The Best of The Electric Company

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		List Price: $49.98		From: Shout! Factory From: Shout! Factory Salesrank: 3974 Released: 2006-02-07 Running Time: 630 Minutes
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The Best of The Electric Company Editorial Review:
20 OF THE BEST EPISODES FEATURING BILL COSBY, MORGAN FREEMAN, RITA MORENO, SPIDER-MAN and More!

If you were between six and ten years old during the years 1971 through 1985, then there is a good chance you learned to read with help from The Electric Company. Comedy sketches, music, animation and special effects were the tools of this "video" classroom. Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, Spider-Man Road Runner and others were the teachers.

The Electric Company was a product of its time — perennially cool and hip, while never wavering from its educational goals; it was full of wit and energy and made learning to read fun. So, take a trip back in time with Spider-Man, Letterman, J. Arthur Crank, the Short Circus, Jennifer of the Jungle, DJ Mel Mounds, Easy Reader, Paul the Gorilla, Lorelei the Chicken and all the rest with THE BEST OF THE ELECTRIC COMPANY.

DISC 1: #1 (10/25/71); #10 (11/5/71); #14 (11/11/71); #21 (11/22/71); #26 (11/29/71) Special Features: Rita Moreno Remembers: The only female performer to have won an Oscar®, an Emmy, a Tony and a Grammy, Rita looks back on her experiences with The Electric Company.

DISC 2: #109 (3/23/72); #131 (10/23/72); #181 (1/1/73); #285 (11/23/73); #321 (1/14/74) Special Features: Joan Ganz Cooney Then And Now: From 1971 to the present, the founder of The Children’s Television Workshop has never wavered in her commitment to early education.

DISC 3: #379 (4/3/74); #386 (4/15/74); #391 (10/21/74); #437 (12/24/74); #453 (1/15/75) Special Features: "Silent E" Karaoke: Sing along with Tom Lehrer’s unforgettable and imaginative song. The Creative Team Remembers: Executive producer Sam Gibbon and head writer Tom Whedon reminisce.

DISC 4: #491 (3/10/75); #72A (1/27/76); #110A (3/19/76); #79B (2/3/77); #130B (4/15/77) Special Feature: June Angela Remembers: "Julie" in The Short Circus; June Angela was with the cast for the entire run of the show.

Customer Reviews:
Hey, you guys!
In this "hyper-world" of elementary school educational tools that seemingly moving faster than the speed of sound - while working the angle of selling some type of action figure - the relevance of The Electric Company remains incredibly strong.

Each disk contains five episodes - touching each season, from 1971-1977 - and a special feature, which travels down the neat road of nostalgia (interviews with Rita Moreno, June Agela, executive producer Sam Gibbon & writer Tim Whedon and Joan Ganz Cooney, the founder of The Children's Television Network).

The charm is in the pacing in the introduction of material and concepts to help children with their reading skills that are accomplished in a fun manner, but with keen focus. The sketches, music, animation and special effects allow for lessons/topics to be approached and reinforced from different angles. And the viewer is part of the "neighborhood" that is emphasized by the actors.

Yes, "The Electric Company gets its power from the Children's Television Workshop," and may it continue to be a strong beacon for good education.

We love the EC!
OK, so I bought this more because I watched this show in the 70's as a kid...but my kids have gotten a kick out of the groovy 70's fashions and hair and I think may actually be learning something, too!

Fun Walk Down Memory Lane For The Sesame Street Generation
This was a fun and goofy walk down memory lane for me, as a former child of the early 1970's. Your kids born after say 1995 or 2000, might not find this all that compelling, and in fact, they might even laugh and snicker at the cheap cardboard backgrounds that were used to film so many of the scenes in the Electric Company.

However, this isn't about your kids. It's about you. I had great fun explaining to the kids that there was once a world without a thousand cable TV channels. We had cable TV when I was a kid but there were like twelve channels, and at least six of those channels were broadcast in a language other than English. MTV hadn't been invented yet, and neither had Nickleodeon. Or VCRs.

Memories + Good learning = Great Set!!
This volume and volume 2 are both fantastic. Not only to they bring back lots of great memories and include wonderful actors and talent, but the Electric Company teaches BOTH sight reading and phonics. Most other teaching tools pick one, and I really like how they use both. My toddler is totally entertained, and so am I. And he's learning, too. Priceless!

Blast from the past
This video took me right back to my youth and I still found nearly all the of the content relevant and fun. My four year old is in love with it!

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