Series synopsis
The Electric Company is an American comedy family television series that premiered on PBS on October 25, 1971. It ended on June 1, 1977. It stars Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno and Mel Brooks.
The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977. After it ceased production that year, the program continued in reruns from 1977 to 1985, the result of a decision made in 1975 to produce two final seasons for perpetual use. CTW produced the show at Teletape Studios Second Stage in M ...
Premise
The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977. After it ceased production that year, the program continued in reruns from 1977 to 1985, the result of a decision made in 1975 to produce two final seasons for perpetual use. CTW produced the show at Teletape Studios Second Stage in Manhattan, the first home of Sesame Street.
The Electric Company employed sketch comedy and other devices to provide an entertaining program to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills. It was intended for children who had graduated from CTW's flagship program, Sesame Street. Appropriately, the humor was more mature than what was seen there.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Bill Cosby as The Milk Man
- Morgan Freeman as Mark /Easy Reader /Mel Mounds /Count Dracula /Mad Scientist /The Cop /Marcello
- Rita Moreno as Carmela
- Mel Brooks as Blond-Haired Cartoon Man (voice)
- Skip Hinnant as Boy (Love of Chair)
- Denise Nickerson as Allison - Member of the Short Circus
- Hattie Winston as Sylvia / Valerie the Librarian
- Gene Wilder as Letterman (voice)
Supporting cast
- Lee Chamberlin as Brenda /Vi /Madame Rosalie /Gladys the Glow-Worm
- Irene Cara as Iris - Member of the Short Circus
- Joan Rivers as Letterman Narrator (voice)
- Zero Mostel as Spell Binder (voice)
- Todd Graff as Jesse - Member of the Short Circus
- June Angela as Julie - Member of the Short Circus
- Luis Ávalos as Roberto / Dr. Doolats / Igor / Pedro
- Judy Graubart as Winnie /Jennifer of the Jungle /Julia Grown-Up /The Witch
- Jim Boyd as Andy /J. Arthur Crank /Paul the Gorilla /The Blue Beetle /The Wolfman /Loreli Loverly /Max /Steve Awesome the $6.39 Man
- Bayn Johnson as Kelly - Member of the Short Circus
- Réjane Magloire as Samantha - Member of the Short Circus
- Ken Roberts as The Last Word (voice)
Guest cast
- Tony Longo
- Carroll O'Connor
- Michael Landon
- Jean Stapleton
- Lily Tomlin as Ernestine the Operator
- Mel Blanc as Wile E. Coyote (voice)
Episodes
This series spans 7 seasons with 781 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 1 | ||
| Season 1 | 130 | October 25, 1971 | April 20, 1972 |
| Season 2 | 130 | October 23, 1972 | April 20, 1973 |
| Season 3 | 130 | October 22, 1973 | April 19, 1974 |
| Season 4 | 130 | October 21, 1974 | April 18, 1975 |
| Season 5 | 130 | October 20, 1975 | April 16, 1976 |
| Season 6 | 130 | October 18, 1976 | June 1, 1977 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Electric Company Documentary |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | October 25, 1971 |
| 2 |
Show 1 This program concentrates on the two sounds of G. |
October 25, 1971 |
| 3 | Show 2 | October 26, 1971 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Show 131 | October 23, 1972 |
| 2 | Show 132 | October 24, 1972 |
| 3 | Show 133 | October 25, 1972 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
It's the Teeth Included in this program is the vowel pair ee. |
October 22, 1973 |
| 2 |
That Was a Firefly Included in this program is the prefix Un-. |
October 23, 1973 |
| 3 |
Show 263 In just one of this episode's contents, the short word pen becomes the starting block for longer words. |
October 24, 1973 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
To the Queen Among the concepts highlighted: the consonant Y and the consonant blend sp-. |
October 21, 1974 |
| 2 | Show 392 | October 22, 1974 |
| 3 | Show 393 | October 23, 1974 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Show 1A The consonant blend sw- is among this episode's concepts. This episode's Spider-Man story: The Old One-Two. |
October 20, 1975 |
| 2 | Show 2A | October 21, 1975 |
| 3 | Show 3A | October 22, 1975 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Show 1B | October 18, 1976 |
| 2 |
Show 2B Among the concepts featured: the vowel digraph ou. |
October 19, 1976 |
| 3 | Show 3B | October 20, 1976 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | PBS |
|---|---|
| First aired | October 25, 1971 |
| Last aired | June 1, 1977 |
| Runtime | 28 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday |