The Best of The Electric Company
by Henry Behar, John Tracy (II), Bob Schwarz
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DVD Cover Information
Director: Bob Schwarz, Henry Behar, John Tracy (II)DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 630 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Shout! Factory
Movie Reviews of The Best of The Electric Company
Movie Review: This show was/is still way ahead of it's time
Summary: 4 Stars
About a month ago I broke down and ordered this first vol 4 disc set to have when my new LCD HDTV arrived and both arrived within a week of each other. To be honest, I was buying this for ME as I have no children.
First of all, I was in the 1rst grade when this ground breaking show first hit the airwaves in 1971 and if I recall, it ran on my local PBS station in the late afternoons during the week, often followed by Sesame Street right before the evening programming began.
I have to say that I think part of why I read so well and have such a command of the English language may well be because of this ground breaking show and as the years wore on - especially after it went off the air in 1985, I found myself at times recalling various segments, the sillhuette heads sounding out words, the music anyway was what I would recall, then I recall the Adventures of Letterman and other segments of the show. Well, fast forward to the DVD I now own and I have to say, I'm not dissapointed at all. In fact, I'm giddy that they chose to represent the shows, as they aired on PBS, including the original PBS logo at the end.
Let me just say this, while geared to the 7-9 YO child learning to read, or read better, it also appeals to adults like me who recall viewing this as a child of a similar age. First off, this is as much a trip down memory lane as anything else and I'm almost through with viewing all of the DVD's in this first set (the last disc remains) and I've enjoyed viewing what they have included and have also enjoyed how the show has evolved over time. I'd forgotten the variations of the theme used in this show and seeing Rita Morano, Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby and others go about helping the child learning to read in a hip fashion is such a refreshing thing to see in this day and age, let alone back then.
It was, coincidentally here on the Electric company that I first heard of Rita Morano and then later realized she'd done much more than this later on. The graphics used, while simple and crude by today's standards, were way ahead of it's time due to what technology was available at the time.
The DVD quality is supurb, given that this show was largely recorded to 2" video tape. Some of the animated segments were indeed done to film and then transfered to tape during production. Given all of that and given that the 2" Quad format was at best capable of 400 lines of video resolution - and given the age of the material, some of it over 35 YO now and given that what we are seeing on this DVD may not be the first gen 2" masters, but a subsequent dub before the digital transfer, they all look quite good and render themselves very well on today's higher rez TV's despite the occasional drop out. That is in large part due to the quality of the digital transfer from older analoge video tape and the audio is supurb for it's time as well. I'm pleasantly surprised by that, given that older TV programming is often not known for being of high audio quality.
A nit pick and that is, to my ears anyway, all newer voice overs are hard to understand, unlike the program itself, that is the bumps highlighting a fact between episodes and the intro's at the beginning of each episode amongst them and I listen through my stereo system, which is known for being quite clear sounding overall.
Whether an actual kid, or a kid at heart in an adult body, this series will not dissapoint you as it's found to be just as entertaining for adults as for children. True, not all of the material will be understood by kids, but the adults will get the subtle subtext of some of the skits and that's a testament to how the show was thought out and produced - again, way ahead for it's time, and still is fresh and relavent today.
Summary of The Best of The Electric Company
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.
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