The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series produced by Sesame Workshop and developed by Karen Fowler. It is a reboot of the 1971 series of the same name. The series aired on PBS Kids from January 23, 2009, to April 4, 2011 with reruns continuing on PBS until August 31, 2014. The series also aired reruns on HBO Kids on HBO Family from January 1, 2016, until November 1, 2020, as part of HBO's deal with Sesame Workshop. On some services, the series is called The New Electric Company to distinguish it from the 1971–77 series.The New Electric Company hulu. Retrieved March 17, 2023
Premise The new version has similar short animations, parodies, sketches, and music videos to those seen in the original show, but each episode also features a story line designed to teach four to five vocabulary words with a mix of hip-hop or contemporary R&B-style music.
Each story revolves around the Electric Company, a group of tween and teen literacy heroes who battle a group of neighborhood vandals dubbed the Pranksters. The heroes' headquarters is the Electric Diner, where their friend Shock, a beat-boxing short-order cook who also appears in the short-form segments, resides.
In a nod to the original series, each episode's opening has a Company member call on the others to assemble by yelling "Hey, you guys!"a line that (as yelled by Rita Moreno) led off the opening sequence of seasons two, five, and six. In "Scrambled Brains", Annie announces the opening line, as her normal character had switched bodies with Lisa. Other nods to the original series include appearances by Paul the Gorilla and updated versions of the soft-shoe silhouette segments in which words are sounded out.
The revival includes interactive Web elements and is promoted and extended via community-outreach projects. The first season consisted of 28 weekly episodes. A second season consisting of twelve episodes began airing on January 18, 2010. A third season debuted on February 7, 2011, and ended on April 4, 2011, with new Company member Marcus and new Prankster Gilda. Later airings of episodes omit Jessica saying the five words and went straight to the episode.
Characters
Main CharacterActor / Actress Season(s) Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Hector Ruiz Josh Segarra colspan="3" Lisa Heffenbacher Jenni Barber colspan="2" Jessica Ruiz Priscilla Star Diaz colspan="3" Keith Watson Ricky Smith colspan="3" Marcus Barnes Coy Stewart colspan="2" colspan="1" Francine Carruthers Ashley Austin Morris colspan="3" Manny Spamboni Dominic Colón colspan="3" Danny Rebus William Jackson Harper colspan="3" Annie Scrambler Sandie Rosa colspan="3" Gilda Flip Carly Rose Sonenclar colspan="2" colspan="1" Shock Chris Sullivan colspan="3" Mario Lin-Manuel Miranda colspan="3" Leo Watson L. Steven Taylor colspan="1" colspan="1" P.J. Watson Kyle Massey colspan="1" colspan="1"
The Electric Company The Electric Company consists of a group of five friends who protect the neighborhood from the Pranksters. They all have the power to throw wordballs, blue magical balls that create words on any surface. Each member has a special skill.
Hector Ruiz (played by Josh Segarra) is the oldest member and leader of the Electric Company, who has the power to replay any image that he sees, much like a video camera. Hector is very athletic, showing particular skill at basketball. He once had a fear of beetles. In season 3, he becomes the new owner of the Electric Diner. Hector is always the one to go to if there is trouble, and he also has a strong rivalry with Manny due to a limerick contest many years ago, going back to when they were kids. He is friendly with Danny, even though they share a similar rivalry. Jessica Ruiz (played by Priscilla "Star" Diaz) is Hector's younger sister who is a talented rapper. Jessica has a power similar to her brother'sshe can replay any word or phrase that she hears, much like a tape recorder. Jessica is confident, yet occasionally brash, especially when it comes to dealing with the Pranksters, particularly Manny. She loves to rap. She also looks after Marcus, as he is the youngest and newest member of the Electric Company. Jessica became the host of the vocabulary segment at the beginning of each episode starting with "The Limerick Slam". Keith Watson (played by Ricky Smith) is the member of the Electric Company who can generate images in mid-air, which especially comes in handy when explaining difficult words, and can also magnify images as well. Keith is logical and level-headed and frequently creates solutions for dealing with the Pranksters' tricks. Keith is good at basketball, like Hector. Keith first discovered his power while playing Horse with Hector when saying he wanted an E and threw a wordball at the word. His father was the original owner of the Electric Diner. Lisa Heffenbacher (played by Jenni Barber) is a pretty, well-liked girl who has the power to unscramble any anagram that she finds. Lisa is very smart and excels at science. She has a strong and constant rivalry with Annie, since the latter caused numerous headaches for her. In the season 3 premiere, it is revealed in a hovering TV screen that she is traveling with a science program. However, Hector keeps her posted with what's happening in the neighborhood. She was seemingly written off the show, although Jenni Barber did do a few educational commercials for The Electric Company during that season. Marcus Barnes (played by Coy Stewart) is the newest and youngest member of the Electric Company, who made his introduction in season 3. He first discovered his wordball power while playing baseball. He has math skills as his powers and uses them to effectively solve math problems. He likes numbers, has good athletic abilities, and always has a craving for waffles with a love of pickles. Francine suspiciously refers to him as Marty Farms.
