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The Electric Company

  • Watchlist
  • 1971-1977
  • 6 Seasons
  • Noggin
  • Family, Comedy
  • TV-G
  • Watchlist

"The Electric Company," aimed at children ages 7 to 10, was designed to teach basic reading concepts to its young viewers. Skits featuring the show's regulars, cartoons, vignettes, and regular features revolved around sound clusters (such as -ly, sh-, oo-) and punctuation marks. On occasion, a fun song was played with the audience challenged to supply the lyrics during the second sing-through. Through the years, different features were added including "Love of Chair" (1971-1973, a spoof of "Love of Life"), "The Adventures of Letterman" (added in 1972), cartoon segments featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (1973), and Spider-Man (1974).

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Cast & Crew See All

Jim Boyd
Andy
Morgan Freeman
Count Dracula
Judy Graubart
Jennifer of the Jungle

Season 6 Episode Guide See All

Episode 1

1B

Mon, Oct 18, 1976

Where to Watch

Awards

  • 1976 - Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Informational Children's Series - nominated
  • 1977 - Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Children's Informational Series - winner
  • 1972 - Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming - Programs - nominated
  • 1973 - Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming - Entertainment/Fictional - winner

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Latest News See All

The Electric Company Alum Luis Avalos Dies at 67

Luis Avalos, who co-starred on The Electric Company, died on Wednesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He passed after...

Fri, Jan 24, 2014
The Electric Company Alum Luis Avalos Dies at 67

Emmy-winning The Bold and the Beautiful Producer Ron Weaver Dies at 75

Emmy-winning producer of The Bold and the Beautiful and Sesame Street's The Children's Television Workshop, Ron Weaver, died Thursday at  age 75 in Los Angeles. Weaver began with the soap, , a sister show to The Young and the Restless, when it started in 1987 and only left the show weeks ago in April after 27 years. He won three daytime Emmys for overseeing thousands of episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful, which follows the rich Californian Forresters family and is the most watched soap opera in the world.

Wed, May 15, 2013
Emmy-winning The Bold and the Beautiful Producer Ron Weaver Dies at 75

Golden Globes Review: Third Time Not a Charm

If nothing else, Ricky Gervais is a master at upending our expectations. Last year, he drew blood as host-turned-heckler at the Golden Globes, redeeming his lackluster performance of the year before. Returning to the scene of his crime ...

Mon, Jan 16, 2012
Golden Globes Review: Third Time Not a Charm

Please settle a bet between ...

Question: Please settle a bet between my friend and me. I am positive that I remember the actor Morgan Freeman on the kids' show The Electric Company in the mid-'70s. My friend says no way. Who is right? I have a bottle of very good wine riding on this!Answer: Well, this oughtta pop your cork, then, Jessica. (And, at the risk of beating this horse to death, all you goofuses who hold back on the details of your betting should take note of Jessica's gallant move of telling me what she and her pal have at stake in their bet.) Freeman did indeed play Easy Reader, the afro-wearing character who helped a generation of children learn to read on the brilliant Electric Company, from 1971 to 1976. That role followed acclaimed work on stage and represented the actor's first break in television, but his feelings about the job seem to depend on when you ask him about it. In 2001, when he served as chair of the

Thu, Apr 6, 2006

Electric Phenom Returns to TV

The Electric Company is coming back to juice a new generation of early elementary-school kids into mastering reading skills. Executives at Sesame Workshop in New York City are hoping to relaunch the landmark literacy series in the fall of 2007, after a near 30-year absence from public television. Karen Gruenberg, the Workshop's executive vice president for content, promises a series that will call upon "today's artists and the best in pop culture" to lure at-risk kids to the screen. Just as the original series featured Bill Cosby and bits of sketch comedy, Gruenberg says humor will be an essential part of the new series. "If we don't [have humor], we will have completely missed the mark," she says. Equally electrifying is news that DVD sets of the 1971-77 Electric Company — featuring Rita Moreno, Cosby and a pre-stardom Morgan Freeman — will be released later this year. As many parents will recall, before there was

Tue, Jun 7, 2005

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