
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that aired on PBS. The original series ran from 1971 to 1977, with reruns continuing until 1985. A reboot of the series, aimed at children ages 7 to 16, aired on PBS Kids Go! from 2009 to 2011, with reruns continuing on PBS until 2014. The cast of The Electric Company has included actors such as Priscilla Star Diaz, Jenni Barber, Ricky Smith, and Coy Stewart, who portrayed a group of singing and rapping tween and teen literacy heroes who battled neighbourhood vandals known as the Pranksters.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Original Airing | October 25, 1971, to April 15, 1977 |
| Number of Episodes | 780 |
| Number of Seasons | 6 |
| Reboot Airing | January 19, 2009, to April 4, 2011 |
| Reboot Number of Episodes | 52 |
| Reboot Number of Seasons | 3 |
| Cast Members | Jenni Barber, Lisa Heffenbacher, Priscilla Star Diaz, Jessica Ruiz, Josh Segarra, Hector Ruiz, Ricky Smith, Keith Watson, Chris Sullivan, William Jackson Harper, Danny Rebus, Ashley Austin Morris, Francine Carruthers, Dominic Colon, Manuel 'Manny' Spamboni, Sandie Rosa, Annie Scrambler, Reggie Watts, Music Man, Steven Freitas, Paul the Gorilla, L. Steven Taylor |
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What You'll Learn

The Electric Company cast members from 1971-1977
"The Electric Company" is an American educational children's television series that initially aired from 1971 to 1977. It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett and produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), now known as Sesame Workshop. 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.
The cast of "The Electric Company" from 1971 to 1977 included:
- Rita Moreno: Rita Moreno is known for her role in "West Side Story." In "The Electric Company," she played a character who yelled, "Hey, you guys!!" to assemble the other Company members in the opening sequence of seasons two, five, and six.
- Paul the Gorilla: Paul the Gorilla was a character that appeared in both the original and revived series. He is mentioned in the song "Sheriff Frank vs. Negative Apple."
- Lee Chamberlin: Lee Chamberlin is known for singing "Apostrophe S" in one of the episodes.
Other notable people involved in the show include:
- Marvel Comics: Marvel Comics allowed the show to use the character Spider-Man for free. A special comic book series called "Spidey Super Stories" was published, featuring easy-to-read adventures of Spider-Man and occasionally including members of the show's cast.
- Samuel Gibbon: Veteran television producer Samuel Gibbon worked on the show and commented on the Children's Television Workshop "soaking up so much money in public television."
The show aired on PBS for 780 episodes over six seasons and continued in reruns until 1985. It was later rebroadcast on the Noggin network from 1999 to 2003.
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The Electric Company cast members from 2009-2011
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that aired on PBS from 2009 to 2011. It is a reboot of the 1971 series of the same name. The show received positive reviews from critics, scoring 74/100 on Metacritic and winning 10 out of 18 Daytime Emmy nominations.
The cast of The Electric Company from 2009 to 2011 included:
- Jenni Barber as Lisa Heffenbacher: Lisa is a well-liked girl who has the power to unscramble any anagram she finds. She is smart and excels at science.
- Priscilla "Star" Diaz as Jessica Ruiz: Jessica is Hector's younger sister and a talented rapper. She has the power to replay any word or phrase that she hears, and she uses this ability to help the Electric Company battle the Pranksters.
- Ricky Smith as Keith Watson: Keith is a member of the Electric Company who can generate and manipulate images, which he uses to help explain difficult words to others. He is also good at basketball.
- Coy Stewart as Marcus Barnes: Marcus is the newest and youngest member of the Electric Company, introduced in Season 3.
- Chris Sullivan as Shock: Shock is a beat-boxing short-order cook and a friend of the Electric Company. He resides in their headquarters, the Electric Diner.
Other cast members included William Jackson Harper, Danny Rebus, Ashley Austin Morris, Francine Carruthers, Dominic Colon, Manuel "Manny" Spamboni, Sandie Rosa, Annie Scrambler, Reggie Watts, Music Man, Steven Freitas, Paul the Gorilla, and L. Steven Taylor.
