by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 16, 2008   Last Updated: February 17, 2008

"The Electric Company" was a fun PBS show that used skits, songs, and cartoons to teach children how to read. It's fondly remembered by an entire generation, and the show's fast pace always kept it entertaining.

Music and comedy created a cheerful and playful tone for reminders about letters and words. State-of-the-art computer animation would make a word come into focus while a voice-over read it aloud. Cartoons and montages would emphasize a specific sound or accompany an educational jingle. In the fourth season, even Spiderman began making regular appearances, as words from his story appeared on the screen.

But what most people remember are the clever comedy sketches. Rita Moreno's character yelled for attention, "Hey You Guys!" - often in inappropriate situations, like when she was delivering bottles of milk early in the morning. "The Boy in the Chair" parodied a soap opera with ridiculously simple plot. ("Will the boy sit down?" a narrator asked in the voiceover? "And what about... Naomi?") "Fargo North, decoder" was a manic investigator who would read parts of a mangled message and try to unscramble them. And a recurring cartoon showed "The Adventures of Letterman," a superhero who could restore order when "the evil Spellmeister" would change a letter in the name of an object, thus changing the object itself!

Some of the show's appeal came from its very talented stars. Bill Cosby appeared in the first season, with his segments recycled throughout the life of the series. A young Morgan Freeman appeared on the show for its full six-year run, along with Oscar- and Tony-winning actress Rita Moreno. Some of its short cartoon segments featured the voices of Mel Brooks and Joan Rivers, while comedy legend Tom Lehrer supplied songs, including one about "Silent E". And Skip Hinnant, the castmember who played "Fargo North, decoder," had even supplied the voice of "Fritz the Cat" in the X-rated cartoon by Ralph Bakshi!

Though it's rarely rebroadcast today, during the 1970s its talented cast and crew produced nearly 800 half-hour episodes that were both entertaining and educational. In 2006 a DVD was finally released - giving people who grew up in the 1970s one last chance to relive their childhood memories.

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