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The Electric Company is an educational American TV show that first aired in 1971 and ran for six seasons. The show was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) and aimed to teach elementary school children reading and grammar skills through the use of sketch comedy, animations, and music. A reboot of the show aired from 2009 to 2011, with a similar format but updated content. In this context, the electric company refers to the cast of characters in the show. In a broader sense, an electric company is a business that provides electricity to customers, and these companies may also be referred to as electric utilities or electricity suppliers.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Who | The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) and developed by Karen Fowler. |
| What | The Electric Company used sketch comedy, animations, parodies, music videos, and other devices to teach children reading, grammar, and vocabulary. |
| When | The original series aired from October 25, 1971, to April 15, 1977, with reruns until 1985. A reboot of the show aired from 2009 to 2011, with reruns until 2014. |
| Where | The original series aired on PBS, Noggin, and local commercial stations. The reboot aired on PBS Kids Go!, HBO Kids, and HBO Family. |
| Why | To educate children and help them develop their reading, grammar, and vocabulary skills. |
| How | By using entertainment and comedy to make learning fun and engaging for children. |
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What You'll Learn
- The Electric Company is an educational children's TV series, produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) and Sesame Workshop
- It aired from 1971-1977, with reruns until 1985, and a reboot from 2009-2011
- The show used comedy sketches, animations, and music to teach children reading, grammar, and vocabulary
- The cast included Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, and Bill Cosby
- Electric companies monitor power usage to prevent power loss and maintain their infrastructure
The Electric Company is an educational children's TV series, produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) and Sesame Workshop
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series. 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 aired on PBS for 780 episodes over six seasons, from 25 October 1971 to 15 April 1977, with reruns continuing until 4 October 1985.
The Electric Company was developed by Sesame alumni, including Dave Connell, as a follow-up to the success of Sesame Street. It was aimed at elementary school children aged 6-9 to teach and supplement reading skills, with an emphasis on phonics, rhymes, punctuation, and sentence structure. The show employed sketch comedy, short animated segments, and various other devices to provide an entertaining program to help children develop their grammar and reading skills. The humor was more mature than that of Sesame Street, as it was intended for children who had outgrown CTW's flagship program.
The CTW was formally incorporated in 1970, and its first children's show, Sesame Street, premiered on 10 November 1969. The success of Sesame Street led to the creation of The Electric Company as CTW's second series in 1971. The Electric Company was cancelled in 1977 due to limited funding, but it continued to air in reruns until 1985 and became one of the most widely used TV shows in American classrooms.
In 2009, a reboot of The Electric Company aired on PBS Kids Go!, with reruns continuing on PBS until 2014. This 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 educational focus of the show expanded beyond reading and literacy to include basic math skills as well.
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It aired from 1971-1977, with reruns until 1985, and a reboot from 2009-2011
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. It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The show was intended for elementary school children who had graduated from CTW's flagship program, Sesame Street, and thus had more mature humour. The Electric Company used sketch comedy and various other devices to help children develop their grammar and reading skills.
The original series aired from 1971 to 1977, with 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons. The show continued in reruns until 1985 and then again from 1999 to 2003 on the Noggin network.
A reboot of the series, developed by Karen Fowler, aired from 2009 to 2011. This version had similar short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos to the original but also featured a storyline designed to teach four to five vocabulary words with a mix of hip-hop or contemporary R&B-style music. The new series also included interactive web elements and was promoted through community outreach projects.
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The show used comedy sketches, animations, and music to teach children reading, grammar, and vocabulary
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW). It used comedy sketches, animations, and music to teach children reading, grammar, and vocabulary. The show's writers and researchers sought to educate through entertainment, describing it as "a comedy show that tried to teach".
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 comedy sketches helped kids learn to decode words and identify patterns. For example, one regular segment showed the silhouettes of two faces looking at each other. As the faces sounded out the beginning and end of each word, the letters would float out of their mouths and form the word in the middle of the screen.
The show also made extensive use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system. These were often used for presenting words with particular sounds. Sometimes a cast member would be seen interacting with a word animation. The show also featured music, with Eric Rogers composing the music for 260 episodes, including the theme song.
A reboot of the show, which aired from 2009 to 2011, featured similar short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos. Each episode also included a story line designed to teach four to five vocabulary words with a mix of hip-hop or contemporary R&B-style music.
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The cast included Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, and Bill Cosby
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 the use of sketch comedy and various other devices. The original cast included Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, and Bill Cosby, alongside other actors such as Judy Graubart, Lee Chamberlin, and Skip Hinnant.
Morgan Freeman, who played Mark in the show, went on to become a renowned actor, famously lending his voice to play the role of God. Freeman had a recurring role as Spider-Man in seasons 4 to 6 of The Electric Company. He also played Vincent the Vegetable Vampire, a comedic send-up of Dracula with a penchant for eating vegetables. Additionally, Freeman took on the role of the game show announcer in seasons 2 to 6 of the show, replacing Bill Cosby, who had been the announcer in season 1.
Rita Moreno, an Academy Award-winning actress, played multiple characters on The Electric Company, including Carmela, Bess West, Millie the Helper, Otto the Director, and Pandora the Brat. Moreno's character, Millie the Helper, was the first to shout the iconic phrase, "Hey, you guys!" which was later incorporated into the opening credits. Moreno's talent and experience as a well-established performer on film and television undoubtedly contributed to the success of the show.
Bill Cosby, who played Hank in seasons 1 and 2 of The Electric Company, was a regular in the first season and made occasional appearances in the second season. Segments featuring Cosby continued to be used throughout the series. Cosby's other roles in the show included Ken Kane, the game show announcer in season 1, and The Blue Beetle, a bungling superhero who often challenged Spider-Man.
The Electric Company left a lasting impact on educational television, with its innovative use of sketch comedy, animation, and music to teach reading and grammar to older children. The show's legacy is evident in the numerous reruns, reboots, and DVD releases that continued into the 2000s, introducing The Electric Company to a new generation of viewers.
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Electric companies monitor power usage to prevent power loss and maintain their infrastructure
Electrical power monitoring systems (EPMS) are equipped to analyse power quality and enable businesses to make more efficient use of the energy at their disposal. This is especially important in high energy consumption industries, where outages can result in costly downtime. By understanding where and how electric power is being consumed, companies can determine where they can reduce their energy use and cut costs. For example, power monitoring can help identify equipment that is draining more energy than necessary and allow companies to replace it with more efficient models.
Additionally, power monitoring solutions can help data centre managers respond to immediate power problems and improve overall power usage in their facilities. Modern UPS units and PDUs often have built-in monitoring and communication capabilities, providing data centre managers with valuable information to optimise their infrastructure. Power monitoring can also help with accurate allocation of power usage, ensuring that power is effectively distributed across different areas of the business or different clients in a colocation facility.
Furthermore, power monitoring can support sustainability targets by providing insights into energy efficiency and grid health. With increasing regulations, consumer expectations, and environmental consequences, electric companies can use power monitoring insights to make progress towards their sustainability goals. Overall, by monitoring power usage, electric companies can prevent power loss, maintain their infrastructure, and improve their operational efficiency.
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Frequently asked questions
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett.
The Electric Company is a 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 employed sketch comedy and various other devices to provide an entertaining program to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills.
The Electric Company is important because it was one of the first shows to use television to teach kids to read. The show also dealt with mature topics in a way that was more advanced than its predecessor, Sesame Street.
