Talk:The Electric Company

message: Question: someone said that the words to the show's theme were 'frequently misunderstood'. What do they mean? (Smoke from a Distant Fire and Bad Moon on the Rise come to mind here).
Well, there were three variations of the theme: the first one was just a chorus. The third is basically an expansion of the first to a two-verse song with a bridge. It's the second one I can't completely make out - it has a totally different first verse leading into the chorus. The DVDs don't have subtitles or CCs, so they're little help.. 
Lambertman 18:08, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: theme

message: The section on corporate sponsors seems excessive - I feel like I'm being subjected to advertisements. Truly PBS had its share of corporate sponsors in the 1970s whose on-screen presence was greatly augmented in the following decades, but do we really need the play-by-play of what their credits looked like in an article about a childrens' television show? Morganfitzp 13:32, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Corporate sponsorship

message: I watched the show and I swear I remember the "Giant" episode of Slow Reader reading, "Do not bother this sleeping giant," not "Do not bother this giant person." Can anyone confirm? 67.34.42.36 01:07, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Slow Reader 

message: I've seen how many seasons there were and all that but I've never heard anything about why they stopped making episodes after the 6th season - unlike Sesame Street which never stopped?
Anyone know? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Timber92 (talk • contribs) 02:11, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Why did they stop making the show? 

message: Can you source this?  If it's unsourced from somewhere reliable, we can't post it, unfortunately.  Feel free to add it back once you've found a reference, but this time add it below a section, not within it.  Thanks!
Possible television revival
In 2005, rumors surfaced that Sesame Workshop was planning a new version of The Electric Company. If the plans go forward, the updated revival could return to the airwaves in 2007—which will coincide with the 26th anniversary of the conclusion of the original TEC.
David 13:48, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unsourced Speculation? 

message: I haven't seen the show but shouldn't there be a seperate article for an episode list?Internetcrazy 15:43, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Episode list

message: there are some things I want to point out in this article that I don't think belong there. One the part about the music sounding harsh seems to be a little POV. 2. the part about which episodes technical errors occured in; we do not need to know every episode the errors occured in. 3. when I read the article I didn't see any sources for anything. I'm not the type of person who  would want to change the article, but anyone can edit it, including members of the show's cast and crew. Internetcrazy 11:20, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: some things about this article don't seem right

message: Can someone please explain how these episodes were altered for DVD? Evidence for the other altered episodes comes from a lengthy review someone posted at an Electric Company fan club on MSN.com. Peace. (MuzikJunky 06:15, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: How were episodes 35A and 57A altered?

message: I came to this discussion page because there was a link in the Love of Chair article saying that it had been suggested that the two topics be merged, and sending us here if we wanted to discuss it. However, I don't see any such suggestion here, so maybe it's moot by now. But if the decision is still being weighed, I'd like to put my vote in for not merging them. A lot of people of my generation (I'm almost 53) remember the "..for Love of Chair" segments more than anything else, and might not find the right article if it were indexed only under Electric Company. A cross-reference between the two articles should be sufficient.  Teri Pettit 01:57, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Love of Chair

message: I could swear that Lynne Thigpen was a regular on this show. Am I mistaken? Ronstew 03:54, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lynne Thigpen 

message: This is a talk page, so I'm not sure why someone would want to vandalize it. (?) jj137Talk 3:02, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Vandalism 

message: This was not vandalism.  The term "viewers like you" was never used on the funding credits for the Electric Company, I have checked on Youtube. Please do not add this line again.71.222.124.79 14:23, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Funding 

message: PBS only started to use this phrase in January of 1988, several years after "The Electric Company" ceased production. 71.222.124.79 00:46, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  "[[Viewers Like You]]" 

message: The following is unsourced information:
* Writer Thad Mumford went on to have a very successful career writing and producing sitcoms, including the final years of M*A*S*H, ALF, and A Different World.
* Bill Cosby used his experience as a cast member toward his Ed.D. (Doctorate in education).
While this is interesting, we can't use it unless you provide a source. Also, none of this is really trivia, as trivia by its definition is "unimportant information" - it therefore shouldn't be in a trivia section but instead the information should be incorporated into the main article. - Tbsdy lives (formerly Ta bu shi da yu) talk 23:11, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unsourced material 

