New Electric Company TV Show and DVD

[mikebennidict]

TEC TV Party article.

http://www.tvparty.com/lostelec.html posted this in another thread but I thought I'd post it again if any here missed it the first time.

 

[Ziffel]

Thought I'd post a few of my fun memories from TEC:

----- Morgan Freeman in a tub. Skip Hannant's voice says,"Hello sir, I see you are in a tub." Morgan says, "No, I am in a tube." "But I can see you are in a tub." "I am in a tube." "Tub." "Tube." Finally, Morgan stands up showing that he has a black inner tube around his waist. So he was in a tube in a tub!

----- Rita Moreno aims to throw a pie at a man.
Man: You wouldn't.
Rita: I would.
Man: You couldn't
Rita: (Laughs) I could.
Man: You shouldn't.
Rita: I should. (Throws pie and it freezes in the air a few inches in front of the man's face).
Man: You didn't. (Then the pie hits him).
Rita: (Laughing) I did!

----- The "Who is it?" "It's the plummer. I've come to fix the sink." skit.

----- The "We are out of sweet rolls." skit

----- The S words on the bedroom wall in shadowy figures (A ship? A shark! Sheep. A shovel? .... ) Morgan Freeman was in this.

----- Morgan Freeman and Bill Cosby battling each other for who can come up with the most ch words (chimpanzee, Chattanooga Choo Choo, charge, cheers...) At the end Bill Cosby turns around and on the back of his shirt it says, "Champ".

----- Morgan Freeman and woman watching a chess game and using both the conjunction way of saying things and vice versa.
"Who is winning?" "Who's winning? He is winning." "He's winning. It is over." "It's over." "Let's play checkers."

----- "Which way did that guy go?" "He went left." "Left?" "Right." "Well which is is it?"

----- All those spidermans, lettermans, Rita Moreno as the frantic movie deirector, and "A very short book" segments.

I really enjoyed the Very Short Books. Remember one that went:

Humpty Dumpty sat on wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses
And all the king's men
Had scrambled eggs for breakfast the next morning. (And I think Morgan Freeman is shown saying, "Pass the salt, sir.")


And there's a lot more but wanted to do a few for fun, and in advance of the upcoming dvds. Be interesting to see how many are included. Probably will get to see a lot of the Very Short books, which is great.

 

[mikebennidict]

if you read that article what do you think about Freeman not being happy with being on the series? i'm sure there are plenty of cases with actors and actresses not enjoying certain projects but in the case of TEC, because it was an educational series i'm sure those who produce such shows probably like it if they can enjoy what they are doing. here's a link to 1 of the cast members June Angela and she certainly enjoyed her time on TEC. http://www.juneangela.com/

 

[Ziffel]

It seems like Morgan Freeman was concerned he would be only known as "Easy Reader". But the fact that he remained on the show for the entire six year run makes me think he did enjoy being on the show. He did various other characters on the show too, as well as some isolated roles. So that probably served to alleviate that concern he had. I also thought it always looked like he was having a good time filming those sketches. And in any case, of course, he has gone on to do so many high quality movies that his initial concern is now completely the other way around (i.e. Most people know Morgan far better as a movie star than as "Easy Reader" or any other character on TEC. Quite a bit of people, actually, that I've told that Morgan Freeman was a regular on TEC have said, "Oh really?").
Thanks for both of those articles, Mike.

 

[abiraniriba]

2 young

You know, I have never ever seen this show. I dont even know what it's about..

The Electric Company was a show on PBS done by the CTW which taught children how to read. It was geared toward the kindergarten to 2nd grade education level of children and brought in many interesting pop culture references. Unlike SS it did not have any central scenes, however, it did have one puppet in a florist shop operated by a Puerto Rican florist there was a guard plant named Maurice who spoke with a heavy hispanic accent. If the Electric Company comes back I want to see him and Oscar's human counterpart J. Arthur Crank

 

[mikebennidict]

It seems like Morgan Freeman was concerned he would be only known as "Easy Reader". But the fact that he remained on the show for the entire six year run makes me think he did enjoy being on the show. He did various other characters on the show too, as well as some isolated roles. So that probably served to alleviate that concern he had. I also thought it always looked like he was having a good time filming those sketches. And in any case, of course, he has gone on to do so many high quality movies that his initial concern is now completely the other way around (i.e. Most people know Morgan far better as a movie star than as "Easy Reader" or any other character on TEC. Quite a bit of people, actually, that I've told that Morgan Freeman was a regular on TEC have said, "Oh really?").
Thanks for both of those articles, Mike.

