The Electric Company

This was a great show that displayed a lot of talented individuals, had music that did not need to be as good as it was for a show on PBS kids, and had always funny and interesting story lines. The aesthetic is nostalgic, perfectly encapsulating the look of the late 2000s-early 2010s. It's an amazing show. Even the animations, of which there were many, were really good and well made. This show is a piece of art, and I plan to show it to my potential future kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. I think this show is hugely responsible for my pursuit of art and taste in music. The only complaint is that this show has a serious Lin-Manuel Miranda infestation. Luckily, he is not a part of the main cast, but makes far too many cameos. It is an unfortunate reality that this rat has managed to wriggle his way into many otherwise amazing pieces of television and film. That said, it still gets a 9 out of 10 for me, missing only one point due to LMR.

This show is AWESOME! It teaches reading, and phonetics through music, graphics, and fun story lines. My 19 month old son, and 4 year old daughter both love this show. It's hard to find kid shows that don't drive me, as the mom, crazy. This is one that I don't mind having on at all. I can't wait for the DVD of the seasons to come out so that we can have it in the car for our road trips. Many of the themes taught are: Honesty, Integrity, overcoming shyness, being true to yourself, and working well with others. Even the 'bad guys' known as the Pranksters, have their shining moments where they join the forces of 'good.' I love the way it teaches about silent 'e' and ways to remember grammatical rules. Kids are learning through fun, bright, music and artistic demonstrations.

Who learns anything about reading or lettering, from jumping around and filibuster cringe rapping? This light show is all smoke and mirrors and no experience. Never gets to any point, never fills with anything but filler. Zero education/edutainment, just Vanilla Ice:ing seasoned with white guilt extras and complete lack of support for the child mind. Expose your child to actually stimulance or accept the blame for them falling behind in life.

Growing up on educational television, I have to say The Electric Company reboot was a welcome surprise. PBS did an amazing job taking a classic show and giving it new life. The cast is energetic, multicultural. Jenni Barber and Priscilla bring a lot of charm to their performances. Josh Segarra is also charming as Hector, They were able to weave in the educational content without it coming across as boring.

One of the things that I admire most is the way it recognizes children as intelligent. This is valuable because nothing is condescending about the way it relates to children. It treats phonics, grammar, and vocabulary as just a set of tools children drew on to achieve correctness; sometimes even in order to outsmart ridiculous villains like Francine and the Pranksters. It has just the right levels of humor, music, and action to keep the interest of kids in learning. And, it is well produced for a wide audience. The animation is sharp, the songs catchy, and the script intelligent enough to even make adults smile. If you are a parent or educator looking for quality meaty material, I suggest finding some time for this show. It's not only nostalgic-it's good. I wish only that more kids' television worked off this model.