Molly Ayala
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 reading and grammar skills through sketch comedy and other entertaining devices. It featured a number of well-known actors, including Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, and Bill Cosby, and served as a launchpad for several notable careers. A reboot of the show aired from 2009 to 2011, with a similar format but an updated look and feel, and a focus on hip-hop and contemporary R&B music.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of seasons | 6 |
| Number of episodes | 780 |
| Original airing dates | October 25, 1971 – April 15, 1977 |
| Reboot airing dates | January 19, 2009 – April 4, 2011 |
| Reboot number of seasons | 3 |
| Production companies | Children's Television Workshop (CTW), Sesame Workshop |
| Airing channels | PBS, Noggin, PBS Kids Go!, HBO Kids |
| Episode length | 28 minutes |
| Notable cast members | Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Priscilla "Star" Diaz, Steven Freitas, James Miles |
| Notable guest stars | Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Joan Rivers, Irene Cara |
| Notable characters | Spider-Man, Paul the Gorilla, Sammy Spamboni, Manny, Jessica Ruiz, Shock |
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What You'll Learn
The Electric Company's impact on children's reading skills
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), now known as Sesame Workshop. The series aimed to teach elementary school children reading and grammar skills through the use of sketch comedy, animations, parodies, and music videos. The show's unique format, which included psychedelic graphics, creative animations, and over-the-top characters, was designed to engage and entertain children while also providing educational content.
The Electric Company's target audience was elementary school students who had graduated from CTW's flagship program, Sesame Street, but still needed assistance with reading. The show's creators recognized the issue of illiteracy in the United States and sought to provide a fun and effective way to improve children's reading skills. The program was considered a success, with a 1977 report by the Educational Testing Service noting its positive impact on second-grade children who were struggling with reading.
The show employed various techniques to enhance children's reading abilities. Each episode 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 Electric Company also utilized sketch comedy and animated shorts to make learning to read more enjoyable. The show's cast included notable actors such as Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, and Morgan Freeman, who entertained and engaged children with their performances.
In conclusion, The Electric Company had a significant impact on children's reading skills. By combining entertainment and education, the show successfully engaged and taught children, leaving a lasting legacy in the world of educational television. The Electric Company's innovative approach to teaching reading continues to influence and inspire new programs aimed at improving children's literacy skills.
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The show's use of comedy
The Electric Company, an American educational children's television series, debuted in October 1971 and ran until April 1977. The show was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) and was intended for children who had graduated from CTW's flagship program, Sesame Street. The Electric Company used comedy sketches, cartoons, songs, and live-action sketches to teach children basic phonetic and grammar concepts and improve their reading skills. The show's format included sketch comedy, psychedelic graphics, creative animation, mod outfits, and over-the-top characters.
The show's writers and researchers sought to educate through entertainment, using wordplay and humour to make learning fun for its young audience. One of the show's regular segments featured two silhouettes of faces looking at each other, with letters floating out of their mouths to form a word in the middle of the screen, helping children to decode words and identify patterns. Another example of the show's comedic elements is the "Menu Song," which included dishes such as parakeet and dirty feet soup, telegram sandwiches, and scotch tape and grime ice cream sundaes.
The Electric Company also featured parodies, such as a birthday song parody with lyrics like "Happy birthday, Miss Jones, you sure got nice..." and a primetime ABC special in 1974, "Out to Lunch," which featured the Electric Company cast and the Sesame Muppets. The show also had a partnership with Marvel Comics, allowing them to use the character Spider-Man for free. This resulted in the creation of 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 show's cast included Academy Award winner Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, Judy Graubart, Lee Chamberlin, and Skip Hinnant, many of whom had experience in stage, repertory, and improvisational work. The show's guest stars included Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, and Joan Rivers. The Electric Company was considered a success, winning two Emmys and becoming a teaching tool in thousands of classrooms nationwide.
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Guest stars and cast members
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that first aired in 1971. 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. The show's cast included Academy Award winner Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, and a then-unknown Morgan Freeman.
The show also featured several guest stars, including Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, and Joan Rivers. The teen pop band Short Circus included future star Irene Cara. The comedy writers were among the best in the business and later went on to work on hit TV shows, including M*A*S*H and Everybody Loves Raymond.
