The Electric Company is coming to DVD!!! (2 Viewers)

[Jeffrey Nelson]

From TV Tome, posted on April 15, 2005:


YES!!! I can't tell you how excited I am about this news. I taped a few episodes off Noggin a few years back, and the show was just as great as I remembered it. It holds up extremely well, and there's lots of humor that adults will catch. "Love...Of...Chair..."

Hopefully, since most of the cast still seems to be around, we'll see some juicy extras; and hopefully even the big-namers Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman, and Bill Cosby would want to participate. By the way, I never realized that Gene Wilder was the voice of Letterman, and that Irene Cara was one of the Short Circus kids!

I don't recall seeing anything posted here about this, so apologies if this is old news. The best that I would have hoped for, if anything, would have been a compilation of some of the best-known bits. But, SEASON SETS??? Crazy.



The Electric Company at TV Tome

 

[Bill Williams]

I remember that series from way back! From what I recall, it had a pre-film-era Morgan Freeman as a character called Easy Reader, saying things like "Easy Reader loves to read!" Sweet!

 

[Gord Lacey]

TVTome has a problem of not crediting the sources of their news about 90% of the time. Maybe it was announced....but where, and by whom?

Gord

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I'm totally there- but I want the old Sesame Street too!

 

[Keith I]

If this is (or will be) true, will we still be able to see "Spidey"? Rights to the character cleared? In any case, a great show hopefully someday on DVD.
-

 

[John*P]

I've never seen The Electric Company, but just tonight I was thinking about how I'd love to see the 80s PBS show, Square One on DVD.

"Mathman...Mathman...odd numbers...odd numbers...Mathman...Mathman."

:-p

 

[Dale_]

Oh my dear sweet lord!! Has this been confirmed?? Anyone???

 

[Claude North]

According to the June 5-11 issue of "TV Guide," the sets will begin rolling out later this year, and a new version of the show is in the works for 2007.

The Electric Company was one of the great formative influences on my life, so I am thrilled that season sets are in the works. What memories: Fargo North, Decoder, Jennifer of the Jungle, Vi's Diner, J. Arthur Crank, and that recurring sketch with Rita Moreno as the short-tempered movie director. Such a smart, funny show!

 

[Christopher Jay]

In the "Family Page" feature in the June 5-11 issue of TV Guide there is a sidebar about an Electric Company relaunch due in 2007 and the "electrifying" news that DVD sets of the 1971-77 show "will be released later this year." No other details (other than the startling fact that EC's Letterman came before David Letterman).

EDIT: Just got beat to the punch. That'll learn me to preview my posts first to see the latest replies. Oops!

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

YAY!!!!!!!! It must be offical, then. I can't wait! WhatamIgonnado?

 

[Charles Ellis]

BTW, I found out to my shock a few years back that the "Letterman" narrator was none other than Joan Rivers!!!! Can we talk?

What memories: Fargo North- Decoder, Jennifer of the Jungle, Easy Reader, J. Arthur Crank, and of course, Rita Moreno as the world's most frustrated director. (those who watched the show know exactly what I mean!)

Can Zoom be far behind?

 

[JeffWld]

Why WGBH is still sitting on the original "Zoom" is a mystery. It is a natural DVD release and probably has a solid nostalgia fan base, as well as the ability to entertain new viewers.

Let's just hope they wouldn't have to chop the shows up with music rights issues.

 

[Dale_]

>>By the way, I never realized that Gene Wilder was the voice of Letterman

 

[Charles Ellis]

You mean Max Bialystock was really the Spellbinder????

 

[Jon Martin]

Also another big fan of ELECTRIC COMPANY. And, I also caught the reruns on Noggin a few years ago and was quite surprised by how well it held up. So much of it was geared for adults (I only then picked up on the Easy Reader/Rider connection)

How many episodes a season were there? It was daily, wasn't it?

And put in another vote for ZOOM (the old ones, not the new series). WGBH put out a VHS in the mid 90's with clips from the show, as well as complete openings for all the different seasons. It came with a little paperback book with a "What Happened To" all the cast members. I'd love to see something like that on DVD. Although, as mentioned, the music rights could be pricey (but they were basically just using background music of the songs, not the original songs themselves, so who knows).

 

[Dale_]

Hot damn; it looks like I'll finally get The Electric Company on DVD! I hope it's not just some dopey "best of" piecemeal thing but an actual season set.

I'd also love to see season sets of Sesame Street beginning with Season 1, the year of the orange Grouch. One would think such a product would have a built-in audience on two levels: old folks like me who grew up with the show, and kids today who still love it. The folks at Sesame Workshop would probably be afraid of confusing today's kids, though, as the old shows have a lot of characters (human and Muppet) who aren't on the show today; Mr. Hooper, David, Herbert Birdsfoot, Sherlock Hemlock...

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Don't forget Roosevelt Franklin!

So, I'd really like to believe that the wretched Elmo character was introduced after Jim Henson died...I'd really hate to think that he had anything to do with Elmo. Elmo killed Sesame Street for me.

 

[Jay Pennington]

Yes, Elmo was long after Jim Henson died.

BTW, it's the "Children's Television Workshop".

 

[Christopher Jay]

Elmo as a Muppet dates back to 1979. Elmo as voiced and performed by Kevin Clash has been around since 1984 (so Elmo is at least old enough to drink.). Before Jim Henson gave Clash the job of coming up with a personality for the character, Elmo had been performed first by Brian Meehl(who also played Barkley) and then by Richard "Gladys the Cow" Hunt. Kevin Clash's previous job had been performing Goriddle Gorilla on The Great Space Coaster. Most people forget that it was the character of Elmo who facilitated the revelation of Snuffy to all the Sesame Street adults in '85. Elmo the money-making empire didn't come about until 1996.
Also, CTW changed its name to Sesame Workshop in 2000. "Why? Because the media world our children inhabit is so much more than television,'' is what the press release said, according to Reuters. And that's my batch of useless Sesame Street facts for the day.

 

[Jay Pennington]

Wow, thanks for the info!