Meet The Cast: The Electric Company's New Faces On Pbs

The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that aired on PBS for 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971, to April 15, 1977. The show's cast included 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.

Academy Award winner Rita Moreno was a cast member

The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), which is now known as Sesame Workshop. The series aired on PBS for 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971, to April 15, 1977. The program continued in reruns until October 4, 1985. The Electric Company later reran on Noggin, a channel co-founded by the CTW, from 1999 to 2003.

The show's cast included 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 Electric Company won two Emmys, aired on more than 250 public TV stations and became a teaching tool in thousands of classrooms nationwide. The show's target audience was elementary school students who were too old for Sesame Street but still needed help learning to read.

The Electric Company debuted 50 years ago with entertainment intended to educate. The series was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett.

Bill Cosby was a cast member

The show's cast included 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 Electric Company was created to help older children with reading and boost their reading skills. According to a report by CTW, "Government estimates showed that illiteracy was a problem for as many as one out of ten Americans" and that "Millions more" were "described as 'functional illiterates.'"

The show won two Emmys and aired on more than 250 public TV stations. It became a teaching tool in thousands of classrooms nationwide.

The Electric Company debuted 50 years ago and used comedy to boost kids' reading skills. Thirty-two years after the power was first turned on, a natural-foods diner opens in New York City that becomes the hangout for four kids who have superhuman powers with words. With the help of a beat-boxing short-order cook and a lot of music, the kids keep their neighborhood safe from troublemakers.

Morgan Freeman was a cast member

The Electric Company's target audience was elementary school students who were too old for Sesame Street but still needed help learning to read. The show's cast included Academy Award winner Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, and a then-unknown Morgan Freeman.

Morgan Freeman's role in the show is not specified, but it is known that the cast members included Lee Chamberlin, Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, Judy Graubart, Skip Hinnant, and Morgan Freeman. The show's comedy writers were among the best in the business and later went on to work on hit TV shows, including MASH and Everybody Loves Raymond.

The Electric Company won two Emmys and aired on more than 250 public TV stations, becoming a teaching tool in thousands of classrooms nationwide. It was intended to educate children through comedy and boost their reading skills.

The show's success led to it rerunning on Noggin, a channel co-founded by the CTW, from 1999 to 2003. Noggin also produced a compilation special for the show.

Mel Brooks was a guest star

The show's cast included 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 Electric Company was created to help older children with reading and won two Emmys. The show's target audience was elementary school students who were too old for Sesame Street but still needed help learning to read. According to a report by CTW, "Government estimates showed that illiteracy was a problem for as many as one out of ten Americans" and that "Millions more" were "described as 'functional illiterates.'"

Joan Ganz Cooney, CTW's president, explained that a project to help older children with reading was "requested by the U.S. Office of Education, whose 'Right to Read' campaign sought to achieve universal literacy in the 1970's." The show's comedy writers were among the best in the business and later went on to work on hit TV shows, including MASH and Everybody Loves Raymond.

Joan Rivers was a guest star

The Electric Company was created to help older children with reading and was requested by the U.S. Office of Education, whose 'Right to Read' campaign sought to achieve universal literacy in the 1970s. The show won two Emmys and aired on more than 250 public TV stations, becoming a teaching tool in thousands of classrooms nationwide.

The show's target audience was elementary school students who were too old for Sesame Street but still needed help learning to read. The show's comedy writers were among the best in the business and later went on to work on hit TV shows, including MASH and Everybody Loves Raymond.

The Electric Company was created to help older children with reading and was requested by the U.S. Office of Education, whose 'Right to Read' campaign sought to achieve universal literacy in the 1970s. The show won two Emmys and aired on more than 250 public TV stations, becoming a teaching tool in thousands of classrooms nationwide.

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