The Best of the Electric Company
Featuring 20 of the best episodes in true nostalgic glory!
This wildly popular 1970s-era Emmy award-winning children's television series was created by the non-profit educational organization Children's Television Workshop (Now Sesame Workshop) and featured an ensemble cast with Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby and Rita Moreno, with voice-overs by Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers and Zero Mostel. The Short Circus provided a youth element to the cast, featuring Irene Cara and others. With its roots in the Motown Sound, Broadway and The Carol Burnett Show, The Electric Company became a cultural phenomenon of the '70s, teaching children basic reading and grammar skills, with an emphasis on fun!
Member Reviews
Fun for Adults, Slow for Kids - Gaucho
I grew up on this show and, when I got it from ZIP, went through an almost near seizure with joy when the credits rolled up, with a bung of memories flooding back. Watching this show now, it really appears that the actors are having a lot of fun in this groundbreaking, (then) out-of-the-box show.
My kid didn't see any of that. For her, it was just a slow moving and boring romp through territories recent shows have explored to death.
Watch it to relive memories, but don't expect new ones to be made by kids raising by today's TV.The Best of the Electric Company - itstheit
Excellent series, and its absence in contemporary television is a shame (though, given the diminishing quality of 'Sesame Street' in recent years, it's probably a blessing). That, and Judy Graubart has got to be the most beautiful human being to grace the medium of television.
Minor quibbles: Cosby's sleepwalking through the first season, and the fact that this is a 'best of' instead of a complete anthology is a little disappointing.E Company Finds Success In Nostalgia and Eduction - TheShamus
The Electric Company was a show created to address literacy rates in kids aged 6 to 8 in the US. The Children's Television Workshop received lots of financial and political support from the US government (especially the Nixon administration).
Well know people like Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby and Morgan Freeman were on the show daily. There were over 500 episodes produced --- and much of it contained original material.
The creators of this compilcation is Shout! Factory. They do a terrific job (as they did with SCTV) -- by adding new interviews with some of the cast and creators for the show. It give you great insite into the show some of the watched growing up.
If you grew up on the Electric Company ... there is a lot of nastalgia here including Letterman, Spiderman, and the Rita Moreno's famous yell, "Hey You Guys!". If you are looking for nostalgia, you might spend a bit of time on the fast forward button -- since the show is not likely to keep an adult attention span for more than a few episodes.
If you have kids 6 to 8 ... this show is perfect for teaching reading. Sure ... it is a little dated to the early 70's -- but that just gives it character. Some of the animation is very similar (and no doubt created by) the same forces behind Sesame Street.
As pure nostalgia, it might grown tired by the final disc. As an educational tool, they are all worth renting.
/\/\/\/\ the Shamus /\/\/\/\
Member Reviews
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Fun for Adults, Slow for Kids - Gaucho
I grew up on this show and, when I got it from ZIP, went through an almost near seizure with joy when the credits rolled up, with a bung of memories flooding back. Watching this show now, it really appears that the actors are having a lot of fun in this groundbreaking, ...The Best of the Electric Company - itstheit
Excellent series, and its absence in contemporary television is a shame (though, given the diminishing quality of 'Sesame Street' in recent years, it's probably a blessing). That, and Judy Graubart has got to be the most beautiful human being to grace the ...E Company Finds Success In Nostalgia and Eduction - TheShamus
The Electric Company was a show created to address literacy rates in kids aged 6 to 8 in the US. The Children's Television Workshop received lots of financial and political support from the US government (especially the Nixon administration).
Well ...