Hello classic Electric Company fans! You have reached the epicenter of fan archives. This is where your stories, thoughts, pictures, and any other memories of the Electric Company are forever immortalized in cyberspace. Below you'll find posts from other fans, reminiscing and sharing how the Electric Company shaped them as readers and viewers over the years. If you have memories to add, send them to me [Emily, your fun-loving production assistant for the new Electric Company] at electric.memories@sesameworkshop.org. Help those of us born after 1985 experience the magic.
"But wait," you ask, "What's this about the new Electric Company?" "Well," I reply, "the rumors are true — We are back!" After more than 30 years, The Electric Company returns with a new cast, a new sound, a new look, and the same goal of teaching literacy skills in an awesome new way. Visit the sneak peek site to watch the teaser trailer!
Email UsSO TO RECAP: Send me your memories, and stay tuned for more sneak peeks of The Electric Company 2009 coming this fall. And keep an eye out for throwbacks to the classic show — from gorilla cameos to soft-shoe silhouettes, there's guaranteed to be something for everyone!
Wednesday, February 7. 2007
When I was a kid, I used to take the bus to New York City to visit the set of The Electric Company. I'd sit on a stool and watch the entire day and became friendly with Ronald Baldwin, the production Designer. He took this picture of me with Rita, Skip and Luis. I have lots of show items that were given to me like the Cast belt buckle, some scripts, teleprompter rolls and a cellophane curtain that they used often during songs. My pride and joy is the TEC logo art from the opening of the last two seasons, it's framed on the wall in my home office.
- RT
Monday, December 11. 2006
Since getting your wonderful dvd's " The Best Of The Electric Company, Vol 1, I must admit that I am completely hooked on them. I especially like when Jim Boyd, Luis Avalos and Skip Hinnant are portraying The Three Musketeers and singing, "All For One and One For All " in the last episode that was originally broadcast on April 15,1977. It was truly a hilarious moment indeed. Thank you for including it in this series.
-Dominick
Monday, October 23. 2006
I was reading by age 3 (I was born in October 1969)...thanks in no small part to The Electric Company!
-Mike
Monday, October 2. 2006
I grew up watching TEC & LOVED it! I decided to give the TEC DVD to my 6 yr. old niece as a kindergarten graduation present and she LOVES it! I feel good knowing that I passed on the love of The Electric Company. Peace!
-Kathy
Friday, September 8. 2006
My husband and I have been reliving our childhoods by watching these best-of DVD's! So many memories have come flooding back. When the Silent-E song came along on the third DVD, my husband had to rewind and watch it about 5 times in a row (that was his favorite)! We love The Electric Company!
-Rebecca
Thursday, August 10. 2006
I'm sending another drawing of my favorite, Fargo. By the way, did he or did he not sing a song in one episode called "I Love Ketchup"? I seem to remember him sitting at a counter singing something.
-Carla
Tuesday, June 6. 2006
Thank you so much for putting The Electric Company on DVD! I hadn't seen the show in YEARS and assumed that I'd never see it again. Fantastic memories for me and I think the show really holds up well for the next generation of kids too.
Thanks again for letting us all relive the magic of The Electric Company on DVD. I can't wait to buy the next installments!
-Greg B.
Monday, June 19. 2006
I was born in 1970, started watching The Electric Company in 1971, and I was reading by 3 1/2. Now that I own the first DVD volume, I understand why I knew how to spell "city" and "kitty" at such an early age. Thank you for bringing us this fantastic collection of The Electric Company!
The music and sketches are phenomenal and bring back so many memories!! Making more of the music available through Ninja Tune so they can be sampled a bit more is a brilliant idea that another poster made; Joe Raposo's songs are like skeleton keys that open up the consciousness of a generation!
-H Pederson
Thursday, June 22. 2006
I just purchased the 20 episode box set of "The best of The Electric Company" dvds. I can remember the Electric Company as being an incredibly impacting experience for me. I do not recall learning to read from anyone teaching at the local school. I do remember Morgan Freeman's Character Easy Reader, and have more memories of his teachings than anyone else throughout my life.
I am a 41 Year old woman with children of my own. My one Son, (who is Seven) has been through early education for children with developmental delays in several areas. Early Government-funded Education had fantastic programming within the school to the age of six. When my son turned seven funding ran out and I was forced to enroll him in regular grade 1. My son has Hyper Active Attention deficit disorder, Rigid Obsessive compulsive disorder, and high anxieties most times. Regular Grade one was not the answer for our special needs son. My son outlook about school went from Crying, if he could not go to school, to Crying because he had to go school. I was shocked to find out that the school was ready to advance him into the next grade, even though he could not read 70% of the grade one primer words, or high frequency sight words. I decided that I would take on home schooling while looking at more appropriate options. This worked out a lot better than I had originally expected.
About one month went by, when I came across this box set of dvds. I knew when I seen it, that this was my answer to break through to my son. This would help him break the barriers of reading, spelling and Language comprehension. For Years I had been telling My Husband about The Electric Company and other Programs I recalled from my childhood, and finally there it was. Well I can tell you, half way through the first episode my son was glued to the television trying to follow along. By the end of the first day, my son had watched the first two disks. He had the theme song pretty much down pat, and was asking if there were any other episodes of Letterman on the remaining disks. The Electric Company even got through in the area of memory retention and recall. My son can remember more from the Electric Company than he can from 7 months of school. I now include one episode everyday in his home school program. The Electric Company, in my opinion should be part of every child school programming. This way, when the teachers can't do their jobs, the kids are not the one's to suffer. Parents, such as me, can now breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that a trusted old friend is back and still getting results, even 35 years later. I would like to see all the episodes made available to purchase. This would help so many children, like my own, learn to read and love it!
