The Classic Electric Company Memories Thread

[fuzzygobo]

I especially love the Cinderella book where Cinderella and the Prince were dancing, until it was midnight, and Cinderella turned into a pumpkin. And the Prince was dancing around with the pumpkin, not realizing she had changed.

My next favorite was Old Mother Hubbard (With Judy as Hubbard and Morgan Freeman in a dog costume).

Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard
To get her poor dog a bone.
But when she got there the cupboard was bare...

And so she ordered a pizza!

Morgan (with thick Italian accent and exaggerated hand gestures): "Eh! That's-a nice-a sauce-a!"

Always made me hungry to call up Frank's and order a pie. But you had to pick it up, no delivery.

 

[Xerus]

SHOESHINE 10 CENTS: Does anyone remember this classic skit? We see a shoeshine boy, played by Skip Hinnant. And a gentleman, played by Morgan Freeman. The gentleman asked for a shoeshine and he gave the boy 10 cents. The boy shined his first shoe in fast motion and said, "All done." The gentleman saw only one shoe shined and asked if he would shine the other shoe. "Sorry." said the boy, "The sign says, SHOESHINE, 10 CENTS, not SHOES SHINE 10 CENTS." The gentleman offered the boy another dime if he would shine the other shoe. And the boy said, "Shoes Shines are a dollar." The gentleman got outraged and left. "You're going to look ridiculous with only one shoe shined!" called out the boy and then started snickering at the scam he just created. Then an old woman, played by Judy Graubart, came and asked for a shoeshine. The boy thought he found another sucker and told her to put her foot up. The woman said her shoe was over there. And she pointed right. It turned out she was the old woman who lived in a shoe, and that scheming boy frowned and realized he had to shine that woman's entire house from top to bottom for only 10 cents.

 

[fuzzygobo]

SHOESHINE 10 CENTS: Does anyone remember this classic skit? We see a shoeshine boy, played by Skip Hinnant. And a gentleman, played by Morgan Freeman. The gentleman asked for a shoeshine and he gave the boy 10 cents. The boy shined his first shoe in fast motion and said, "All done." The gentleman saw only one shoe shined and asked if he would shine the other shoe. "Sorry." said the boy, "The sign says, SHOESHINE, 10 CENTS, not SHOES SHINE 10 CENTS." The gentleman offered the boy another dime if he would shine the other shoe. And the boy said, "Shoes Shines are a dollar." The gentleman got outraged and left. "You're going to look ridiculous with only one shoe shined!" called out the boy and then started snickering at the scam he just created. Then an old woman, played by Judy Graubart, came and asked for a shoeshine. The boy thought he found another sucker and told her to put her foot up. The woman said her shoe was over there. And she pointed right. It turned out she was the old woman who lived in a shoe, and that scheming boy frowned and realized he had to shine that woman's entire house from top to bottom for only 10 cents.

I remember when Skip snickered "Another sucker!" I repeated that with a word that rhymes with "sucker", and my older sister smacked me so hard I might've lost a tooth. 8)

 

[fuzzygobo]

Denise Nickerson also got to sing a song on her own. All about a "loose tooth" and all the foods she can't eat. The one line that killed me was
"I got a loose tooth and I can't eat pizza!"
If you told 5-year-old me I couldn't have pizza, you would've seen the mother of all meltdowns.

 

[Xerus]

VEAL, VEGETABLES, AND VANILLA: Does anyone remember this cartoon by Fred Garbers? We see a little boy at a dinner table with a dog by his feet. A mom's voice called out, "Are you eating your veal?" "Yes Mom," said the boy, but he actually fed the veal to the dog. "Are you eating your vegetables?" asked the Mom. "Yes, Mom," said the boy as he fed the vegetables to the dog too. "Are you ready for your ice cream?" asked the mom, "It's vanilla." "Oh boy!" cheered the boy, "I love vanilla!" "Hold it!" grumbled the dog, "I ate the veal and I ate the vegetables, so I should get to eat the vanilla!" And he tossed the boy out of his chair and sat on it, just as the Mom came in with the ice cream. "Here's your vanilla," said the mom, not realizing the dog was now in the chair. "I think it's time you need a haircut," she said, ruffling the dog's hair.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Another mainstay of the series (including a couple live remakes):
One cartoon guy would stick a message on the wall with a warning:
"Here's another message, pal.
Read it and heed it!"
The main character would read it several times, sometimes mispronouncing the word or not comprehending the meaning until it's too late.

One such case, the sign says "Slippery When Wet!" Sure enough, he slips on the floor he just mopped, and falls into his bucket.

His biggest scare, the sign is posted "Not Safe For Swimming!" He understands the swimming part, and jumps in the water. Everything's fine until a tidal wave drowns him in a sea of garbage and industrial waste.
Anti-pollution. Very timely for the 70s.

 

[Xerus]

Another mainstay of the series (including a couple live remakes):
One cartoon guy would stick a message on the wall with a warning:
"Here's another message, pal.
Read it and heed it!"
The main character would read it several times, sometimes mispronouncing the word or not comprehending the meaning until it's too late.

One such case, the sign says "Slippery When Wet!" Sure enough, he slips on the floor he just mopped, and falls into his bucket.

His biggest scare, the sign is posted "Not Safe For Swimming!" He understands the swimming part, and jumps in the water. Everything's fine until a tidal wave drowns him in a sea of garbage and industrial waste.
Anti-pollution. Very timely for the 70s.

In the later sign reading episodes, they decided to be a lot nicer to the guy. Like when he read, Blow a Kiss, a girl ended up showering him with kisses. And, Feed the Dog, the guy feeds his dog and the dogs starts hugging him lovingly.

 

[Xerus]

Here's an audio of Hattie Winston singing, Temptation. It sounds so groovy and 70's.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Blubber!!!!

A group of Eskimo kids are playing baseball at the North Pole. Morgan Freeman is the blubber man (in warmer climates it's the ice cream man)
pushing his cart on a sled.

Luis is a kid (bald kid with a mustache) begging his mom for money.
Judy is his mom: "You don't need blubber! Now get inside and eat your supper!"
Luis: "Awww Mom, pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaasssssse?"
She almost gives in, but has to clear it with Dad.
"Frank! He wants blubber!"
Skip: "Don't bother me now! I'm giving the seal a bath!!!"

After much whining, pleading, begging, and shaking down, he finally gets his blubber money.

"Blubber man! Gimme a marshmallow blubber with sprinkles and a cherry!"

All is well again, the kids have their blubber, and instead of eating it, they use the blubber as baseballs for their game!

This skit touched a universal chord. Growing up in the 70's begging Mom for ice cream money was a daily summer ritual.

But 25 cents bought you a Good Humor bar, a frozen candy bar (if you like Snickers, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, or Charleston Chew, pop one in the freezer and thank me later), a snow cone, or best of all, a watermelon Italian ice! 8)

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

Denise Nickerson also got to sing a song on her own. All about a "loose tooth" and all the foods she can't eat. The one line that killed me was
"I got a loose tooth and I can't eat pizza!"
If you told 5-year-old me I couldn't have pizza, you would've seen the mother of all meltdowns.

I wonder if that clip is out there.