Well it's common where an actor or actress can have a certain character the play or played remain with them. it's something everyone risks. I'm sure the same thing happened with Caroll O'Connor and Jean Stapplton who were Mr. and Mrs. Bunker on All In The Family. O'Connor was a little bit lucky that he later starred in In The Heat Of The Night though I don't think Stappleton has done much after that. I could be wrong about what I've heard or read about Freeman though the fact he was concerned about being continually known as Easy Reader sounds like he probably wasn't happy with the role and there are those who are aware of his role on TEC and I've even heard some have jokingly called him ER. 1 thing that's important to consider is while Cosby and Moneno were well known in their own right prior to TEC, Freeman wasn't and while I'm no expert on acting It's probably common for most actors to take anything in hopes to become famous. It does seem kind of odd he'd remain with TEC the whole 5 years it was in production and not be happy with it but even read once he had wanted to leave after the 1st season but didn't feel comfortable doing so. I even wonder with he might of took the job without giving it much thought. I remember the Behind The Music episode about David Cassidy wasn't all that happy being on The Partride Family or at least resented his place on it, being a teen idol did such a thing, signing a contract without thinking about it forcing him to remain for the whole 4 years it ran. He had a liking for Rock music, meaning his idols were people like Hendrix and would of rather of been like that instead of this so called teen idol where most at that time were clean cut sweet and not rebelious. and while I've not seen Freemans movies I undestand all of them are dramatic and not commical where as TEC resembled the old variety shows and naturally were more commical let alone Easy Reader's character was hip and whatever you call it and Freeman probably felt funny playing somebody that was in such a way. while these thing happen sometimes it's kind of unfortuate in this case considering TEC was an educational series and I'm sure most people who create and produce such shows would especially like those who star in them to enjoy it and take pride in what they've doing. teaching the young ones whatever the shows about and maybe Freeman did in a way but it probably wasn't one of his career's high points.

 

[Ziffel]

It brings to mind others I've read from time to time saying they get called by a certain character on the street a lot. For instance, William Frawley said something like, "People are always identifying me with that Fred Mertz character." He didn't seem too pleased with that. But it's understandable, because even though Frawley had a long career before "I Love Lucy", including vaudeville, "Lucy" was by far the biggest success (a nearly ten year tv run and number one in the ratings at least five of the years, I think).
Guess depending on the actor/actress they might not always enjoy a certain performance sticking so much.
Even if Morgan wasn't too happy doing TEC back then, I appreciate the good job he did and he sure provided enjoyment to me (and I'm sure millions) with the way he said his lines. Very gifted actor.

 

[mikebennidict]

what so interesting about all I've said about Morgan Freeman, the same year TEC started he starred in this Children's film. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067982/#comment doesn't say much but reading his bio, it claims it was a children's film. wonder what he thought about this one? anyway getting back to TEC. while the info in the TV Party article isn't complete I learned mostly from watching TEC reruns Noggin there were only 2 personal changes with the adults. Cosby left after the 1st season being replaced with Luis Avalos and Lee Chamberlian left in 73, replaced on Hattie Winston. As for the kids there were changes with them just about every year and the only 1 to remain throughout the whole run was June Angela aka Julie. The only 2 who came close were Melanie Henderson aka Kathy and Stephen Gustafson aka Buddy.

 

[Ziffel]

What's interesting about Cosby only being in the first season (which would have been 1971-1972) is that I recall quite a few of his skits. So I either have a really good memory (since I was only ages 4 and 5 those years) or they replayed his skits after he left the show. He was such a natural when it comes to kids. Loved that one on SS I brought up before where he says, "Hi I'm sitting here with my three friends."

 

[mikebennidict]

many skits were reused I mostly remember the last 2 seasons of the show because for whatever reasons from 77 till it's final airing in 1985 all that was reshown was that but I also saw Cosby and the others from the other seasons due to so many skits being reused.