-C. K, Alberta, Canada
Friday, May 5. 2006
To make a long story short:
My mom would sit me in front of the TV, and say, "It's time for 'Hey, you guys!'"
I was completely fascinated by the show, the characters, the animation, and by the block letters, if you know what I mean.
I took to reading like a fish to water at a very young age, but TEC inspired me to read, and do as well as I could in school. The episodes I watched as a young girl stayed with me long after the show went off the air, and I just recently bought the DVD set (The Best of...). I could go on and on about how much this show meant to me, but I think I can sum it up by saying this: The Electric Company inspired me to go to college. In one year, I'll receive the PhD in English, and the main reason for this is due to how enticing and fun TEC made reading and words.
I'm the first one in my family to go to college; the first one, in fact, in over 6 generations. My parents were migrant farm workers, and they made sure at least one of their kids would go to college. Well, as it turned out, that kid was me, and a lot of it had to do with TEC.
I just wanted you to know how grateful I am to this show; it has a legacy all its own.
-Rosemary B.
Sunday, May 14. 2006
I love TEC! My favorite character is Fargo North, Decoder, he is so cute! I didn't know if fan art is ok or not but I am sending you this picture I recently drew of him, I hope you like it. Thanks.
-Carla W.
Sunday, April 30. 2006
Hi,
I learned to read too early to take advantage of TEC but my brother was spot on, 6 years old in 1971, and because we lived in Boston and were a die-hard WGBH family, we ALL watched it. My mother still reminds us to wear a raincoat by saying "I be you ge we!" from some skit that was missing the letter T.
I now teach 3rd grade at an international school in Laos (Southeast Asia) and am about to ask my school to buy the DVD set for our struggling readers. It is just the ticket for kids who have the alphabet but not the blends, digraphs, and general ability to play with sounds in words--the pieces of the reading puzzle that make it all come together. We send the kids to pbskids.org to play the games on Between The Lions, but the show doesn't have the hip edge that appealed to older kids (and grownups!) in The Electric Company.
thanks,
-Laura, Big Fan of Fargo North, Decoder
Friday, March 24. 2006
Oh my goodness, I am ordering this DVD ASAP. When I was a kid in Massapequa NY in the 70's I watched The Electric Company religiously. The kids shows Zoom, The Magic Garden, Mister Rogers, Sesame Street, Romper Room, 3-2-1 Contact, Carrosalendas (an English & Spanish language program, anyone remember it?) and of course The Electric Company were all a part of my childhood years. My parents always called me "Easy Reader" because I read so much (I still do). I had the 45 rpm record of "The Silent E's from Outer Space." Since my name is Jennifer, my friends used to say "You're Jennifer of the Jungle, that's you!" All of the old video clips bring back so many memories. My parents still say "It's the Plumber and I've Come to Fix the Sink" whenever they hear someone say "Who is it?" Anyway I want to thank all who reissued this DVD. I'm going to buy it soon.
-Jen M., San Diego, Calif.
Tuesday, March 28. 2006
It was the time when I was raised in Lake Hiawatha, NJ. Every time my friend, Ronny, and I rode our bikes, we were singing "bicycle" which was performed by Skip Hinnant, Denise Nickerson, and Luis Avalos. We had so many time of our lives. Cute, wasn't it?
On the other hand, I also remember when Carmella (Rita Moreno) and Easy Reader (Morgan Freeman) visited Sesame Street. Easy Reader was showing David how well Easy Reader could read.
-Matt, Groton, CT
Wednesday, February 22. 2006
I would say one of my favorite cast members is Ms. Jennifer of the Jungle herself; Judy Graubart. She kind of reminds me in a pleasant way of my older sister, especially her voice and her personality. I don't think I ever saw the Miracle Whip commercials she was in.
It's hard to pick who else is a favorite. My answer to that would be Morgan Freeman, I like his voice as well, and his singing ability, his portrayal of Easy Reader. Others I like from the show are Skip Hinnant (J.J., Fargo North, Decoder) I've spoken with him before on the phone, he's likeable... Rita Moreno, with her yell of "Hey you guys!", she could easily pass for a substitute vocalist for Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin, and I mean that as a compliment, no offense intended. Bill Cosby for his supreme silliness and excellent interaction with children.
One other favorite cast member of mine is who played Buddy of The Short Circus; Stephen Gustafson. It's interesting he chose his character name thinking of a favorite drummer of his (and mine as well), Buddy Rich. I wonder if Stephen was also an enthusiast of another favorite drummer of mine, the percussive dynamo of Led Zeppelin; John Henry "Bonzo" Bonham.
-David, Kingwood, Texas
Tuesday February 28, 2006
Hi! It's really great to see these episodes of Electric Company again! It's great to see how well it still holds up when so many other shows seem very dated. This was a huge part of my life and now i can show everyone and convince them to buy the set.....then hopefully we'll see more!!! Here is a picture of an item i could put my hands right on. I will send more along later.
-Jason W.
Tuesday, February 28. 2006
We just got the new DVD set and it's fabulous! My kids are enjoying the same episodes that I did when I was growing up. Thanks so much for putting out such great educational and fun shows.
-Jennifer F., San Diego