Allies Shock (played by Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan himself) is a short-order cook at the Electric Diner, where the Company converges when trouble occurs. Shock rarely speaks directly, instead he beatboxes and uses his hands to act out ideas. In later episodes, however, he speaks normally. He appears in some segments with Jessica, particularly the closing segment. P.J. Watson (played by Kyle Massey) is Keith's eccentric cousin who appeared in season 2. He starred in Lisa's movie and got help from her to write a paper from back home about an old Western story in a refrigerator. Leo Watson (played by L. Steven Taylor) is the proprietor of the Electric Diner and Keith's father. In Season 3, he opens up a new restaurant and passes the diner to Hector, who becomes the owner. The Great Calvero (played by Jason Antoon) is the local magician who performs in the park. Bandini is Calvero's brother, who was trapped in a painting, but the Electric Company got him out of the painting and reunited him with Calvero. Mario (played by Lin-Manuel Miranda) is Shock's best friend and a hip-hop MC. He makes guest appearances along with Shock in some musical segments. Sammy Spamboni (played by Sean Mana) is Manny's younger brother, who was frozen by Manny many times but gave the Electric Company advice on to how unfreeze Keith. Paul the Gorilla (played by Steven Freitas) was a recurring character on the original show and was the only character brought back for the new series. In the new incarnation, however, he is far more restrained and less vocal. Dax (played by James Miles) is a Skeleckian and a good friend of Lisa's who sometimes gets the company tied up in his issues, such as getting shrunk and having a steering wheel stolen, and almost getting some cheese stolen by the Pranksters. Polly Hashimoto (played by Ann Harada) is a local author whose books are found in the library. She appears in the episode "One Smart Cookie". Emily is a friend of Marcus Barnes who dresses as George Washington during the 4th of July celebration in one episode. Wiki Wiki Walter (played by Joshua Torrez) is Shock's old friend who appeared in an episode as the titular character. It is revealed that he was the one who taught Shock how to beatbox. However, after Shock beats him in a beatboxing match, he called off their relationship. They eventually reconciled near the end of the episode. Charles Abercrombie is the head of the Block association who camp to Sigmund's tent for petitions signed by neighbors of to remove the tent permanently because of the welcoming. Benny is Hector and Jessica's pet dog. Amy Scrambler (played by Emma Kantor) is Annie's younger sister who Annie babysat in "He's Not Frozen, He's Immobile". Jules (played by Aleisha Allen) is Jessica's old friend who moved Minnehaha where they held the Hamster Olympics. She came to visit for Jessica's birthday.
The Heffenbacher Family The following family members only appear in the second-season episode:
Caroline (played by Deborah Rush) is Lisa's mother. When asked, she reveals the family tree of the Heffenbachers and then says to her daughter that Cordelia was a traitor. Mildred is Lisa's aunt. She generously allows her niece and her friends to find out about Cordelia. Cordelia Heffenbacher (also portrayed by Jenni Barber) is Lisa's great-great-great-great-great-great aunt. She was first mentioned by Annie Scrambler saying that she was a traitor, but Lisa proves that Annie was wrong. Cordelia distracted the British Redcoats by offering them donuts.
The Pranksters The Pranksters are the Electric Company's enemies. Unlike the Electric Company, only Francine has the ability to throw word balls, and the Pranksters are only occasionally seen all together.
Francine Carruthers (played by Ashley Austin Morris) is the vandalistic leader of the Pranksters. She has the same power as the Electric Company the ability to generate wordballs, except that hers are violet. Francine has a very high opinion of her own intelligence. Most of her plots involve making herself look good at the expense of the company. In Season 3, she gets an assistant named Gilda Flip. She usually calls Marcus "Marty Farms" and usually gets 100 to 200 presents for her birthday. Annie Scrambler (played by Sandie Rosa) is a selfish, bratty girl who is frequently envious of the accomplishments of others. She has the power to scramble any word or sentence with a stomp of her foot which results in making new words, but sometimes she scrambles existing words to create nonexistent ones. Annie is often jealous of the Electric Company's good luck and sometimes works with her Uncle Sigmund, who is a noted hypnotist, to get back at her rivals. She also is a beginner hypnotist learning from Uncle Sigmund. She will work with the Electric Company if she has to, such as to help her uncle out in "Bananas". Danny Rebus (played by William Jackson Harper) is a suave, sophisticated Prankster. He can turn any sentence into a rebus puzzle. Most of his messages make fun of the Electric Company. Danny is very proud, yet has a touchy personality, being easily offended. He often accuses the Electric Company of making him look bad, promising vengeance. He has helped the Electric Company out on occasion when it benefits him. Despite being a Prankster, he is also the most moral member of the group. He is very loyal to whomever he considers his friend, although he feels he has to have a best friend, saying the Danny Rebus way is all or nothing. He seems to genuinely care about whoever is nice to him, not caring if they're pranksters or not.