The Electric Company 1970s

The Electric Company was an influential American educational children's television series that aired on PBS from 1971 to 1977. The show was a product of the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), the same organization responsible for the popular and long-running series, Sesame Street. Notably, a young Morgan Freeman was among its cast members, where he honed his skills as a diverse and talented performer.

Produced with the intent of teaching basic reading and grammar skills to elementary-aged children, The Electric Company was famous for blending instructional content with comedy sketches, animation, pop culture references, and musical numbers. More advanced than Sesame Street in its lesson complexity, the show was designed to appeal to older kids and meet the literacy needs of inner-city children in an entertaining and innovative manner.

The show attained its educational goal with the ensemble of diverse and talented actors who all played multiple roles, the most famous among them being a then lesser-known Morgan Freeman. Freeman's standout performances in various characters, solidified his reputation as a versatile actor early on in his career. His roles ranged from the cool, sunglasses-wearing DJ Mel Mounds, frequently introducing song segments, to the daring superhero Easy Reader, a character beloved by many for making reading fun and approachable.

The Electric Company served as an educational bridge between Sesame Street and the more adult-oriented reading material. Its format was unconventional and fast-paced, using sketches and segments rather than a single narrative thread, justifying its motto, "We're gonna turn it on! We're gonna bring you the power!" The show was split into multiple short and lively segments that grabbed the attention of its young viewers and retained it with content that was as entertaining as it was instructive.

One unique feature of the series was its use of "silhouette blending," where two actors' profiles would appear side by side, each voicing a phoneme to blend a complete word. This inventive technique, meant to visually depict how sounds combine to form words, is one of the show's most iconic elements.

Music played a crucial part in the series, taking inspiration from popular genres of the time, including rock, jazz, pop, and even country. The musical numbers bore strong, repetitive phonetic messages designed to boost literacy.

Another quintessential feature of The Electric Company was "The Adventures of Letterman", an animated serial. Devised by the legendary cartoonist, Jules Feiffer, and Spiderman co-creator, Stan Lee, this segment presented the superheroic feats of Letterman, fast and accurate, who could restore the correct order of letters and words when they were forcefully scrambled by his arch-nemesis, Spell Binder.

The series, at its peak, reached up to 7 million children on a daily basis. The cast featured a mix of rising actors, including Rita Moreno, Judy Graubart, and Luis Avalos, alongside the established Broadway and film actor Bill Cosby, adding to the charm. However, the support from the U.S. Office of Education gradually diminished, prompting The Electric Company to work in limited new content in its final two seasons with some repeats.

Although the original series ended in 1977, it left a lasting legacy that is virtually unprecedented in the realm of children's television. The series not only increased awareness about the importance of literacy but also championed racial and cultural diversity. It went ahead to inspire several other educational shows, and in 2009, saw a modern reboot on the same network.

The Electric Company was a pioneering force, blending education and entertainment to deliver a potent mix that leaves viewers – both young and adult – inspired and informed. Even today, the legacy of the show lives on in various forms, from reruns to digitally remastered versions available online. Above all, the show is a shining testament to the profound impact that intelligent, wholesome programming can have on shaping young minds.