Unraveling The Mystery: Electric Company's Song And Its Impact

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 was notable for its extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system. The program continued in reruns until October 4, 1985. The Electric Company later reran on Noggin, a channel co-founded by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop), from 1999 to 2003.

Educational children's TV series produced by the Children's Television Workshop

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 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. Noggin also produced a compilation special for the show. The Workshop produced the show at Reeves Teletape Studios in Manhattan.

The Electric Company was hailed for its focus on children’s literacy. While Sesame Street was aimed at preschool kids, The Electric Company was for kids ages 6 to 9 and meant to supplement what they were already learning in school. The show tried to teach children to read by focusing on the sounds of letters and letter combinations, teaching viewers the value of a good “ck” or “br.”

The Electric Company was a wacky mix of live-action sketches, animation and the occasional puppet. Some of The Electric Company’s songs endure to this day, thanks in part to its excellent musical staff. For the first three seasons, the show’s musical director was Sesame Street’s Joe Raposo, who was an absolute powerhouse of creation and is best known for penning songs like “Bein’ Green,” “C Is for Cookie” and “Sing,” as well as the themes to both Sesame Street and Three’s Company. Satirist Tom Lehrer wrote 10 songs for the series, including “L-Y” and “Silent E,” while Broadway icon Gary William Friedman worked on season four, composing material for about 260 episodes and penning 40-odd songs, including the popular Spider-Man theme song.

The original cast included Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, Judy Graubart, Lee Chamberlin and Skip Hinnant. Most of the cast had done stage, repertory, and improvisational work, with Cosby and Moreno already well-established performers on film and television. Ken Roberts (1971–1973), best known as a soap opera announcer (Love of Life; The Secret Storm), was the narrator of some segments during season one, most notably the parody of the genre that had given him prominence, Love of Chair.

The series was notable for its extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system.

780 episodes aired on PBS 1971-1977

The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series 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 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. Noggin also produced a compilation special for the show.

The Electric Company was hailed for its focus on children’s literacy. While Sesame Street was aimed at preschool kids, The Electric Company was for kids ages 6 to 9 and meant to supplement what they were already learning in school. The show tried to teach children to read by focusing on the sounds of letters and letter combinations, teaching viewers the value of a good “ck” or “br”.

The show featured a mix of live-action sketches, animation, and the occasional puppet. Some of The Electric Company’s songs endure to this day, thanks in part to its excellent musical staff. For the first three seasons, the show’s musical director was Sesame Street’s Joe Raposo, who was an absolute powerhouse of creation and is best known for penning songs like “Bein’ Green”, “C Is for Cookie” and “Sing”, as well as the themes to both Sesame Street and Three’s Company. Satirist Tom Lehrer wrote 10 songs for the series, including “L-YSilent E”, while Broadway icon Gary William Friedman worked on season four, composing material for about 260 episodes and penning 40-odd songs, including the popular Spider-Man theme song.

The series was notable for its extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system. The original cast included Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, Judy Graubart, Lee Chamberlin and Skip Hinnant. Most of the cast had done stage, repertory, and improvisational work, with Cosby and Moreno already well-established performers on film and television. Ken Roberts (1971–1973), best known as a soap opera announcer (Love of Life; The Secret Storm), was the narrator of some segments during season one, most notably the parody of the genre that had given him prominence, Love of Chair.

Focus on children's literacy ages 6-9

The Electric Company was an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. 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 Electric Company was hailed for its focus on children’s literacy. While Sesame Street was aimed at preschool kids, The Electric Company was for kids ages 6 to 9 and meant to supplement what they were already learning in school. The show tried to teach children to read by focusing on the sounds of letters and letter combinations, teaching viewers the value of a good “ck” or “br.”

The Electric Company was notable for its extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system. The show was also notable for its musical staff, including Sesame Street’s Joe Raposo, who was an absolute powerhouse of creation and is best known for penning songs like “Bein’ Green,” “C Is for Cookie” and “Sing,” as well as the themes to both Sesame Street and Three’s Company. Satirist Tom Lehrer wrote 10 songs for the series, including “L-Y” and “Silent E,” while Broadway icon Gary William Friedman worked on season four, composing material for about 260 episodes and penning 40-odd songs, including the popular Spider-Man theme song.

