Trystan Casey
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that aired on PBS from 1971 to 1977. The show continued to air in reruns until 1985, and a reboot of the series aired on PBS Kids Go! from 2009 to 2011, with reruns continuing on PBS until 2014. The show follows a group of kids with the power to create and rearrange words, who are usually in conflict with a group of vandals known as the Pranksters. The Electric Company used sketch comedy and various other creative devices to provide an entertaining program to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Original Airing | October 25, 1971 - April 15, 1977 |
| Number of Episodes | 780 |
| Number of Seasons | 6 |
| Reboot Airing | January 19, 2009 - April 4, 2011 |
| Reboot Number of Seasons | 3 |
| Reboot Number of Episodes | 50 |
| Reboot Characters | Marcus, Jessica, Keith, Hector, Lisa, Leo, The Great Calvero, Bandini, Mario, Sammy Spamboni, Paul the Gorilla |
| Original Characters | Grover, Vi, J. Arthur Crank, Oscar, Big Bird, Mr. Rogers, Ernie, Bert, Gordon, Dash, Dot, Rita Moreno, Manny, Danny, Annie |
| Airing Channel | PBS Kids |
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What You'll Learn
The Electric Company aired on PBS from 1971-1977
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that aired on PBS from 1971 to 1977. The show was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), now known as Sesame Workshop. It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. Over the course of its six seasons, The Electric Company aired 780 episodes, with the final original episode airing on April 15, 1977. The program continued to air in reruns on PBS until October 4, 1985.
The Electric Company employed sketch comedy and various other devices to provide an entertaining program to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills. The show was intended for children who had graduated from CTW's flagship program, Sesame Street, so the humor was more mature.
In addition to the original series, there have been several reboots and spin-offs of The Electric Company. The show was rebooted in 2009 and aired on PBS Kids GO! from January 19, 2009, to April 4, 2011. This version of the show featured similar sketch comedy, animations, parodies, and music videos as the original but also incorporated a storyline focused on teaching vocabulary words through hip-hop and contemporary R&B music.
The Electric Company has also inspired several interactive web elements and community outreach projects, including a party game available for download on PBS Kids that features physical challenges, silly brainstorms, and math questions. Additionally, an hour-long television special, The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits, was broadcast on PBS stations in late 2006 and released on DVD in 2007.
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Reruns continued until 1985
Reruns of the original Electric Company series continued to air on PBS until 1985, almost a decade after the last original episode aired in 1977. The show was an American educational children's series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (now known as Sesame Workshop). It was designed to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills.
PBS Kids was expected to air the 2009 version of the show, produced by Sesame Workshop, but it is unclear whether this ever happened. The 2009 series did air on PBS Kids Go! from 2009 to 2011, with reruns continuing on PBS until 2014.
The Electric Company's popularity has also spawned other content, including video games, board games, and a mobile app game. In 2006, PBS stations aired a television special called The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits, which included interviews with cast members and creators. In 2007, Apple Inc. started selling previously unavailable episodes of the show on iTunes.
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The 2009 reboot aired on PBS Kids Go! from 2009-2011
The 2009 reboot of The Electric Company aired on PBS Kids Go! from January 19, 2009, to April 4, 2011, with reruns continuing on PBS until August 31, 2014. The series also aired reruns on HBO Kids on HBO Family from January 1, 2016, until November 1, 2020, as part of HBO's deal with Sesame Workshop.
The new version of the show featured similar elements to the original, including short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos. However, each episode also included a storyline designed to teach four to five vocabulary words through hip-hop or contemporary R&B-style music. The show revolved around the Electric Company, a group of tween and teen literacy heroes with the power to create and rearrange words. They often found themselves in conflict with the Pranksters, a group of neighbourhood vandals with similar powers who used them to cause trouble.
The Electric Company included a diverse cast of characters with unique abilities. Hector Ruiz, played by Josh Segarra, was the oldest member and leader of the group. He had the power to replay any image he saw, like a video camera, and was particularly skilled at basketball. Keith Watson, played by Ricky Smith, could generate and manipulate images in mid-air, which was useful for explaining difficult words. Lisa Heffenbacher, played by Jenni Barber, was a well-liked and intelligent character who had the power to unscramble any anagram.
The show also featured guest appearances by Lin-Manuel Miranda as Mario, Shock's best friend and a hip-hop MC. Paul the Gorilla, played by Steven Freitas, was the only character brought back from the original series.
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Reruns continued on PBS until 2014
Reruns of the 2009 version of "The Electric Company" continued on PBS until 2014. The original series aired on PBS from 1971 to 1977, and reruns continued until 1985. The 2009 reboot, produced by Sesame Workshop, aired on PBS Kids Go! from 2009 to 2011, with reruns continuing until 2014.
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series. The show is designed to help children develop their grammar and reading skills through sketch comedy and other entertaining elements. The 2009 version features a group of kids with the ability to create and rearrange words, who are usually in conflict with a group called The Pranksters, who have similar powers but use them to cause trouble. The show also includes short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos, with each episode featuring a storyline designed to teach vocabulary words through music.
The Electric Company has a nostalgic aesthetic, encapsulating the look of the late 2000s and early 2010s. It received praise for its talented cast, music, and funny and interesting storylines. The show also included appearances by Paul the Gorilla, a character from the original series, and interactive web elements and community outreach projects.
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The show featured animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that aired on PBS from 1971 to 1977. The show employed sketch comedy and various other devices to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills. The show featured a mix of live-action and animated segments, with the animations often serving as a way to introduce new concepts or provide a break between sketches.
The show's sketches often featured parodies of popular culture and soap operas, with a focus on teaching vocabulary and grammar in a fun and engaging way. For example, one sketch featured a parody of the TV series "24," with a dog named Special Agent Jack Bowser who is trapped and needs help reading a code. Another sketch was a parody of the movie "Easy Rider," with a character named Easy Reader, a smooth hipster who loves reading. The show also included music videos and songs to teach vocabulary, with a mix of hip-hop and contemporary R&B styles.
In addition to the sketches and animations, the show also featured recurring characters and storylines. One such character was Fargo North, Decoder, an Inspector Clouseau-type detective who decoded scrambled word messages for clients. Another character was J. Arthur Crank, a plaid-wearing grouch who interrupted sketches to complain about spellings and pronunciations. The show also included a group of literacy heroes called the Electric Company, who battled a group of neighbourhood vandals known as the Pranksters.
The Electric Company also had a strong focus on interactivity and community outreach. The show encouraged viewers to play along with the sketches and songs, and often featured segments that challenged viewers to read or spell words within a time limit. The show also had a strong online presence, with interactive web elements and community-outreach projects that extended the learning experience beyond the television screen.
The show's combination of humour, music, and interactive elements made it a popular and effective tool for teaching children grammar and reading skills, and it continues to be remembered fondly by many who grew up watching it.
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Frequently asked questions
'The Electric Company' is an American educational children's television series.
The original series aired from 1971 to 1977 on PBS.
No, the original series aired on PBS, which is different from PBS Kids.
The 2009 version of 'The Electric Company' aired on PBS Kids GO! from 2009 to 2011.
Reruns of 'The Electric Company' aired on PBS Kids GO! until 2014.
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