Trystan Casey
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 provide an entertaining program to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills. After the final episode aired in 1977, the show continued to air on PBS in reruns until 1985. A reboot of the series, also called The Electric Company, aired on PBS Kids Go! from 2009 to 2011, with reruns continuing until 2014.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Original run | October 25, 1971 – April 15, 1977 |
| Number of episodes | 780 |
| Number of seasons | 6 |
| Reboot | January 19, 2009 – April 4, 2011 |
| Reboot number of seasons | 3 |
| Reboot number of episodes | 28 (season 1), 12 (season 2), unknown (season 3) |
| Production companies | Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) |
| Distributors | PBS, Noggin, HBO Kids, Apple Inc. |
| Notable characters | Spider-Man, Paul the Gorilla, Lisa Heffenbacher, Marcus Barnes, Hector Ruiz, Jessica Ruiz |
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What You'll Learn
The Electric Company's original run
The original run of The Electric Company, an American educational children's television series, lasted from October 25, 1971, to April 15, 1977, with a total of 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons. The show 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. It was designed to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills through sketch comedy and various other devices. The show employed a more mature sense of humour than its counterpart, Sesame Street, as it was intended for children who had outgrown that show.
Marvel Comics allowed the show to use the character Spider-Man for free, and in return, Marvel published a special comic book series called "Spidey Super Stories," which were easy-to-read Spider-Man adventures that occasionally featured members of the show's cast. The Electric Company also licensed comic books and a Milton Bradley board game featuring the character Fargo North, Decoder. In addition, Mattel Electronics obtained licensing rights to create two educational video games for the Intellivision console in 1979, featuring the show's logo and theme song.
The original run of the show ended in 1977, but it continued to air in reruns on PBS until early October 1985. The Electric Company was nearly cancelled in the early 1970s due to financial constraints, but producers opted to create two final seasons designed to be repeated, extending the show's life by four years. The final episode featured a short musical and dance number with the final cast members.
The show was rebroadcast on the Noggin network, partly owned by Sesame Workshop and PBS, from 1999 to 2003, with 65 episodes selected for this run. In late 2006, an hour-long special called "The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits" was broadcast on many PBS stations and released on DVD in 2007. Apple Inc. also released two volumes of previously unavailable episodes on iTunes in 2007.
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Reruns on PBS and other networks
Reruns of The Electric Company continued on PBS until 4 October 1985, following the last original episode on 15 April 1977. The show did not reappear until 2 February 1999, when it was rebroadcast on the Noggin network, which was partly owned by Sesame Workshop and PBS. Noggin created a two-hour compilation special to reintroduce the series to a new generation. The special was aired on TV Land as a way to promote Noggin. Noggin ran 65 select episodes until mid-2003, when they were pulled from the program because Sesame Workshop sold its half of the network to Viacom.
In late 2006, an hour-long television special called The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits was broadcast on many PBS stations. It included interviews with cast members, voice talent, and creator-producer Joan Ganz Cooney. The special was produced by Authorized Pictures and distributed by American Public Television. It was released on DVD on 6 March 2007.
In early 2007, Apple Inc., through its iTunes service, started selling 15 previously unavailable episodes of The Electric Company. Two volumes of 15 episodes each were eventually released.
Reruns of the 2009 reboot of The Electric Company continued on PBS until 31 August 2014. The series then aired on HBO Kids on HBO Family from 1 January 2016 until 1 November 2020, as part of HBO's deal with Sesame Workshop.
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The 2009 reboot
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that initially aired from 1971 to 1977. A reboot of the series, developed by Karen Fowler, aired from 2009 to 2011 on PBS Kids Go!, with reruns continuing on PBS until 2014. The reboot, sometimes called The New Electric Company, retained many of the original show's features, including short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos. However, each episode also featured a storyline designed to teach four to five vocabulary words through hip-hop or contemporary R&B-style music.
