`ELECTRIC' FEELING COMES TO CABLE.Byline: Marla Matzer Daily News Staff Writer Hey you guuuuuuys ... Letter Man, Easy Reader and Silent E are back! That's right: ``The Electric Company'' has returned to TV. It's actually been airing since February on the new Noggin nog·gin n. 1. A small mug or cup. 2. A unit of liquid measure equal to one quarter of a pint. 3. Slang The human head. [Origin unknown. channel, a co-venture of Viacom's Nickelodeon and the Children's Television Workshop Children's Television Workshop: see Cooney, Joan Ganz. . But for the 97 percent of households that have cable but don't yet get Noggin, TV Land - which is in 38 million cable households, compared to Noggin's 2 million - will air four half-hours of classic ``EC'' on Monday. It's sort of an after-school special for 30-somethings. The shows produce the expected happy memories ... though you may be shocked to realize you remember all the words to the ``Letter Man'' intro (``It's a word ... it's a plan ... it's Letter Man!'') What you may not have realized 25 years ago is just how much talent the show had. Rita Moreno (who yelled the show's opening, ``Hey you guuuuuuys!''), Morgan Freeman and Bill Cosby William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr., Ed.D. (born July 12 1937) is an American actor, comedian, television producer, and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a vanguard role in the 1960s action show I Spy. were all regulars on the program, which aired from 1971 to 1976. Irene Cara, who went on to stardom in ``Fame,'' was one of the children who made up the show's ``Short Circus.'' Musical humorist hu·mor·ist n. 1. A person with a good sense of humor. 2. A performer or writer of humorous material. humorist Noun a person who speaks or writes in a humorous way Tom Lehrer wrote the ``Silent E'' ditty dit·ty n. pl. dit·ties A simple song. [Middle English dite, a literary composition, from Old French dite, from Latin dict , and there were witty little guest appearances by TV characters from Edith Bunker Edith Bunker (née Baines) is a fictional 1970s sitcom mom on All in the Family (and occasionally Archie Bunker's Place), played by Jean Stapleton. She was the wife of Archie Bunker, mother of Gloria Bunker-Stivic, mother-in-law of Michael "Meathead" Stivic, (Jean Stapleton) to Ben Cartwright Ben Cartwright may refer to:
Lorne Hyman Greene O.C., LL.D. (February 12, 1915 – September 11, 1987) was a Canadian actor, best known in the United States for his roles on two American television programs: the long-running western Bonanza ) - who gamely says, ``I can't hear you, I have a Bonanza in my ear.'' `` `Sesame Street' had a huge reputation at that time, and most of us who ended up on the show had young children then,'' recalled Moreno in a phone interview. ``When they called me, I said yes immediately. Other show people admonished me not to do it. They said it would look like I couldn't get work. But I ended up having one of the best times of my life, and Bill Cosby and Morgan Freeman became my lifelong friends.'' Freeman, of course, went on to become a multiple Oscar-nominated dramatic actor in such films as ``Driving Miss Daisy'' and ``The Shawshank Redemption.'' Though it's a joy to watch his portrayal of such '70s-hipster characters as Easy Reader, he has expressed some frustration at having been labeled a kid's show cast member rather than a serious actor for several years after ``Electric Company'' ended. Viewers, though, should have only fond memories of the show. Though it has a definite '70s flavor - bell bottoms and earth tones abound - it remains a rare combination of entertainment and education. ``There are some things that are a little dated,'' admits Moreno. ``In one sketch, we have a Howard Cosell-type character. Kids don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. who he was. But I don't think it matters, really. They can still appreciate it.'' Moreno says her daughter, a ``reluctant reader,'' even learned to read from the show. Eventually, reading was incorporated into the Children's Television Workshop's flagship show, ``Sesame Street,'' and ``Electric Company'' went dark in 1976. ``I still get adults who remember me mainly from the show,'' says Moreno, who already had a substantial career and an Oscar (for ``West Side Story'') under her belt by the 1970s. ``I'll go into a restaurant, and someone will call out, `Hey you guuuuuuys!' '' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: ``The Electric Company,'' the 1971-76 educational show, is getting a new life on cable's new Noggin channel, along with a two-hour preview Monday on TV Land. |
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