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'ELECTRIC COMPANY' GETS EXTREME RAP MAKEOVER: Music supervisors from Broadway's 'In the Heights' added for revamp.
*PBS has announced it will infuse hip hop into a makeover of its 70s children's series "The Electric Company" in an attempt to connect with a new generation of viewers.
The show’s executive producer, Karen Fowler, has recruited the creative team behind the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights to serve as music supervisors. The improv hip-hop collective Freestyle Love Supreme will also be on board to perform various musical numbers, including "Silent E Is a Ninja" and "Miss Bossy R."
Known for utilizing sketch comedy, animation and songs to help elementary school youth learn and develop literary skills, the original "Electric Company" premiered two years after "Sesame Street" as a follow-up to the iconic children series in 1971.
Upon it’s cancellation in 1977 after 780 episodes, the original "Electric Company" remained on the air through reruns in the early ‘80s and is currently available on DVD and iTunes.
The new version will ditch the use of sketch comedy and instead incorporate narrative threads that run throughout each show. The threads will include jokes, singing and dancing while teaching five vocabulary words per episode.
In addition, stories from the new "Electric Company" will focus on a group of four kids who have superpowers that allow them to manipulate words and help one another as well as stop the Pranksters, a rival group of neighborhood bad guys.
The new Electric Company will premiere Jan. 19 on PBS Kids Go.
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