Get Electrified With The New Electric Company

Way before I entered pre-school, I was already watching The Electric Company—a children’s educational program produced by Sesame Workshop. Its ‘video’ classroom was full of comedy sketches, music, animation and special effects. There were many things I learned for sure, and one of them is learning how to read.

Here's  the intro of the original version of The Electric Company


I watched this show regularly as a kid and it helped me tremendously in my reading skills. This show may not be on the same level as Sesame Street (another fave of mine) since it didn’t use puppets in its show. But the creative concept behind The Electric Company was to make it fun, interactive and time-relevant; it’s witty and very hip, too—making reading a fun experience.

The actor Morgan Freeman who made movies such as Amistad, Bruce Almighty, Deep Impact, The Dark Knight and many others, was one of the ‘teachers’ in The Electric Company. It’s kind of neat to know that he was one of the guys in the show, doing everything he can to make things interesting for kids like me.

In January 19 of this year, The Electric Company premiered as a four episode mini-marathon on PBS. It then became a weekly series with an episode shown every Friday.

The new version has short animations, sketches and music videos, to those seen in the original version. The show incorporates a new concept, having a more urban feel to it as some songs are hip-hop and contemporary R&B-style. The new version also makes use of web elements and has a community outreach included in its program.

I believe young kids today will enjoy this show. Since it premiered on PBS this year, it has enjoyed a good and steady following—so for kids out there, tune in or visit their website at http://pbskids.org/electriccompany/