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The Electric Company cast members who played the Pranksters
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that aired on PBS Kids Go! from January 19, 2009, to April 4, 2011, with reruns continuing on PBS until August 31, 2014. The series is a reboot of the 1971 series of the same name. Each story revolves around the Electric Company, a group of tween and teen literacy heroes who battle a group of neighbourhood vandals called the Pranksters.
The Pranksters are a group of mischief-making antagonists. They are:
- Francine Carruthers, the leader of the Pranksters, played by Ashley Austin Morris. She is the only Prankster with the ability to throw word balls.
- Annie Scrambler, played by an unknown actor.
- Danny Rebus, a suave and sophisticated Prankster who can turn any sentence into a rebus puzzle, played by William Jackson Harper.
- Manny Spamboni, the loudest of the Pranksters, played by Dominic Colón. He is the only member of the group without any powers but is skilled in robotics and mechanics.
- Gilda Flip, a new Prankster introduced in season 3, played by an unknown actor.
Unlike the Electric Company, the Pranksters only occasionally have all their members together.
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The Electric Company cast members who played the Electric Company group
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that aired on PBS from 2009 to 2011, with reruns continuing on the channel until 2014. The show revolves around a group of tween and teen literacy heroes called the Electric Company, who use their love of singing and rapping to battle a group of neighbourhood vandals known as the Pranksters.
Jessica Ruiz
Played by Priscilla "Star" Diaz, Jessica Ruiz is the younger sister of Hector Ruiz and a talented rapper. She has the power to replay any word or phrase she hears, like a human tape recorder. Her confidence and brashness come to the fore when she's dealing with the Pranksters, especially Manny.
Keith Watson
Played by Ricky Smith, Keith Watson is a member of the Electric Company with the power to generate and manipulate images in mid-air, which is particularly useful when explaining difficult words. He is logical and level-headed, and often comes up with solutions to deal with the Pranksters' tricks. Keith is also good at basketball, and first discovered his powers while playing the game with Hector.
Lisa Heffenbacher
Played by Jenni Barber, Lisa Heffenbacher is a well-liked and intelligent member of the Electric Company. She has the power to unscramble any anagram and excels at science. She has a strong rivalry with Annie, who has caused her numerous problems.
Marcus Barnes
Played by Coy Stewart, Marcus Barnes is the youngest and newest member of the Electric Company, who joins the group in season three.
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The Electric Company cast members who appeared in the show's specials
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that initially aired from 1971 to 1977. The show was created to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills through sketch comedy and other entertaining devices.
In 2006, PBS aired a special called The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits, which included interviews with cast members, voice talent, and creator-producer Joan Ganz Cooney. The special was an hour-long and was broadcast on many PBS stations. The original cast of The Electric Company included Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, Judy Graubart, Lee Chamberlin, and Skip Hinnant.
In 2009, a reboot of the series was released, also called The Electric Company, which ran until 2011. This version of the show featured similar animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos to the original but with a focus on teaching vocabulary words through hip-hop and R&B music. The cast of this series included Jenni Barber, Coy Stewart, Priscilla "Star" Diaz, and Ricky Smith.
The 2009 series also featured a new set of Pranksters, who were the adversaries of the Electric Company members. These Pranksters included actors and musicians such as Karen Olivo, who appeared in some musical segments. In addition, members of the hip-hop comedy troupe Freestyle Love Supreme made sporadic appearances in the musical segments.
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Frequently asked questions
The cast of "The Electric Company" includes Priscilla "Star" Diaz, Jenni Barber, Ricky Smith, Coy Stewart, and William Jackson Harper.
Priscilla "Star" Diaz plays Jessica Ruiz, Jenni Barber plays Lisa Heffenbacher, Ricky Smith plays Keith Watson, Coy Stewart plays Marcus Barnes, and William Jackson Harper plays Danny Rebus.
"The Electric Company" is an educational children's television series that revolves around a group of tween and teen literacy heroes who battle a group of neighbourhood vandals called the Pranksters. The show's headquarters is the Electric Diner, where their friend Shock, a beat-boxing short-order cook, resides.
























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