message: I removed two sections from the article:  The "popular culture" section as per WP:IPC, and also the "Comparisons to Between The Lions" section, as it was mainly original research, and the similarities are not unique to either show (any TV show that teaches words and/or phonics – like Ghostwriter or WordWorld, for example – could arguably be considered to be influenced by Electric Company.)
On the same token, I think this article is a bit too heavy on fancruft and trivial details.  Do we really need a full description of every season's ending credit style and a list of all the differences between the DVD releases and the original episodes? Jphillst (talk) 01:41, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, we do. The show has a fanatical following as great as Star Wars does. Peace. —MuzikJunky (talk) 06:48, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Two deleted sections 

message: The article speculates that the episode edits in the two DVD releases are likely due to licensing issues, and mentions "Spider-Man" as an example of a removed segment.  Spider-Man segments are included in other episodes on the DVDs, however, and the character is even in the disc sleeve/packaging.  Clearly, they had the right to use the character, and this brings the whole statement into question. ~ RedSolstice (talk) 23:00, 14 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  DVD Edits 

message: This was before the credits in each episode right?
I think it definatly deserves a mention at the least, as it has worked it's way into the pop culture, it was paroied on family guy and in other places!--Tacit tatum (talk) 17:56, 28 February 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: It is now, under the new section, "Theme song". BTW, I mention that the show had 3 theme songs over its history, and describe how it changed--but I don't know when they made each change to it.RobertGustafson (talk) 02:45, 24 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: HEY YOU GUYS!

message: If there are verifiable, reliable sources showing a connection between these two PBS shows — heaven knows I see many — that should be incorporated here as well. I haven't yet had a chance to look for any myself, but will add it to my lengthy WP-To-Do list. Lawikitejana (talk) 07:59, 31 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Connections to "Between the Lions"? 

message: Anyone else thinks the article needs one? --76.115.67.114 (talk) 21:44, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: In Popular Culture section?

message: I inserted a sub-section within the "Music" section, "Theme song", describing how the show's theme song evolved over time. Although I know the sequence of the changes, I don't know which seasons saw the adoption of the second and third themes. Can anybody add this information?RobertGustafson (talk) 02:43, 24 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Theme songs 

message: Was looking at the pages for the various cast and noticed the active link to Rodney Lewis. When I clicked on it, it shows him being an oil tycoon and of the wealthiest people in the US. A google search showed that Rodney Lewis to be this guy:
http://www.tamiu.edu/adminis/vpia/alumni/alumniachievers/rodney_r_lewis.shtml
That's definitely not the Rodney Lewis from Electric Company, as he's African-American (he's 2nd from the right in this photo of 4 of the members of the Short Circus from the last 2 seasons: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3161/5870476418_7c42c79b74.jpg )
I didn't make the changes myself, because I wasn't really sure how to handle them. If anyone wants to make the edits, he's listed three times, once in the sidebar at the top, 2nd in a list of the Short Circus members in the body of the article, and again right under that listing the members from the last 2 seasons.
173.121.85.23 (talk) 16:11, 28 June 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Short Circus member Rodney Lewis link most likely wrong 

message: Having never heard of this show nor living in the USA I don't understand why it is named The Electric Company.  Is this related to some kind of commercial sponsorship?  I know that in the US some TV shows have commercial sponsors even on public TV as strange as that seems.  The article should explain the odd name.--ЗAНИA talk WB talk] 23:33, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: The name has nothing to do with commercial sponsorship. It is a reference to the power of reading. Many Americans refer to their energy providers as "the electric company" or "the gas company." The theme song to the show is filled with references to power and light and reading. ObtuseAngle (talk) 01:01, 5 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  The name? 

message: How was Dr. Doolots a parody of Groucho Marx?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.225.17.141 (talk) 08:21, 8 March 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Doctor Doolots