeeey, youu guuyyss!" in the opening sequence. The Electric Company won two Emmys, aired on more than 250 public TV stations, and became a teaching tool in thousands of classrooms nationwide.
Despite its popularity, The Electric Company was canceled in 1977. One reason for its cancellation was the lack of stand-alone characters or brands that could be licensed for merchandising and generate additional profits. The show licensed comic books and a board game, but these did not provide significant additional revenue.
A reboot of The Electric Company aired from 2009 to 2011, with reruns continuing on PBS until 2014. This version maintained the short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos of the original but added story lines designed to teach vocabulary words through hip-hop and contemporary R&B music. The new series followed a group of tween and teen literacy heroes who battled a group of neighborhood vandals called the Pranksters. The heroes' headquarters was the Electric Diner, where their friend Shock, a beat-boxing short-order cook, resided.
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It ran from 1971 to 1977, with a reboot from 2009 to 2011
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series. It first aired in 1971 and ran for six seasons until 1977, when it was cancelled. The show was created to help elementary school children develop their reading and grammar skills through the use of sketch comedy and various other devices. It was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), now known as Sesame Workshop, and aired on PBS. The show was unique at the time for its use of psychedelic graphics, creative animation, mod outfits, and over-the-top characters. It won two Emmys and aired on more than 250 public TV stations, becoming a popular teaching tool in classrooms across the nation.
The Electric Company was cancelled in 1977 at the height of its popularity. One reason for its cancellation may have been the lack of stand-alone branding or characters that could have generated additional profits through merchandising.
A reboot of the show, also called The Electric Company, aired from 2009 to 2011. This new version had similar short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos, but each episode also featured a story line designed to teach four to five vocabulary words with a mix of hip-hop or contemporary R&B-style music. The reboot was produced by Sesame Workshop and aired on PBS Kids Go!.
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The show used comedy and animation to teach kids to read
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), now known as Sesame Workshop. It first aired in 1971 and was cancelled in 1977. The show used sketch comedy and animation to teach kids to read.
The show's target audience was elementary school students who were too old for Sesame Street but still needed help learning to read. It featured a mix of sketch comedy, music, graphics, and fun storylines to teach reading and phonetics. The show also taught important lessons on honesty, integrity, overcoming shyness, being true to yourself, and working well with others.
The Electric Company employed various devices and comedy writers from hit TV shows to create an entertaining program that would help children develop their grammar and reading skills. The show's cast included Morgan Freeman, who played memorable characters such as Easy Reader and DJ Mel Mounds. Other notable cast members included Rita Moreno, who played a variety of roles, and Bill Cosby.
The show was innovative in its use of early computer-generated imagery, particularly Scanimate, a state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system used for presenting words with particular sounds. The show's opening sequence, which featured Moreno screaming, "Heeeey, youu guuyyss!" became iconic. The original soundtrack album even won a Grammy Award for the show's cast.
In 2009, a reboot of The Electric Company aired, running until 2011. This new version featured similar short 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 maintained the educational focus of the original series, aiming to teach reading and literacy skills to a new generation of children.
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The cast included Morgan Freeman and Rita Moreno
The Electric Company was an American educational children's television series that aired on PBS from 1971 to 1977. The show was created to entertain and teach elementary school children reading and grammar skills. The original cast included Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, Judy Graubart, Lee Chamberlin, and Skip Hinnant.
Morgan Freeman played several characters on the show, including Vincent the Vegetable Vampire, Mark, and Easy Reader. Freeman starred on the show from 1971 until it was canceled in 1977. Since then, he has gone on to become an Academy Award-winning actor, playing iconic roles such as Nelson Mandela.
Rita Moreno, an Academy Award winner, played a variety of roles on The Electric Company, including Pandora the Brat, Carmela, and Bess West in "Wild Guess." She had been in show business for over 20 years when she joined the cast in 1971. Moreno has reflected on her experience on the show, stating that she considered it a "community service" and that it was a "wonderful experiment."
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 canceled in 1977 at the height of its popularity, and it has since been credited with paving the way for many educational shows that followed.
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The show won two Emmys and a Grammy for its cast soundtrack album
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that first aired in 1971. The show was created to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills. It was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), now known as Sesame Workshop, and aired on PBS. The show was unique at the time, using sketch comedy, psychedelic graphics, creative animation, and music to teach children to read.
The Electric Company was critically acclaimed and won two Emmys. The show also had a notable impact on the use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system. The original soundtrack album, released on Warner Bros. Records, won a Grammy Award for the cast. The music for the show was composed by Eric Rogers, who wrote the arrangement for the theme song, and Clark Gesner, who wrote several songs for the series.
The show's cast included notable actors such as Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, and Bill Cosby. Freeman played various characters, including Easy Reader, DJ Mel Mounds, Vincent the Vegetable Vampire, and Count Dracula. Moreno, who had been in show business for over 20 years before joining the cast, played a variety of roles and was known for her energetic performances.
The Electric Company ran for six seasons, with a total of 780 episodes, and was cancelled in 1977 at the height of its popularity. The show continued to air in reruns until 1985 and was later rebooted in 2009 as The New Electric Company, with similar sketch comedy, animations, and music. The new series ran until 2011 and continued to air in reruns on various channels until 2020.
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Frequently asked questions
'The Electric Company' is an American educational children's television series.
The original series first aired on 25 October 1971. A reboot of the series, called 'The New Electric Company', aired from 19 January 2009 to 4 April 2011.
The original series aired on PBS. The reboot was on PBS Kids Go!
The show used sketch comedy and animation to teach children reading, phonetics, and grammar.
Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, and Bill Cosby starred in the original series.
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