The Classic Electric Company Memories Thread

[fuzzygobo]

I was one year old when TEC first aired in 1971. So I don't remember any of seasons 1 or 2. I have vague memories of seasons 3 and 4. And the final two seasons kept rerunning through the 70's and early 80's.

Me being 3 at the time, I do remember the opening credits, the Short Circus singing, and Lee Chamberlin’s afro.. Child psychologists say at that age you remember more of what you see than what you hear.. visual cues.

 

[Xerus]

Me being 3 at the time, I do remember the opening credits, the Short Circus singing, and Lee Chamberlin’s afro.. Child psychologists say at that age you remember more of what you see than what you hear.. visual cues.

I also have vague memories seeing the opening theme with the cast appearing in star shaped frames.

 

[Xerus]

Happy 50th to Sesame Street’s sister show!

Let’s celebrate with orange juice, a glass of milk, iced tea, a cup of coffee and all the sweet rolls!

And some bananas for Paul.

 

[Xerus]

Does anyone remember this cartoon? We see a man with a huge long nose seeing a store that read, "New noses now on sale." The man said in a nasally voice, "I need a new nose!" He walked in and saw two salesman. The first one had a curly nose and the second had a round nose. The man asked for a new nose, size nine. The salesmen looked through boxes with 9's on them. Soon, the man now had a curly nose just like the first salesman. The 1st salesman said, "Nice." But the unhappy man said, "Not nice!" the 1st salesman said, "Ned, another nose." This time the man now had a round nose, just like the 2nd salesman (named Ned). Ned replied, "Nifty." But the annoyed man replied, "Not nifty!" And the first salesman said, "Ned, another nose!" This time, they gave the man a new version of his original nose. And they replied, "Neat." And the man, who no longer had a nasally voice, shouted, "YEAH NEAT! NEAT! NEAT! NEAT!" and he danced out the door all happy. The two confused salesman went, "Nuts!"

 

[fuzzygobo]

On the subject of noses-
A very Short Book- Pinocchio

The fairy (Rita Moreno) warns Pinochle,
“Tell a lie, and your nose will grow”.

Pinocchio (Luis Avalon’s) “I ate an elephant sandwich for lunch!”

His nose didn’t grow.
But the fairy’s nose did!

The End. Nice celesta music throughout.

 

[Xerus]

On the subject of noses-
A very Short Book- Pinocchio

The fairy (Rita Moreno) warns Pinochle,
“Tell a lie, and your nose will grow”.

Pinocchio (Luis Avalon’s) “I ate an elephant sandwich for lunch!”

His nose didn’t grow.
But the fairy’s nose did!

The End. Nice celesta music throughout.

I remember that one. When Rita saw her long nose, she went, "YECCH!"

 

[Xerus]

Does anyone remember this cartoon? A princess was running away from a hungry dragon, and she arrived safely at a wizard's house. She said she needed help quickly. The wizard gave her a huge card with the word AND on it. He told her how AND is a magic word. It brings things together like a table and a chair. It brings people together. It makes zebras black and white. And can help you add 2 and 2. "Wow, my very own magic word, AND." smiled the princess as she left the wizard's house. Then the dragon reappeared and started laughing evilly. He said, "I'm going to have you for supper. With 2 ingredients. Carrots!" "AND?" asked the princess. The dragon got puzzled and tried to think of a second ingredient. "And, now to get away from here!" smiled the princess as she rushed off while the dragon was still thinking.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Hey Cullen. This thread might only be relevant to you and me, but hey.

Another Very Short Book

In the original nursery rhyme,

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe
She had so many children she didn’t know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread
And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

Almost sounds like my house, only Dad did the whipping.

In the Elecric Company version

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe
(Outside is either Rita or Judy, in a rocking chair, wearing a catcher’s mitt).

It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

It was stolen by a giant.
(Thanks to the magic of chroma key, a giant foot slips into the shoe and walks off, with the woman in hot pursuit).

And so, she moved into a sandal.
(she still had her rocking chair and mitt).

The End
Fifty years on, I appreciate these more now than I did when I was little.

The old lady did make another appearance.

Skip is a shoeshine boy, shining Morgan’s shoes.
His sign reads Shoeshine, ten cents.
He only shines one shoe. To get the other one shined, that would cost extra. If it said shoes Shine Ten Cents, that would be different. So Morgan storms off, not a satisfied customer.

The old woman comes along, and pays the price, with Skip smiling, “Snother sucker!”

Then she points down the block to her split-level shoe, and she got the best of the bargain.

 

[Xerus]

Hey Cullen. This thread might only be relevant to you and me, but hey.

Another Very Short Book

In the original nursery rhyme,

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe
She had so many children she didn’t know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread
And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

Almost sounds like my house, only Dad did the whipping.

In the Elecric Company version

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe
(Outside is either Rita or Judy, in a rocking chair, wearing a catcher’s mitt).

It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

It was stolen by a giant.
(Thanks to the magic of chroma key, a giant foot slips into the shoe and walks off, with the woman in hot pursuit).

And so, she moved into a sandal.
(she still had her rocking chair and mitt).

The End
Fifty years on, I appreciate these more now than I did when I was little.

The old lady did make another appearance.

Skip is a shoeshine boy, shining Morgan’s shoes.
His sign reads Shoeshine, ten cents.
He only shines one shoe. To get the other one shined, that would cost extra. If it said shoes Shine Ten Cents, that would be different. So Morgan storms off, not a satisfied customer.

The old woman comes along, and pays the price, with Skip smiling, “Snother sucker!”

Then she points down the block to her split-level shoe, and she got the best of the bargain.

Yes, I remember those Old Woman and shoe skits.

I also remember one where it showed Crank with a pair of galoshes. And was telling us about the Old Woman Who Lived in galoshes. Hattie Winston came in and told Crank it was a shoe, not galoshes. Crank and Hattie started arguing who was right. Then a tiny old woman, played by Judy Graubart, popped out of the galoshes and shouted. "Will you two keep it down?! I'm trying to sleep!" And she ducked back down. And Crank smiled and said, "See?" While Hattie became confused.

 

[Xerus]

Does anyone remember this classic TEC skit? I only remember seeing it once in my life and my memories are a little vague of it. We see a cement paver, played by Skip Hinnant, paving a sidewalk. And started writing the word SIDEWALK in his work. Just then, a jogger rushed by and stomped all over clean paved sidewalk and the paver looked shocked and annoyed. Then some more skits and cartoons happened. In part 2, the paver had repaved the sidewalk and wrote SIDEWALK again. Just then, a Scotsman came along and started to do a dance on the clean sidewalk for some reason and the paver became angry. Then some more skits and cartoons happened. In part 3, the now frustrated paver had finished the sidewalk for the third time and started writing SIDEWALK in it in an angry voice. Just then, he saw a person coming with really huge shoes. The paver finally had it and started stomping on the clean sidewalk himself before those shoes could ruin it. But the big shoes person was planning on walking in the other direction. It was a totally bad day for Skip the paver.