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 considered a success, and according to a 1977 report by the Educational Testing Service, it had a "clear and significant impact" on its primary target audience of second-grade children who were struggling with reading.
A reboot of the show aired from 2009 to 2011, with reruns playing until 2014. This new version featured similar animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos to the original but with a focus on teaching vocabulary words through hip-hop and contemporary R&B music. The new cast included Priscilla "Star" Diaz as Jessica Ruiz, a talented rapper who could replay any word or phrase that she heard.
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The show's characters
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that first aired in 1971. The show was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), now known as Sesame Workshop. The series employed sketch comedy and other devices to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills. The show's cast included Academy Award winner Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, and a then-unknown Morgan Freeman. Other cast members included Lee Chamberlin, Judy Graubart, Skip Hinnant, Luis Ávalos, Jim Boyd, and Hattie Winston. Guest stars included Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, and Joan Rivers. The teen pop band Short Circus included future star Irene Cara.
The Electric Company was rebooted in 2009 and aired for three seasons until 2011, with reruns playing until 2014. The new version featured similar short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos to the original show, but each episode also included a storyline designed to teach four to five vocabulary words with a mix of hip-hop or contemporary R&B-style music. The new show revolved around a group of tween and teen literacy heroes called the Electric Company, who battled a group of neighbourhood vandals called the Pranksters. The heroes' headquarters was the Electric Diner, where their friend Shock, a beatboxing short-order cook, resided.
Characters in the 2009 series included Jessica Ruiz (played by Priscilla "Star" Diaz), Hector's younger sister, who was a talented rapper. She could replay any word or phrase that she heard, like a tape recorder. Another character was Dax (played by James Miles), a Skeleckian and a good friend of Lisa's who would often get the Electric Company into trouble. Mario (played by Lin-Manuel Miranda) was Shock's best friend and a hip-hop MC who made guest appearances in some musical segments.
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The show's music and songs
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that initially aired from 1971 to 1977, with reruns continuing until 1985. A reboot of the show, The New Electric Company, aired from 2009 to 2011. The show's music and songs were an integral part of its appeal and educational mission.
The original series featured a mix of sketch comedy, animations, and songs to entertain and educate elementary school children about grammar and reading skills. The music and songs were often used in the sketch-of-the-day teaser segments, which would highlight a particular sketch from the episode. These segments featured a repetitive, funky instrumental groove with a call-and-response between horns and a scratchy wah-wah electric guitar. The music would sometimes start too late, end too early, or play too long due to technical errors.
The show also included songs that taught specific lessons about reading and grammar. For example, in "O-U (The Hound Song)," a hound sings about how he dares not make a sound. Another song, "LY," by Tom Lehrer, featured silly lyrics about sneaking past a sleeping tiger: "You're wearing your squeaky shoes / And right there taking a snooze / Is a tiger, so how do you walk on by? / Silently ... silently ... silent ... L-Y." Clark Gesner wrote several songs for the series, including most of the sign songs. Eric Rogers, who composed music for 1970s DePatie-Freleng cartoons, was the additional music composer for 260 episodes and wrote the arrangement for the theme song.
The show also featured musical guest stars, such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, who played Mario, Shock's best friend and a hip-hop MC. The 2009 reboot of the show, The New Electric Company, continued the tradition of using music and songs to teach vocabulary, with a mix of hip-hop and contemporary R&B-style music. Each episode featured a storyline designed to teach four to five vocabulary words.
The Electric Company's music and songs were so popular that they were released on CD and vinyl, and some songs were included as bonus tracks on Tom Lehrer's live album. The show's theme song was also featured in educational video games for the Mattel Electronics Intellivision console in 1979. The final episode of the original series featured a short musical and dance number that summed up the closure of the series with the lyrics, "We're glad you came to call."
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Frequently asked questions
Morgan Freeman, who went on to become an Academy Award-winning actor, got his start on The Electric Company.
Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, and a young Lin-Manuel Miranda also appeared on the show.
Yes, Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, and Joan Rivers all made guest appearances.
The teen band Short Circus included future star Irene Cara.
Yes, the comedy writers for The Electric Company went on to write for hit TV shows such as MASH and Everybody Loves Raymond.
