The Classic Electric Company Memories Thread

[Lucas Kablookas]

Also, I did view two issues of The Electric Company Magazine on the Internet Archive today (one from September 1984, and another from 1976 or 1977). They were supposedly later issues, as I did not see anything involving cast members (it was definitely during a time when non-CTW properties, such as Hanna-Barbera and comic strip characters, and even Miss Piggy, and celebrities such as Michael Jackson, appeared on covers, which occurred in the late 1970s through the changeover to the publication's rebranding to Kid City in 1988. I did discover Spidey Super Stories comic stories in such publications, but they did not feature any of the show's cast - in fact, Peter Parker's girlfriend, Mary Jane, did appear, and the stories (which were only four or five pages long) were more true to Marvel Comics style - I wonder if many were recycled in later issues?

I certainly hope that someday, more issues of The Electric Company Magazine will see the light of day on the Internet Archive.

Back to the show, I remember the final segment of the series, "That's All", which featured the entire cast and the Short Circus, but Rita Moreno never appeared in that closing number. Was Rita Moreno on maternity leave at the time?

I also didn’t see her in the reprise of “One Word After Another”. Hmmm…

 

[Lucas Kablookas]

Another popular cartoon series on TEC was the monolith series. Where we see constant monoliths in space, and they crumble revealing the sound of the day.

Let me see if I can list them all.
AI - aliens nudge each other on the shoulder and whisper "AI!" into the next one's ears. The last one bumps the monolith by mistake. (Didn't something similar happen on Sesame Street?)
ALK - right there in the video.
ALL - and old man’s dinner is interrupted by an ALL bumping into his floating room. “ALL… ALL!”
EA - an alien tries to hear the echo for his “EA!” sound from atop a mountain, but it never comes, so he shouts it louder and there it is, right behind him!
EE - a monkey finds the two giant E’s in the jungle and chatters, “EE, EE, EE, EE!”
OO - lots of purple extraterrestrials marvel at the sight. “OOOOOOO!”
OW - an astronaut learns why you should never kick a monolith. “OW, OW, OW!”
SH - one astronaut keeps shushing the other, and he finds out why when they see the monolith behind a rock. “SH!”
WAS - two astronauts stumble upon what WAS an ancient civilization, and make another big find in the form of a monolith. "WAS that what I think it WAS?"

And there's one more, but this one's for an entire word: two explorers of the cosmos get the feeling they're unwelcome on the planet they've landed on when they see a monolith crumble into a big, all-caps SCRAM!

 

[Lucas Kablookas]

Remember Theater in the Dark? It played through Seasons 1 and 2 and showed speech bubbles but not the cast themselves. Lee and Rita performed "No Can Do" in Show 14...

L: "I can't."
R: "You can."
L: "I can't."
R: "You can!"
L: "I can?"
R: "You can!"
L: "I can... I can!... I CAN!"
R: "You can, but I wish you wouldn't."

Another show that played at Theater in the Dark was "And Leave the Driving to Gus", a continuation of the "Gus, Go Get Gas" sketch starring Fargo North, Decoder. Bill and Lee performed the voices of Gus and Gert...

B: "It won't go, Gert."
L: "Did you get gas, Gus?"
B: "I got gas, Gert."
L: "I don't get it. If you got gas, why won't it go?"
B: "I give up."
L: "Gun the motor again, Gus."
(The motor starts running!)
B: "There it goes, Gert."
L: "Good going, Gus."

Finally, Bill and Morgan performed "Back to Back with Jack and Mack"...

M: "Hey, Jack!"
B: "What is it, Mack?"
M: "I need a job."
B: "Can you carry a pack?"
M: "I don't have the knack."
B: "You only need a strong back."
M: "That's something I lack."
B: "Then what will you do, Mack?"
M: "I think I'll hit the sack."

 

[YellowYahooey]

"Theater in the Dark" reminds me of "The Burbles" segments on the classic UK-produced children's art series Vision On.

Also, I discovered something about a live-action "pass" sketch in Show 165. Isn't that the same set from Sesame Street? It sure looks familiar.

 

[Lucas Kablookas]

"Theater in the Dark" reminds me of "The Burbles" segments on the classic UK-produced children's art series Vision On.

Also, I discovered something about a live-action "pass" sketch in Show 165. Isn't that the same set from Sesame Street? It sure looks familiar.

I KNOW! I was thinking about that just yesterday!

Skip Hinnant hosted "YOU WEREN'T THERE", a show all about events in history you missed because you weren't born yet, were out of town, or just weren't paying attention. In one episode, George Washington (Morgan) gave suggestions to Betsy Ross (Judy) on what the third color for the American Flag should be - green? Brown? Pink? Of course, blue was the only color she had left...

In another installment, Alexander Graham Cracker (Jimmy) tested out his new invention, the telephone, by saying "Hello, this is a very happy day!" into it... and accidentally won a morning call-in show by doing so.

"And you weren't there. Aren't you glad?"

 

[YellowYahooey]

I noticed the recently uploaded episodes are gone from YT now. What happened to them?

 

[Lucas Kablookas]

I noticed the recently uploaded episodes are gone from YT now. What happened to them?

I felt like recording episodes from Amazon was stealing.

 

[Lucas Kablookas]

IT'LL KILL YA!!

Boy, June Angela was really driving the point home on that one! One of your scarier sketches…
…unless you remember the song about signs at the carnival in which you got a brief peek at these two things: “The Fun House where you’ll laugh til you cry, the Haunted House where you’ll scream…”

 

[Lucas Kablookas]

Finley, Fenwick, and Fred.

In the first season, the cast threw a baseball around ("Carmela, to Brenda, to Hank").
Next season, a crew in orange coveralls help Judy move.
Finley (Skip Hinnant),
Fenwick (Morgan Freeman),
and Fred (Jim Boyd) take great pride in singing with revised lyrics and breaking Judy's dishes with their sloppy move.

Judy gets the last line of the song, "Here's the glue!!!" , and brings out a giant Costco- sized bottle of the sticky stuff.

Folks, if you (or your parents) ever hire a moving company, this is why you make sure they are licensed, insured, and bonded.

JJ to Brenda to Mark
From the moment we get to the park
We’re the double play combo who spark every game

JJ to Brenda to Hank
Being utterly, brutally frank
We’re the trio the team has to thank for its fame!

Shortstop to second to first
If you like, we can do it reversed
First base to second to short, what a sport!

Carmela to Brenda to Hank
Sure as money that’s safe in the bank
We’re the reason our team has its rank and acclaim…

(Once again, Judy has the last line…)
And they‘re also the reason we’ve lost every game!

 

[Lucas Kablookas]

One other neat cartoon:
A talking apostrophe s shows all the things that belong to Ted.
The camera pulls back to show a sea of blinking, glowing neon lights. Looks like Times Square on New Year's Eve.
Ted's Burgers
Ted's Drive-In
Ted's Pizza
Ted's Movies
Ted's Drugstore
Ted's electric bill...
Then there's a blinding flash, and everything goes dark.

Time to call Ted's repairman.

“If your name were Ted, we could own the world!”

That was by Bruce Cayard, who also animated this one: a man reads a sign.
”He bites.”
He notices another man holding a dog.
”Awww, he bites?”
Then he gets bitten, not by the dog but by the other man!
“Oh, HE bites!”