| | |  | MOTOWN | Home » » » The Best of the Best of Electric Company | | | | | | | Description: | | The Best Of The Best Of The Electric Company™ FEATURING BILL COSBY, MORGAN FREEMAN, RITA MORENO and More! "We’re gonna turn it on.
We’re gonna bring you the power." 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. The show was so terrific that it attracted major talent. In addition to stars Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman and Rita Moreno, Joan Rivers, Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel were the characters in "The Adventures Of Letterman." Mel Brooks was the voice of the animated Blond-Haired Cartoon Man. The satirist Tom Lehrer wrote ten songs for the shows. 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 Letterman, Easy Reader, J. Arthur Crank, Fargo North, Decoder, the Short Circus, Jennifer of the Jungle, and all the rest with THE BEST OF THE BEST OF THE ELECTRIC COMPANY.™ 5 GREAT EPISODES, INCLUDING SERIES PREMIERE SPECIAL FEATURES
Rita Moreno Remembers
Outtakes
New Episode Intros by Rita Moreno
Trivia | | | Features: | |
• The Best Of The Best Of The Electric Company™ FEATURING BILL COSBY, MORGAN FREEMAN, RITA MORENO and More! "We re gonna turn it on. We re gonna bring you the power." 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 we
| | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Jim Boyd, Morgan Freeman, Judy Graubart, Skip Hinnant, Rita Moreno | | Format:
| Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Shout Factory Theatr | | Run Time:
| 165 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| March 07, 2006 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 19 reviews |
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| $8.45 | New | | | $8.46 | New | | | $8.46 | New | | | $8.71 | New | | | $9.00 | New | | | $9.25 | New | | | $9.39 | New | | | $9.78 | New | | | $9.78 | New | | | $9.83 | New | | | $9.99 | New | | | $10.02 | New | | | $10.34 | New | | | $10.49 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | New | | | $10.53 | New | | | $10.99 | New | | | $11.08 | New | | | $11.41 | New | | | $11.72 | New | | | $11.72 | New | | | $11.99 | New | | | $11.99 | New | | | $12.57 | New | | | $13.98 | New | | | $14.21 | New | | | $14.45 | New | | | $16.11 | New | | | $44.44 | New | | | $44.80 | New | | | $119.99 | New | |
| Used | |
| $3.98 | Used
- Good | | | $3.98 | Used
- Good | | | $4.98 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $4.99 | Used
- Mint | | | $6.76 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $6.90 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $7.02 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $8.99 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $10.48 | Used
- Mint | | | $10.99 | Used
- Mint | | | $13.43 | Used
- Mint | | | $14.45 | Used
- Mint | | | $15.06 | Used
- Good | | | $38.38 | Used
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| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 19 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
90 of 90 found the following review helpful:
 5 episodes is not enough....Mar 27, 2006
By Low-Ranking Reviewer
"tell it like it is"
Trust me, you're gonna want more. I made the 'mistake' of buying this(the single-disc version of their 'best of' box set) awhile back because I remembered watching this when i was a kid back in the 70's, but didn't fully remember how much i enjoyed it. So i played it safe and bought this bargain-priced sampler dvd with 5 episodes(spanning the series entire run including the pilot episode). Anyway, when i first saw it again, i just had this big grin on my face as nostalgia of me watching this as a kid went through my mind. Unfortunately, after i exhausted the 5 episodes, i was craving for more. Then i realized...I should've bought the bigger, 20-episode, 'Best of'(@ about $40) box set. Solution? I'll just give this to my nieces to introduce them to this wonderful 70's 'kids' show, while i order the box set for me. Don't worry, i'll share the box set with my nieces as well.
About the show though, it's been said that it was a show for kids to help them learn, and be interested in, reading. The reason why so many adults like it now and can still appreciate it though(outside of it being a nostalgic 70's time capsule), is because it taught its lessons through clever, interesting, or hip comedy skits and animations. It helps that you had a great cast of regulars too like Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman, etc and even Spider-Man! And the list of memorable, long-running skits and animated segments is just too numerous to mention here. And that theme song...catchy as heck. And the ever-changing, opening montage credit sequences set to that theme song...cheesy and fun as heck.
Ok, the dvd. It comes with a few minutes of outtakes, trivia to open and close the episodes, and a nice Rita Moreno interview(who also does the episode intros). I'm not a dvd-expert, but the picture quality looks great considering this is a 70's public broadcasting show. The mono sound you're gonna have to turn up, but hopefully you've got some type of enhanced audio system anyway(some good musical bits plus the theme song demand that you have a stereo hook-up at the very least). Overall, if you're unfamiliar with this show, the 5-episode $10 version is a great intro and highly recommended. But i can almost guarantee you're gonna want to see more and you're probably going to purchase the 20-episode $40 version at some point so keep that in mind. Die-hard fans(esp with kids) should go straight to the box set, or hope they release season sets soon.
64 of 65 found the following review helpful:
Wonderful to reminisce over, but...Mar 23, 2006
By 70s Girl
I loved The Electric Company when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s. Why they took it off of television is beyond me. My husband and I loved watching the DVD and reminiscing over our favorite characters and sketches. Morgan Freeman is my all time favorite from this show. My 5 and 7 year olds were automatically hooked on the show after one episode! But I do have one complaint about this particular DVD. There is the offer to buy this AND the Best of Electric Company together. My advice...don't buy them together! They fail to tell you that the five episodes on "Best of the Best" are also included on the 4 disc set, so you will have 2 copies of these five episodes if you buy both. But the entertaining and educational memories from this show are priceless; I wouldn't return them for anything!
12 of 13 found the following review helpful:
WonderfulAug 24, 2006
By C. Porter
I had to have these for my son. I believe that we have lost a lot in childrens programming over the last few decades. Unfortunately, it is our children's education that is being lost. Today's programming is being overun with entertainment rather than learning. I happen to find that there are some programs that are educational and entertaining at the same time. Unlike most of today's shows! The Electric Company teaches children in a comical way how to read using phonics. What other show today does that?
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Hey You Guys!!!Feb 03, 2007
By Andrea Wilmer
After first hand experience with the Electric Company I thought my kids (age 4 and 6) would also enjoy the shows. Sure enough both were transfixed by punctuation ensembles and phonetic banter. What a groovy way to learn (who can resist Easy Reader?).
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Great content, but previews are not for kids!Nov 06, 2009
By M. Pavone
The Electric Company did a great job of helping me learn how to read when I was a kid, and when I noticed my son has the same problems that I had this DVD was my first idea to help him. The sketches are nice in that they move at a slower pace than TV does these days, so kids have time to absorb what is going on. The humor is always there, and in many cases sneaks up on you before you see it coming. My favorite, it still makes me giggle, is when Winnie muses that "she felt like a girl in a shampoo commercial" while pining for her lover. There is even a few jokes for adults. Nothing racy or off color, but the humor is sophisticated enough to make us grownups laugh. The problem is with the previews at the start of the disk! They are TOTALLY inappropriate for children to watch, one is for a teen movie about college with plenty of sex and adult humor. I didn't watch the rest, having skipped them over before my son started asking questions.
I'm no prude, but the moron who put teen sex-romp previews on a DVD for kids should be getting a negative quarterly performance review.
See all 19 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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