The reboot centres around the Electric Company, a group of tween and teen literacy heroes who protect their neighbourhood from a group of vandals called the Pranksters. The heroes' headquarters is the Electric Diner, where their friend Shock, a beat-boxing short-order cook, resides. Each member of the Electric Company has a unique power, such as the ability to replay any image they see or unscramble any anagram. They also have special skills, like athleticism and rapping.
The first season of the 2009 reboot consisted of 28 weekly episodes, and subsequent seasons had 12 and 13 episodes, respectively. The show introduced new characters, such as Marcus Barnes, the youngest member of the Electric Company, who joined in season 3, and Gilda, a new Prankster named after Gilda Radner. The reboot also included interactive web elements and was promoted through community outreach projects.
Like the original series, the 2009 reboot of The Electric Company featured references to the earlier show, including appearances by Paul the Gorilla and updated versions of the soft-shoe silhouette segments. The opening sequence also retained the iconic line, "Hey, you guys!!", a nod to the original series.
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Characters and storylines
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that first aired on PBS from 1971 to 1977. It employed sketch comedy and various other devices to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills. The show featured a diverse cast of characters, including Jim, Luis, Morgan, and Lee Chamberlin. It also included appearances by Paul the Gorilla.
In one sketch, Jim and Luis are two cavemen pounding rocks. Luis tries to show Jim something and pops him on the head with a stone hammer, to which Jim exclaims, "Grouch!" In another, Jim opens a trunk and finds "a pretty little kitty---with BAD BREATH!!!", titled "Skunk In The Trunk".
Marvel Comics allowed the show to use the character of Spider-Man for free, and in return, Marvel published a special comic book series called "Spidey Super Stories," which were easy-to-read adventures of Spider-Man that occasionally featured members of the show's cast. The Electric Company also licensed comic books and a Milton Bradley board game featuring the character Fargo North, Decoder.
The Electric Company was rebooted in 2009 and aired on PBS Kids Go! from 2009 to 2011, with reruns continuing until 2014. This version featured a group of tween and teen literacy heroes called the Electric Company, who battled a group of neighbourhood vandals known as the Pranksters. The heroes' headquarters was the Electric Diner, where their friend Shock, a beat-boxing short-order cook, resided. Each member of the Electric Company had a special skill, such as the power to replay any image they saw or unscramble any anagram.
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Spin-off content
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that initially aired from 1971 to 1977. It was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) and co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The show employed sketch comedy and various other devices to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills.
The show spawned several spin-offs and related content:
- "Spidey Super Stories": Marvel Comics allowed the show to use the character Spider-Man for free. To commemorate this partnership, Marvel published a special comic book series called "Spidey Super Stories," which were easy-to-read Spider-Man adventures that occasionally featured members of the show's cast.
- Spin-off magazine: A shortened version of the "Spidey Super Stories" comic, featuring only Marvel Universe characters, appeared in "The Electric Company" spin-off magazine.
- "The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits": An hour-long television special featuring interviews with cast members, voice talent, and creator-producer Joan Ganz Cooney. It was broadcast on many PBS stations in late 2006 and released on DVD in March 2007.
- ITunes releases: In 2007, Apple Inc., through its iTunes service, started selling previously unavailable episodes of "The Electric Company." Two volumes of 15 episodes each were released, with a total of 30 episodes made available.
- Reboot in 2009: A reboot of the original series with the same name aired on PBS Kids Go! from 2009 to 2011, with reruns continuing until 2014. This version retained similar short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos but also featured story lines designed to teach vocabulary with a mix of hip-hop and contemporary R&B music.
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Frequently asked questions
The original run of 'The Electric Company' on PBS was from 25 October 1971 to 15 April 1977, with reruns continuing until October 1985.
Yes, 'The Electric Company' returned to PBS in 2009 as a reboot of the 1971 series. The new series ran from 19 January 2009 to 4 April 2011, with reruns continuing on PBS until 31 August 2014.
After its run on PBS ended in 2014, 'The Electric Company' moved to HBO Kids on the HBO Family channel, where reruns were aired from 1 January 2016 until 1 November 2020.
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