The Electric Company was also notable for its extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system. The show was also notable for its musical staff, including Sesame Street’s Joe Raposo, who was an absolute powerhouse of creation and is best known for penning songs like “Bein’ Green,” “C Is for Cookie” and “Sing,” as well as the themes to both Sesame Street and Three’s Company.

The Electric Company was a wacky mix of live-action sketches, animation and the occasional puppet, and was hailed for its focus on children’s literacy. The show was notable for its extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system. The show was also notable for its musical staff, including Sesame Street’s Joe Raposo, who was an absolute powerhouse of creation and is best known for penning songs like “Bein’ Green,” “C Is for Cookie” and “Sing,” as well as the themes to both Sesame Street and Three’s Company.

Musical director Joe Raposo wrote theme song

Musical director Joe Raposo wrote the theme song for The Electric Company, an American educational children's television series. 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 series aired on PBS for 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971, to April 15, 1977.

Raposo was an absolute powerhouse of creation and is best known for penning songs like "Bein' Green," "C Is for Cookie" and "Sing," as well as the themes to both Sesame Street and Three's Company. Satirist Tom Lehrer wrote 10 songs for the series, including "L-Y" and "Silent E," while Broadway icon Gary William Friedman worked on season four, composing material for about 260 episodes and penning 40-odd songs, including the popular Spider-Man theme song.

The Electric Company was hailed for its focus on children’s literacy. While Sesame Street was aimed at preschool kids, The Electric Company was for kids ages 6 to 9 and meant to supplement what they were already learning in school. The show tried to teach children to read by focusing on the sounds of letters and letter combinations, teaching viewers the value of a good “ck” or “br.”

Clark Gesner wrote several songs for the series, including most of the sign songs but never served as the show's official music coordinator, a position that fell to Raposo's ensemble percussionist Danny Epstein. Eric Rogers, who composed the music for the DePatie-Freleng cartoons in the '70s. He was the additional music composer for 260 episodes of The Electric Company, and wrote some new songs, including the arrangement from The Electric Company theme song.

The original soundtrack album, released on Warner Bros. Records, won a Grammy Award for the show's cast. The series was notable for its extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system.

Early computer-generated imagery Scanimate used

The Electric Company was an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The show was 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. Noggin also produced a compilation special for the show. The Workshop produced the show at Reeves Teletape Studios in Manhattan. The Electric Company was hailed for its focus on children’s literacy. While Sesame Street was aimed at preschool kids, The Electric Company was for kids ages 6 to 9 and meant to supplement what they were already learning in school. The show tried to teach children to read by focusing on the sounds of letters and letter combinations, teaching viewers the value of a good “ck” or “br.”

The Electric Company was notable for its extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system. The show's musical director was Sesame Street's Joe Raposo, who was an absolute powerhouse of creation and is best known for penning songs like “Bein’ Green,” “C Is for Cookie” and “Sing,” as well as the themes to both Sesame Street and Three’s Company. Clark Gesner wrote several songs for the series, including most of the sign songs but never served as the show's official music coordinator, a position that fell to Raposo's ensemble percussionist Danny Epstein. Eric Rogers, who composed the music for the DePatie-Freleng cartoons in the '70s. He was the additional music composer for 260 episodes of The Electric Company, and wrote some new songs, including the arrangement from The Electric Company theme song. The original soundtrack album, released on Warner Bros. Records, won a Grammy Award for the show's cast.

The Electric Company was notable for its extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system. The show's extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery was used to create its sketches, which included a wacky mix of live-action sketches, animation and the occasional puppet. The Electric Company was notable for its extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system. The show's extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery was used to create its sketches, which included a wacky mix of live-action sketches, animation and the occasional puppet. The Electric Company was notable for its extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery, especially Scanimate, a then-state-of-the-art analog video-synthesizer system. The show's extensive, innovative use of early computer-generated imagery was used to create its sketches, which included a wacky mix of live-action sketches, animation and the occasional puppet.

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