Saturday, October 27, 2012

Retro TV and Toys for The Very Young - The Electric Company

HEYYYY YOU GUUUUYYYYYSSS!!!  (If you have never watched the show before then just ignore that!) My 6-year-old has been watching the episodes of the modern re-make of The Electric Company on Netflix. Once she saw the first episode, she was hooked. It's about 4 kids who have super powers with words.  I really like it too- the bad guys, known as 'The Pranksters', are funny and the songs are really catchy.  The show has had star appearances from Wyclef Jean, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, Ne-Yo, Mario, Pete Wentz, Jack McBrayer, and more.  A good choice as far as children's programming goes! And of course it's great for helping kids with practising their reading, spelling, and new vocabulary too!  The new version is very different from the old version from the 70's.  I bought a 'best of' from the original version on dvd for my daughter's recent birthday.  I was a little bit worried she wouldn't like it - I explained to her beforehand that it was very different from the show she was used to.  But she likes the old one too - yay!  She laughs at the sketches and likes the songs and animations. The old series ran from 1971-1977.  It was designed for kids who had 'graduated' from Sesame Street.   Some of its well-known cast members were Bill Coby, Rita Moreno, and Morgan Freeman.  It has guest appearances from celebrities such as Carol Burnett, Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Carroll O'Connor, and Lily Tomlin.  Enjoy these clips below from the 'old' and 'new' versions of the show.







1 comment:

  1. My kids love the new Electric Company, and yes, I KNOW I learned to read by watching the old Electric Company. In fact, Big Sis will never forget what sound "tion" makes, because I sang the song "T-I-O-N" (shun, shun, shun, shun!) to her over and over until she got it. And you gotta love Morgan Freeman as Easy Reader!!!

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