Hey You Guuuuuuuuuuuuys!

Have you heard that the Sesame Workshop (the production company that has produced many great children’s television programs, including Sesame Street, Dragon Tales, and 3-2-1 Contact, among others) has resurrected and revamped The Electric Company?  I fondly remember this show—that featured the likes of Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, and Morgan Freeman, among others—from my childhood.  When I heard it was being rebooted, I was skeptical.  

Check out this Then and Now spot and then come back.  

Sonar X4 and I have watched two of the new episodes, and at first I thought it was completely cheeseball.  But I’m trying to keep an open mind and give it a chance.  The storylines and the acting are fully campy, but familiar features like the Sound-out silhouettes are there.  A number of celebrities have appeared already, including retired NFL player and sports commentator Tiki Barber.  

After one whole episode, I started to warm to it.  The camp aside, the show, which claims to target six to nine year olds, does not talk down to kids, and pulls in a good variety of simple words and more advanced words when demonstrating a concept.  

For example, in the episode we watched today, they were talking about “-ight.”  They started with the standard words—“right,” “light,” “might,” etc.—but went on to do “frightening,” “bullfight” and others that pushed beyond the basics in a clever way.  They even joked about how it can be confusing that sometimes the sound is spelled “-ight” and sometimes it’s spelled “-ite.”

But today, I was completely won over by this closing music video.  I defy you to not get a warm fuzzy feeling in your chest, or to not at least tap your feet.  I admit to doing the electric slide through the kitchen when I listened to the video a second time.  Shh, don’t tell anyone.  

So I’d say the show is worth a look-see (or a Plug in, if you want to follow the electricity metaphors), if it’s available in your area, even if you don’t have a young person around to share it with.